It is interesting to see how wide the gap is in the reviews. Large numbers of people who think this book is fantastic, and equally large numbers of peIt is interesting to see how wide the gap is in the reviews. Large numbers of people who think this book is fantastic, and equally large numbers of people who hated it. I wish I could do a poll and determine the ages of the reviewers, as I wonder whether the people who hated it were born after the Vietnam war.
I found the book incredibly moving. I remember the disaffection of the veterans. I remember how lost they were. I remember the vile ways that many of them were treated upon their return home. I remember that our country struggled to support the veterans while hating the war.
This book is devastating and brutal. It is confronting. It is harsh, oppressive and searing. And, it should be all of those things.
This is a story of one woman's survival during and after the Holocaust. Her story is inspirational. She is a woman who deserves to have her story knowThis is a story of one woman's survival during and after the Holocaust. Her story is inspirational. She is a woman who deserves to have her story known, and I am glad that her daughter told it. My rating of the book is nearly impossible ... how does someone rate or review the life of someone like this?
The writing is good. The story is emotional and moving. I left the book feeling shocked, angry and sad -- how the world allows for this kind of horror is unfathomable. But, I also left the book feeling like I had a new friend in my life. I felt like I had spent the day with a woman who made me laugh and cry and wish for more days just like that one.
Thank you to @harpercollins for the #giftedcopy....more
S. by Slavenka Drakulić was orginally titled As If I Am Not There, which is a deeply disturbing and appropriate title. The main character is always knS. by Slavenka Drakulić was orginally titled As If I Am Not There, which is a deeply disturbing and appropriate title. The main character is always known only by the initial, S. We do not learn her name. The author takes away her individual identity, allowing her to represent the brutality and dehumanization of war, specifically the 1992 war in Bosnia.
The book presents the ugliness of men... it is savage, affecting and barbaric. And S. can only survive if she submits.
“If she wants to survive, she will have to obey those who have the weapons. Her life, like her death, is no longer a matter of choice.”
S. is on the wrong side, only because of her ethnicity. This is the only reason needed. It is enough to subject her to torture and rape. Because of her birth she is now subhuman.
The story is heartbreaking, and so real that you will find tears in your eyes, crying not only for S. but for all women in war zones. The news of today's world makes it even more difficult to take, as we are seeing the stories going on in Ukraine, Palestine and more.
The narration is quiet, detached and prosaic, which allows the reader to understand the shock and horror of the gratuitous violence. As a woman, I could see myself reacting in the same way. And there have been moments in my life that were far less horrific but which left me feeling as though I had no autonomy or control of my body.
"Only now does S. understand that a woman's body never really belongs to the woman. It belongs to others—to the man, the children, the family. And in wartime to soldiers."
This is not an easy journey to take, but it is an rewarding one in that it reminds us about the most significant and important things in life. If you are lucky enough to live in safety and freedom, be sure to acknowledge it, and vote for the people who will continue to respect that....more
In 1981, shortly after my 19th birthday, I took a bus to Lackland AFB to start boot camp. 8 months later I finished my training and began work as a feIn 1981, shortly after my 19th birthday, I took a bus to Lackland AFB to start boot camp. 8 months later I finished my training and began work as a female air crew member aboard the E3A AWACS. It was a wonderful job that allowed me to travel around the world. It was also a difficult one as I was breaking into a world that had only admitted men. There were about 5 females in the entire Wing by the end of 1982. It was a world not quite ready for us. There were not flight suits or boots available in our sizes. There weren't dorm rooms and restrooms for women. It was complicated by the fact that many of the men were equally unready to accept us. I share all of this, because Hannah's book resonated with me. I was a child during the Vietnam War, but a decade later, not a lot had changed.
Women were in Vietnam! Nurses were often on the front lines. They were bombed. They performed gruesome surgeries while under fire, and holding flashlights because the power was out. They wrote letters of condolence to families. They convinced young men to have hope, and sat with them as they died. They did all of this while also in danger of sexual assault by the men they worked with, and often needed men they trusted to escort them around their own base. And, after they went home to the USA nobody believed they were ever in Vietnam. Even the VA doctors refused them treatment and discounted their service.
Kristin Hannah in The Women carries the reader to another time and place where the characters are very real, and the war is tangible. If you come away without a better understanding of the experiences and politics of the time, then you didn't read it well. It is a transporting, emotional and intelligent books that allows you to gain knowledge about the war and the world of the time, and also allows you to find compassion and empathy for a generation of people who came before you.
There are event which are predictable, but it does nothing to ruin the story. It is a book I will recommend to everyone, and also a book that made me feel seen.
Thank you @stmartinspress for my #gifted copy. It has earned a permanent place on my shelves....more
I am impressed by the couple as well as the fact that the author wrote the book so soon after the war. I think the book would be better if it were 100I am impressed by the couple as well as the fact that the author wrote the book so soon after the war. I think the book would be better if it were 100 pages shorter.
The Caretaker by Ron Rash is a quiet, contemplative, character-driven novel that carries the reader into the war in Korea and then the hills of AppalaThe Caretaker by Ron Rash is a quiet, contemplative, character-driven novel that carries the reader into the war in Korea and then the hills of Appalachia. It is a melancholic story.
In the opening chapter, we meet Jacob Hampton, who is sitting on guard duty trying to spot any potential attacks by the enemy, and thinking about his pregnant wife, Naomi. Jacob's parents opposed their marriage, and so Naomi is being looked after by his friend Blackburn, who works as a caretaker at the local cemetery.
Jacob is attacked by a North Korean. In the struggle Jacob is injured, but stays alive because he manages to kill the attacker.
Back in his hometown Blackburn and Naomi have grown close, but she is ostracized by the town who consider her a gold-digger. When Jacob's father confronts her, she is hurt, embarrassed and angry, so she leaves town returning to her widowed father, who is also bitter and resentful.
Unfortunately Jacob's injury gives his parent's and opportunity to separate the couple further, and their decisions lead to heartache, loss, grief, and more. The story is a wonderful examination of human emotion. We find so much empathy in our hearts that it almost feels as though these characters are our real-life friends. They are complex people with real thoughts and emotions who we love or hate based on our own life experiences.
And, it isn't only the storytelling that is beautiful. The author uses language to create vivid images, describing the changing seasons in a way that the reader sees the flowers poke through the grass in the spring and the leaves fall to the ground in the fall. The reader sees the light filtering through the brancches, creating shadows. The reader sees Blackburn as he tends the grass, and the images create a pensive, wistful mood.
Thank you to the publisher for the #gifted copy of this wonderful book. My thoughts are my own, and I am certain to put this one on my top ten list this year....more
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