On his 81st birthday, without explanation, Fisher-Alaniz's father placed two weathered notebooks on her lap. Inside were more than 400 pages of let...
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Jan 14, 2012
Elizabeth
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A story of a daughter forging a relationship with her WWII dad, this promised to be a tear jerker by its description. Unfortunately, I found the book quite an uneven read. While the father's story was an interesting one, the author seemed to want to focus more on her own issues. While the relationship with her father is integral to the plot, it is nothing new for children of veterans and the author seems to feel she alone has overcome the "communication" obstacle. I think had the auth
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Jan 02, 2012
Tracie
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This is probably more like one and a half stars, but as always, that's just my personal opinion of the book. I feel bad about writing too negative of a review; there's nothing terribly wrong with it per se, and I feel like maybe it's not my place to judge how this woman interacts with her father and writes about it, so I'll just say that it's just not for me. This book/author is like the nice neighbor down the street; you're friendly and say hi and send a Christmas card but you have nothing in c
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Oct 26, 2011
Lillie
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The cover of the book calls it a memoir, but it is much more than that.
It is a story about relationships—the relationship of a father and daughter, the relationships of a man at war and his far-away family, the relationship of two sailors who knew little about each other but who were tied by a bond stronger than time.
The book is also a revealing picture of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a relentless and unpredictable enemy of warriors in conflicts past and present. The More...
It is a story about relationships—the relationship of a father and daughter, the relationships of a man at war and his far-away family, the relationship of two sailors who knew little about each other but who were tied by a bond stronger than time.
The book is also a revealing picture of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a relentless and unpredictable enemy of warriors in conflicts past and present. The More...
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Oct 31, 2011
Meg - A Bookish Affair
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This book is part memoir, part family story, part family secret story. When Karen receives a packet of the letters that her father wrote his parents during his time in the military. Karen grew up very rarely hearing stories about what her father did during the war so much of his life in that time period. Karen starts doing some of her own research as well as transcribing her father's letters. She also begins meeting her father every week to ask her some of the questions that come up while she's
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Dec 27, 2011
Des
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Breaking the Code takes readers on a journey as the author makes her way through her father's letters and discovers the secret he has kept from her for so many years. In the latter part of WWII, Mr. Fisher received training to copy a code called Katakana based on the Japanese language. The Japanese used this code during the war to transmit secret messages, and the United States military managed to intercept the code and use trained code-breaking teams to copy, analyze, and forward the code to th
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Nov 23, 2011
Carla
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I hate to admit this because it will make me seem hard-hearted but I have never really been all that patriotic. I don't attend Veteran's Day activities; I don't lay wreaths at Memorial Day; I've never attended a Veteran's Day parade; no American flags fly in my yard. I suppose it is because no war has ever touched my life. None of my family members ever served in the service and I know no one who has ever been in a war or battle. While I have often read war stories and shuddered at the bruta
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Nov 13, 2011
Erin
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About the book: This is a memoir of a daughter who, through old WW2 letters and returning memories of her father, slowly discovers the important role he played during the war. While transcribing the letters her father gave to her on his 81st birthday, Karen begins to research the time period. Father and daughter also start meeting weekly for breakfast. Slowly, over the next few years, information about his life during the war is revealed and the quest for peace begins.
What I liked: More...
What I liked: More...
Jan 25, 2012
Holly
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This book is called a memoir by the author but it's really a story of how she built her relationship with her father. On his 81st birthday he presents her with the collection of letters he wrote to his parents while deployed in WWII. While the letters themselves don't yield much information, he talks with his daughter in response to her questions provides her with a whole new view of her father. It's the unfolding of that information and his life which has been bottled up for years. The book
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Feb 13, 2012
Nichole
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Karen and her family all knew that her father was in WWII. He always told stories to the children and they didn't think anything of it at the time. On her father's 81st birthday however that all changed when he gave her two notebooks. The notebooks were her father's letters that he had sent home to his parents when he was serving in WWII. Karen didn't know the secrets that he had to keep from everyone that he knew, including his parents, wife, and family. Secrets that have haunted him for over f
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Dec 26, 2011
Deana
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I saw this book on the GR First Reads giveways and was instantly intrigued and signed up for it. And then the next day, I was at the library, and it was sitting there prominently displayed. So I got it, and I'm glad I did. I would still love to own a copy of this book!
