Stefan Zweig was born just 10 years before my opa and oma, and it was like having a representative from their age describe what life was like in EuropStefan Zweig was born just 10 years before my opa and oma, and it was like having a representative from their age describe what life was like in Europe at the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th.
Perhaps it was due to the skill of the translator of the edition I read, Anthea Bell, but the book's tone was conversational, as if a friend of my Dutch grandparents was sitting with me, reminiscing about a Europe of democracy, liberty, scientific progress, and beautiful art and literature that unfortunately all came apart with the first and then the second world wars. Indeed, Zweig tells his life's story of boyhood, school, adolescence, learning and becoming a great author, with a great balance of personal detail layered over the zeitgeist of the times. Not only did I learn a lot about Zweig himself, but he also filled in my many knowledge gaps of early 20th century history and the world of art and literature.
His descriptions of music, art and literature reminded me so much of my oma, who even in her last days in her late 80s could still recite poetry and song lyrics (leider) from those days Zweig describes.
Perhaps my only complaint was that he skipped much of his personal life, especially his two marriages, and kept the focus solely on the fellow authors and artists he came to know and love. For a memoir that was in many other respects so candid, it seemed a bit jarring.
One does wonder how the 20th century may have turned out had those two terrible wars not occurred. Perhaps our technical knowledge may be further behind and the decay in ethics and morality, accompanied by a cheapening of human life, which Zweig so detested, would also not have fallen to such a degree. Who knows? Perhaps we would have come to totalitarianism, anti-Semitism, and many other 20th century -isms sooner or later anyway.
Sadly, Stefan Zweig never did see the resolution of WWII, as he and his second wife committed suicide in 1942 in a spate of depression about the rise of anti-Semitism, his loss of home and identity (being Jewish), and the state of the world of those days. I think he would have been at least slightly heartened by the restoration of democracy and justice and our society's efforts to avert such tragedies again.
For anyone interested in the roots of the tragedies of the 20th century, I heartily recommend this book!
Reading this was like tagging along with William Shirer on his journalist escapades in pre-WWII Europe.
Shirer was a radio reporter who worked with thReading this was like tagging along with William Shirer on his journalist escapades in pre-WWII Europe.
Shirer was a radio reporter who worked with the likes of Ed Murrow and others, but he had a unique front-row seat (literally) to many of the historic events in the Nazis political domination of Germany and then all of Europe, as he was posted to Berlin until December 1940.
You are with him when he attends Hitler's speeches in the temporary Reichstag. You are with him as he attends the Munich summit in the late summer of 1938. You read over his shoulder as he writes in his diary about his growing concerns that Britain, France and the US are not taking the worsening situation seriously enough. You are with him as the German invaders take him on a brief tour of occupied Poland in September 1939. You are with him as he visits occupied France in the spring of 1940 and witnesses Hitler's vengeful armistice signing at Compiegny. You are with him as he dashes between studios during the early bombing raids of Berlin.
Indeed, reading this 80-year old diary brings an immediacy to the early stages of the war. It is as if you are hearing about the events in real time and don't actually know the outcomes.
It was unfortunate that I had to rush through the end of the book, as I needed to return it to the library. There is a very interesting section there in which Shirer speculates on how Hitler took everyone by surprise and how the British strategy, the only country standing against Hitler at the end of 1940, might unfold. He definitely understood how important it was for Churchill to bring in the might of the USA armed forces.
Megan Phelps-Roper's narrative of her transition from her early life as a die-hard, bible-thumping, sign-carrying member of the Westboro Baptist ChurcMegan Phelps-Roper's narrative of her transition from her early life as a die-hard, bible-thumping, sign-carrying member of the Westboro Baptist Church to her departure from the church and even her family (who make up the majority of members) is a tale of hope for rational and compassionate thought in America today!
