Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway

Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad

8 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Devastating. Just devastating. The author’s subjects are the victims, the survivors, and the families, and, of necessity, the perpetrator. It’s clear in the epilogue, though, that she regretted giving him any attention that would contribute to his self-aggrandizement. Her scorn for him is well-deserved.

The book was compelling from the beginning. Unfortunately, not understanding Norwegian politics, I got bogged down in the earlier sections. (I found it fascinating that young people are so involved in politics.) Once the planning was put into action - the move to the farm, the shopping for material and equipment, the making of the bomb - the writing sped along. It was impossible to put down. I felt almost trapped reading about the impending disaster and compelled to read to the end.

The overall feeling I had was that the murderer was a complete failure and, unable to accept the truth, he struck out in as dramatic a fashion as possible just to satisfy his narcissism. All his life he wanted to be accepted, to be part of the cool gang (don't we all want that?), and each time he was getting close, his personality drove others away and he was back on his own. This was his way to rectify his dismal performance. He wanted to be famous, for everyone to know his name. He wanted to be revered by the right wing.

The response of the police was just a disaster, absolutely horrible. Sixty-nine people, mostly children, were slaughtered due to their inaction and ineptitude. I was glad this was addressed in the chapter of the grieving mother.

This book was incredibly difficult to read but also powerful and essential. The rise of anti-immigrant sentiment is ruinous. Terrorists like Breivik are the result.

Content Warnings