Reviews for The coldest winter

The average rating for The coldest winter based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-02-09 00:00:00 Lamar Taylor It's 1946. Europe is devastated by World War II -- not yet in Marshall Plan recovery mode -- when Paula Fox, then only 23, spends a year traveling as a a "stringer" (a reporter filing occasional dispatches to a wire service based in London). This memoir isn't really about the news stories she was sent to write, but more about episodes and impressions made on a young woman who isn't sure what she's seeking or what she expects to find. Fox is young and impressionable and attractive, but this isn't really a coming of age story as you might expect from the "American abroad" set-up. Fox spends some time in London and Paris, but the bulk of this slim book -- its most memorable chapters -- take place in Poland , a country in ruins not just physically but morally, during a winter so cold Fox puts newspapers under her coat to stay warm. If, like me, you're a fan of Fox's tightly plotted "Desperate Characters," you might find this memoir a bit slight, though her strong sense of insight is on display in flashes throughout. I wish there was a stronger sense of story or suspense at work. The book takes a while to find its momentum, and the episodes don't always add up to something greater than brief portraits of people Fox meets along the way and remembers from a distance of decades later. Still, as a short informative book it's worth a try, especially if you're curious about the era it depicts.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-01-20 00:00:00 R.M De Kleine-Reuling I really enjoyed this book. What I appreciated most was Paula Fox's elegant simplicity. She had this amazing ability to create a scene, a feeling, even complete character profiles in very few words. I was amazed that such a huge experience could be culled down to so little and yet still convey so much activity. The last paragraph of the chapter entitled "Perlita" is something I always want to remember: "As I look at her in my mind's eye, I am reminded not of the loftiness or dignity of the human spirit but, rather, its sudden capacity in dire circumstances for an overarching sympathy, its redemptive humbleness."