The book somewhat reminded me of Eli Saslow's Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist, which I thought was very well-written. Phelps-Roper's is perhaps not quite as well written, but she may be excused as a novice writer. Her book is a much more personal, first-person account, loaded with emotion, which may hinder the clarity in some areas. Stories in which the protagonist has a huge change in their perspective are very important in current times. There is so much despair with the dichotomy and knee-jerk antipathy when we try to discuss differing points of view.
Megan's grandfather, who was a young lawyer actively involved in civil-rights cases founded The Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas back in the 1960s. The entire family became involved in both the church and in the family law company; however, the church doctrines, although not racist, became very dogmatic in interpreting America's late 20th and early 21st century woes as punishment from God for not following the bible literally, especially in matters of moral degradation and homosexuality. A key mantra of the church was literally, "God Hates Fags!" coupled with a belief that the LGBTQ community was sent by Satan to destroy America. All family members, including the children, were expected to picket parks, schools, and even military funerals with signs calling attention to the moral failings afoot in the USA. This is the environment Megan grew up in. Totally enveloped in an ostensibly close-knit and loving family, she bought into the ideas that it was her church and family (who were chosen by God himself) to fulfill the Lord's mission, and she felt somewhat at ease with the extreme doctrines, at least until she grew older and the logical fallicies and inconsistencies in the church's biblical interpretations overwhelmed her sense of rationality.
Interestingly, her mother and aunts, being members of the family law firm, had taught Megan to think critically and pursue outstanding questions. This was so she could rebuke the erroneous claims of "unbelievers" who accosted the picketing church members. However, as church doctrine hardened, and noticeably morphed the male "elders" control of the female members, Megan had an epiphany and confided with a younger sister, with whom she eventually left the church and Topeka. The open-minded Megan was also gradually influenced by people she faithfully and honestly debated on Twitter. In these online discussions, she started to learn that outsiders were not all evil Satanists, but often had valid points she could appreciate. She often felt empathy and compassion that they were not going to "saved" like her.
The great news about this story, is that it shows how people who can, with the right environment, eventually use their own critical-thinking skills and "see the light" to break out of the dogmatic thinking that holds them prisoner. Megan is somewhat of a unique case, in that she grew up open-minded, loved to question and to think independently for herself. Obviously, this is not always the case for most members of fringe groups.
Encouragingly, Megan Phelps-Roper didn't just ride off into anonymity but wrote about her experiences. She hopes to convince others who remain caught up in cultlike thinking to trust their own thoughts and sense of justice, rather than soley rely on a group of "elders" that thinks for them and controls their lives. I think and hope we hear more from her, as she is well-poised to help breakthrough our culture's logjam, where two sides cannot hear each other over their own spite and venom, stuck in the thought that they must be the only group who can be "right". She believes that free-speech is important. Even poorly thought-out and dogmatic ideas can be entertained, as long as we are able to rationally debate them on the marketplace of ideas and truthfully evaluate them....more
This little book is edited by Peter Murray, but the writings are by an early 20th century businessman called Martin Allerdale Grainger. He lived in VaThis little book is edited by Peter Murray, but the writings are by an early 20th century businessman called Martin Allerdale Grainger. He lived in Vancouver and in the 1920s and 30s used to habitually take off for the weekends in the Cascade Mountains that lie between the towns of Hope and Princeton, BC.
In those days, one could take the train from downtown Vancouver early on a Friday evening, and arrive, via the KVR spur line, near Princeton by early morning. Grainger would then take some packhorses into the mountain trails and wander, leaving the stressful business world behind. He was a modest writer, but the descriptions of these jaunts do paint a bit of a picture of what the pioneer days of BC were like as they were fading into history. They also describe the same thrill I get today in visiting the mountains in what is now BC's Manning Park. Most of the writings are culled from Grainger's correspondences with friends and relations about his latest adventures up in this beautiful area of the southern interior of the province.
