tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post5652374393045714071..comments2024-02-10T19:58:20.327+00:00Comments on Stuck in a Book: On The Other Side by Mathilde Wolff-MönckebergStuckInABookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-23038163317187207742012-12-27T16:29:05.288+00:002012-12-27T16:29:05.288+00:00What a wonderful review Simon. I cannot wait to re...What a wonderful review Simon. I cannot wait to read this when I get to it through the Persephone Project, its another title that highlights how wonderful and varied their books are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-22107629209275650662012-12-20T00:01:07.110+00:002012-12-20T00:01:07.110+00:00I try to purchase Persephones sparingly due to the...I try to purchase Persephones sparingly due to the price and shipping costs to the U.S. , but this book sounds like a must read; I will put it on my list. I have also read “Berlin Diaries” and found that book very interesting. I will also mention The Book Thief, which is fiction. I didn’t like it much, but that was more due to the writing style. I did think, however, that Zuzak did a good job in depicting what life might have been like for ordinary Germans under the Nazi regime.Ruthiellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03871834571645928819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-52988033243466849832012-12-20T00:00:01.683+00:002012-12-20T00:00:01.683+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ruthiellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03871834571645928819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-15512235731010833992012-12-19T21:50:42.339+00:002012-12-19T21:50:42.339+00:00What a fascinating comment, thank you so much for ...What a fascinating comment, thank you so much for contributing it! There are so many secondary angles on the horrors of war which have yet to be properly explored in print - or, at least, in my collection.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-82497815149159532482012-12-19T21:48:25.681+00:002012-12-19T21:48:25.681+00:00Spirit recognised and appreciated!
Thanks, Claire ...Spirit recognised and appreciated!<br />Thanks, Claire - I hope you value reading this.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-61410713226298814592012-12-19T21:47:58.242+00:002012-12-19T21:47:58.242+00:00Thanks for all those recommendations - I like to s...Thanks for all those recommendations - I like to space these things out, but definitely good to have a few ideas in reserve.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-3081370152230666202012-12-19T21:45:21.352+00:002012-12-19T21:45:21.352+00:00It is so striking, isn't it, that both sides e...It is so striking, isn't it, that both sides experienced so many of the same events and emotions. Thanks, Jane.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-51990616376509805032012-12-19T21:43:44.502+00:002012-12-19T21:43:44.502+00:00It is extraordinary that a publisher can do this a...It is extraordinary that a publisher can do this and the Monica Dickens, and somehow still have a unified 'type' of book - or rather a unified audience, so that I know I'll like nearly everything they publish, despite the variety.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-56086204803649481182012-12-19T21:42:59.942+00:002012-12-19T21:42:59.942+00:00That's such a lovely thing to say, Agnieszka, ...That's such a lovely thing to say, Agnieszka, thank you.<br /><br />The Diary of a Young Girl was the first book which really got me interested in the war - so moving, of course, but what an exceptionally gifted writer too.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-29813942918643824032012-12-19T21:40:25.037+00:002012-12-19T21:40:25.037+00:00Fast work, Susan, well done!
I did read FEANO six ...Fast work, Susan, well done!<br />I did read FEANO six or seven years ago - well, I started it, but I didn't get very far, but I think I should try again.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-64588938656328274212012-12-19T21:39:30.161+00:002012-12-19T21:39:30.161+00:00Excellent! The similarities are as fascinating as...Excellent! The similarities are as fascinating as the contrasts.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-65799639835998125292012-12-19T21:38:32.020+00:002012-12-19T21:38:32.020+00:00Thanks, Harriet. Did you friend's father keep...Thanks, Harriet. Did you friend's father keep any journal or similar?StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-58881864466976661942012-12-19T21:38:04.275+00:002012-12-19T21:38:04.275+00:00Thank you, Claire!
You're the second person wh...Thank you, Claire!<br />You're the second person who has mentioned A Woman in Berlin, so I can see I'll have to track that down too, after a pause.<br /><br />Hurray for Persephone and their variety!StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-25296532068501444422012-12-19T21:37:07.786+00:002012-12-19T21:37:07.786+00:00Thank you so much, Samantha!
I thought I knew a lo...Thank you so much, Samantha!<br />I thought I knew a lot about women's experiences during the war, but I really only know about British women - there is so much more to explore!StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-63364971428680155332012-12-19T16:02:34.836+00:002012-12-19T16:02:34.836+00:00Ooh! I really want to read this nOoh! I really want to read this nAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-17621586090868694282012-12-19T14:59:52.520+00:002012-12-19T14:59:52.520+00:00This sounds like one I'd be very interested in...This sounds like one I'd be very interested in reading - thank you for the thoughtful review, and the excerpts. Back story: My father was a German conscript-soldier (he was 16 when he was scooped away with his classmates from agricultural school where he was studying) in WW II, and his entire family (those who survived) was displaced, lost nearly every personal possession plus their family homes, and suffered greatly in every sense, physical & emotional, in the turmoil of Germany's eventual defeat. One of my aunts & her children were in Dresden during the notorious Allied fire-bombing raid. The voices of people like them - farmers, housewives, the elderly, the children - are often not heard in the larger clamour (& rightly so) of the appalling Jewish sufferings. I am so glad that there are some recordings of the broader experience of the "common" German people, too. Many were good, normal, ethical people, caught up in circumstances beynd their worst imaginings. I think many people now do not know quite how oppressive the German regime was in the years *before* the war, how any sort of discourse/protest was brutally dicouraged. This of course made the subsequent events of the internment/death camps much more possible; people were terrified & closed their eyes. And many truly did not know what was going on, being concerned overwhelmingly with personal survival. Nothing is so black and white as we'd like it to be, and these voices serve to remind us of that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-29916221709578267262012-12-19T07:48:24.948+00:002012-12-19T07:48:24.948+00:00In the spirit of more comments.......
