5 comments about Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered (The Helen Rose Scheuer Jewish Women's Series).

1. I found this book extremely tedious, poorly edited, full of boring speculations and philosophical self centerdness. Am shocked at myself being able to say this about any survivor, but there you have it. I kept thinking, "OK, now when are you going to get on with the actual story", before realizing that it just droned on in this way. A much better book that I just read is 'A Jump for Life', a far more moving account and likeable woman.



2. There are many excellent memoirs describing the Nazi death camps, but this one touched me in a way that no other book has.
   
   My fiancé died in the World Trade Center, and this is really the only book that resonates with the deep, bitter grief I felt in that disaster's aftermath. I don't mean to compare 9/11 to the Shoah at all, but Kluger articulates many of the contradictory feelings and beliefs I myself have struggled with, including my frustration at being shaped by something that everyone knows about, but almost no one understands. I felt a shock of recognition when she complained about people visiting Auschwitz as a sentimental gesture, because I feel that same (totally irrational) discomfort about people visiting "Ground Zero". Though I have lived my life as an intellectual, Kluger spoke to the savage in me that still rails and howls at my loss.
   
   This is oftentimes an angry, bitter book, but she mentions in passing that she has grandchildren, so I believe she found some measure of joy in her life after her internment. After my tragedy, I was forced to ask myself how someone who doesn't believe in life after death can go on in the face of the gruesome injustice of existence. I never really found an answer, but I kept on living, and I don't intend to stop anytime soon. I heard a lot of my journey in Kluger's voice as well, and I am exceedingly grateful that she wrote this book.



3. Ruth Kluger gives a remarkably lucid and thoughtful account of her experiences as WWII Austria, and eventually the concentration and forced labor camps of Germany. Even though English is not her first language, Kluger writes remarkably succinct and cogent English prose, and she confronts the moral and emotional complexity of the holocaust in her memory. "Still Alive" is loosely structured, as Kluger prefers to record the events as she recalls them as opposed to adhering to strict chronology, but the result is very interesting, she superimposes her thoughts and secrets as the horrible events unfold. She paints a vivid and, at times unusual portrait of the Nazi holocaust, often ruminating on the pain and humiliation (she wonders if her father trampled children when sentenced to the gas chamber), but also the sheer enormity of the camps as an historical event, she recalls that when she received her tattoo she felt glee because she realized that she was a part of something that was much larger than herself, something "worth witnessing." A third of the memoir is post-holocaust, Kluger recounts her experiences in New York after the war as she and her mother struggle to regain control of their lives, and look for possible meaning and redemption in their past-suffering.



4. The author doesn't simply recount fact and opinion, she has truly analyzed her childhood growing up in Vienna and then through the Holocaust and concentration camp. What a treasure we have in this book to document one girl's life, living through a horrific time in history. It is a bonus that the author is such an outstanding writer. Kluger allows the reader to relate to her life through their own life experiences. She is certainly someone I'd like to know better. Highly recommend.



5. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was written in a way that went through Ruth's life during the Holocaust years. It starts at the very beginning and just talks about her whole experience. I like how Ruth mixed in experiences and comments from the future. This showed how the Holocaust still impacts her life and what she thinks about her surroundings. No one will ever be able to understand what Ruth had to suffer while in the concentration camps. But I feel that by reading her life story it makes it seem more of a reality and brings to life aspects of how the Jews were treated during this time period in American history. All the hardship and discrimination that Ruth had to endure shows the power and willingness she had to live. I liked how she never said it was strength that le ther live rather it was mostly luck. I thought that reading this book made me feel greatful for everything that I have. I would recommend reading this book if you want to realize what life during the Holocaust was like.

5 comments about Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer.

1. This story is not only impressive in the athletic achievement; it is noteworthy that she refuses to abandon her goals even when faced with the impenetrable wall of the Kremlin's closed border mindset.
   
   Well worth reading.



2. Based on the other reviews, I was quite excited about reading this book as I generally enjoy books about athletic exploits by unusual athletes. However, Lynne Cox never quite explained why she was doing what she did. By the time she was swimming to Antarctica, I was left asking why??
   
   Unlike, say, Lance Armstrong's book, Lynne lacked a central goal, and so the book was really a series of short stories about the various swims she tackled. As one other reviewer pointed out, it became somewhat repetitive. The early stories about swimming in California and the English Channel were to me more interesting simply because it was the first time I heard the tale.
   
