luxnova
I really did not like this book. The only part I found somewhat interesting was the climax of the book, where Morrison's writing collapses into poetry and grammar/punctuation degrades. This literary style, raw and unadulterated by convention betrays the very institution of slavery. It's incredibly stark and powerful. The fragmented language represents a true descent into the depths of trauma—where individuality is stripped and enduring historical memory surfaces.
I also liked the moments where slavery's history is subtlety alluded to, especially in a euphemistic sense—the true horror lies not in explicitly stated events but in the insidious memories that bleed through the narrative.
At the same time, these fragments make it very hard to understand what is even happening at all. I don't think I really understood any part of this book.
I really disliked reading this tbh. I don't think I learned anything from it and I did not like any of the characters. I wish I'd spent the time reading Frederick Douglass or Uncle Tom's Cabin or something else. Maybe some people find this book enlightening but not me.
I hope to return to this book soon. It is so powerful and so human, and the stories are more pressing than ever given the current conflicts in the Mideast. I have so much respect for these journalists: their thoughts, unrelenting strength in documenting war in a raw and human way, efforts to expose stories of women + peoples that might be otherwise overlooked, and courageous empathy. I hold war journalists in very high regard and I really appreciated hearing the unique perspectives of these reporters, their careers, and identities.
Reading this soon after [b:Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War|543103|Generation Kill Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War|Evan Wright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441919496l/543103.SY75.jpg|908023] and before meeting/speaking with Iraqi exchange students helped me get a more nuanced view of the war in Iraq and, more broadly, Mideast countries and people.
I love all of these stories but The Woman Question (loved that she referenced Generation Kill) and Maps of Iraq stood out to me the first time I read it.
“It is our responsibility to do our utmost to acquire the answers, to dig them up with our bare hands if we must.”
the best book i've ever read after the little prince. i read it for the first time in a day. on the rainy river is my fav story by far, i read it at the right time and a moment in my life when i felt for the first time truly understood. i come back to this book all the time, probably reread it like 50 times at this point.
i read this book first back in fourth grade, i liked it but didn't think all that much of it. i've come back to it several times since, and especially now i'm struck by how much deep meaning there really is in it. how the struggles of each character is explored. maybe the writing is geared for a younger audience but i think the reason i keep coming back is those deeper themes, the burdens we all carry, the importance of forgiveness. it's a really short book but i just love it so much.
edit Jan 2025: Now I'm thinking again about this book. Rachel's desire to fly, her selective mutism, Bastian tying his personality to his father being in the Air Force... Honestly this is such a comfort read and the older I get the more I feel like I understand it.
dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
“It is sweet and proper to die for one's country.”
Before reading this book, I think I somehow fell into the trap that a lot of these young boys did a hundred years ago. To me, the trenches became a symbol of resilience. That someone could have such dedication towards their country they'd be willing to fight and die in such disgusting and horrifying conditions was commendable to me. But quickly, as I read this book it became clear- the soldiers aren't fighting in a war with another country's soldiers. They were lied to. The only real enemy is death. Like the poisonous gas that sank into the trenches and the shell-holes, it was ever-present and completely inescapable.
Remarque makes it clear- the front is a hellscape beyond all that is imaginable. These men, or more accurately, boys, aren't fighting with some strong nationalist fervor, but rather clawing out from the impending grips of death that surround them. In essence, they're already gone. Paul notes certain skills & tactics the soldiers can pick up to improve their odds, but in the end it's still all a horrific game of chance.
One thing that struck me was the way the soldiers talk about their friends dying so nonchalantly. Right in the beginning, Paul notes how a loss of men in one of the battles let them have extra rations, and that he is happy for that. Nobody can afford to care about dying anymore, it becomes a question of when, rather than if. Paul notes the death of Müller so matter-of-factly, almost as if he had no emotional connections to him at all. The first order of business is deciding the order that the boots he inherited from Kemmerich will be passed along to, not to crying for him or praying. The sentences surrounding his death are short and curt, as if there is nothing more to be said of the matter. The soldiers have all been so completely desensitized to death, they cannot afford to feel anything over the death of their friend because if they did, they would be in a perpetual state of grief, which I suppose they are regardless. When Paul is in that shell-hole and stabs the other soldier to death, he feels horrible for it and promises to write and send money to his family. He deflects some of the blame to the war in general but acknowledges his part in this his demise. Later, however he gets convinced by his friends to forget about everything because there's no way they can think about every single person they kill, it would weigh them all down too much.
I thought it was interesting how Paul was hesitant to find out the man's name because he said if he didn't, he would easily be able to forget about what happened but if he got his name, it would be a label that could torment him for the rest of his life. Becoming desensitized was the only way to deal with the suffering they inflicted and that surrounded them.
The dichotomy of the frontlines and the people back at home who talk about the war is also interesting. Some people in the pub (I think it was?) tell Paul how Germany should do this and that, completely ignorant to the reality of the trenches. Both sides believed the war would end quickly, which led to a draining war that killed millions. At the pub, you get the sense that Paul is just thinking, “I've been through literal hell for months fighting this senseless war. They have the audacity to tell me I know nothing about the war since I'm just the soldier in the trenches? They're the ones who are disillusioned.”
A big part of the book is this difference between the people at home and in the trenches. Paul and his schoolmates who joined the war have a strong sense of betrayal from figures such as Kantorek- their old schoolmaster.
dulce et decorum est pro patria mori This sentiment was a prevalent one among many at the start of the war. When Kantorek becomes part of the military and Paul's schoolfriend is bossing him around and yelling at him it is almost cathartic because he is the one who sold them a lie and glorified the disgusting reality of war.
They call people from this generation the ‘lost generation'. It is so incredibly sad, reading someone completely lose their will to live, and millions of lives stolen by the war- and even if their lives weren't stolen then their futures were. If you've ever romanticized war, had any shallow visions of heroism when you see those old war photos and think ‘well, at least they had a reason to fight, something that united them, at least they weren't as individualistic and polarized as we are today,' all of that gets completely blown out of you like the incessant bombardments that pierce the pages of this book.
Although not the primary message, I also think this shows how in these women can be easily objectified in these scenarios. Paul had thoughts about “winning over” the girl on that poster they find, though he admits it was silly. It goes to show the lack of will to live these men had, and how they clung on to any reason to keep fighting for their lives, any other motivation beyond survival.
Even though it exposes the horrors of war well, All Quiet does romanticize the relationships that Paul has with his fellow soldiers- like when he and Kat are eating the goose and he's talking about how much he loves Kat, or when he's clawing back to the trench and talking about how the bond between him and the soldiers - “I belong to them and they to me; we all share the same fear and the same life, we are nearer than lovers, in a simpler, a harder way.” (157) It reminds me of the Greek ‘philla' type of love, like a brotherly kind of love. Paul notes that these kinds of relationships could never occur during peacetime. I think it's interesting, how shared traumatic experiences give us a different kind of bond beyond friendship.
When Paul goes back home, he can't even read the books he once loved and feels like a “foreigner” in his own home. All his passion and hope has been knocked out of him. Everything that he once lived for has no appeal anymore. He tries to survive the war solely as a primal instinct and for the sake of his comrades, for the tiny moments of joy like eating that goose with Kat. Once Kat dies however, I think Paul comes to the realization that everyone he has loved is gone, there is nothing he has left to live for. The last pages of the book are the most harrowing.
“I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear.” (214)
“[All Quiet on the Western Front] will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.”
In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park is an autobiography written by a North Korean defector. A critical look into North Korea, it is a must-read for anyone inquisitive about the ‘Hermit Kingdom'. The author, Yeonmi Park, is a North Korean activist, and her book details her life story. Encapsulating all the horrors she endured in her home country and her perilous escape, the horrors of North Korea are exposed through the eyes of Yeonmi Park.
Yeonmi's story starts in Hyesan, North Korea, where she describes her childhood and growing up with fluctuating wealth. As a child, her family sustains itself quite well, depending on her father's business of smuggling Chinese goods over the border. Throughout her youth, Yeonmi is told not to ask questions and to strictly do as she is told. “Even when you think you're alone, the birds and mice can hear you whisper,” (Park 10) her mother tells her. Very quickly, it becomes evident how brainwashed the people of North Korea are, consuming absurd propaganda and viewing the Kim dictators as god-like figures. When Kim II Sung dies, Yeonmi remarks, “It was like God himself died. ‘How can the Earth spin on its axis?'” (Park 64). To have a country in the twenty-first century in which the citizens view their leaders as god itself is perhaps what adds to the intrigue surrounding North Korea.
After her father's business is discovered and he is subsequently arrested, Yeonmi's life takes a turn. Enduring several hardships such as not seeing her mother for months and resorting to swallowing insects with her sister to survive, the façade of North Korea's socialist paradise and leaders begins to crumble before her eyes. Yeonmi starts to realize the truth about her homeland through smuggled movies such as Titanic (1997), revealing to her that North Korea is perhaps not as glorious as she once believed. Maybe this can attest to the impact that films can have, even in these unlikely places.
After years of struggling to survive, Yeonmi's family decides to leave North Korea. Out of pure desperation, her sixteen-year-old sister decides to run over the Yalu River into China ahead of the rest of the family. Yeonmi and her mother leave soon after to search for her, not suspecting the traffickers that lead them over the river of having any immoral intent. “As North Koreans, we were innocent in a way that I cannot fully explain,” (Park 64). Unfortunately, Yeonmi's life only gets worse in China, getting caught in human trafficking circles, enduring sexual exploitation, and watching her mother suffer through similar horrors. It's devastating to read the things she endured and difficult to realize that these are real events that happen to real people. At times in the book, I honestly forgot that the events described were real. Readers should take caution as this book includes rape, human trafficking, kidnapping, suicide, violence, and other serious topics.
Finally, after a long eighteen months in China, Yeonmi and her mother follow the stars desperately through the Gobi Desert into Mongolia, finally being sent to South Korea where they face a whole different set of challenges.
In her book, Yeonmi also addresses those who are quick to criticize the inconsistencies in her story. After becoming a public figure, Yeonmi has shared her story several times. However, through the years of accounting the events in her life, she has changed key details in different retellings leading many to speculate what really happened. In Order to Live was the book to set it all straight, and for that, it does well, even if still bringing up some additional questions. Some of this confusion is easily attributable to Yeonmi's memory and the language barrier. For these reasons, you shouldn't expect any astounding pacing or writing, the value really lies within the life events Yeonmi describes.
Despite the book containing difficult and demoralizing events, I believe everyone who is capable to read In Order to Live should, especially those in positions of power to do anything to help the North Koreans. Though Yeonmi's escape from her homeland occurred back in 2007, her story unfortunately still rings true with many. With North Korea getting harder to escape in recent years, and no hope of reunification or any sort of change regarding the brutal dictatorship, the most we can do is to pray for North Koreans and listen to their stories.
古池や 蛙飛び込む 水の音
the book that introduced me to Matsuo Bashō. the old pond haiku is one of my favs of all time but i admit i had Jack's reaction the first time i read it too haha.
DNF... I tried this because I wanted to see what all the cute romance books with colorful covers were all about. I don't think I'm really the audience for this, I was pretty unimpressed with the writing style, characters and story. To be fair, I didn't get too far before I quit, so maybe it improves later on.
When I was younger, I remember this was my very favorite book. makes me want to reread it to find out why that was.
