War and Remembrance

Also, in British Columbia, a book was finally returned 43 years late.

It was a copy of Herman Walk's War and Remembrance.

It was dusty and had a cracked spine, but it still had its old paper checkout card with a due date of September 1st, 1983.

The librarians estimated it would have racked up about $3,100 in late fees, but nobody's getting the bill.

returns at a British Columbia library and discovered a dusty tome without a barcode was 43 years overdue.

The Greater Victoria Public Library said the book, a copy of Herman Falk's 1978 novel War and Remembrance, arrived at the facility earlier this month and immediately stood out.

The book was dusty, had a cracked spine and lacked a barcode, but still had a paper checkout card inside revealing that it had been due back at the Oak Bay branch on September 1, 1983.

Latomer's return without a note or any other explanation for Wyatt's return was delayed for 43 years.

Herman Woke, was he?

Herman Woke was a naval officer in World War II, and his books, Winds of War, War and Remembrance, Came Mutiny, Court Martial, are among the very best written about sea-going combat.

Your first book was about... called The Accidental Admiral.

Is that your first book?

[laughs]

Well, the, I think, first of all, the, the book just out of interest everyone was curious, it was a copy of War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk.

Um-

Okay

The Greater Victoria Public Library got a surprise this week when a book came through the return slot that was more than four decades overdue.

The library says War and Remembrance was last signed out on September 1st of 1983.

The library says it's unknown who returned the Second World War novel or where it's been for the past 43 years.

The Greater Victoria Public Library became a fine-free library in 2024, meaning whoever returned the book doesn't have to worry about paying overdue fees.

Staff at the Greater Victoria Public Library finally got a book back decades after it was checked out.

The library posted on social media last week that the book, War and Remembrance, published in 1978, was returned 43 years after it was borrowed in 1983.

The library stating it may well be one of the most overdue items we've ever had returned.

No fines, though, since the library abandoned its overdue fines policy two years ago.

And Wouk requires a massive commitment from the reader.

This is a monumental saga following the fictional Hendry family, led by a naval officer named Pug Hendry, as they are ping-ponged around the globe by real historical events, and it even continues in a sequel, War and Remembrance

And it begs the question, I mean, why use fiction to tell the truth about the macro movements of a war? It-- Does historical fiction like this actually do a better job of making these massive geopolitical shifts digestible for the average reader than a dense journalistic account?

I think it does more than just make it go down easier.