會買這本書是因為渡邊謙在Clint Eastwood的戰爭電影”Letters From Iwo Jima”飾演栗林忠道--硫黃島之役日本總指揮官。雖然在電影上映期間無法去觀看，還是決定在買DVD之前先看過這本書，了解一下栗林這個人和當時的戰爭背景。

Now back to English....to save me some time.

This book is based on the General’s letters sent to his family during his 8 months stay on the island of Iwo Jima. I am obviously ignorant of this battle before reading this book and I have certainly gained some more perspectives about the American-Japanese War in the Pacific during WWII.

I recommand this book to people who are interested in the history of this period or war-time stories in general. It is very inspiring and as I was reading it, the more I am against war.

Now I am reading another book written by an American veteran who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima. The book is ”From Boots to Iwo Jima”. I need to know what’s going on at the American side while the Japanese soliders were digging underground bunkers on the island. However, from what I read so far, Japanese soliders during the WWII anywhere, including in China, were brutal. And the author posed an important question: why the soliders from a civilized and cultured nation could produced such war horror during that period?

Anyway, I am still looking forward to see Ken Watanabe’s performance in the DVD I’ll soon own.