As much as I loved this book, I didn't feel the way I wanted to during and after I had read it.
I wanted to feel distraught and upset and I wanted to uAs much as I loved this book, I didn't feel the way I wanted to during and after I had read it.
I wanted to feel distraught and upset and I wanted to ugly-cry so bad! But sadly, I didn't. To be frank, I found that the writing was lacking emotional depth from character development to the descriptions of the horrors that were carried out in the camp and the devastation of it all. I wanted to feel everything that the people were feeling. I wanted to know the darkness, the abyss of pain that was their new reality. I wanted to know what they thought and how they coped: every excruciating detail.
I loved this story, and because it lacked something huge for me, I am severely disappointed. It is the deep emotional connection that creates a lasting impression of a book on me, and this will not be as memorable as I had hoped for it to be.
“How can someone do this to another human being? He wonders if for the rest of his life, be it short or long, he will be defined by this moment, this irregular number: 32407.”
This was a beautiful story set in a horrific time. Though we have been told many stories through books and documentaries about World War II, the nature of the war never ceases to shock me over and over. When you really stop to think about it, it's just absolutely mind-boggling that it ever happened!
Anyone who reads this story will fall into it straight away. There are many characters that we get to know inside the Auschwitz concentration camp, the different relationships that existed between the prisoners and the SS soldiers. The story is based on a true story which adds to the intensity and sadness of the book. This is a tale of love amidst the story of struggle and survival.
“You know something, Tätowierer? I bet you’re the only Jew who ever walked into an oven and then walked back out of it”.
Shortly after entering Auschwitz, Lale's survival instincts kick in as he begins to carefully observe and watch the order of life in this evil place. He quickly makes friends with the right people and tragically manages to score himself the job of the tatooist - scarring the hundreds and thousands of people that enter the camps with a number that would dehumanise them. Though this keeps him out of immediate danger, there is a guilt forever carried in his heart at the protection he receives in exchange for helping out.
However, Lale uses his new privileges to help others who are struggling in the camp, risking his own life to do so.
“I know he is not perfect, but I also know he will always put me first.”
The love story between Gita and Lale within the walls of Auschwitz is a vulnerability to them both as they battle against all odds to survive the hell they live in. The hope and dream of making a life outside the gates spurs them on each day, even when uncertainty upholds.
“If you wake up in the morning, it is a good day.”
Having given my opinion at the start, you can take it to be my lasting impression of this book. But to be clear, Lale and Gita's story is definitely worth reading and it is to be cherished and respected amongst the countless of stories both told and untold during World War II....more
This book was a struggle for me but I think my advice would be to not try and read it altogether.
However, it really is a manifesto that is very empowThis book was a struggle for me but I think my advice would be to not try and read it altogether.
However, it really is a manifesto that is very empowering and thought provoking and so I got great value from picking it up from time to time.
This manifesto has a some great quotes that I will keep with me going forward. A lot of valuable life lessons to take note of and to try incorporate into my daily life going forward.
Like I said, keep this book on hand for when you are looking for some wisdom and inspiration, and you will certainly receive if you open your mind and your heart....more
I read this book over a year ago now and it has become my first little guide book to Paris that I keep referring back to.
Overall, it was an insightfulI read this book over a year ago now and it has become my first little guide book to Paris that I keep referring back to.
Overall, it was an insightful book with a humorous twist from Clarke who had lived there for many years. Having written a few books on the French and their ways, it can be said that Clarke has a clue.
The book brings Paris to life through chapters that are specifically themed so that all the details can be related back to a subject. This I found as a useful tool in the ordering of the material, and furthermore brought a story-telling element to the corners and cafes of the City of Lights.
A very enjoyable account of Parisian life, and a good foundation for building upon!...more
Almost a 5 star read. I think I only became engrossed in this novel towards the end, and only then did I appreciate the full read that it was.
Set in Almost a 5 star read. I think I only became engrossed in this novel towards the end, and only then did I appreciate the full read that it was.
Set in Japan during the times of the Great Depression and the second World War, this story was a very interesting insight into the cultural norms and conditions of the people living in such times, particularly through the lens of the distinguishable geisha tradition.
“Adversity is like a strong wind. I don't mean just that it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.”
Our protagonist Chiyo is taken from her home in the small fishing village of Yoroido as a very young girl. Sold and sent to Kyoto along with her older sister, Chiyo leaves behind an ill mother and an elderly father which leaves her little prospects in the fishing village. From early on in the story, we discover that one thing about Chiyo tends to draw startling attention- her uncommon silvery blue eyes.
Sent to Kyoto and separated from her sister, the young girl is put into an okiya, a lodging place for geisha. Life in the okiya is strange and horrible with hostile company and horrid chores and routines as Chiyo starts out as a maid. She must build her way up the ladder and deem herself worthy of becoming a successful geisha, the only favorable prospects for a livable future with her circumstances.
“I dont think any of us can speak frankly about pain until we are no longer enduring it.”
This is a challenge for Chiyo, the transition and acceptance of her life does not come easy to her. Furthermore, suffering hostilities from the beautiful and spiteful geisha Hatsumomo throws Chiyo into further debt and despair, almost ruining her chances of any future at all. A rivalry is struck between them as Chiyo is seen as a threat with her unusual beauty.
Hope revives itself with the incidental and almost insignificant event from the outside eye, an encounter with a gentlemen which would spiral into a whirlwind fantasy in Chiyo's mind, pushing her onwards in becoming a successful geisha. Under the guidance of the famous geisha Mameha, Chiyo continues her training into apprenticeship, overcoming many odds that were against her, and Sayuri is born.
“We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course.”
Success does not come easy to Sayuri. Trouble is stirred by Hatsumomo whilst trying to build her reputation in the Gion area of Kyoto, and secure the affections of men in order to gain financial stability for her okiya. Her livelihood will depend on her ability to woo businessmen and aristocrats with techniques of the geisha tradition. It was very fascinating to read about how the geisha sustained themselves in such a way through this cleverly seductive means of entertainment in the impressive tea houses of Gion.
“If you aren't the woman I think you are, then this isn't the world I thought it was.”
During the course of the geisha life, we learn that an established geisha can acquire a danna, a patron figure who would support a geisha's lifestyle and cover large expenses. Although a danna is usually already married, a geisha with this patron can sometimes be involved in acts of entertainment of the sexual sort. At this career point for Sayuri, she must choose between damaging her carefully built reputation in order to avoid the danna her destiny has always seemed to lie with, or finally do something she never thought she could do; take control of where her river flowed.
“If you keep your destiny in mind, every moment in life becomes an opportunity for moving closer to it.”
This book was very beautiful to read. I was slow to get into it personally, but by the end of the novel it felt like I'd come through a long journey, and having gotten to know the character so well early on, it was warming to see the ending and its dramatic events.
“It was what we Japanese called the onion life, peeling away a layer at a time and crying all the while.”
A lovely read on the hardships of life in Japan during the 1920s and 30s. The writing has lots of lovely metaphors and similes with nature which for me was a very Japan thing with Buddhism being so prominent in the country. The book was also full of interesting characters. Throughout the life of Chiyo and Sayuri, many different people of authority and personality intervened and guided her which made for a curious adventure.
Overall delighted to have read it!
A beautiful quote to end the journey....
“She paints her face to hide her face. Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings. She entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret.”...more
What or rather, who, I love most about this series is the author.
Rebecca Yarros, the life you live, I admire you so much. I Rebecca Yarros, Thank You.
What or rather, who, I love most about this series is the author.
Rebecca Yarros, the life you live, I admire you so much. I cried extensively throughout this series, not only from the adversity that the characters faced, but also because of the fact that the situations felt so real, and I can only imagine how people really get through living with the military in this world today. I kept putting the book down and just really thinking about families trying to make it, the waiting, the absenteeism from all the special moments in life, the sacrifices, the scars, both mental and physical, the loneliness, not having the support of your partner. On a level, the scenes were real, situations that no doubt are affecting families throughout the world everyday. Having to keep going, raising a family or carrying on in work, waking up everyday without them, sleeping in an empty bed, the worry and just missing half of your soul. Meanwhile, on the other side you have the honour but the willingness to lose your life in order to save someone else's, the risks, the moments of consent to go in where it could be the end or you might just be lucky to make it out, the last minute prayers, never being able to erase the sights that you've come across, the brothers and sisters lost, the pain and hardship of seeing death and destruction and humanity at its worst.....
This series really made me think, and once again, I feel the need to mention once more, the sincere respect I have for anyone living lives tied to the military in any way. We all get one chance on this earth, and to those who sacrifice it to go out there and fight, protect, and save, or equally, to those who support the heroes and give them something to come home to, as well as continuing to live normal lives everyday, I just want to say, Thank You.
Rebecca Yarros, Thank You.
Oh yeah this book was....amazing. I will always hold it close....more
Yes, this was an interesting read, review to come maybe :P
But just in case...
I found the dynamic of the group hard to figure out Riiiiiiiiiiggghhhttt.
Yes, this was an interesting read, review to come maybe :P
But just in case...
I found the dynamic of the group hard to figure out sometimes, I just didn't grasp some of their personalities and some of the relationships between the teammates I found peculiar. As in, I seemed to read them differently all the time and see something different or miss something that was going on, little gestures but one minute it's- argh it's crazy!!
And yeah I think that's why I liked it :'D :'D...more
Okay so I finished this a lot quicker than I thought...... ..... BDKJFSBKJFZJFBZSJKGSZHKDFSHZVGKHVKDSZFOHMYGODWHATISHAPPENINGTOMERN
So basically CassandrOkay so I finished this a lot quicker than I thought...... ..... BDKJFSBKJFZJFBZSJKGSZHKDFSHZVGKHVKDSZFOHMYGODWHATISHAPPENINGTOMERN
So basically Cassandra Clare has done it AGAIN. I really thought I'd lost most of my feels for this world BUT OH NO THEY HIT ME AGAIN SO FREAKING HARD.
I'm so gone. Yep. Body mind and soul. I cannot function right now thank God I'm on break. I am bloody useless.
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