What I Am Reading/Watching/Listening To
Earlier this year, the ebook Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose went on sale. Although I had watched the HBO miniseries several times, I had never read the book. I bought it and left it unopened on my ereader for a while.
Then a few weeks ago, I thought it would be fun to not merely read the book but also rewatch the series in tandem. In other words, I read the first two chapters of the book. Then, when I could see from the episode titles and dates of the historical events that I had read enough to cover the first episode, I watched the first episode.
As if that were not enough, I realized I had never listened to the official podcast for the series. So, when walking the dogs, I also listened to the podcast, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the production.
I am moving slowly, however, and am only now at the Battle of the Bulge and the Seige at Bastogne. The book and show focus on E Company, which trained in Toccoa, Georgia, to be paratroopers. They parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. They were at the Seige of Bastogne. They helped free the prisoners from one of the many concentration camps. And they even reached Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest.
These men formed a bond that has lived on for decades.
And, it seems, the actors also formed a bond while working on the series. They spent a couple of weeks in a boot camp. For those soldiers who were still alive, the actors met with them, to learn directly from the men what it was like so that they could better portray them on the screen. Based on the interviews on the podcast, it seems the actors felt privileged to play these roles.
I was not aware of this: the miniseries first aired on 09/09/2001. Two days later, the planes hit The World Trade Center while another plane crashed into the Pentagon. I thought these attacks must feel very much like how people felt on 7 December 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
I didn’t watch the miniseries when it first aired because I am not a fan of war movies, especially ones that romanticize or glorify war. It was not the intention of Steven Spielberg or Tom Hanks, the executive producers, to create a “rally ‘round the flag” type show. Instead, they were creating something that would show the brutality, the pain and suffering of war.
Which the series does very well. I can see why Hanks and Spielberg chose this book as the inspiration for the series. Ambrose introduces the reader to a large cast of characters, invites you to get to know them and even care about them. So much so that, when they go into danger, when they are fighting in bitter cold, surrounded by German soldiers through a brutal winter, you ache for these boys and what they must have suffered. Then to see those same stories enacted on the screen—brilliantly performed by many actors who were relatively unknown—it is equally breathtaking and heartbreaking.
Truly one of the best miniseries television has ever produced. To say “war is hell” is an understatement.
If you haven’t watched the miniseries, I highly recommend it. If you have and haven’t read the book, I highly recommend it as well. As for me, I’m going to watch the next episode of the show and tomorrow I will listen to another episode of the podcast as I continue my immersive experience with Band of Brothers.
