 |
When the book "The Wave" and the subsequent after-school special came out in the early '80s, I was in the 7th grade and neither knew much nor cared about the Third Reich or The Holocaust. Sure, I'd heard of it, who hadn't? We were beyond that now...right? Time proves naivete wrong. Since then, there's been more so-called "orders" and genocides in various places the world over, proving that history will indeed teach us nothing. That's the perilous edge that the history class at a Palo Alto, California school of 1969 not only found themselves on, but eventually found themselves over, being none the smarter for it. What had started as a simple classroom experiment had blossomed into an exercise of supreme control and intoxicating power that even the teacher had found himself swept into. The promise of simplicity, things predetermined and predecided by rote and rule, the elimination of individual thought and personal conscience...all cleverly snuck into a classroom environment as easily as undesired vegetables in a soup or drink, served to an unsuspecting child. In the end, individual thought saves the day, in the form of a directly-involved pupil, who, in turn, is able to help another swept-away student see and understand the gross error of this experiment and its Third-Reich inspiration, and together they confront a teacher who now sees how far out of control this experiment has become. I won't spoil the ending, but will tell you that this is just as essential reading as "Animal Farm" and "Fahrenheit 451", both of which deal with the same subject matter: simplicity and control of the masses, as well as the struggle for the survival of independent thinking. Indeed, in the end, the last altered commandment from "Animal Farm" comes to mind: "All animals are created equal, but some animals are created more equal than others". Author Todd Strasser has taken his talent and presented it in an easy-to-read-and-understand format for young minds and kept it relevant and brief for the short attention spans often associated with youth. In that, Mr. Strasser can be safely placed among the greats of our time with "The Wave". The book serves as a clear, succinct, relevant and needed reminder that lessons of our past need to be constantly revisited in hopes that they can be prevented from occurring again. But can they?Read full review
This book was interestingly good. What throws me off is that it was based on a true story. A history teacher at a High School in Palo Alto, California. decided to teach his students a lesson on what could happen and how the reign of the Nazi Regime really got into people's heads. I do think that maybe the ways the story was written was a bit middle school for me. I was thinking that maybe it was to be more in depth but, I was quite wrong. Either way the story was well told. A tiny bit inaccurate as I have looked into the actual story of what really happened but not too off course.
Wonderful way for young adults to learn about riot behavior and going along with the crowd. Helps explain how things happen to good people and why. I recommend this book for anyone (adults included) over the age of 12.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This book is so easy to read that a fourth grader could read it. However it does illustrate the answer to the above title. It is fascinating and I learned a lot. I'm hanging onto this book as a reference because often I hear the question about how is that that people allowed Hitler to reign? Why wasn't he stopped sooner? Read it and you'll know.
I watched the movie "The Wave" in my history class and found there is a book. I bought it and read the 130ish page book in within in two days of getting it. It was very similar to the movie. In fact it was line by line except the book included some stuff the movie did not. You can watch the movie on Google Videos but the book is better.
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Books
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Books
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
