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tomleetang's review against another edition
4.0
An incredible achievement, marshalling the voices of the Soviet women who have been forced into silence about their experience of WWII and, finally, giving them a chance to tell their stories. Heartbreaking and horrifying, mixing hope and despair as each individual is given a time to shine amidst the overall chorus.
kait_norm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
I was really excited to read this book but found that the format just wasn’t right for me. Instead of being a linear narrative using oral histories it was mixed journal entries grouped by topic. The information and idea are great just wasn’t a format I enjoyed.
lexish00's review against another edition
5.0
Is it possible to review this book? What can I, someone who has experienced nothing like war, say about it? This book and its stories and its people are heart breakingly tragic, beyond resilient, a little broken, a little hopeful. They are everything. I know I’ll be thinking of them for a long time.
—-
Some quotes:
Page XV: Everything we know about war we know with “a man’s voice.” We are all captives of “men’s” notions and “men’s” sense of war. “Men’s” words. Women are silent. No one but me ever questioned my grandmother. My mother. Even those who were at the front say nothing.
Page XXV: I think of suffering as the highest form of information, having a direct connection with mystery. With the mystery of life. All of Russian literature is about that. It has written more about suffering than about love.
Page 141: How can I call the small small and the great great, when both are so boundless?
Page 202: This was obviously the thing she cherished most. I opened the powder box, and the smell of the powder, when there was shooting around, explosions… It was something… I want to weep even now… The smell of the powder, that little mother-of-pearl lid… The little baby, a girl… Something homey, something from a real woman’s life…
Page 211: Sometimes I come home after these meetings with the thought that suffering is solitude. Total isolation. At other times it seems to me that suffering is a special kind of knowledge. There is something in human life that it is impossible to convey and preserve in any other way, especially among us. That is how the world is made; that is how we are made.
Page 255: For a long time I was afraid to get married. Afraid to have children. What if there’s war suddenly, and I leave for the front? What about the children?
Page 256: And the mother said her daughter would bring the mine. She put the mine in a basket and covered it with a couple of children’s outfits, a stuffed toy, two dozen eggs, and some butter. And so the little girl brought the mine to the mess hall. People say that maternal instinct is stronger than anything. No, ideas are stronger! And faith is stronger! I think… I’m even certain that if it weren’t for such a mama and such a girl, and they hadn’t carried that mine, we wouldn’t have been victorious.
Page 265: Happiness is beyond the mountains, but grief is just over your shoulder…
—-
Some quotes:
Page XV: Everything we know about war we know with “a man’s voice.” We are all captives of “men’s” notions and “men’s” sense of war. “Men’s” words. Women are silent. No one but me ever questioned my grandmother. My mother. Even those who were at the front say nothing.
Page XXV: I think of suffering as the highest form of information, having a direct connection with mystery. With the mystery of life. All of Russian literature is about that. It has written more about suffering than about love.
Page 141: How can I call the small small and the great great, when both are so boundless?
Page 202: This was obviously the thing she cherished most. I opened the powder box, and the smell of the powder, when there was shooting around, explosions… It was something… I want to weep even now… The smell of the powder, that little mother-of-pearl lid… The little baby, a girl… Something homey, something from a real woman’s life…
Page 211: Sometimes I come home after these meetings with the thought that suffering is solitude. Total isolation. At other times it seems to me that suffering is a special kind of knowledge. There is something in human life that it is impossible to convey and preserve in any other way, especially among us. That is how the world is made; that is how we are made.
Page 255: For a long time I was afraid to get married. Afraid to have children. What if there’s war suddenly, and I leave for the front? What about the children?
Page 256: And the mother said her daughter would bring the mine. She put the mine in a basket and covered it with a couple of children’s outfits, a stuffed toy, two dozen eggs, and some butter. And so the little girl brought the mine to the mess hall. People say that maternal instinct is stronger than anything. No, ideas are stronger! And faith is stronger! I think… I’m even certain that if it weren’t for such a mama and such a girl, and they hadn’t carried that mine, we wouldn’t have been victorious.
Page 265: Happiness is beyond the mountains, but grief is just over your shoulder…
nenney's review against another edition
5.0
გეტყვით, რომ წიგნმა ომში წასვლა თან მომანდომა და თან არა. ომი ნამდვილად საშინელებაა, თუმცა ვთქვათ და (ღმერთმა დაგვიფაროს) რუსებმა ისევ შემოგვიტიონ დაუფიქრებლად შევწირავდი თავს ჩემს სამშობლოს, მიუხედავად ომის ამბის გარკვეული რეალობის გაგების შემდეგ, რაც ქალებს შეიძლება დაატყდეთ თავს. სწორედ ამ გრძნობით, სევდანარევი პატრიოტიზმით აღმავსო წიგნმა. მადლობა ავტორს ამ ჟურნალისტური საქმიანობისთვის. ომს ნამდვილად არ აქვს ქალის სახე, მაგრამ ქალებს ყველაფრის ატანა ძალუძთ.
magdita's review against another edition
5.0
Niewiele książek tak mną wstrząsnęło, jak ta - zbiór historii, które przerażają, chwytają za gardło, nieważne gdzie jesteś. Nagle uświadamiasz sobie, że jest 7 rano, w autobusie pełno ludzi, jedziesz do pracy i ryczysz. Coś niesamowitego.
anastasiarozova's review against another edition
5.0
«Знаете, какая в войну была у всех мысль? Мы мечтали: "Вот, ребята, дожить бы... Какие это будут счастливые люди после войны! Какая счастливая, какая красивая наступит жизнь. Люди, которые пережили столько, они будут друг друга жалеть. Любить. Это будут другие люди". Мы не сомневались в этом. Ни на капельку.
Моя ты бриллиантовая... Люди по-прежнему ненавидят друг друга. Опять убивают. Это самое мне непонятное... И кто это? Мы... Мы это...»
Тяжело ли читать? Читать легко, быстро прочитала, а вот в душе очень тяжело. Открывала книгу чаще всего в метро, со страдальческим лицом бегала глазами по строчкам, именам, историям, жизням. Женским жизням в не существующей больше стране.
Очевидно, наверное, но мне такие книги кажутся очень важными. Чтобы не было такого больше. Чтобы никогда!
Не получилось. Нужные люди такого не читают. Или им, скорее всего, плевать. Конечно.
Не понимаю, как после такого случился тот ужасный февраль. Как-то вот...
Моя ты бриллиантовая... Люди по-прежнему ненавидят друг друга. Опять убивают. Это самое мне непонятное... И кто это? Мы... Мы это...»
Тяжело ли читать? Читать легко, быстро прочитала, а вот в душе очень тяжело. Открывала книгу чаще всего в метро, со страдальческим лицом бегала глазами по строчкам, именам, историям, жизням. Женским жизням в не существующей больше стране.
Очевидно, наверное, но мне такие книги кажутся очень важными. Чтобы не было такого больше. Чтобы никогда!
Не получилось. Нужные люди такого не читают. Или им, скорее всего, плевать. Конечно.
Не понимаю, как после такого случился тот ужасный февраль. Как-то вот...
imogeng's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
How could I not rate it 5 stars? Women’s history matters. It should not be buried or censored or forgotten. Such courage and humanity are accounted in this book. All too relevant. A must read.