Thank you fo...In the spirit of more comments.......<br />Thank you for that, the extracts give a very good feel of the book. I now think it will be my next Persephone purchase which would not necessarily have been the case were it not for your review. Clairenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-31923351338788700502012-12-18T22:42:13.018+00:002012-12-18T22:42:13.018+00:00If you're interested in reading about life dur...If you're interested in reading about life during and after the war in the areas that were occupied by the Russians, try "Nothing for Tears" by Lali Horstmann and/or a recent novel based on the Horstmann memoir, "The Life of Objects" by Susanna Moore. <br /><br />And I'll second Susan D's recommendations above. Few Eggs and No Oranges and Berlin Diaries are both fascinating.Aparatchicknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-20821129083351162182012-12-18T22:41:30.819+00:002012-12-18T22:41:30.819+00:00It's a while since I read this, but I remember...It's a while since I read this, but I remember without looking back to what I wrote that the thing that struck me was how vivid it was and how the concerns on both sides were so similar, the difference being that one had a sense of rightness and the other didn't.<br /><br />And I think you do well by quoting extensively.FleurFisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00096222149445024649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-30370896925412731642012-12-18T17:36:03.739+00:002012-12-18T17:36:03.739+00:00I do agree with you Simon - what I love about Pers...I do agree with you Simon - what I love about Persphones is their variety - this sounds harrowing but necessary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-84773900934881143702012-12-18T16:00:55.155+00:002012-12-18T16:00:55.155+00:00I will definitely add this book to my tbr list. Wh...I will definitely add this book to my tbr list. When I was still at school I have read quite a few war diaries, but mostly written by Poles or Russians, who survived the war (mostly those who survived different concentration camps). Relatively not long ago, after my friend gave me “A woman in Berlin”, I started reading books written by Germans or people living in Germany during the war. Also, I’ve read some books by authors who didn’t survive the war (like “The diary of a young girl” by Anne Frank or “My wounded heart” – the story of a Jewish doctor, who wrote letters to her family, friends and herself from the concentration camp). I think reading non-survivors stories it’s a completely different experience, it was for me anyway. <br /><br />Also, I would like to add something about the review itself, Simon. The fact, that in this one you mostly let the author speak, makes you (in my eyes) not only a great reviewer but also a great person. <br />Agnieszkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12033810414839540800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-76098146498839204382012-12-18T14:03:27.797+00:002012-12-18T14:03:27.797+00:00Really must order this.
OK, done.
As you suggest...Really must order this.<br /><br />OK, done.<br /><br />As you suggest with Mathilde and Nella, I read Few Eggs and No Oranges in tandem with Berlin Diaries by Marie Vassiltchikov<br /><br /><br />Susan Dhttp://www.destevenson.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-57634134823465609472012-12-18T12:32:36.467+00:002012-12-18T12:32:36.467+00:00This is one that I definitely want to read. I alre...This is one that I definitely want to read. I already have Nella Last on the shelf so I may indeed read them together as you suggest. Thanks for the review!Susan in TXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09550766549670690646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-57821664084248099112012-12-18T08:06:09.932+00:002012-12-18T08:06:09.932+00:00This sounds fascinating. I have a German friend wh...This sounds fascinating. I have a German friend who was born in 1939 and whose father, an unwilling conscript, was killed in 1945, just before the war ended. His accounts of life in Germany after the war have been an extraordinary eye-opener. I'd love to read this book -- many thanks.harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04470091985662379182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-21529920665570569372012-12-18T03:46:37.670+00:002012-12-18T03:46:37.670+00:00Wonderful review, Simon. This is one of the first...Wonderful review, Simon. This is one of the first Persephone books I bought but I still haven't read it, which is an outrageous oversight on my part. I have read quite a bit about women's experiences in Germany during and immediately after the war (mostly in academic books but also in more readily available diaries, like <i>A Woman in Berlin</i>) so I don't know how much of the information will be new to me but it is always interesting to encounter a new perspective even on events that are familiar. I think this is one of the best examples of the sheer variety that Persephone offers and I do hope they go on to publish more diaries like this. Claire (The Captive Reader)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07430380065718826213noreply@blogger.com