It's a much easier read than I was expecting, and still really interesting as the story progresses. And it's a TRUE story, which makes it all that more interesting!
The author, Karen, tells the story of how s More...
It's a much easier read than I was expecting, and still really interesting as the story progresses. And it's a TRUE story, which makes it all that more interesting!
The author, Karen, tells the story of how s More...
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Feb 07, 2012
Emily
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This is a story of a daughter's attempt to learn more about her father's WWII experiences so that she can help him over the nightmares and flashbacks that have started to occur.
My cousin Archie held a role very similar to her father's, at the same time, in the same place. (In fact, he well could have been the cryptanalysis expert in her father's group.) He passed away a few years ago without telling us more than very basic information about his experiences.
I've seen a co More...
My cousin Archie held a role very similar to her father's, at the same time, in the same place. (In fact, he well could have been the cryptanalysis expert in her father's group.) He passed away a few years ago without telling us more than very basic information about his experiences.
I've seen a co More...
Jan 01, 2012
Roz
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Karen Fisher-Alaniz told the story of her father's WWII experience with such honesty and sincerity, it took my breath away. It speaks of a generation quickly disappearing often leaving their stories untold and, worse, unasked for. Men (and women) returned home from "the war" with the simple desire to get their lives back, to resume where they were before going off to Europe, the Pacific or wherever they were sent. Many didn't speak of their experiences. Many were never asked. I'm sure
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Jan 22, 2012
Erin
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This book took me a while to read. I liked the idea of this book but it never really grabbed me the way I would have liked. This was 2 stories in one. First this was a story about a daughter getting to know her father. There was the father she thought she grew up knowing. But, she soon would discover a completely different version of her father as a young serviceman in WW2. The secondary story in this novel was to bring out the history of some of our unknown heroes of WW2. There were enlisted me
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Jan 06, 2012
Claudette
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Unfortunately, the author keeps coming back to herself. The story of her dad is interesting, and if she had only stuck to that, the book would have been a good read! As it is, she can't stop making it about her, turning what could have been a good book about a part of the war few know about, into a story of a middle class housewife communicating with her father in a totally boring way. Even the letters she chose to include are repetitive and don't really say anything new after the 3rd one. Wish
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Feb 08, 2012
Peggy
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This was a very special story about a daughter learning about her father and the time he spent during World War II in the Pacific Theater. Karen's father gave her the letters that he had sent his own mother during the war. She had saved the letters in a binder. As Karen went through these letters she asked her father about them and studied up on his time spent during the war breaking the katakuna code. Up until this time her father who was in his 80's had spoken only a very little about the war.
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Feb 04, 2012
Dorothy
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So far Chapter 6 I find this book fascinating. Plus this book is on my ipad and is my night book to read. I am also at the same time reading Alva Myrdal. breaking the code is written by a daughter about her dad while in WWII from his letters home. She keeps it a mystery what the code is and it keeps you reading and she relates it to who he is today at 80. Alva written about her mother based on her journals and talking to other and looking at the books her mother read.
I read most of More...
I read most of More...
Dec 09, 2011
Djnyburg
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This book impacted me in a very strong and personal way. PTSD is something that I have become very familar with as I am the wife of a disabled veteran. I found this to be a very real, touching and highly emotional read. It was comforting to turn the pages and learn there are so many other people in the world that also are affected by war and tragedy, and sometimes suffer in silence. I love how real this story is, I love how honest the author is, and I think this book will help so many other peo
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Feb 02, 2012
Eva
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The couple low ratings are somewhat surprising to me. I know that's to be expected with any book but I liked this to the point that I'm not sure I can get rid of it. (I swap my books when I'm finished 99% of the time.)
I think maybe people expected this to be mostly about the authors fathers past and while that plays a big part the dynamics of how this book came to be also plays a big part. Personally I found all of it interesting. The authors father, as a person, is obviously an interestin More...