   The book isn't bad, but it's also not great.



3. For the first 150+ pages I was intrigued with Ms.Cox's swims.....her amazing endurance and determination. But then...page after page after page....more or less the same....far more than I ever needed or wanted to know about long distance swimming particularly in icy cold waters. When.....at the last chapter...she actually did swim in Antartica waters, although I was sitting in my warm office, I shivered.



4. This is one of the best books I've read. It's an incredible story of a girl who was inspired to do something painful and difficult -- both to test herself and for the thrill and love of the cold water. It's very well written and hard to put down. I have recommended this book to friends and family members who swim, as well as other people who enjoy reading about accomplished women. I found myself cheering her on in each swim and feeling what she felt. After reading this I can never complain again about getting tired from swimming a few laps! Go Lynne!



5. Lynne Cox is a somewhat gifted writer ; an astonishingly gifted swimmer. Put them together and you get this very solid book. Lynne lovingly and with stunning clinical accuracy reports on her experiences of achieving the impossible. She shows us just how human a superhuman person can be, if that makes sense. (hey, did I say *I* was a writer??)
   
   I felt that by reading this book, I had a bit more understanding of what it might feel like to have a gift. Lynne shares that with us, along with her honest frustration at the beginning of her 'career' when she was not super fast or super buff. Talk about finding one's niche!
   
   It was interesting to read in the USMS journal this month, that more studies are being done to learn about certain people who can tolerate cold; Lynne's experiences pioneered these studies.
   
   I would refrain from judging her for what she did or did not contribute to world peace. She certainly harmed nobody, and as mentioned above, kickstarted some studies which may benefit us all in the future. Yes, I too would have enjoyed some photos and some more personal information about Lynne Cox. (Reading her next book, Grayson, did nothing to satisfy this curiosity.)
   
   I'm not sure you have to be a swimmer per se to enjoy this book, but it is hard to imagine a non athlete devouring it with quite as much gusto....That said I do not know a single Masters swimmer who hasn't read it. I do know that the next time Lynne Cox comes to speak in my area, I will drop everything to be there and listen.

5 comments about Ladies of the Night: A Historical and Personal Perspective on the Oldest Profession in the World.

1. I am surprised by others' reviews, given that I found Ladies of the Night more cover and less content and not unlike the approach that every school yearbook takes. Do grown-ups know so little about the subject? I had really hoped for more, given the hype.



2. Gene Simmons proves yet again that he can tackle any subject and make it very entertaining. Even for people who are not fans of the greatest band in the world, this book is very informative and fun to read. This book will definately hold your interest until his next book (his adaptation of The Art of War)arrives. Thank you Gene!



3. This is a great book to have on your coffee table & spurs conversation, just like I thought it would when I bought it..! Gene is eloquent and has a great sense of humor, making the book enjoyable to read & the sections and chapters are divided, so you can just read a couple pages at a time as can friends who stop by and pick it up..!
   
   It is also a very classy looking book with a nice cover, hardbound with soft colors that match any shade of wood table..!
   
   Well worth the $25 I paid for it & highly recommend it..!
   
   Marcus



4. This book is a very easy, fast read. Since it's clear that Gene and his co-author (Julie McCarron) had done their homework, I wish they had included their sources, because I'd love to be able to cite some of the information that was included. Since they chose to omit references, that leaves it an entertaining book, but unfortunately not one that can be used credibly in serious discussions on the topic.
   
   I understand that he wrote this to reach the widest audience possible, but I think it could have easily been written at higher than a third-grade reading level: as most people have graduated high school these days, if not attended at least some college.
   
   Overall, this is still a very beautifully-produced and enjoyable book.



5. Gene has had a tendency in the past to be somewhat obnoxious in interviews and in his writing. However, this time out he has written a well thought out book that is very fun to read. It provides a high level overview of the "oldest profession in the world". It is interesting and thought-provoking. I think you would be hard pressed to disagree with Gene on this one!

5 comments about Prisoner of Tehran: A Memoir.

1. Let me just get this out of the way, regardless of WHO YOU ARE, this is a really good book (which I actually read from front to back and will probably re-read) that any human being should like, plus the story has an amazing twist . The people who feel they have to go on the defensive and gave this book a bad review, I feel sorry for. I read to open my mind, not to close it; THAT DOES NOT MEAN I TAKE TO HEART the veracity of everything I read . Small minds come in many different flavors, so don't feel so special, get a hobby!



2. I'm sorry I cannot review this book as I have yet to receive it. Maybe you should improve your delivery serviuces to countries such as mine.!



3. This is a sad story of a little girl in which she is forced to set aside the crown of liberty and live like a beggar, but she fights to retain her dignity...
   Excellent Job, Great Audacity.



4. As a person of the same age as of this woman, who has lived in Iran until 1994, I have to say I find this book a bad piece of fiction, written for the Western audience and ready-to-be-sold to Hollywood to make a crappy movie.
   The truth is, in those years our life as a nation was miserable. Evin prison was full of political prisoners, and there was no freedom of speech. But things were not the way Nemat describes it. Her memoir is ridiculously fabricated with lies about everything you can imagine about Iran. People of age 15 were executed in Iran in those years, but for reasons more politically important than leading a strike in high school! Is she crazy? If the Iranian regime wanted to arrest every high-school student for their argument with their math teacher they could not rule the country. And that story about being saved by her interrogator: nothing can be more far from reality than that. This is more like an emotional Hollywood movie than the reality I have lived in.
   
   I cannot believe people here actually believe this nonsense. This woman is either a charlatan, or a psycho.



5. I have read the reviews that are good, bad as well as the very heated discussions about this book and I have to say that it is good that this book generated such intense reactions in mind of the readers as it did for me. Regardless of the accuracy of the author's account as I don't have the first hand experiences, I assume that most of the author's accounts of the general political and cultural environment in Iran are fairly accurate. My reaction is again, the disbelief over the oppression and violence towards women in the name of religion and traditions, and the conspicuous lack of uproar in the international community in the name of political correctness or "cultural sensitivity". I don't mean to minimize the importance of other causes that received attention, such as Chinese government against Tibet, but when it comes to women, the world seems to be rather silent. Books such as this, and other memoirs such as Infidel, Bookseller in Kabul, Wild Swans,and memoirs by FLDS survivors are important means to raise awareness, therefore need to be written and to be read. Having said that, I gave only two stars because the writing is very poor and flat and some recollections of her childhood experiences seem too romanticized and blantantly inconsistent with her developemental stages, which raised questions in me about the believability of her account, and eventually became distracting to me.

5 comments about The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq.

1. Fascinating read about Stewarts's stint as an "assistant provincial governor" of sorts for the Coalition, running from Sept 2003 to Aug 2004, IIRC.
   
   It reminded me of Assassin's Gate in its focus on individual Iraqis. Stewart has some experience dealing with Muslim societies from the bottom up and is certainly opinionated about the good and bad points of both the Coalition and the Iraqis. Much of his writing is both sympathetic and paternalistic towards Iraqis. Much of it describes himself as an heroic figure of sorts as well ;-) (No worse than Feith's book though).
   
   Basically, his oft-stated point of view goes somewhat like this: Iraqis respect strength, can be back-stabbing when they see weakness, yet are oddly honor-bound and sentimental as well. Saddam's state was a nanny socialist state and Iraqis just don't get that the Coalition can't and won't wave magic wands to run the country. Corruption is supreme.
   
   On the Coalition side, in the Green Zone, unrealistic idealism reigns and very little is done that applies to a post-Saddam Islamic state. The Coalition is depicted as out of touch with the common folk, incapable of knocking heads together politically, cheap on small budgetary items but capable of wasting huge sums of money.
   
   Many, too many, of the protagonists on both sides die as well.
   
   According to Stewart, too much emphasis is placed on woolly Western civic notions and picking just the "right" Iraqi partners. The most politically successful Iraqis seem to be those who manage to stay distant from the Coalition. Stewart's viewpoint is that colonial officers were infinitely more competent at managing client states than today's globe-trotting, short-rotation technocrats. Yet, he also thinks that delaying elections till things were "just right" was a huge mistake. His ideal occupying power would: a) not hesitate to be tough on civil disorder, b) not try to graft foreign notions (yep, like women's rights in Iraq - I said it wasn't PC), c) really care for the Iraqis' well-being. The Coalition fails on all counts, according to Stewart.
   
   Most chapters are prefixed with quotations from Machiavelli which meshes well with the Prince of the title, who is depicted as an opportunistic political animal that never does anything useful. Maybe honoring that famous Italian is meant to make up for the general scorn Stewart heaps on the Italian army's contributions in Iraq?
   
