I've recently felt inspired to do these types of posts, so I am starting a series where I document my experience of reading a book. There will hopefully be several installments, hence why this is episode one.
If you have seen my blog update, you will know that the sign off for each post has changed. If you are an email subscriber, you can either click on the title of this post or click here to view this post with the correct formatting and sign off.
Grab a warm blanket and come along as I read Maman, What Are We Called Now? by Jaqueline Mensil-Amar...
Saturday, 19th March 2022
I am only a few pages in and this book has already torn my heart out. It is so quick to start and just-
I can feel the extreme anxiety, the stress, the panic and the hurt felt by this person so vividly...She also explores and questions so much about life and love...it's truly beautiful.
This book was a wonderful gift from a family friend, who went to Bath and kindly popped into the Persephone Bookshop and bought me it. I was so excited to read it that it only waited a week on my shelves before being moved to my bedside table!
Sunday, 20th March 2022
Wow...I'm now on page 64 and I just love this so much! It's so personal and she reminisces about before the war and the beginning of the war too. It's just such a special and intimate look into her life and what it was like for a Jewish woman living in Paris during the occupation.
I also am finding that I can't read it for too long on end- it's a little too hard going emotionally!
***
It's the evening now and I've read some more. My main other remark is about the translation. From what I can see, it seems very faithful and I am so impressed with the way it is written. I think the original is also like this so if the fact that it is translated puts you off, don't let it!
Monday, 21st March 2022
A busy day at school is always better when I start it by reading. I do this most mornings and it puts me in a great mood for the day. This morning as I lay reading I was in a completely different world and that is so special!
One thing that really stood out to me this morning was the connection that she has to Paris. The way her whole life is engraved in it's streets and I read a whole part where she reminices about her childhood and it felt so heartbreaking to read. I also really think it's important to read at the moment because it is quite similar to what is happening in Ukraine and it just feels powerful to even begin to understand what they are going through and of course how similar to history it is.
Thursday 24th March 2022
I am almost finished now and I really love this book. It's so powerful and I didn't know much about the occupation in Paris and now I feel I have learnt something by reading this.
I also found out that the end of this book is slightly different. It finishes her diary around page 108 and then goes on to some articles with an introduction by Jaqueline Mensil-Amar. I am liking this too and it really explores the children and the people of the Holocaust which I'm sure you can imagine, is both fascinating and soul-destroying to read.
Friday 25th March 2022
I finished this this morning and wow! It was just so unlike anything I've read before. She has such a unique perspective and voice and her writing as I said above is stunning and the story as a whole just grasps you and you come to feel for her so much. You almost have to remind yourself that this person was real and she actually went through the feelings she describes in her diary.
It's just so, so powerful and I want more people to read it!
I highly recommend this book if you want a captivating read about WW2. I can't get over the writing of this one too. It's just has all these stunning descriptions that I just want to read over and over again! It's a truly beautiful book and it's made me very excited to read more from Persephone as a publisher too. I read The Call by Edith Ayrton Zangwill earlier this year from Persephone and I didn't love it as much as I thought I would, although I did still enjoy it. I have two more books from this publisher to read so I can't wait to do so!
Rating:
I am considering it a classic, so it means it is my fourth classic of the year. It was written in 1944 so it's a classic in the same way that Anne Frank is, and the writing was very modern.
I am definitely not doing as well statistically this year with regard to how many classics I've read but I've enjoyed what I've read and that's more important. I'm trying to stick to one classic a month and that's been fine, although I will have Carnegie for eight weeks meaning every week I will have to read a different book and have some thoughts on it to discuss in my book club. This is always very interesting but also restricts what else I read.
Thank you so much for taking the time to be here with me today. I hope you are all well and I wish you very happy reading!
Have you read this book? Do you want to? Does it sound like anything else you've read? Have you read any Persephone Books?
Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on my reviews by clicking here! Your support is very much appreciated :)
Comments
Post a Comment