What do you think?
Rate this book
Von den Kriegen
"Nobody I ever met on my assignments . . . asked me for direct, practical help. . . . But over and over again people have asked 'Will you write this down?' "-- Echoes of Violence?Echoes of Violence is an award-winning collection of personal letters to friends from a foreign correspondent who is trying to understand what she witnessed during the iconic human disasters of our time--in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and New York City on September 11th, among many other places. Originally addressing only a small group of friends, Carolin Emcke started the first letter after returning from Kosovo, where she saw the aftermath of ethnic cleansing in 1999. She began writing to overcome her speechlessness about the horrors of war and her own sense of failure as a reporter. Eventually, writing a letter became a ritual Emcke performed following her return from each nightmare she experienced. First published in 2004 to great acclaim, Echoes of Violence in 2005 was named German political book of the year and was a finalist for the international Lettre-Ulysses award for the art of reportage.Combining narrative with philosophic reflection, Emcke describes wars and human rights abuses around the world--the suffering of civilians caught between warring factions in Colombia, the heartbreaking plight of homeless orphans in Romania, and the near-slavery of garment workers in Nicaragua. Freed in the letters from journalistic conventions that would obscure her presence as a witness, Emcke probes the abyss of violence and explores the scars it leaves on landscapes external and internal.
313 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
11 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 7, 2019
#Beendet
🐭🐭🐭🐭🐭
Carolin Emcke
"Von den Kriegen"
- Briefe an Freunde -
Carolin Emcke ist eine Journalisten, die in die Krisen - und Kriegsgebiete dieser Welt reist und von dort berichtet. Sie trifft Menschen und ihre Geschichten und wenn sie wieder zu Hause ist, braucht sie eine Form, damit umzugehen.
So beginnt sie, Briefe an ihre Freunde zu schreiben um das Erlebte zu verarbeiten.
Es ist eine interessante und spannende Lektüre, die mich gefesselt, entsetzt und auch traurig gemacht hat, über Menschen und Krisen, die wir viel zu schnell vergessen oder von denen wir überhaupt nichts wissen.
Es sind die Geschichten zwischen den Nachrichten, die über den Bildschirm flimmern, die sie erzählt und die meinen Blick auf die Dinge ein Stück weit verändert hat.
🐭🐭🐭🐭🐭
Carolin Emcke
"Von den Kriegen"
- Briefe an Freunde -
Carolin Emcke ist eine Journalisten, die in die Krisen - und Kriegsgebiete dieser Welt reist und von dort berichtet. Sie trifft Menschen und ihre Geschichten und wenn sie wieder zu Hause ist, braucht sie eine Form, damit umzugehen.
So beginnt sie, Briefe an ihre Freunde zu schreiben um das Erlebte zu verarbeiten.
Es ist eine interessante und spannende Lektüre, die mich gefesselt, entsetzt und auch traurig gemacht hat, über Menschen und Krisen, die wir viel zu schnell vergessen oder von denen wir überhaupt nichts wissen.
Es sind die Geschichten zwischen den Nachrichten, die über den Bildschirm flimmern, die sie erzählt und die meinen Blick auf die Dinge ein Stück weit verändert hat.
July 7, 2008
A friend gave me this book to read while I was on tour with Mostly Happy. It is... AMAZING. Very personal and honest letters from a journalist to her friends. Broke my heart and gave me courage!
"Nobody I ever met on my assignments . . . asked me for direct, practical help. . . . But over and over again people have asked me: 'Will you write this down?' "--Echoes of Violence
Emcke was in in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and New York City on September 11th, among other places. She wrote about these places and the people in them as a journalist - but this book is... that... and so much more.
READ this book - even if you aren't really into non-fiction.
The stories of the people she met along the way will grab your heart. I swear it. -p
"Nobody I ever met on my assignments . . . asked me for direct, practical help. . . . But over and over again people have asked me: 'Will you write this down?' "--Echoes of Violence
Emcke was in in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and New York City on September 11th, among other places. She wrote about these places and the people in them as a journalist - but this book is... that... and so much more.
READ this book - even if you aren't really into non-fiction.
The stories of the people she met along the way will grab your heart. I swear it. -p
January 27, 2024
3.5 stars
Really difficult to rate since I am a huge fan of Carolin Emcke and i was really keen on learning about her life as a war reporter. I think the main difficulty for me was to follow the intricacies of the political players that she is describing. I would say I keep up pretty well with modern politics for the most part yet these wars mostly happened before I started regularly following the news. Often not long descriptions yet they set the stage for the whole visits. However, still powerful impressions, you can still take from it even if not everything is always very clear. Not an easy read though (due to the topic). Grateful for this book & her work
Really difficult to rate since I am a huge fan of Carolin Emcke and i was really keen on learning about her life as a war reporter. I think the main difficulty for me was to follow the intricacies of the political players that she is describing. I would say I keep up pretty well with modern politics for the most part yet these wars mostly happened before I started regularly following the news. Often not long descriptions yet they set the stage for the whole visits. However, still powerful impressions, you can still take from it even if not everything is always very clear. Not an easy read though (due to the topic). Grateful for this book & her work
April 27, 2019
Wenig überraschend ist dieses Buch inhaltlich echt schwierig zu ertragen und lässt dich danach nicht direkt an was anderes denken. Emcke schreibt sehr persönlich und trotzdem analytisch. Jeder ihrer Gedanken ist ein Gewinn.
March 25, 2009
A treatise on the moral limits of war reporting.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews