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Hard Tears Soft Laughter
So many stories have arisen from the horrific events from the Second World War. But the unique and frank voice of James Lauder opens your eyes to a whole new view. From his detailed account of how the Dieppe raid went horribly wrong to the tedium and camaraderie of a German prisoner of war camp, he resurrects a series of characters whose stories can haunt us for years to come. He inspires you to laugh with the silly pranks and wordplay of a bored group of men. He makes you ache for the simple human comforts that he missed while locked away overseas. And he sickens you with the brutality of soldiers and the SS when they have the power to humiliate and hurt others during a dark time in world history. Several of the portraits he shares stick with • The beating of a Jewish woman who defies a member of the SS in public; • The scene of a train station bombing where Germans and Canadians pulled together to save the injured; • The hilarious misunderstanding of a daily greeting in a hallway at the camp. From this book, you will see men at their best and their worst. There are times when you empathize with James and others when you want to slap him and his buddies up the side of the head for their racism and sexism. They lived in different times. Every day, they aimed to survive just one more day. They kept hoping the war would end, always in the spring to come. Even knowing when they would go home, you live in suspended animation with the group that takes care of each other and mourns each death knowing how close they all are to meeting that fate. Some chapters of Hard Tears and Soft Laughter are hard to read. But Lauder doesn't allow you to look away, since you never know where his memory will take you. Lois Tuffin Editor in chief Peterborough This Week November 2017
280 pages, Paperback
Published September 6, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 21, 2019
Hard Tears Soft Laughter by James William Lauder is the author's father's story when he was captured by the Nazis in the disastrous Dieppe raid. The story traces this POW's journey from his capture to freedom and all the encounters and events that unfold during these times and also the relationships that formed and friendships forged during these forced circumstances. It is a poignant tale of survival, though the protagonist did not undergo the worst horrors that the Nazis dealt out but enough to last a lifetime. How these men learn to survive under the worst times and hoe they derive pleasure from simple joys and just survive day to day.
This is beautiful read.
Thanks @BookTasters and the author for introducing me to this book
This is beautiful read.
Thanks @BookTasters and the author for introducing me to this book
July 30, 2019
Wow. This book was a surprise to me: I don’t often read non-fiction, memoirs, or history, especially not accounts of war with lists of casualties, losses and, often, as well, an overemphasis on the “glory”.
I was hooked at page two.
Chapter 1 tells the disastrous story of the Dieppe raid and the knock-out punch of shrapnel that marked an end of James Lauder’s fighting. Three pages of masterful vivid writing. In fact, this memoir cries out for a movie from one cinematic scene to the next: we hear the sounds of groaning prisoners and feel the jerky sway of the boxcar that “chews at your bones, bruises your flesh, and makes the balmiest summer night seem… much too long… agony at its highest pitch.” We see, up close, a Jewish woman beaten to death surrounded by a crowd of Nazi onlookers.
The reader is exposed to many scenes in the POW hospital which British prisoners ran, under German command: close-ups of late night gatherings of friends drinking rotgut moonshine and sharing jokes but also grim views of the wounded. Christmas for these prisoners was “a day of joy and laughter” while unknown to them “the five chimneys of the crematoriums of Auschwitz belched smoke as the still-warm dead from the gas chambers were carried to the ovens. After all, it was not a holiday there. The Jews don’t celebrate Christmas.”
The drawings included reveal Lauder as a skilled artist as well as a man who saw humour in everyday goings on.
Lauder’s voice is honest not sentimental or maudlin: ”I was surprised to find myself not afraid of dying as much as I was afraid of how I would die. Afraid I’d look afraid when the firing began to cut us down…The possibility of death is a strange fear - fear of the scope of your ability- exciting, like the fear of your inability to appear worldly in the eyes of the first girl, you fumbled through the manipulations of seduction.” He tackles the question that must haunt many soldiers. In intense discussions with the padre, he asks “when is killing justified?’’ Is there “a time to kill”, as the preacher says?
