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One of Us: The Story of a Massacre in Norway -- and Its Aftermath by Åsne Seierstad, Sarah Death
iancarpenter's review against another edition
4.0
Immense, incredible, heartbreaking, shocking, frightening - it's only 500+ pages but this book feels vast and impossibly thorough. Seierstad's weaving of the lives of many survivors and victims of Breivik's is brilliant and the only way to thoroughly write about this event but for me it was too much. I eventually cherry picked through those stories because for me they were extremely detailed and weren't the mystery of it all. And even if you do that the victims and survivors are still present, everywhere - the painful, heartbreaking fallout of Breivik's misdirected anger, hurt and self-obsession.
I'm really glad I read this right now at the height of BLM, Brexit, Trump, Munich murders, Turkey and the Syrian refugee crisis because it feels deeply relevant to all of it. An amazing piece of work.
I'm really glad I read this right now at the height of BLM, Brexit, Trump, Munich murders, Turkey and the Syrian refugee crisis because it feels deeply relevant to all of it. An amazing piece of work.
thehancam's review against another edition
5.0
This book is impossible to review. How am I supposed to put a star value on something that made me throw up twice, sob in public, and simultaneously lose & gain faith in humanity, but that was so beautifully written I could not put it down? I first picked up this book out of curiosity-- I was 16 at the time of the massacre, and I don't think I had ever heard about it until hearing about this book a couple months ago. How is that possible?! How could such a huge, horrible, and disturbing event not stick with me?! Did it just get lost in the midst of the other terrible things that happen internationally every day? Whatever it was, I was both excited and anxious to read this; I wanted to appease my frustration at my ignorance, but I dreaded actually reading an account of something as absolutely horrible as a massacre, especially an account that many reviewers considered novelistic. Having finished the book, I am a mess of grief and awe. Seierstad is an incredible writer; every doubt I had about her decision to write nonfiction in a novelized style was tied together in the epilogue (in which she explains, in detail, how she was able to use phrases such as "it calmed him down," etc. and not deviate from the facts). I still cannot believe I had not heard about this before, but I am grateful Seierstad took such a personal approach in this account. I sobbed along with those who lost children, siblings, and friends, and I definitely don't see this book leaving my mind any time soon.
maries_bookverse's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Åsne Seierstads bok ‘En av oss: en fortelling om Norge’ er en skremmende og gripende fortelling om en av de mørkeste dagene i Norges historie – 22. juli 2011. På denne dagen utførte Anders Behring Breivik en terroraksjon som rystet landet vårt til kjernen.
Boken går langt utover de kalde fakta og statistikker. Gjennom Seierstads grundige forskning og nære skildringer får vi innsikt i livene til de unge menneskene som mistet livet på Utøya, deres drømmer, håp og den urettferdige skjebnen som møtte dem. Å lese om deres lidelser og brutale skjebne er dypt rystende.
Vi møter også de etterlatte, som hver dag lever med sorg og tap. Historiene om familiene som sitter igjen med sorgen er hjerteskjærende. Seierstad beskriver hvordan de etterlatte prøver å finne mening og komme seg videre etter det ufattelige tapet. Denne dype menneskelige smerten gjør boken emosjonelt tung å lese.
Samtidig gir Seierstad et innblikk i Breiviks liv, hans radikalisering og de underliggende kreftene som formet hans verdensbilde. Å lese om hans hatfylte ideologi og de syke rasjonaliseringene bak hans handlinger var urovekkende og ubehagelig. Det er skremmende å få et glimt av hvordan en person kan utvikle et så destruktivt verdensbilde. Seierstad viser hvordan hat og ekstremisme kan vokse frem i et samfunn som vårt, og utfordrer til å reflektere over hvordan vi kan forebygge at noe lignende skjer igjen.
Å lese ‘En av oss: en fortelling om Norge’ er en påminnelse om at det som skjedde den dagen aldri må glemmes. Det handler ikke bare om å hedre minnet til de som døde, men også om å forstå de mekanismene som førte til tragedien. Vi må alltid være på vakt mot hatets spirer i samfunnet og stå sammen for de verdiene som ble angrepet – demokrati, mangfold og menneskeverd.
Boken går langt utover de kalde fakta og statistikker. Gjennom Seierstads grundige forskning og nære skildringer får vi innsikt i livene til de unge menneskene som mistet livet på Utøya, deres drømmer, håp og den urettferdige skjebnen som møtte dem. Å lese om deres lidelser og brutale skjebne er dypt rystende.
Vi møter også de etterlatte, som hver dag lever med sorg og tap. Historiene om familiene som sitter igjen med sorgen er hjerteskjærende. Seierstad beskriver hvordan de etterlatte prøver å finne mening og komme seg videre etter det ufattelige tapet. Denne dype menneskelige smerten gjør boken emosjonelt tung å lese.
Samtidig gir Seierstad et innblikk i Breiviks liv, hans radikalisering og de underliggende kreftene som formet hans verdensbilde. Å lese om hans hatfylte ideologi og de syke rasjonaliseringene bak hans handlinger var urovekkende og ubehagelig. Det er skremmende å få et glimt av hvordan en person kan utvikle et så destruktivt verdensbilde. Seierstad viser hvordan hat og ekstremisme kan vokse frem i et samfunn som vårt, og utfordrer til å reflektere over hvordan vi kan forebygge at noe lignende skjer igjen.
Å lese ‘En av oss: en fortelling om Norge’ er en påminnelse om at det som skjedde den dagen aldri må glemmes. Det handler ikke bare om å hedre minnet til de som døde, men også om å forstå de mekanismene som førte til tragedien. Vi må alltid være på vakt mot hatets spirer i samfunnet og stå sammen for de verdiene som ble angrepet – demokrati, mangfold og menneskeverd.
insertsthwitty's review against another edition
2.0
I’ve had Bookseller of Kabul on my reading list for a long while, having heard so many good things about it, and after reading this I’m going to remove it. That’s what I thought about One of Us, really.