   This book is opinionated, and not scholarly but it remains a fascinating insight into Iraqi society and the challenges faced by the Coalition in 2003 and 2004. I would really rather give it 4.5 stars rather than 5 because there is little in the way of references. But just read it and take with a grain of salt.



2. Long before the United States thought of invading Iraq, Bassam Tibi, a Syrian political scientist, wrote that Arabs are not interested in democracy. This was restating the obvious, but not everybody noticed.
   
   And shortly after the invasion was declared a "mission accomplished," a newspaper columnist, Mark Steyn, rented a beat-up Toyota in Jordan and drove around Anbar and many other places in Iraq for a week, unmolested.
   
   What if instead of unarmed Steyn, Anbar had been occupied by several regiments of American (or Italian or even Spanish infantry)?
   
   Rory Stewart spent nearly a year in Iraq, as a "governate director" of the Coalition Provisional Authority. A more honest title would have been "satrap."
   
   He observed a lot, although he does not seem to have learned much. "The Prince of the Marshes" is his story. The title character was not the most important or even the most interesting of the Iraqis that Stewart tried to govern, but a book entitled "the quixotic Muslim cleric" or "the superannuated illiterate sheikh" or even "the addled seminary dropout" might not have sold as well. "The dishonest general" might have served but Stewart admired the dishonest general (David Petraeus) and does not understand where Petraeus failed in his military duty.
   
   The book is well worth reading, and not only for its easy charm. Whatever one thinks of Stewart's capacity to analyze (in my case, not much), his year in the marshes and few days in the Green Zone was rich in incident and adventure.
   
   The insurgency had not started when he arrived, as early as August 2003, and it was just ramping up by the time Paul Bremer handed over "authority" to an imaginary "Iraqi" "government" and Stewart went off to Harvard to reflect (not too deeply) about his experience.
   
   Scare quotes are needed everywhere. There is no Iraq, nor any Iraqi government, never has been. And authority, as even Stewart figured out, was non-existent.
   
   Although Stewart knew only a few words of Arabic, he brought some experience of Islam, and in particular rural Islam, to his job. A Scot raised in Indonesia, he tramped through Afghanistan and wrote a book about it. He writes that he was "very suspicious of theories produced in seminars in Western capitals" as they might be applied to nation-building in rural parts of the Muslim world. Well, fine, that's obvious, but what theory does Stewart think is appropriate? He never says.
   
   This sounds very much as if he was hoping something would turn up, a famous principle of British public policy.
   
   If any Arabs should have been happy to see Americans and/or Britons, it should have been the Marsh Arabs. Their strange way of life -- and many, many of them as individuals -- was exterminated by Saddam or by the Iranians, or by both. To western ways of thinking, Anybody but Saddam and Anybody but the Mullahs ought to have been preferable, and especially if that Anybody was bringing tens of millions of dollars into an area that had no real economy.
   
   Well, Marsh Arabs don't think like westerners. Duh.
   
   They are, among other things, mightily aggrieved about "colonialism" and "imperialism." To hear an Arab moan and curse about colonialism and imperialism leaves me ROTFL, but Stewart took their complaints at
   face value.
   
   As a Briton, though working for a multinational system, he sort of held the title of "political officer," equivalent to a job held by another Briton, a Colonel Leachman, who was shot in the back by an Iraqi patriot in 1920 during a revolt against "colonialism."
   
   Note the date.
   
   The Arabs in Iraq had not shot any Turks in the back -- not in the name of national political sovereignty at any rate -- during 500 years. The amount of "oppression" they had suffered under the English could not have been very great since until 1916 there were no English.
   
   Arab Muslims really do hate us (that is, western infidels) and everything we stand for (including most relevantly here, democracy).
   
   Even if they didn't, that doesn't make Iraq a nation. One of the joys of reading Stewart is his naïve restatement of the obvious. Early on, he decided that the approach of the Coalition Provisional Authority -- trying to deal with and amalgamate various former underdog factions (few of which had any higher ambition than being overdogs for a while) -- was wrong. Stewart thought the CPA should have worked through the sports leagues, the only organizations in the area that cut across all factions.
   
   Do I have to say that if the only thing you have in common is soccer, you don't have the makings of a nation?
   
   Besides, it ought to have been the policy of the United States to support a free and independent Great Kurdistan. Sympathy for, and even occasionally support of, national aspirations of real nations was an American characteristic until the administration of Woodrow Wilson.
   
   It would be worth returning to. Creating a Great Kurdistan would require breaking up Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey - a win-win-win-win situation if ever there was one.
   
   I wouldn't want you to avoid reading "The Prince of the Marshes" just because its author is a fool. There is too much lively incident, too much there between the lines to savor.
   
   Last point: Stewart is an admirer of Petraeus and Odiorno, who were just divisional officers when he saw them in meetings with the civilians of the CPA, for whom he felt deep contempt. (Stewart is not an utter fool.)
   
   Here's the problem with Petraeus. As even Stewart figured out, the foundation of any policy had to be security. It doesn't take a genius to know that security required more infantry. That was the reason for the surge, too little and too late.
   
   President Bush said, publicly, that his theater commanders could tell him if they needed more men. Never mind that there weren't more. It was the duty of Petraeus and his predecessors to tell Bush the obvious: A bigger army was required.
   
   What would have happened after they told him? Only one American politician called for a bigger army, Mitt Romney, and the voters didn't want to hear it. That, however, was not the generals' problem. In a civilian-directed system, they had a professional duty to offer professional advice to the civilian government.



3. item arrived after a long wait but was in great condition. i love this book, WOW.



4. Rory Stewart (British equivalent of a US FSO) went to Iraq as the war was kicking of and supported the CPA in the province of Basra. Rory does a great job of telling his own accounts of how he attempted to support the local government in the area he was responsible for and the difficulties that he had. A book that may have only occurred during a certain timeframe his lessons and experiences are valuable throughout Iraq and in other countries where a government is trying to vie for control.



5. This book is an honest, intelligent insight to the messes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the efforts by many - albeit should be all - to do bring those countries to stability. Everyone should read this - politicians (or so called politicians); servicemen/women; leaders and thinkers alike. This is my second title read of Rory Stewart and I hope to read more of his works.

5 comments about On Call: A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency.

1. This book was a fairly easy read, I almost wish it was longer. The write made it easy for those of us without a medical background to follow along. A great insight into what it takes to become a Dr. I have more respect for Dr's after reading this novel.



2. It's a honest encounter of residency years of a Internal Medicine Physician. It's mostly like a diary of her years in residency.



3. 
   AS a doctor I can see myself in her story and experience... Difficult to cope with other people sufferings and wonderful when you can help it...



4. Dr.Transue does a great job of infusing her story with accuracy and gory details, but still keeps a very human approach and doesn't lose sight of her patients as people. This book is so interesting for anyone (and most of us hopefully have)who has been on either side of medical care to see both sides. It is a great book to help patients realize how human their doctors truly are and the enormous amount of stress their caretakers are under,and yet they still manage to have patience and grace under fire.



5. I really enjoyed this in depth book about residency and the continued process to achieve the doctor status! Very well written and bright!
   I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the medical field and those searching for info on the process of becoming a doctor!

5 comments about The Lords of Discipline.

1. like i said a little slow in the beggining and i though i wasn't going to like it. don't give up though...the story gets intense without too much "action" type stuff and it ended becoming one good read.



2. I received this book as a gift and was reluctant to read it as the subject matter was not of interest. I started to read it just to see what it might be like and was captured by the outstanding writing. It was just a joy to read and the characters will stay with me forever.



3. About half way thru this book and had to set it aside. I'll return to it later as it is a little too intense and the language is shocking.
   
   I thought his books Beach Music and The Prince of Tides were much better. I could not put Beach Music down.



4. This is a great military/coming of age novel by Pat Conroy that I would put slightly behind The Great Santini (one of my favorite books of all time) in his catalogue. In this story, Conroy follows a young cadet at the fictional Carolina Military Institute (modeled partly on Conroy's time at The Citadel) as he endures his plebe year and then comes to grip with the fact that the school fosters a great deal of hate, racism and cruelty to accomplish its mission of developing the Complete Man. Conroy's writing always moves quickly with engaging dialogue, humor and entertaining story lines and this book is no exception. It is certainly deeper than your standard pop fiction book, but it reads just as easily and quickly. I would highly recommend it to Conroy fans, people who enjoy good fiction (even my mother likes this book) or people who have interest in military schools or the South in the 50's. A very good book.



