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Robert Collins (1) (1924–)

Autor von The Age of Innocence: 1870/1880

Andere Autoren mit dem Namen Robert Collins findest Du auf der Unterscheidungs-Seite.

9 Werke 125 Mitglieder 3 Rezensionen

Über den Autor

Robert Collins grew up in rural Saskatchewan during the Depression in conditions described in his bestseller Butter Down the Well. After serving in Europe with the RCAF during the war, he returned to Canada to attend university. Later, as a writer for Maclean's, the Star Weekly, and Toronto Life, mehr anzeigen he chronicled the post-war boom of the 1950s and the upheaval of the turbulent 1960s, and has more recently travelled the country writing major articles for Reader's Digest weniger anzeigen

Werke von Robert Collins

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Wissenswertes

Geburtstag
1924
Geschlecht
male
Nationalität
Canada
Geburtsort
Shamrock, Saskatchewan, Canada
Wohnorte
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Collins grew up on a Saskatchewan farm during the 1039;s and had traveled nowhere. In 1943 he volunteered to join the RCAF hoping to fly an airplane. Colour vision issues killed that plan and he eventually became an airplane mechanic. Initially assigned to Canadian locations and learning about the various regions of Canada, he went oversea to England in 1944 to service Lancaster bombers.

Never really in any danger except from when Germany sent over V-1's and V-2's when he was in London, he enjoyed life off the base when on leave. He learned to overcome his shyness around women, learned to dance and to drink moderately. His descriptions of young men on leave in wartime England are priceless.

In late 1945 he was posted to Occupied Germany in the British sector. The city near the base was Hamburg the amount of destruction shocked him. But while he would feel pity for the German civilians, he would remind himself of what Germany had done to other countries and their people. Still he and his colleagues eventually took part in the black market and fraternized with young German women.

In England he fell in love a couple of times but in one case she dropped him for an American. In the other he realized when he got home, it wasn't a relationship he wanted to continue at the time.

A wonderful description of men who served an important role but were never really in danger.
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lamour | Mar 28, 2019 |
The subtitle of this book is Reflections of a Canadian Childhood and it certainly is that. But it was a far from ordinary childhood. Robert Collins grew up on a farm in the southern part of Saskatchewan during the 1920's and 1930's. His father had been injured in World War I and physical work was often hard for him. When you factor in the difficulties facing farmers during that time, especially in the Dust Bowl of the 1930's, you might think that it would be a recounting of trials and tribulations. But Collins and his family seem to have risen above their problems and enjoyed their life. This passage gives a hint of that:
The risk in farming was maddening, and yet...exhilarating. Take a pail of fresh, foaming milk and, hey-presto! Suddenly it was butter, cream and drinks for boys, calves, chickens and cats. That black field of fresh, damp furrows, dappled with Franklin gulls scavenging for worms: with a little rain, luck and a prayer or two, it turned into Thatcher wheat, bowing golden in the wind. That barren garden, monochrome gray, surely dead forever: pamper it with countless hand-lugged pails of water and interminable hours of hoeing and fertilizing, and suddenly one morning -- green shoots cracking through the crust. Always, that little miracle of growth-again filled me with foolish joy.

The writing is wonderful and many of the stories are funny. But I think the real joy for me came from the fact that I recognized so much of what he was writing. I grew up on a farm too although it was in Manitoba and it was thirty years after Collins but many of the challenges were the same. Farming was still done on a modest scale and there were few amenities. Just like Collins, I wouldn't have traded it for the world.
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gypsysmom | Aug 9, 2017 |
Written in 1997 when the author was 72, the generation he describes has since gone through even more change wrought by time. By interviewing 181 men and women he portrays the despair, struggles, and joy they experienced, ranging from the Great Depression through the Second World War, into the fifties, and beyond. Collins calls them Generation M, for mature. Because of the times, they were a tremendously influential generation in a era of vast change. However, younger generations absorbed a different set of lifestyle changes in the second half of the 20th century that left the two groups alienated. Collins attempts to explain how it all came about and lightheartedly invites young Canadians to take a second look at the lives of their grandparents (or great-grandparents) to appreciate how it happened. Some of the stories of hardship are heartbreaking but they are balanced by some very funny memories - including any involving sex education or the absence of it. Although this book describes the experience of Canadians, it has relevance just about anywhere. Most of the information is well-known, but Collins provides very personal firsthand accounts that are expressive and meaningful. This is an interesting and entertaining book.… (mehr)
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VivienneR | Apr 10, 2016 |

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Statistikseite

Werke
9
Mitglieder
125
Beliebtheit
#160,151
Bewertung
4.0
Rezensionen
3
ISBNs
94
Sprachen
2

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