I think maybe people expected this to be mostly about the authors fathers past and while that plays a big part the dynamics of how this book came to be also plays a big part. Personally I found all of it interesting. The authors father, as a person, is obviously an interestin More...
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Dec 04, 2011
Cate
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This is a Reading Good Books review.
I’ve always loved reading stories about war, may they be from history books or more personal memoirs. Two of my favorite books ever are from the military non-fiction genre. We often see it on the news; we see the boots on the ground as one “force”. But each member of that team has his own story to tell. Stories of survival, brotherhood, strength, and bravery…
Breaking the Code is a journey. A journey of a father and a daughter through m More...
I’ve always loved reading stories about war, may they be from history books or more personal memoirs. Two of my favorite books ever are from the military non-fiction genre. We often see it on the news; we see the boots on the ground as one “force”. But each member of that team has his own story to tell. Stories of survival, brotherhood, strength, and bravery…
Breaking the Code is a journey. A journey of a father and a daughter through m More...
Nov 11, 2011
Breaking the Code is a wonderful true story of a daughter’s quest to transcribe WWII letters written by her father. What started out as a gift to her children, became a journey of learning, healing, self-discovery, bonding and understanding.
I enjoyed this book immensely. It was told in first person by Karen, the daughter of Murray Fisher. She speaks in a no-nonsense way that keeps you turning the pages. The book contains Murray’s letters, postcards, photos, and some official documents. More...
I enjoyed this book immensely. It was told in first person by Karen, the daughter of Murray Fisher. She speaks in a no-nonsense way that keeps you turning the pages. The book contains Murray’s letters, postcards, photos, and some official documents. More...
Jan 03, 2012
Linda
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Karen will have broken into many home of children, an left the golden goose,the unlocking of what happen to a parent returning from WW11. Since reading her book I started talking to many children of the WW11 and how it effected them and the parents. I an sure this goes for any veteran in any war.
Speaking from personal experience,my dad was depressed and would just lay on a couch or watch Victory at sea. This went on for years. Everyone said he had changed from a fun loving guy to a withdr More...
Speaking from personal experience,my dad was depressed and would just lay on a couch or watch Victory at sea. This went on for years. Everyone said he had changed from a fun loving guy to a withdr More...
Dec 14, 2011
Jill
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Wow. PTSD in a WWII vet. This is an interesting memoir of an adult daughter trying to decipher "what my dad did during the war" past the pat stories he had told for years. Karen was given binders of the letters her dad had written to his family while he was overseas working for Navy Intelligence. Sworn to secrecy, the poor guy never felt like he could share his experiences and they have haunted him into his 80s. The letters and the daughter's efforts to get her dad to share are in
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Dec 04, 2011
Linda E.
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Why was her father suffering from PTSD if he only had a desk job during WWII? Daughter Karen forges a closer relationship with her reticent father through pushing him to tell stories about his service in WWII. Somewhat slow but well-written and beautifully done with personal WWII photos and scans of letters, postcards, documents, and bits of ephemera. Readers will live through Karen’s journey of discovery, hoping to find a happy ending for her father.
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Dec 10, 2011
Lior
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This book has drawn me into the depths of a personal heart-touching story from a collection of 400 letters which have been put together over a long period of time from the days of WWII.
The author had a hard job of transcribing these letters, due to the fact they were written at night, with very little light, and not at a desk, but within bed which made the handwriting, with small letters, hard to interpret.
The author had a hard job of transcribing these letters, due to the fact they were written at night, with very little light, and not at a desk, but within bed which made the handwriting, with small letters, hard to interpret.
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Jan 16, 2012
Heather
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This memoir poses the question - do we ever truly know who are parents really are? Karen Fisher-Alaniz realizes she knows nothing of his father. Upon the gift of his war letters from home, she starts a journey of discovery learning more about herself and her father and the war he was in. Having lived her entire life under the guise that her father never truly saw action, his true pivotal roles in Iwo Jima and Hiroshima are shocking discoveries for Karen. This memoir combines mystery, intrigu
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Dec 09, 2011
Katie
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Three and a half stars....not a great writer, but a wonderful daughter with a heartwarming story to tell. Enjoyed it and would recommend it.
Feb 20, 2012
Feb 17, 2012