Readers looking for more of an historical record of specific pioneer personalities or geographical details may be somewhat disappointed, as the book does not cover these things very deeply. It is more of a personal rallying cry for the sports and recreational potential of the area as seen by a Vancouver businessman of the depression era. ...more
Wayne Sawchuk grew up in the Peace River area of Northern BC, just as that wild frontier was finally being tamed and ultimately exploited by big playeWayne Sawchuk grew up in the Peace River area of Northern BC, just as that wild frontier was finally being tamed and ultimately exploited by big players in the forestry, mining, and industrial sectors. Although he grew up in a homesteading family that relied on the riches of the land, and was heavily involved in the forestry industry as a young man, the author eventually realized that the land that supported him needed the protection of people who cared about its preservation.
The book is part memoir, part travelogue, and part environmental call to action. We really see the evolution of the young forestry working and part-time guide and trapper into a mild political activist. Sawchuk seems to have struck a nice balance between working hard building consensus amongst diverse stakeholders to protect the environment while still leaving room for business interests to develop resources in ways that benefit the local economy of the Peace.
Personally I have never travelled much further north in my province than the city of Prince George, which is barely the midpoint. Yet, it was interesting to hear the names of towns, lakes and rivers that are a part of my family history, as my dad's family emigrated to the Peace River area from Britain in the early 1950s....more
You'll probably need to be quite a Bernd Heinrich fan to begin with in order to get the most from this family memoir. It is a lengthy and reflective lYou'll probably need to be quite a Bernd Heinrich fan to begin with in order to get the most from this family memoir. It is a lengthy and reflective look back, not just at Bernd's life but also his father's (Gerd Heinrich). It outlines the family's origins from their small estate near a Polish-German village to their incredible escape from the advancing Russian army at the end of WWII.
A key but perhaps somewhat delicate and understated part of the writing, is where Bernd explores the forceful character of his very traditional father with a somewhat delicate and reverential tone. Nonetheless, he portrays a man who would seem nowadays to be a rather self-centered philanderer. Heinrich senior typically relied on the women in his life as both assistant taxidermists and lovers whilst being married to another. In fact, it was notable that Bernd's mother was happy to leave her children with Gerd's original wife while she and Gerd went off on exotic specimen-collecting expeditions. It wasn't until the family emigrated to the US that a choice had to be made as to who was ultimately the wife going forward! It was also interesting to see some reflections in Bernd's own struggles with his relationships with women. Again, this was an understated part of the memoir, and the focus truly was on the family's interest and Bernd's informal and formal education in naturalist biology.
Putting my psychologist's hat away, the stories of both Gerd's and Bernd's naturalist explorations around the world are quite fascinating and somewhat historical, as Bernd describes how his father's generation started shifting away from the specimen collecting strategy of the 19th century to the more complex scientific modeling and DNA sampling approach of the 20th. Readers looking for Bernd Heinrich's immersive descriptions of natural settings won't be disappointed. These are just not as common as they are in his other naturalist books, which focus on specifc topics such as ravens or a particular small eco-system over studied over time.
This is well worth the read if you are a lover of nature studies, 20th century history, but a must read if you want to understand the author, Bernd Heinrich.
Perhaps it is too easy to sum up Mary Trump's inside look into the family, which literally created the "world's most dangerous man" in Sickening. Sad.
Perhaps it is too easy to sum up Mary Trump's inside look into the family, which literally created the "world's most dangerous man" in two Trump-like soundbites, but those were essentially the two key emotions I came away with. Sad, because we realize Donald grew up (or failed to grow up) as he did due to the harsh, sociopathic character of his father, and the illnesses and lost empathy of his mother. He grew up without the love every child needs. Sickening, because he evolved a character and modes of unscrupulous behavior that were never addressed by anyone with the power to do so, but only enabled, just like it is now by the Republican party.
