http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rss/29122 en-US Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:37:50 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 29503478 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:37:50 -0700 Review25836819 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25836819 A Good Man in Evil Times: The Heroic Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes -- The Man Who Saved the Lives of Countless Refugess in World War II (Hardcover) by Jose-Alain Fralon
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> 27988074 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:14:15 -0700 Review24637118 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24637118 to: Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia (Hardcover) by Savo Heleta
As the former Yugoslavia broke into a multi-national civil war, it became clear that the Serbs intended to gain control over Bosnia and Herzegovina through a campaign of ethnic cleansing. In Not My Turn To Die, Savo Heleta, a thirteen year-old Serb living in Gorazde, recounts his family’s experience during the army’s siege on that predominately Muslim area.

Even though Heleta’s memoir doesn’t provide a direct testimony of the ethnic violence raging through other parts of the country, it does provide a unique look at the fallout from the conflict. As non-Serbs found themselves persecuted, the reverse was taking place in Gorazde, as the city turned itself into a xenophobic conclave of Muslim refugees, the ultimate outcome being a mirrored response to the Serbians.

Even though the Serbs of Gorazde weren’t the victims of genocide, the similarities are certainly there -- Heleta’s family lived in constant fear, were often threatened, were interrogated and beaten, and even spent a short period confined to a building that was nothing short of a makeshift “ghetto.” And just as the Holocaust is riddled with small stories of witnesses lending a hand to aid their former Jewish neighbors, this too becomes the recurring theme of Not My Turn To Die.

While it would be easy to dismiss Heleta’s account as one Serbian’s attempt to downplay the violence against non-Serbs, it’s far better to take this book as it was intended, as a lesson in the blind brutality of war. In fact, what’s most striking about this memoir is its ability to demonstrate that violent events are often viewed through large, global terms, with too little emphasis placed on personal experiences and responsibility. The majority of any given group might take part in a pogrom for instance, but it’s the individual who chooses not to follow that produces an extraordinary result. ]]> 28104424 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:10:32 -0700 Review24727990 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24727990 to: Auschwitz Report (Hardcover) by Primo Levi
As the title suggests, this was originally written as a report that appeared in an Italian medical journal. Not only was it Levi’s first attempt to construct a meaningful narrative of what he had endured during the war, but it also represented one of the earlier examinations (outside the Nuremberg Trials) of conditions within the concentration camp system. ]]> -621308388 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:50:27 -0700 GroupUser117167 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/3158.Holocaust_and_genocide Tim joined the Holocaust and genocide group. ]]> 27988582 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:20:05 -0700 Review24637481 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24637481 to: Maps and Legends (Hardcover) by Michael Chabon
I could never figure out how a well-touted writer like Chabon wound up being friends with Dave Eggers. As I started to make my way through the first chapter of this pretentious mass of purple prose, I suddenly figured it out. ]]> 27988127 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:51:20 -0700 Review24637143 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24637143 to: Deogratias, A Tale of Rwanda (Paperback) by J.P. Stassen
]]> 22653743 Tue, 06 May 2008 13:28:51 -0700 Review20526520 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20526520 to: Widdershins (Newford) by Charles de Lint
This book left me with the same feeling I had when I read Wings of the Kingdom. It’s not that it’s a particularly bad book (though it’s not a particularly good one either), it’s just that it’s not all that interesting. ]]> 24247430 Tue, 06 May 2008 13:27:03 -0700 Review21721059 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21721059 The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Bantam Spectra Book) by Neal Stephenson
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> 21844382 Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:23:43 -0700 Review19899136 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19899136 to: Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Surprising Truth About Global Warming (Hardcover) by Mark Bowen
]]> 21340339 Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:09:53 -0700 Review19511538 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19511538 A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide (Paperback) by Samantha Power
bookshelves: currently-reading
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