5. The mark of a successful coming of age story is that you, the reader, can see yourself reflected in the protagonist. For me, this book worked very well. Will McLean, the main character and first-person narrator, a second generation Irish boy, son of a Marine, a mongrel outsider in the pedigreed Carolina Military Institute searches for himself, the man within the boy who is being molded by a system of discipline and honor that doesn't match his internal morality. He's an English major in a college of warriors. He's a basketball player, a finesse guard, in a school of brute force. He's fighting against systems he doesn't understand within a life choiceless in it's inequality.
   
   Pat Conroy, himself a graduate of the model for the fictional Institute, The Citadel, weaves a compelling tension-filled story while eloquent in his setting, Charleston, South Carolina. Employing gracious proper Southern dialect filled with flowers, antiques, and tradition, he describes brutality, racism, sexism, and betrayal. The language works well because it provides within its description the biting irony of the scenes. Will McLean fights through every taboo the South has to offer in the 1960's: a black cadet in the all-white tradition of the military college, an unwed pregnant girl shunned by society for her shame while the father of her baby remains blameless, the brutal plebe system that crushes individuality while remaking young men as soulless military automatons, the classed society of high south old money and it's cruelty to those not born within the circle, and the fact that military honor doesn't equate to individual morality.
   
   Fighting through this maze of pitfalls, McLean has only his closest and dearest friends to rely on, roommates Dante "Pig" Pignetti and Mark Santoro, two brawny, Northern boys of Italian descent and Tradd St. Croix, an "old Charlestonian" (from a very rich and respected family). His moral guide through the story is the epitomy of hard military men, Colonel "Bear" Berrineau, a vulgar battle-scarred man whose character is unimpeachable and whose idea of duty includes awful repercussions.
   
   I loved this story and I couldn't put it down. If I had one criticism to give, it's that Conroy tried to put too much into the novel - too many problems and taboos and tried to fix hundreds of years worth of problems in one book. But, that's not really a criticism because he did it and did it well. Bravo.
   
   CV Rick

5 comments about Another Bullshit Night in Suck City: A Memoir.

1. I can tell you that this author has embellished little. I avoid four letter words in my books simply because I think they distract. Nevertheless, I understand Flynn's reasoning here, and at least for me, the language in this book was palatable. What I found most interesting about this work was how different street living is in Boston compared to Las Vegas and East Los Angeles. Then East LA is a 24/7 war zone. While Boston and Las Vegas are similar in the fact that it's the police in these two cities you had better be wary and respectfully of; in East LA, as bad as the police are, badges are a welcome sight compared to MS-13.



2. The assertion a life worth writing about by an individual who can write well proves to be simply that, an assertion. Flynn's talents (?) are mediocre, the book tiresome, repetitive and unfortunately like most of the other 'my childhood was the pits' by which I mean it may self serve the author.
   
   None of the characters were likeable despite being deeply flawed (which often makes the person likeable).
   
   I doubt Flynn's daddy was worth writing about.
   
   It's done now.
   
   Do yourself a favour. Spend your money on a more worthy book - that's just about any other book so the choice is massive.
   
   As for Flynn being a poet, that is still open for debate. If his prose is at all similar to his poetics, his poetry would suck.



3. Good, effective memoir/story of the author's father's struggle with homelessness and alcohol and drug use. Very well-written and compelling. A good read.



4. I was very interested in the title of this book and when I picked it up, on further examination, I had to read it. It was a fast read for me.



5. I was directed to this strange book because of another recommended work here at Amazon. Much to my surprise, I absolutely enjoyed this strange twilight or maybe it's--"permanent midnight " ? view of a mixed-up and gifted son looking at his life from all these bizarre angles.
   
   One being the fact that the son, (here the author himself) as a young adult, ends up taking a job at a homeless shelter and in a voyeuristic vision into his own possible future, sizes up the very man who brought him into the world as he wanders his bleary-eyed way into that very shelter one late, inebriated evening.
   
   Chilling depictions like this, along with Flynn's dark-humored view of his father in all of his guises (house-painter, check-forger, would-be writer, etc.) keeps you turning the pages. At its core is the fact that all this grit is true. And as a memoir, it is so beautifully rendered and it's one that's so worth reading. (surpasses the James Frey, Augusten Burroughs fare by a long-shot!)

5 comments about Red Azalea.