Unlike other Trump exposés, his niece's book brings us the intimate backstory, the ultimate reasons why this man behaves the way he does and why he always gets away with that behavior. At times I felt that the book was a bit more of a biography of Fred Trump Jr, Donald's older brother and the heir-apparent of Frederick Trump's empire, but I guess that is the lens in which Mary Trump (Freddy's bereaved daughter) saw the unfolding of this saga. I had hoped, perhaps, that she would have put a bit more of a professional psychologist's analysis into the book, but then again, others have done so over the last several years, and Mary had the most unique of vantage points in addition to such expertise.
Again it is both sickening and sad to see how sociopathic behavior in the rich and powerful is given a pass by those who should know better. They are too afraid to risk their own comfy positions to oppose the insanity and/or too busy seeing how they can exploit the same techniques themselves. It is no wonder that Hitler, once he rose to power, so easily led an entire nation down a path set by his own ego. For the US, let us hope that such a path has been averted in the short term and keep watch for its retreading. But I still fear the situation is dire with so many weak-willed enablers. No one can say we have not been warned!...more
In Maus I, Art Spiegelman moves back in forth in time as he works with his father Vladek to capture his family's story in the early days of WWII, the In Maus I, Art Spiegelman moves back in forth in time as he works with his father Vladek to capture his family's story in the early days of WWII, the start of the Holocaust, and up to the point where his father and mother are captured and sent to Auschwitz.
In Maus II, Spiegelman continues his interviews with his father to learn how his parents managed to survive the camps; however, as I mentioned in my review of Maus I, the war has exacted a terrible toll on Art's parents, right down to himself as their child born after the war. Not only do we get the history of Vladek and his wife, Art's mother, Anja, we also get glimpses of the fall-out on Art's generation: the children of survivors.
Although incredibly dark, as any tale of those dark days must be, I had to chuckle at Vladek's mannerisms, perhaps as I see reflections of my own family's learned behaviors from WWII and Nazi deprivations, as comparatively minor they may have been. Vladek continues to be a deal-maker and man of thrift as he learned in the camps. As a retiree years later in the USA, Vladek worries about money continuously, even suspecting his second wife of plotting to steal his modest fortune. He re-uses the same tea bag umpteen times. He hates waste, so tries to give Art and his wife left-over boxes of cereal, which, when politely declined, Vladek reseals and returns to the grocery store for a refund! And for having been labeled as subhuman simply due to his ancestral religion, we get a small, interesting taste of Vladek's ironic racism against "schwartzers who steal everything" (blacks). Oy! Comic stuff on the one hand, but true-to-life sad survivor behavior on the other.
In summary, Maus (I and II together) is a very well-done graphic novel depicting one family's survival through the terrible experiences of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazi's. Art Spiegelman has crafted a classic. However, we also learn that "survival" is a relative term. No one who witnessed those horrors came through unscathed emotionally, even though they may have physically escaped. We must never forget that....more
This truly was a masterpiece that blended an engaging work of fiction with an accurate (and equally engaging) retelling of the history of WWII. As somThis truly was a masterpiece that blended an engaging work of fiction with an accurate (and equally engaging) retelling of the history of WWII. As someone deeply interested in WWII history, and whose own family story is deeply intertwined with it, following the fictional Henry family through their trials and tribulations, personal losses and new-found freedoms, was very enjoyable.
The scale of the work was immense, and Wouk had researched the history very well. I was a bit confused with some of his writing techniques, but perhaps this was due to cramming so much into a written account of family/world history. As a couple of minor quibbles, I found it odd that Byron's story was quite scant in this second book. He essentially disappears from view as of 1943 (view spoiler)[and the death of his captain, Lady Aster (hide spoiler)], until resurfacing (no pun intended) at the end of the war. In fact, much of 1944-45 seemed somewhat rushed, as Wouk ties up all the loose ends--mostly. Another item I found a bit mysterious was how we are left to puzzle out what happened to Berel Jastrow. (view spoiler)[ However, the ending does give some pretty strong hints as it sketches out Louis' survival and miraculous rescue by Byron. I also had seen the TV miniseries, where Berel's final role is spelled out much more vividly for the audience. (hide spoiler)]
Yes--this book does have some (minor) faults. However, I find it incredible how Wouk interwove the political decisions, battle strategies, the terrible Holocaust and so many history-changing events all together with a personal family chronicle. It truly brings much of 20th Century history and politics home to the average person, showing us how our current lives, in both the public and personal sense, were shaped by these immense events....more
Art Spiegelman had his doubts while he worked through the process of converting his father's stories of the families struggles through the holocaust iArt Spiegelman had his doubts while he worked through the process of converting his father's stories of the families struggles through the holocaust into what was ostensibly an avant-garde comic book in the early 1970s. How does one tell such a personal family story-- one that not only included the terrible events of the Holocaust as seen through his father's eyes as a Polish Jew, but also the suicide of his mother, and his own guilt as a child of survivors? And all in the form of a comic book. Remember, in the early 1970s, graphic novels were not considered the level of literature they can be today.
But Spiegelman set a path forward for not only the family memoir of the Holocaust but also, perhaps, for the very genre of graphic novels.
I was especially impressed with the subtle things the author did, such as depicting the Jews as mice, the Germans as cats, the Poles as pigs, and so on. He even extends the animal metaphor with masks, where Jews in-hiding wear pig masks to blend in as Polish citizens. Be aware, though, that animal anthropomorphizing aside, this is no children's book. Although appropriate for high-schoolers perhaps, this is no introduction to the terrible atrocities and life complications that spilled out of WWII-Europe for younger children. Maus contains depictions of suicide and death galore...which is unavoidable in this subject area.
Importantly, Spiegelman does not shy away from how this terrible family history affected the rest of his parents' lives, as well as his own as a member of the generation after. The theme of intergenerational trauma in circumstances such as WWII, the Holocaust, and even the case of Canada's indigenous residential school system still deserves further exploration, as we understand how the stain left on one generation shows up in later ones too.
I had heard about Maus years ago, and although I've read a lot of Holocaust literature, I am surprised it has taken me so long to get around to reading this. It is indeed a masterpiece!...more
Luckily Amor Towles writing style is very engaging because for the first half of the book I was wondering where the story was going. Yes- we know thatLuckily Amor Towles writing style is very engaging because for the first half of the book I was wondering where the story was going. Yes- we know that Count Alexander Rostov has been deemed a "former person" by the courts of the Soviet Union, and he must now spend the rest of his life under house arrest in a small room in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. Yes - we get to meet a few interesting characters, and reflect on the history of Russia and how the Soviet regime was turning everything upside down counter to the count's gentlemanly upbringing. Yes-- we see Rostov's daily life as perhaps not quite as boring as one would fear via the masterfully told mini-stories from within a microcosm of a single hotel, but even with all these lovely life lessons and insights we are kind of left in suspense for the first 100-200 pages wondering: where is Towles taking us exactly?
I'm glad I was patient. The further you go into the book, with all its details and attention to the count's routines and hotel companions, the more you get to know Count Rostov, and what makes him tick. The count himself was perhaps even frustrated with the first 100 or so pages of his life trapped within the Metropol, as he almost took his own life. But events, as they so often do in real life, can take a turn and sweep you along in unexpected ways.
In a very interesting turn of events, Rostov becomes the adoptive father of the daughter of a young woman he had befriended when she herself was a little girl who had spent long hours of her childhood in the hotel. We eventually begin to see little clues dropped here and there of Rostov putting together a very detailed and long-evolved plan for his new daughter's welfare: a plan in which he ultimately succeeds in providing the both of them a freedom richly deserved and unexpected....more
Having read Victor Klemperer's personal diaries of a Jew trapped living in Nazi Germany, I was curious to read his academic work covering how the subtHaving read Victor Klemperer's personal diaries of a Jew trapped living in Nazi Germany, I was curious to read his academic work covering how the subtleties of language affected the public perceptions of the politics of those times.
I'm not sure if it was the translation, or the half-hearted editing that went into the book, but it seemed to wander a bit in its tone and style from time to time. At times it seemed very officious and academic, written in the style of an 19th Century-trained professor, but at others it was more conversational and used anecdotes directly from the diaries.
In any case, this is most definitely an indispensable read to anyone interested in how language and its uses, both subtle and not so subtle, were employed by the Nazi regime to sway the thinking of a typically stoic and rational people. Klemperer provides ample examples from the likes of Goebbels, Rosenburg, and Hitler himself....more
Nora Krug uses a very innovative and visually appealing scrap-book-style journalism in a fairly personal exploration of her family history. In some brNora Krug uses a very innovative and visually appealing scrap-book-style journalism in a fairly personal exploration of her family history. In some broad ways it reminds me of Maus, the graphic-novel of a modern New York Jew's explorations of his father's past life in the Holocaust; however, Heimat is taken from the opposite perspective, Krug is a young German immigrant in modern Brooklyn exploring her grandparents roles in WWII Germany. Definitely a touchy-subject: were they Nazi collaborators or honorable Mensch who resisted the regime and hid Jews? Nora Krug takes us along on her personal journey, ingeniously unraveling the truth, which as in most cases lies somewhere in between extremes.
An interesting point that Krug makes early in the book is how young Germans today can have an almost overwhelming sense of shame and national regret over the Nazi period, perhaps even to the point of denigrating their own cultural heritage, even the good parts the rest of the world practically takes for granted like Goethe, Schiller, schnitzel and beer and Bach. Indeed, Krug was almost brutal in her teenage years with an almost anti-German stance, which I suspect lurked not only from what she was being taught in public schooling regarding the Nazi atrocities, but also from her family history. (view spoiler)[ Indeed we eventually find out that although both sets of grandparents made some pragmatic concessions in their core values during the Nazi regime, they were definitely not prime Nazi material. (hide spoiler)]
At times the visualizations distracted me from the storyline somewhat, but overall they were incredibly well done, thoughtful, and symbolic. Anyone interested in pondering the wounds left on families due to this terrible period of history will not be disappointed by this unique memoir....more
These are the second set of memoirs of Elie Wiesel, following up on the first, "All Rivers Flow to the Sea" and covering from the time of his marriageThese are the second set of memoirs of Elie Wiesel, following up on the first, "All Rivers Flow to the Sea" and covering from the time of his marriage in the late 1960s to the end of the 20th Century.
And to what a 20th Century was Elie Wiesel a witness! As a Holocaust survivor from a small Hungarian/Romanian village, Wiesel had lost practically everything: his home, mother, father, grandparents and golden-haired little sister. One may think that that could lead to a life of hatred and despair, but not in Wiesel's case. He indeed became a witness to the horrors of the 20 Century, and not being just content to write about the Holocaust, he became a voice against injustice in many areas, a voice that shunned turning away silently from those in need.
I feared that this book may fall into a bit of a trap that I noticed in the second half of the first book of memoirs, where Wiesel tends to list the names of almost everyone he met and/or collaborated with, in an overwhelming who-is-who of literary and Jewish scholarship circles. However, I liked the structure that he seemed to adopt in this second book where he choose chapter-themes of his work in the later stages of his life.
Instead of rambling in a mish-mash of chronology where "I worked here, and I was doing such and such, when I met so and so", this book comes alive with chapters that cover a similar ground but in a way where we get a comprehensive picture of a particular aspect of Elie Wiesel's later life as an established writer and Nobel Prize winner. We see how he became a better public speaker even though he was quite shy and nervous. We are taken through his work on the commission to create the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington. We learn about the ups and downs of his relationship with Francois Mitterand. We travel with him to the Soviet Union several times to meet the Jewish Community there and see first hand the challenges of the Refuseniks. We are given insight into his reflections of the first Gulf War and the tribulations of the Balkan tragedy in the 1990s. We are even given little glimpses into his private life with his family.
It is a lot of ground to cover, but I enjoyed this tour through the second half of the 20th Century. We get a good sense of how Wiesel's background brought him to be such a central figure in it all, and we discover a man of great principles, of human kindness, and tireless energy that never stopped being a witness until his death in 2016, 20 years after this memoir was written.
I have come away from his memoirs with a deep sense of respect and awe for this little boy, a shy student of the Talmud, from Sighet. May we never forget the lessons he has taught us, especially when now so many seem prone to do exactly that.
Why is there so much violence, so much hate? How is it conceived, transmitted, fertilized, nurtured? As we face the disquieting, implacable rise of intolerance and fanaticism on more than one continent, it is our duty to expose the danger. By naming it. By confronting it.
The Hebrew word, Timshel, signifies the choice God gave to Cain after noting his sins: "thou mayest. You have a choice in how you react." Life is all aThe Hebrew word, Timshel, signifies the choice God gave to Cain after noting his sins: "thou mayest. You have a choice in how you react." Life is all about choices and free will; especially the freedom to choose good over evil, which Steinbeck presents in his saga of the American Trask family echoing the timeless tale of Cain and Abel.
I was pleasantly surprised by the book, as I had been concerned that it would be too lengthy an epic or its symbolism would go over my head; however, it was a pleasant read. The characters are wonderful: the original Trask brothers going their separate ways foreshadowing the Cain and Abel story for the first generation, the philosophical "jack-of-all trades" Samuel Hamilton, the compulsively evil Cathy, and, my favorite, the kind-hearted and wise Chinese man servant, Lee. Steinbeck paints these people well in the historical shades of American life at the start of the 20th Century.
Having read Of Mice and Men back in highschool, I was unsure of what all the fuss was over John Steinbeck. Interestingly, I have often thought of George and Lenny's story and the life lessons I got from it at the time, but I wonder what I would get out of Steinbeck now that I have more life experience and choices under my belt. Timshel....more
Elie Wiesel tells his life story from the time he was a little boy fascinated by the mysteries of Jewish religion in his small village of Sighet in RuElie Wiesel tells his life story from the time he was a little boy fascinated by the mysteries of Jewish religion in his small village of Sighet in Ruthenia to becoming a young journalist rebuilding his life in postwar Europe and bearing witness to the horrors and losses of Auschwitz.
The first half of the book is beautifully written, with prose that is as haunting as the author's dreams of the dead. Wiesel was surprised by his survival, and struggled a little to find a vocation, but did he ever find it in exploring the travesty of the Holocaust through writing.
I found the second half of the book was sometimes more of a continuous list of names of friends and acquaintances I couldn't keep up with. Nevertheless, reading it is so worthwhile just because Wiesel is one of the prime survivors of the Holocaust who unceasingly makes us examine what happened, and dare I say why it happened, to the Jewish people in humanity's darkest days....more
David Park has crafted a hauntingly beautiful tale of a father, Tom, on a wintery road trip to bring back his flu-ridden son, Luke, back from universiDavid Park has crafted a hauntingly beautiful tale of a father, Tom, on a wintery road trip to bring back his flu-ridden son, Luke, back from university in time for Christmas. It is not beautiful because of the vivid descriptions of the winter landscapes, but Park delves into the inner, driving thoughts of a father who ponders his life with his family and the struggles they have had with their eldest son, who is not the one at university.
Park takes us on a ride where the truth of the circumstances and whereabouts of the eldest son are slowly revealed, just as slowly and inexorably as the world is blanketed in snow and transformed around Tom as he ventures further afield from his Northern Irish home into northern England.
We ultimately learn that the truth about Daniel is not very beautiful, but the way Tom comes to the truth of that realization, his own faults in what happened, and his decision to go forward with his life as it must now be, is indeed a thing of beauty. This is a very modern tale, relevant to our times....more
This is the first book I've read by Richard Wagamese, and I was sad to learn recently that this indigenous Canadian author passed away last year. He wThis is the first book I've read by Richard Wagamese, and I was sad to learn recently that this indigenous Canadian author passed away last year. He was an important voice that raised the issue of the poor treatment of Canada's native population, and it is a shame his voice is now silent, unable to add more books to a much-needed genre.
Indian Horse is the tale of a young Ojibway boy, Saul Indian Horse, whose family disintegrates while he is quite young, and he is swept up into the terrible aboriginal residential schools the government had set up, ostensibly to provide good Christian educations to native youth, but which instead cleansed them of their culture in a dehumanizing cult of shame. The one good thing that Saul's school taught him was an intense love of ice hockey. At one point, this provides him with a ticket out of the horrible school system and into a potential NHL career, but the pain of Saul's early life, some of it well-hidden, comes back to haunt him, and he spirals down a path of alcoholism to drown the pain.
In one way, this is an all too familiar story for Canadian native youth, especially in the 1960-80s setting in which the book takes place. The author brings this context to bear very well on the plot of the book, and the writing and imagery are superb. The descriptions of life and racism in small, northern Ontario towns, rings very true for me even though I grew up on the other side of the country. Of course, there are the Canadian universal truths that we find we share through our national game of hockey as well.
Unlike the typical sad story of Indian youth, this tale ends somewhat more optimistically, but thankfully Wagamese doesn't indulge in a Hollywood ending where Saul overcomes all odds to enjoy a glorious NHL career and prove all the racists wrong.
Again, I find it a shame that Wagamese will not be around to add further stories that help explore the plight of Canadian indigenous people, as it is an important topic that all Canadians should be exploring. I look forward to reading some of his other books and would recommend them to anyone interested in the 20th Century plight of our continent's first peoples....more
The effect of the Holocaust continues to spill down through time to the children of the survivors and even their grandchildren. I myself have felt theThe effect of the Holocaust continues to spill down through time to the children of the survivors and even their grandchildren. I myself have felt the effects of the trauma my mother's family faced in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. Even though they managed to hide their Jewish ancestry, the stress of doing so left deep habits of anxiety and mistrust. And sadness...so much in life being simply tinged with sadness.
Lillian Boraks-Nemetz, herself a child survivor of the Warsaw ghetto takes her fictitious protagonist, Batya, on an emotional journey in which she must learn to come to terms with her family's past. For years she has buried the past, and with her father dead and her mother refusing to discuss it, she has split into two personalities. There is Batya, her original Polish-Jewish identity, who is intuitive and sensitive but drowning in a perpetual, dysfunctional repression of her feelings, while Beata, the Polish-Catholic identity she took on as a child when sent out of the ghetto by her mother and father, puts on a brave face, ignores the unanswered questions, and uses alcohol to numb any residual pain. This confusion wreaks havoc on her adult life as a wife and mother to two teenage children, as her family cannot possibly understand a past that is never discussed and from which they are so far removed both in time and space: 40 years later and thousands of miles away in Vancouver, Canada.
I'm not sure if a reader who has no family history of post-traumatic stress, especially in regards to the horrors of the Holocaust, would be as sensitive to this well-crafted historical detective thriller and psychological drama. Because my mother was comparatively sheltered from the worst of the traumas many experienced in the Holocaust, she never displayed the same level of symptoms as Batya. However, I could see a few overlaps in my mother's family's characteristics, both in Batya and her surviving mother: secrecy, not dredging up the past, shielding the children, etc....
In the end, it was a good, emotional read as we journey with Batya on her struggle to reconcile her two selves and become a more integrated whole through better understanding her past....more
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