Finally, right smack in the structural centre of the book beginning on page 133 of 266 pages, in Chapter 10, is a poetic meditation on time and memory:
“Any spring can be remembered and no matter where you are, April is a beautiful month. Barbed wire can fence you in but it can’t stop your senses from reaching out and grabbing the pleasures of spring. The warmth that comes with the soothing gentleness of the rain splashing a captive man’s face as he watches it turn the last bit of winter snow and slush back to water is equalled only by the sight of annual wonderment of the earth swelling and releasing tiny sprouts and tender plants from their winter slumber and let them grow tall and green again, even in the time of war. Much of the beauty of the sweet smel l of the season is marred by the thought that your spring fever is merely the intensification of your fever to live…The warm sunshine strengthens your anticipation for a new life as you know the frozen wheels of the war machine will thaw, the fog bound skies will clear, and with the death of winter the warming ground will soon be firm and fit to carry on a better war. So, let the grass grow green and the vision of being free, grow with it.”
An engrossing personal account by a sensitive and thoughtful soldier. Thank you, Jim Lauder, for giving us your father’s story.
I was hooked at page two.
Chapter 1 tells the disastrous story of the Dieppe raid and the knock-out punch of shrapnel that marked an end of James Lauder’s fighting. Three pages of masterful vivid writing. In fact, this memoir cries out for a movie from one cinematic scene to the next: we hear the sounds of groaning prisoners and feel the jerky sway of the boxcar that “chews at your bones, bruises your flesh, and makes the balmiest summer night seem… much too long… agony at its highest pitch.” We see, up close, a Jewish woman beaten to death surrounded by a crowd of Nazi onlookers.
The reader is exposed to many scenes in the POW hospital which British prisoners ran, under German command: close-ups of late night gatherings of friends drinking rotgut moonshine and sharing jokes but also grim views of the wounded. Christmas for these prisoners was “a day of joy and laughter” while unknown to them “the five chimneys of the crematoriums of Auschwitz belched smoke as the still-warm dead from the gas chambers were carried to the ovens. After all, it was not a holiday there. The Jews don’t celebrate Christmas.”
The drawings included reveal Lauder as a skilled artist as well as a man who saw humour in everyday goings on.
Lauder’s voice is honest not sentimental or maudlin: ”I was surprised to find myself not afraid of dying as much as I was afraid of how I would die. Afraid I’d look afraid when the firing began to cut us down…The possibility of death is a strange fear - fear of the scope of your ability- exciting, like the fear of your inability to appear worldly in the eyes of the first girl, you fumbled through the manipulations of seduction.” He tackles the question that must haunt many soldiers. In intense discussions with the padre, he asks “when is killing justified?’’ Is there “a time to kill”, as the preacher says?
Finally, right smack in the structural centre of the book beginning on page 133 of 266 pages, in Chapter 10, is a poetic meditation on time and memory:
“Any spring can be remembered and no matter where you are, April is a beautiful month. Barbed wire can fence you in but it can’t stop your senses from reaching out and grabbing the pleasures of spring. The warmth that comes with the soothing gentleness of the rain splashing a captive man’s face as he watches it turn the last bit of winter snow and slush back to water is equalled only by the sight of annual wonderment of the earth swelling and releasing tiny sprouts and tender plants from their winter slumber and let them grow tall and green again, even in the time of war. Much of the beauty of the sweet smel l of the season is marred by the thought that your spring fever is merely the intensification of your fever to live…The warm sunshine strengthens your anticipation for a new life as you know the frozen wheels of the war machine will thaw, the fog bound skies will clear, and with the death of winter the warming ground will soon be firm and fit to carry on a better war. So, let the grass grow green and the vision of being free, grow with it.”
An engrossing personal account by a sensitive and thoughtful soldier. Thank you, Jim Lauder, for giving us your father’s story.
September 10, 2019
At the battle of Dieppe during World War II, the Allies were not triumphant. There was a tremendous loss of life and many soldiers were wounded. The wounded were taken as prisoners to many locations. How did the Germans treat our wounded soldiers? What was it like in a prison hospital?
James William Lauder was a Canadian soldier trained as a medic. He was part of the Allied forces at the failed landing at Dieppe. He was injured while tending to wounded soldiers on the beach. Because of his injuries, he was transported to Obermassfeld, Germany. First as an injured soldier and later as a prison hospital worker, this is a chronicle of his experiences.
The men in the hospital are cared for by British doctors. They receive care packages with food from their countries. They are housed, clothed and have medical care but it is war. They cannot walk around town. They stay behind barbed wire and are ordered to work on whatever tasks the Germans want. It is not the horror story of work camps but there is tragedy, triumph and camaraderie. The honesty of this account is fascinating.
In the many books on Nazi prisons, none have presented this point of view. While the conditions were not as difficult in some ways as those that others endured, there is so much to appreciate in this account. It is a must read book for anyone wanting a full picture of the impact of World War II.
James William Lauder was a Canadian soldier trained as a medic. He was part of the Allied forces at the failed landing at Dieppe. He was injured while tending to wounded soldiers on the beach. Because of his injuries, he was transported to Obermassfeld, Germany. First as an injured soldier and later as a prison hospital worker, this is a chronicle of his experiences.
The men in the hospital are cared for by British doctors. They receive care packages with food from their countries. They are housed, clothed and have medical care but it is war. They cannot walk around town. They stay behind barbed wire and are ordered to work on whatever tasks the Germans want. It is not the horror story of work camps but there is tragedy, triumph and camaraderie. The honesty of this account is fascinating.
In the many books on Nazi prisons, none have presented this point of view. While the conditions were not as difficult in some ways as those that others endured, there is so much to appreciate in this account. It is a must read book for anyone wanting a full picture of the impact of World War II.
September 15, 2019
I really enjoyed this insightful WW2 book; the account of life and the story is told from the author's perspective. It enables you to have a deeper understanding of trials and tribulations faced by a prisoner of war (captured in Dieppe and held at a German Prison Hospital) over a prolonged period of time. This is a way of life that is impossible to envisage without being there, however, the account was so well written, it is the next best thing. The highs and lows of life are clearly communicated even down to the home brewing of alcoholic beverages to relieve the everyday grind. Questions are raised as to whether it is ethical to help civilians who are technically the enemy in times of war and shows the inner turmoil from the prisoners' point of view; also the reaction of the civilians at being helped by their enemy. A thought provoking book.
September 13, 2019
Wevhave heard so many stories about World Wars,but this one takes a different tone.The author's father relates his story of how they were captured and later sent to a prison hospital.They spent the rest of the war there.How they had expected the worst but they ended up forming beautiful friendships with other war veterans.He shows a different side,the one we don't necessarily see.About being free to move,but having no freedom.Losing people you thought would make it,doing jobs you never imagined yourself doing.
It was like everyday life,except more like a boy's dormitory than a prison
It was like everyday life,except more like a boy's dormitory than a prison
June 30, 2020
This book lives up to it's title, there were tears and much laughter. It is an excellent read, the story of a Canadian soldier POW, captured at Dieppe early in WW11. The insights and tales of life in a German POW hospital are shared with skill and style. This would make a great classroom resource. Highly recommend this book.
October 12, 2019
Awesome book about WW II written by a medic and he talks about what he has seen during the rough time, and the title of the book fits because the pranks you read about in the book will make you laugh and reading about how the Jews were treated during this time period will make you cry.
August 4, 2022
Wow. This book was a surprise to me: I don’t often read non-fiction, memoirs, or history, especially not accounts of war with lists of casualties, losses and, often, as well, an overemphasis on the “glory”.
I was hooked at page two.
Chapter 1 tells the disastrous story of the Dieppe raid and the knock-out punch of shrapnel that marked an end of James Lauder’s fighting. Three pages of masterful vivid writing. In fact, this memoir cries out for a movie from one cinematic scene to the next: we hear the sounds of groaning prisoners and feel the jerky sway of the boxcar that “chews at your bones, bruises your flesh, and makes the balmiest summer night seem… much too long… agony at its highest pitch.” We see, up close, a Jewish woman beaten to death surrounded by a crowd of Nazi onlookers.
The reader is exposed to many scenes in the POW hospital which British prisoners ran, under German command: close-ups of late night gatherings of friends drinking rotgut moonshine and sharing jokes but also grim views of the wounded. Christmas for these prisoners was “a day of joy and laughter” while unknown to them “the five chimneys of the crematoriums of Auschwitz belched smoke as the still-warm dead from the gas chambers were carried to the ovens. After all, it was not a holiday there. The Jews don’t celebrate Christmas.”
The drawings included reveal Lauder as a skilled artist as well as a man who saw humour in everyday goings on.
