Reunion

by Michael B. Oren

In December 1944, entrenched in the Battle of the Bulge, the 138th Infantry Battalion fought a brutal, last-ditch assault by the Nazis. Sixty years later, the men of the 138th reunite at the battleground in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest for one last chance to relive their youth, bury old ghosts, and try to find answers to the mystery that has haunted them for more than half a century.

Weaving his father’s real experiences in World War II throughout the story, bestselling author Michael Oren brings the 138th to life in his debut novel. Through the disparate and vivid characters, we learn the other story of this battalion—a story of the lingering effects of war, the potency of the human spirit, and the courage that even simple men can muster, both at the beginning and the end of their lives.

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Michael Bornstein Oren is an American-Israeli diplomat, essayist, historian, novelist, and politician. He is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013), former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party and a former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Oren has written books, articles, and essays on Middle Eastern history and foreign affairs, and is the author of the New York Times best-selling Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide, Power, Faith and Fantasy, and Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East, which won the Los Angeles Times History Book of the Year Award and the National Jewish Book Award. Oren has taught at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown universities in the United States and at Ben-Gurion and Hebrew universities in Israel. He was a Distinguished Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem and a contributing editor to The New Republic. The Forward named Oren one of the five most influential American Jews, and The Jerusalem Post listed him as one of the world's ten most influential Jews.
Oren retired as ambassador to the United States in 2013, and was replaced by Ron Dermer. In the 2015 Israeli election, Oren was elected to the Knesset for the Kulanu party.

Reviews

[Roberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reunion turned out to be a very nice novel about a group of WWII veterans that reunite many years later. The strongest point of this novel is the way the characters are brought to life and you can empathize with them.
As the background plot, we have a mystery about something that happened many years ago during the war.
But most enjoyable about "Reunion" is the author ability to describe people and places obliging the reader to truly care about them

[Phyllis Bismanovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

WWII Battle of the Bulge survivors meet for their last reunion in France. The characters are well defined, their histories during the battle, after the battle. It's a story that touched by heart as my uncle was severely wounded in his tank at the Battle. There's sex, murder, mystery. It's definitely a war story.

[Josh V]

‐What is the summary of the text? Give an overview of events in the text.
A group of infantry men from the 133rd battalion during WWII have all come together for a reunion at the site of thier capture in Belgium during the Battle of the Buldge. While visiting a hated traitor shows up searching for diamonds in an old coldhouse of a brutal farmer. This man ends up being killed by the farmer during the same moment a member of the group dies (of old age). This man ends up being found in the coldhouse of the farmer and the farmer tries to kill other members of the group. after being arrested all members of the group split up and go back home.

‐What is different culturally from American culture?
Belgium is much more old world. There seem to be lots of cottages and little old ladies as well as old dancehouses and classic, rustic hotels and shops. Though all these things are in Belgium there is also new world sprinkled in, such as resturaunts and shops seen in America. From what I can see though, Belgium is cold, very cold. The winters there seem very harsh and fridgid with lots of snowfall and wind (The book was set in December). This calles for a even more old rustic look, as everyone is dressed in parkas and big fur coats and almost every place seems to hold a fireplace in it.

‐What was the author’s purpose in writing this text? What evidence do you have to support
this conclusion?
To show how much a soldier can be effected by everything in war. This is shown by the many experiences in the book by each of the characters. each of the more main characters has a struggle, something they have to get over, and for many of them it has to do with the war, even in there 70s-80s. This book shows how much trauma battle can really bring a person, whether it be by the killings and brutality, or by not fighting and feeling useless. All these things are shown in this book.

‐What is the theme of the text? What evidence do you have to support this conclusion?
The theme of this book is to face up to things that may not be easy. In this book, not one of the veterans wanted to go to the reunion for multiple reasons. They were afraid of being riticuled, or being to old, or not being able to cope with thier problems they faced during the war. But each soldier went and each soldier faced those problems they had. They faced them and with that they helped themselves feel better about thier entire lives and all the things they had been so worked up and worried about since the war.

‐Would you recommend this text? What makes you recommend or not recommend the text?
If someone is an avid hoistory buff or likes WWII I would reccomend this book. It doesn't have historical accuracy or fact, but it does show a wonderful story. A story of what it's like after battle and a story that will bring a new meaning and feeling for vetrans.
If someone wants to read this as a mystery book, I would not reccomend it. This book lacks what a really good mystery novel needs, motivation and of course mystery. There are some points that may make you gasp or wonder whats happening, but most of the book happens at the end as far as the mystery goes and theres not much of a build up.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

American veterans whose unit was mauled by the early German advance in the Battle of the Bulge meet for one last reunion in St. Vith, bringing with them some unfinished business.

[Vader · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish