Reviews

My Grandmother: A Memoir by Fethiye Çetin

lukasch's review

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5.0

Ein beeindruckender Nachruf. Ich hatte mich bis jetzt nur durch Werfels '40 Tage am Musa Dagh" mit dem Genozid an den Armeniern auseinandergesetzt. Frau Çetins Werk ist im Gegensatz dazu von einer Persönlichkeit geprägt, die auf ganz andere Art un Weise das Herz berührt. Sie lässt ihre Großmutter ihre Geschichte, ihre Vergangenheit und ihr Trauma berichten und legt für sie das Zeugnis für die Nachwelt ab.

Das lässt einen auch Fragen an die eigene Geschichte stellen. Was weiß ich über die Situation meiner Eltern, meiner Großeltern in meinem Alter? Man sollte ihnen diese Fragen stellen solange man noch kann. Jede Generation erlebt Ereignisse, die für die Nachwelt in Erinnerung behalten werden müssen. Sei es der zweite Weltkrieg, die 68er, die Anschläge der RAF oder der Mauerfall. Jede Generation ist Zeuge seiner Zeit und wir Jüngeren sollten das schätzen und die richtigen Fragen stellen.

clarabelle's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Definitely would recommend

serendipitysbooks's review

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

 My Grandmother focuses on the relationship between the author and her grandmother, particularly the grandmother’s revelation that her name, family and religion were not those she was born into. Her experience of the Armenian genocide was harrowing. I didn’t find the writing style or much of the content particularly engaging but it is an important record of the lifelong and generational impacts of the Armenian genocide. 

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pmhandley's review against another edition

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4.0

I didn't think so much grief could be packed into such a short book. This book gutted me. Every additional detail about Heranus and her life and family broke my heart a little further. I never learned much about the Armenian genocide and the details Fethiye's grandmother carried with her and buried for years, I don't know how she managed to keep going. Fethiye's own discovery that everything she thought she knew about her family is wrong was just as jarring to read. This is not a book to pick up as a light read, to say the least, but it is a very important one and I hope more people read it.

spookyliv's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

lallalettrice's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

2.5


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madeee's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

abell370's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

3.5


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thepetitedragon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

christinecc's review

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5.0

A short but important read. It stays grounded in real life, never embellishes, and (best of all) gives a true and moving account of an old woman (the titular grandmother) who survived the horrific ordeal of the Armenian Genocide while time continued to pass. Without giving anything away, I thought this account of a Turkish granddaughter and her Armenian grandmother was honest, emotional, and very thoughtful. I would recommend this to anyone, because more people should read accounts of the Genocide and its effect on later generations within and beyond the Diaspora.