Except that instead of lying around the pool in a daze Todd goes out fighting for everything that's pure and good about America. It's horrific and unexpected and on the surface it appears meaningless. His death is strikingly similar to Gatsby's.
TODD BEAMER ROLEX HOW TO
(He even makes lists just like Gatsby's on how to improve himself!) Unlike Gatbsy, however, he never allows success to tarnish his idealism or courage. Like Gatsby, he very consciously invents himself as a hero from top to bottom based on principles and ideals. Now on a second reading, I noticed that Todd Beamer was more like Jay Gatsby than Willy Loman. It's eye-opening as an adult to read a book like this, about a person who was basically in sales his entire adult life yet who always, always, cared about doing the right thing and helping others. Salesmen, and businessmen in general, are either sad little failures or heartless tycoons. When I was in high school, we all had to read DEATH OF A SALESMAN by Arthur Miller. This goes to the heart of something really flawed in our modern liberal values. I also think it's very interesting that Todd Beamer emerges not just as a patriot, or even as a loving family man, but as a businessman committed to success. Lisa Beamer makes her beloved husband Todd come to life like a true novelist, shaping his character with tons of memories and detail.
I loved this book not only because it was a tribute to the heroes of Flight 93, but because it's a real portrait of a life. Could you imagine what it would look like if you wrote a book about someone and then didn't even put a picture of them on the cover? What's that? There's a huge picture of Lisa Beamer on the cover, looking wistfully into the distance? I mean, at least she put that awesome picture of her husband on the cover, since this book was a testament to his life. Of course then she details exhaustively all the shows she goes on and the dinners she attends and all the awesome things she says and how everyone loves her and how strong she is and how she grieves with hope but how sad it is that everyone that doesn't have God in their lives grieves without hope. It's Beamer constantly reminding us how uncomfortable she feels with her newfound celebrity after the crash and how she doesn't want any of it. The most disappointing part of the book isn't the content, however. I mean, when you tell me that a particular thing Todd did was "so Todd," I think I can understand the "so Todd" phrase without the quotes. It's also unfortunate that the book was written for a 5th grader. It takes forever to get to the details of the flight, which turns out to be the only truly interesting part of the book. What I got was a long-winded story about how Lisa and Todd met, what their parents were like, where they went to school, etc, etc. I had hoped to learn a bit about Todd Beamer and a lot about what happened during the period around the crash, hopefully gleaning some insight to the flight. His wife decided to have a dude who wears a purple sportcoat in his publicity photo (unironically I think) ghost-write a book for her. Todd Beamer was a passenger on the flight, known best for fighting back against the hijackers and his catchphrase "Let's Roll". Of course, nobody knows everything that happened on United 93, which is one reason I'm drawn to the story. I had heard wonderful reviews about the film, especially about how refreshing it was that a film about such an emotionally-charged issue simply got out of the way and let the story speak for itself. I can't remember it well enough to give it a confident rating, but I'm guessing I would rate it a PG or PG-13. And I didn't remember that until I saw (and subsequently bought) this book at a library sale today. But looking back, I think this story is what started that desire in me. I'm also a capable guardian in community settings. I now am a part of our hospital's readiness team and an active shooting response trainer.
After reading Todd's story, I aspired to always be the person who would say "let's roll" and fight back against evil. The result: they saved countless lives by causing the plane to crash in a field instead.
In an act that has not been publicized and praised enough, they were the only passengers on 9/11 to fight back against the evil men planning on crashing their plane into another public building. Let's Roll tells the story of Todd Beamer and the other heroes of Flight 93 who saved countless lives on 9/11. this book HAS shaped my life and I don't think I recognized how drastically until now.
My bar for five star books is set at "changed my life significantly and/or I'll never forget it." I was about to rate this book four stars I was probably in my teens when I initially read it.
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