Lauder’s voice is honest not sentimental or maudlin: ”I was surprised to find myself not afraid of dying as much as I was afraid of how I would die. Afraid I’d look afraid when the firing began to cut us down…The possibility of death is a strange fear - fear of the scope of your ability- exciting, like the fear of your inability to appear worldly in the eyes of the first girl, you fumbled through the manipulations of seduction.” He tackles the question that must haunt many soldiers. In intense discussions with the padre, he asks “when is killing justified?’’ Is there “a time to kill”, as the preacher says?
Finally, right smack in the structural centre of the book beginning on page 133 of 266 pages, in Chapter 10, is a poetic meditation on time and memory:
“Any spring can be remembered and no matter where you are, April is a beautiful month. Barbed wire can fence you in but it can’t stop your senses from reaching out and grabbing the pleasures of spring. The warmth that comes with the soothing gentleness of the rain splashing a captive man’s face as he watches it turn the last bit of winter snow and slush back to water is equalled only by the sight of annual wonderment of the earth swelling and releasing tiny sprouts and tender plants from their winter slumber and let them grow tall and green again, even in the time of war. Much of the beauty of the sweet smell of the season is marred by the thought that your spring fever is merely the intensification of your fever to live…The warm sunshine strengthens your anticipation for a new life as you know the frozen wheels of the war machine will thaw, the fog bound skies will clear, and with the death of winter the warming ground will soon be firm and fit to carry on a better war. So, let the grass grow green and the vision of being free, grow with it.”
An engrossing personal account by a sensitive and thoughtful soldier. Thank you, Jim Lauder, for giving us your father’s story.
I was hooked at page two.
Chapter 1 tells the disastrous story of the Dieppe raid and the knock-out punch of shrapnel that marked an end of James Lauder’s fighting. Three pages of masterful vivid writing. In fact, this memoir cries out for a movie from one cinematic scene to the next: we hear the sounds of groaning prisoners and feel the jerky sway of the boxcar that “chews at your bones, bruises your flesh, and makes the balmiest summer night seem… much too long… agony at its highest pitch.” We see, up close, a Jewish woman beaten to death surrounded by a crowd of Nazi onlookers.
The reader is exposed to many scenes in the POW hospital which British prisoners ran, under German command: close-ups of late night gatherings of friends drinking rotgut moonshine and sharing jokes but also grim views of the wounded. Christmas for these prisoners was “a day of joy and laughter” while unknown to them “the five chimneys of the crematoriums of Auschwitz belched smoke as the still-warm dead from the gas chambers were carried to the ovens. After all, it was not a holiday there. The Jews don’t celebrate Christmas.”
The drawings included reveal Lauder as a skilled artist as well as a man who saw humour in everyday goings on.
Lauder’s voice is honest not sentimental or maudlin: ”I was surprised to find myself not afraid of dying as much as I was afraid of how I would die. Afraid I’d look afraid when the firing began to cut us down…The possibility of death is a strange fear - fear of the scope of your ability- exciting, like the fear of your inability to appear worldly in the eyes of the first girl, you fumbled through the manipulations of seduction.” He tackles the question that must haunt many soldiers. In intense discussions with the padre, he asks “when is killing justified?’’ Is there “a time to kill”, as the preacher says?
Finally, right smack in the structural centre of the book beginning on page 133 of 266 pages, in Chapter 10, is a poetic meditation on time and memory:
“Any spring can be remembered and no matter where you are, April is a beautiful month. Barbed wire can fence you in but it can’t stop your senses from reaching out and grabbing the pleasures of spring. The warmth that comes with the soothing gentleness of the rain splashing a captive man’s face as he watches it turn the last bit of winter snow and slush back to water is equalled only by the sight of annual wonderment of the earth swelling and releasing tiny sprouts and tender plants from their winter slumber and let them grow tall and green again, even in the time of war. Much of the beauty of the sweet smell of the season is marred by the thought that your spring fever is merely the intensification of your fever to live…The warm sunshine strengthens your anticipation for a new life as you know the frozen wheels of the war machine will thaw, the fog bound skies will clear, and with the death of winter the warming ground will soon be firm and fit to carry on a better war. So, let the grass grow green and the vision of being free, grow with it.”
An engrossing personal account by a sensitive and thoughtful soldier. Thank you, Jim Lauder, for giving us your father’s story.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews