Friday, March 06, 2015

Steve Rogers' bookshelf



Adding to the continuing series of books in movies...

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Steve Rogers' climbs in through the window of his apartment after realizing someone has broken in. There are two shelves you see him pass by on his way to see who's in his apartment. He passes by the second one so fast the titles are illegible (although I hope to one day get a good screen-capture of it). The lighting on the first shelf is bad, but I've played with it some to make out the titles better. Here's what I can discern. If you can fill in any of the books or correct what I have, let me know in the comments!

Standing books, left:

Never Surrender: A Soldier’s Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom by Lieutenant General William G. Boykin

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

(Not completely certain on this) A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

All The President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

Three books I can't identify, although one may be Dispatches by Michael Herr

The fifth book from the left is probably The Catcher in the Rye (see comments)

Next to it is Steinbeck in Vietnam (see comments)

Stacked books:

Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling by Eleanor Clift and Tom Brazaitis

George H.W. Bush by Timothy Naftali

Barack Obama: The Story by David Maraniss

The Night Stalkers: Top Secret Missions of the US Army’s Special Operations Aviation Regiment by Michael J. Durant, Steven Hartov, and Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Johnson

Standing books, right:

The Second World War: An Illustrated History of WWII, Sir John Hammerton (editor)—two volumes out of the ten-volume series published by Trident Press (1999-2000)—I'm not sure which two volumes, though

What I like about the book choices is that it fits in with one of the running gags in the movie about Rogers trying to catch up on everything he missed from World War II to when he was discovered. These books show he was definitely focusing on history (which is why I'm uncertain on the Hemingway), at least on this shelf.

8 comments:

Elizabeth D said...

Thanks for posting the list! I've actually been curious about it myself. I know this is very much after the fact, but it's still good resource material for what I'm doing. :)

I'd give anything to know what all those books are in the back. As he turns, you can see a breakfast counter of sorts and a bookshelf in the back that looks as if it's mostly full and has books stacked beside it. What I don't know is if the paintings which are stacked on the wall have just not been put into place yet or if Fury moved them. It seems strange that Fury would risk making that much noise if he knows the place is bugged, though.

My guess is 'A Moveable Feast' might well be accurate. Maybe he just likes Hemingway. It came out in 1964, so Steve couldn't have read it before the ice.

Dwight said...

Thanks, and good luck on your project.

As I've mentioned in other posts, I enjoy things like this because you can tell someone put some thought into what was going to be shown, even thought it's just for a fraction of a second.

Anonymous said...

I think that the book to the right of “All the President’s Men” is “A Catcher in the Rye”. It doesn’t seem to match the theme of the rest of the books on the shelf but it could have something to do with the time period it’s set in being right around when Steve Rogers got frozen. I might be wrong but the cover just seemed very distinct to me.

Dwight said...

It could be, although if that was the case I think the spine should be a solid color instead of the two-tone colors here. My copy is long gone, though, so I can't be sure. I'll have to check it out...thanks!

Alana Dill said...

The outer paper cover of the hardbound is definitely two-toned with red at the top and white on the bottom.
https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/product/the-catcher-in-the-rye-jd-salinger-first-edition-1951-4/

Dwight said...

Thanks Alana and Anonymous for the notes. The color pattern matches and the printing on the top half may (my picture just isn't clear enough). While the publisher logo on the bottom instead of a printed name probably comes from a later edition. I'll update the post accordingly. Thanks!

Ewyqued said...

The other two are The Catcher in the Rye and Steinbeck in Vietnam. (Took HD screenshot and lightened it in Photoshop LOL)

Dwight said...

Thanks so much! I don't have Photoshop so the help is appreciated.