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Hazel (2934 KP) rated Sing, Memory in Books

May 21, 2023  
Sing, Memory
Sing, Memory
Makana Eyre | 2023 | History & Politics
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I have read a few books about the Holocaust but Sing, Memory is something quite different.

Focussing on the life of Aleksander Kulisiewicz, a non-Jewish Pole, this tells the story of his life before, during and after World War 2. He was imprisoned in the notorious concentration camp Sachsenhausen and paints a disturbing and vivid picture of the horrors he and other prisoners had to endure from being forced to take part in 'sport', to back-breaking work and endless hours of roll call.

In Sachsenhausen, music and singing were forbidden unless used as a form of punishment however, this didn't stop a secret choir being formed and led by conductor Rosebery d’Arguto, a Polish Jew. Aleksander became friends with Rosebery and as a result of Aleksander's amazing ability to memorise songs, Rosebery asked him to memorise his songs and ensure they are shared with the world after the war.

This became Aleksander's mission - to meticulously memorise songs from all the camp inmates and ensure that he survived so they would not be forgotten. After 6 long years of captivity, Aleksander was free however, his promise to those that did not survive was to become his life's work but also an obsession which, along with the horrendous experiences he endured, affected him and those around him deeply.

Sing, Memory is a detailed story written from meticulous research undertaken by the author with the help of a lot of other people and is a remarkable story of one man's mission to ensure a part of history is told and not forgotten.

Thank you to W.W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of Sing, Memory.
  
40x40

Sarah (126 KP) rated Shores of the Marrow (The Haunted #6) in Books

Feb 18, 2019  
Shores of the Marrow (The Haunted #6)
Shores of the Marrow (The Haunted #6)
Patrick Logan | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Paranormal
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Rushed Ending to a Rushed Series
The author's note at the end of this book mentions "six books and one year" - which I think lends real credence to the fact that, as I was reading through Shores of the Marrow, it felt as if the whole series, but this book in particular, had been rushed.

Whether it was the author's or the publisher's decision to put out six books in such a short period of time, I don't think it was necessarily a good one. A lot more work was needed to "polish" the books, in terms of picking up errors (e.g. waddle used in place of wattle), and, personally, I think there were too many characters brought in, with a lot of focus placed on them for a time, for them to just be cast aside and forgotten about, or for there to be fleeting references made to them in later books. Similarly, main characters have big chunks of backstory missing that leaves them feeling quite unrounded, given that there have been six books (to date) in the series.

I really do think that this would have been better served as a more focussed storyline in fewer books, which would have been a meatier tale to get stuck into, with really well-defined and explored characters. As it is, I was left feeling like so much of the story was kind of "frothy" and lacked a certain depth - it never really drew me in and made me feel anything, which was quite a disappointment for me.

It's also something of a disappointment to come to the end of the book, without any real conclusion, find a link to a pre-order for the next book in the series and there be no such page when the link is clicked! Whether I'll come back to the series if and when Book 7 is released is, in all honesty, looking somewhat doubtful
  
    Speaky - Practice Languages

    Speaky - Practice Languages

    Education and Productivity

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    Speaky is the perfect app to instantly practice languages with people around the world and for free....