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doritobabe's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so powerful. So emotional and transcending and encapsulating and it's like a wrench finds its way between your ribs to twist on your heart and force a lump in your throat and you just
want to reach out to offer comfort and cry, cry, cry, alongside these women.
"Happiness is beyond the mountains, but grief is just over your shoulder..."
There is a reason why this book won a Nobel Prize thirty years after its initial publication. There is a reason why this book has resurfaced all of these years later (with a brilliant English translation done by Pevear and Volokhonsky) and -- in my opinion, which is not so humble regarding this text -- is more relevant than ever.
Alexievich is a historian for the human soul. Initially, readers may find this to be quite the grandiose statement, perhaps a bit too self-aggrandizing, but she and her oral history are anything but. This text is comprised of over 500 interviews of women who were involved directly and indirectly with the Soviet Union's armed forces during World War II. While there is no linear timeline represented through the collection, readers are transported through the main four years of war through varying professions and perspectives. Alexievich's goal was to capture a different side of the war; to highlight the women who worked in the trenches alongside many men, and who were later forgotten, or shamed, for their heroism.
This book is so haunting, so beautiful, and so unique in that --I feel-- it shows a side of war that one may not normally be told. I haven't read very many non-fictions about WWII, I usually just stick to biographies, but I feel that using the example of [b:The Miracle of Dunkirk|855509|The Miracle of Dunkirk|Walter Lord|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387751531s/855509.jpg|2550748] by Walter Lord is perhaps a fair juxtaposition in terms of how women's tales differ from that of men. In reading The Miracle of Dunkirk I was inundated with FACTS about the war -- types of machinery, army lines, geography, famous names, actions, etc.-- and whilst Lord has also captured several perspectives of war (i.e. military positions, Allied and Axis interviews, etc.) the emotional tone and resonance is hardly "human" compared to what one would read here. Lord's telling leaves readers understanding an outline of the actions of war; Alexievich focuses on individuals doing them.
I believe that the impetus behind this text is far more important than one's typical war history. The author dedicated years of her life (1978 - 2004) collecting these stories and meeting these veterans. Her action and collection is essential in terms of historical documentation -- how often do we get to read something so authentic and unaffected by those who have written history for the future? I can honestly say that I think about war differently than I did before.
Don't miss this. I love this book. I love the women who are a part of this book. I will honestly never forget some of the things that I have read within these pages.
want to reach out to offer comfort and cry, cry, cry, alongside these women.
"Happiness is beyond the mountains, but grief is just over your shoulder..."
There is a reason why this book won a Nobel Prize thirty years after its initial publication. There is a reason why this book has resurfaced all of these years later (with a brilliant English translation done by Pevear and Volokhonsky) and -- in my opinion, which is not so humble regarding this text -- is more relevant than ever.
Alexievich is a historian for the human soul. Initially, readers may find this to be quite the grandiose statement, perhaps a bit too self-aggrandizing, but she and her oral history are anything but. This text is comprised of over 500 interviews of women who were involved directly and indirectly with the Soviet Union's armed forces during World War II. While there is no linear timeline represented through the collection, readers are transported through the main four years of war through varying professions and perspectives. Alexievich's goal was to capture a different side of the war; to highlight the women who worked in the trenches alongside many men, and who were later forgotten, or shamed, for their heroism.
This book is so haunting, so beautiful, and so unique in that --I feel-- it shows a side of war that one may not normally be told. I haven't read very many non-fictions about WWII, I usually just stick to biographies, but I feel that using the example of [b:The Miracle of Dunkirk|855509|The Miracle of Dunkirk|Walter Lord|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387751531s/855509.jpg|2550748] by Walter Lord is perhaps a fair juxtaposition in terms of how women's tales differ from that of men. In reading The Miracle of Dunkirk I was inundated with FACTS about the war -- types of machinery, army lines, geography, famous names, actions, etc.-- and whilst Lord has also captured several perspectives of war (i.e. military positions, Allied and Axis interviews, etc.) the emotional tone and resonance is hardly "human" compared to what one would read here. Lord's telling leaves readers understanding an outline of the actions of war; Alexievich focuses on individuals doing them.
I believe that the impetus behind this text is far more important than one's typical war history. The author dedicated years of her life (1978 - 2004) collecting these stories and meeting these veterans. Her action and collection is essential in terms of historical documentation -- how often do we get to read something so authentic and unaffected by those who have written history for the future? I can honestly say that I think about war differently than I did before.