1. 
   From the start of the book the reader is enveloped with several odd concepts and aspects of communism and the Chinese culture that many may find simply odd. This is one of the books most fascinating qualities that make it partly likable. My problems with the book come primarily from Min's raw and almost poetic writing style. At times her simple sentence structure was a major drawback that led to a choppy feeling and rough delivery. I felt that her memoir would have been more appealing if she had spent less time dwelling on descriptions that were in many cases not necessary. Overall this book in my opinion deserved three out of five stars. I will undoubtedly recommend this novel to others for the reason that this story is one of a kind and at many points heartwarming.



2. Red Azalea is a compelling memoir, even though the writing is not always engaging. The prose relies on simple declarative sentences and often seems stilted. One observation follows closely upon another; thus, a description of setting might be followed immediately by a description of mortal danger, all in the same even, subject-verb syntax. You feel like you are reading a translation, and, in a sense, you probably are, since Anchee Min knew no English when she came to the U.S. in 1984, although the memoir was written in English. (Red Azalea was published in 1994.) Interestingly, she does not use quotation marks for a character's speech, but does use them for the numerous quotations from Chairman Mao, which has the effect of making Mao a powerful presence in the book. Two things make the book compelling. One is the sheer force of the events of the Cultural Revolution, particularly Min's depiction of her childhood and of her time on Red Fire Farm. The other is her eye for detail, like the bright red underwear hung out to dry in the spartan barracks of the collective farm. Min's recollections of sexual repression (and expression) during the Cultural Revolution are interesting. Such sexual puritanism is exactly what George Orwell's character Julia rebels against in the totalitarian society of his novel 1984, written in 1949, the year Mao came to power.



3. I'm not really sure what to make of this book. It was very powerful and personal. It's unlike any other book i've read because it something that has actually happened. The events in the book are mind blowing in a way that makes you want to keep reading. I would reccomend this book for someone who is ready to read a story that can overwhelm you.



4. I finished the book in 2 days...I could've finished it in one but I'm a student so I couldn't finish it as early as planned. However, I love this book! I love Anchee Min..she is definetly my favorite author. I bought almost all her books. One of the book I really liked is Empress Orchid.



5. Having read Empress Orchard I found this written in a more juvenile way. Perhaps the author was a younger and less sophisticated writer at the time. Good, but not fantastic

2 comments about Out of Egypt: A Memoir.

1. I read these memoirs with strict concentration on all features of the environment that provided the interesting material to this book.
   
   From childhood of elderly relatives that was somewhat unhappy and bordering on deprivation, the family living off charity, in areas where the primary social groups' life revealed a pattern of neglect, moral [...] , and disregard for law.
   
   I watched a collection of things making people of the same feather sharing a common attribute. Perhaps I should say that a small part of these features I lived myself (1952-56). The message Andre Aciman is giving me is also addressed to every member of a clan feeling alien in the environment in which one was found, and resisted to share.
   
   You are taken back in time to the beginning of the twentieth century until the mid fifties. I never felt strange to uncle Vili, Aunt Clara, or Tante Lotte, like these people exist in the annals of many families' chronological account of events in any successive years.
   
   How much true it is when one had become a success story and thus an object of intense jealousy on the part of his less fortunate confreres. One would definitely feel better off to keep ones apart from ones fellows.
   Walking on tight ropes during WWII to keep balance between complete annihilation and survival is not impossible, or unethical, though the uncomplimentary remarks Uncle Vili used to make about the warring parties - about them both - in private, now remained no secret. We all tend to do the same thing when cornered; won't we? This is legitimate quest for survival amid a world run in madness, Uncle Vili appeared uncomplicated enough.
   
   Those were the people we came to know in Egypt in the mid-fifties, their private life, their intimate charm, their gentleness, their direct and affectionate manner, their kindness and modesty which remained unchanged even at the very height of their predicaments.
   
   We knew people like Uncle Vili, their sense of humor, coupled with caustic wit with their servants - Egyptians and/or Sudanese - that their good nature forsook them and their tongue became capable of mordant, wounding remarks. In the company of their intimate friends, they would throw off the habitual reserve they displayed on public occasions and behave like the big boy scouts which they remained in one corner of their personality - Pashas attitudes.
   
   Andre Aciman: I salute you.



2. Out of Egypt, is a very special memoir about growing up in Alexandria before the author and his family were forced to move from Egypt in 1965 . It's a fascinating memoir of a time and place that no longer exists, and a wonderfully written account .