Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by nancyadair
What We Remember Will Be Saved: A Story of Refugees and the Things They Carry by Stephanie Saldaña
5.0
I hope this book makes clear that the people we call “refugees” are artists, historians, musicians, chefs, mother and fathers, children and siblings, and those on the front line of heritage preservation. It could one day be any of us.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
First, I will state: You must read this book.
You must read this book for the sheer beauty of the writing and story telling. You must read this book to understand that no one leaves their home willingly, but for survival. You must read to learn the true scope of loss when conflict drives one to leave everything behind, except memories and the ways we preserve them. You must read this book to see how entire cultures and peoples are displaced and destroyed, how they long to return to what was lost.
Maybe you will think that you will go back. But don’t go back. The distance going back is the same as for going forward.
refugee quoted in What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
Second, I will state: Like a refining fire, this book will break your heart and strengthen your resolve. You will be angry. You will marvel at human indifference and fear. You will cast your eyes around and wonder how you can make a difference.
That was what I was learning: that when all else is taken away, then we have no choice but to create what we carry.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
This book evolved from years of interviewing refugees from Syria and Iraq, learning of their home villages, the catastrophe of war that drove them away, their sorrows and losses, how they keep their past life alive. An embroidered dress showing the daily life and places of the hometown lost. Music. Food. Story. Knowledge.
Story is what keeps us whole.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
You learn about their past, their struggles to survive, their new lives, so hard won.
You must not think that I saved my family. I didn’t save them. It was the women and children who kept me alive. If it wasn’t for them, I would have let myself die on that mountain. But I stayed alive because they needed us to save them.
quoted in What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
And you will think of your own story, how lucky you are in your easy life, or how your ancestors faced such things, or consider if this will someday be your future.
The words of these people will echo in your heart.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through LibraryThing.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
First, I will state: You must read this book.
You must read this book for the sheer beauty of the writing and story telling. You must read this book to understand that no one leaves their home willingly, but for survival. You must read to learn the true scope of loss when conflict drives one to leave everything behind, except memories and the ways we preserve them. You must read this book to see how entire cultures and peoples are displaced and destroyed, how they long to return to what was lost.
Maybe you will think that you will go back. But don’t go back. The distance going back is the same as for going forward.
refugee quoted in What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
Second, I will state: Like a refining fire, this book will break your heart and strengthen your resolve. You will be angry. You will marvel at human indifference and fear. You will cast your eyes around and wonder how you can make a difference.
That was what I was learning: that when all else is taken away, then we have no choice but to create what we carry.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
This book evolved from years of interviewing refugees from Syria and Iraq, learning of their home villages, the catastrophe of war that drove them away, their sorrows and losses, how they keep their past life alive. An embroidered dress showing the daily life and places of the hometown lost. Music. Food. Story. Knowledge.
Story is what keeps us whole.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
You learn about their past, their struggles to survive, their new lives, so hard won.
You must not think that I saved my family. I didn’t save them. It was the women and children who kept me alive. If it wasn’t for them, I would have let myself die on that mountain. But I stayed alive because they needed us to save them.
quoted in What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
And you will think of your own story, how lucky you are in your easy life, or how your ancestors faced such things, or consider if this will someday be your future.
The words of these people will echo in your heart.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through LibraryThing.