It’s not that it’s not meticulously researched, because this phrase gets thrown around in reviews below for a good reason. Åsne Seierstad has done a staggering amount of research and interviewing to do this book. My main issue with this book is the writing style that just too often veers into mawkishness. The fact that what has happened is horrific, that it has changed the lives of so many people both directly and indirectly affected by the actions of just one man, doesn’t mean that the book that examines his life and the life of his victims can be so one-dimensional and trite. There, I said it.
I think it’s one of the less disputable facts of the world that what has happened feels profoundly unjust, so ridiculous, for someone to think he can murder so many people (to his eyes: guilty rather than innocent, how arrogant must you be to pronounce this judgement). So to write a book like this, you don’t necessarily have to repeat phrases in italics every so often, or intersperse paragraphs with one liners set to emphasise a point, as if the reader who chooses to pick up a 500 page long tome examining a terrorist attack is unable to retain information. I realise it’s meant to evoke a powerful emotional response, but it’s not a necessary manoeuvre. Anders Breivik murdered some 80 people, 69 on just one tiny island, most of which were teenagers. There is just no need for this.
There was just one section where I thought Åsne Seierstad delivers a powerful moment, and that’s where the rescue team moves on the island and they see the mobile phones light up in different places, all displaying the word Mum. And this was very well-timed, and well-written, and packed a punch.
There is also a similar problem with the substance of this book. I am not asking, as a reader, for anything unsavoury on the victims. But the lack of incisiveness is painful to read. It is amazing to name some of the victims, to follow their lives for a while, for them to be given a voice. There’s a profound sense of loss that I feel for each and every one of the people affected by this. But that’s one thing, and another thing is to infantilise everyone in order to elicit a response in the reader. Similarly with the examination of Anders Breivik, where Åsne Seierstad practices some self taught psychology which is painful to read. I was actually outraged by her section on online gaming and his childhood, and infuriated by her assuming his voice despite never even having spoken to him. She is ill-equipped to handle what she was implying and that is hands down the worst part of the book. The next one - her criticism of the state who mishandled the response. The critique is halting and hesitant. In the end, like with all other aspects of the book, it only half-delivers.
It’s not that it’s not meticulously researched, because this phrase gets thrown around in reviews below for a good reason. Åsne Seierstad has done a staggering amount of research and interviewing to do this book. My main issue with this book is the writing style that just too often veers into mawkishness. The fact that what has happened is horrific, that it has changed the lives of so many people both directly and indirectly affected by the actions of just one man, doesn’t mean that the book that examines his life and the life of his victims can be so one-dimensional and trite. There, I said it.
I think it’s one of the less disputable facts of the world that what has happened feels profoundly unjust, so ridiculous, for someone to think he can murder so many people (to his eyes: guilty rather than innocent, how arrogant must you be to pronounce this judgement). So to write a book like this, you don’t necessarily have to repeat phrases in italics every so often, or intersperse paragraphs with one liners set to emphasise a point, as if the reader who chooses to pick up a 500 page long tome examining a terrorist attack is unable to retain information. I realise it’s meant to evoke a powerful emotional response, but it’s not a necessary manoeuvre. Anders Breivik murdered some 80 people, 69 on just one tiny island, most of which were teenagers. There is just no need for this.
There was just one section where I thought Åsne Seierstad delivers a powerful moment, and that’s where the rescue team moves on the island and they see the mobile phones light up in different places, all displaying the word Mum. And this was very well-timed, and well-written, and packed a punch.
There is also a similar problem with the substance of this book. I am not asking, as a reader, for anything unsavoury on the victims. But the lack of incisiveness is painful to read. It is amazing to name some of the victims, to follow their lives for a while, for them to be given a voice. There’s a profound sense of loss that I feel for each and every one of the people affected by this. But that’s one thing, and another thing is to infantilise everyone in order to elicit a response in the reader. Similarly with the examination of Anders Breivik, where Åsne Seierstad practices some self taught psychology which is painful to read. I was actually outraged by her section on online gaming and his childhood, and infuriated by her assuming his voice despite never even having spoken to him. She is ill-equipped to handle what she was implying and that is hands down the worst part of the book. The next one - her criticism of the state who mishandled the response. The critique is halting and hesitant. In the end, like with all other aspects of the book, it only half-delivers.
brodan's review against another edition
5.0
Bravúrne spísaný prierez Breivikovým životom (ale aj životom a úspechmi niekoľkých jeho obetí), jeho chorým zmýšľaním, dlhých príprav k atentátu, ale aj samotným útokom na ostrove Utoya, z ktorého až behá mráz po chrbte. Prvýkrát sa mi stalo, že som musel pri čítaní knihy odvrátiť zrak, knihu odložiť a nachvíľu sa venovať iným myšlienkam.
lolthesunshine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
meganarmweak's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
writeasiread's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
buttercupita's review against another edition
5.0
I read this 500+ page book quickly -- What kept the pages turning? 1. Honestly, there were parts that were so horrific, I could not dwell on them and had to read them quickly. 2. However, the book was written on such a clear eyed and human level, I was drawn in to each person's story and wanted to know more about them. 3. The book speaks to the debates we are having in the US over guns, alienation, mental illness, and immigration. It's fascinating to see how even Norway's much more highly developed social safety net could still not prevent this tragedy, and yet we see that these incidents don't occur on the regular basis we have become (sickeningly) accustomed to in the US. I highly recommend this book.