Don't miss this. I love this book. I love the women who are a part of this book. I will honestly never forget some of the things that I have read within these pages.
ahoratiu's review against another edition
5.0
In this book you will see how people behave when they found themselves in extreme situations.
Here, a "mother" describes how see murdered her baby boy, because he was crying and the Germans could discover her and her comrades .
But there you can find much terrible stories.
Here, a "mother" describes how see murdered her baby boy, because he was crying and the Germans could discover her and her comrades .
But there you can find much terrible stories.
baasanka's review against another edition
5.0
Phenomenal. Alexievich deserves her Nobel more than any recent literature prize winners I can think of
r_musil's review against another edition
4.0
کتاب شامل خاطرات موضوعی جنگ از زن هاییه که برای شوروی جنگیدن، متاسفانه اکثر خاطره ها خیلی کوتاهن و روایت ها غالبا از یه پاراگرف بیشتر نیستن، ولی همه شون جالبن، خلاصه زندگی یک آدم مگه می تونه جالب نباشه؟
maggie92's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
4.0
atelierofbooks's review against another edition
5.0
"Before me yet another page of the war opened, before which any fantasy will fall silent..."
My hands shook as I read this. Alexievich writes,"I looked into the abyss in order to understand something." And that's how it felt. Like a veil was being pulled back and I was peeking into the maw of something horrible and sacred. How else to describe these memories?
Alexeivich mentions that she wanted to write a book that would even make a general hate war. So I want to place a copy of this book in the hands of every politician and world leader, because she did just that.
Everything I've ever seen or read about World War II...every documentary, film, book...is lacking compared to this. I understand now that it's because they are the stories of men's war. And women's war is far more terrifying and heartbreaking. More than battle formations and tactics, a woman will remember the things that rip your sangfroid away. They grip you by the jaw and make you see. They remember the soldier who cried for his mother, the girl who died protecting an officer she loved, the blood in their pants that froze and cut their thighs.
This book made me feel a thousand emotions and I feel like my heart could burst. But for some reason my words come up dry. Why do we venerate war in fiction? Why is there still a whiff of glory in all of this horror?
When did it become weakness to be "a simple woman" and love womanly things? When did strength become the ability to kill as well as a man? This isn't strength, we've made a terrible mistake. All of these people deserved better than what happened after the war. I can grasp, in a bigger way, the magnitude of Stalin's betrayal of his own people.
This is a work of immense courage and importance. I'm not sure about describing books in terms of import, but if there ever was such a book it's this one. What more could I possibly say? "Thank you." "I'm sorry."
"There can't be one heart for hatred and another for love. We only have one, and I always thought about how to save my heart."
My hands shook as I read this. Alexievich writes,"I looked into the abyss in order to understand something." And that's how it felt. Like a veil was being pulled back and I was peeking into the maw of something horrible and sacred. How else to describe these memories?
Alexeivich mentions that she wanted to write a book that would even make a general hate war. So I want to place a copy of this book in the hands of every politician and world leader, because she did just that.
"Ehh, girls, how vile it was, this war…When you look at it with our eyes. Simple women’s eyes…As frightful as can be. That’s why they don’t ask us…"
Everything I've ever seen or read about World War II...every documentary, film, book...is lacking compared to this. I understand now that it's because they are the stories of men's war. And women's war is far more terrifying and heartbreaking. More than battle formations and tactics, a woman will remember the things that rip your sangfroid away. They grip you by the jaw and make you see. They remember the soldier who cried for his mother, the girl who died protecting an officer she loved, the blood in their pants that froze and cut their thighs.
This book made me feel a thousand emotions and I feel like my heart could burst. But for some reason my words come up dry. Why do we venerate war in fiction? Why is there still a whiff of glory in all of this horror?
When did it become weakness to be "a simple woman" and love womanly things? When did strength become the ability to kill as well as a man? This isn't strength, we've made a terrible mistake. All of these people deserved better than what happened after the war. I can grasp, in a bigger way, the magnitude of Stalin's betrayal of his own people.
This is a work of immense courage and importance. I'm not sure about describing books in terms of import, but if there ever was such a book it's this one. What more could I possibly say? "Thank you." "I'm sorry."
"There can't be one heart for hatred and another for love. We only have one, and I always thought about how to save my heart."
the3romes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.75
Fascinating testimonials of war from a unique, unheard perspective; a necessary addition to offset the numerous quantity of political and military histories, as well as the usual, somewhat repetitive, testimonials.