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Ali A (80 KP) rated I Must Betray You in Books

Feb 7, 2022  
I Must Betray You
I Must Betray You
Ruta Sepetys | 2022
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Trigger Warnings: blackmailing, manipulation, revolution, shooting, police brutality, government oppression

Set in late 1989 communist Romania, 17-year-old Cristian is forced to become an informer by the secret police in exchange to help his family. While he deals with the guilt and paranoia of being an informer, Cristian also risks everything to let the world know what is happening in Romania. But what is the cost of the revolution?

As usual, another section of history I didn’t really know anything about until Ruta Sepetys wrote a book about it and now I’ll be doing a ton of research about it this weekend. I was in middle school and high school in the 2000s, so I kind of understand why I probably never really learned much about this if they didn’t unseal files for 15 years… though I do remember learning about Nadia Comăneci leaving the country? But I don’t remember Nicolae Ceaușescu or the horrors of his regime.

Rita Sepetys is one of my favorite authors - if she writes it, I know I’m going to read it, get immersed in a new part of history I probably wasn’t aware of, and learn something new. I know Sepetys does a ton of research on each of her books, and this one is no different. She lets you know it is a work of fiction, but that a ton of research went into the novel and then she lists resources at the end of the book. Knowing how much research was done for this and matching it with a narrator who captivates the readers - I couldn’t put this book down.

The chapters were mostly short and a quick read, but that matched with the franticness of Cristian’s life. You slowly see his eyes opening to the fact that what his country is doing to him and his countrymen is not right and how much they had been lied to to keep them in line. You felt the same suspension he felt as he tried to figure out who he could really trust.

Please read this book (and other titles by Sepetys as well) and learn about an aspect of history that most likely wasn’t taught much in school in a way that’s well written and well researched.
  
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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated A Thousand Years of Good Prayers in Books

Sep 21, 2017  
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
Yiyun Li | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Impressive collection of short stories about pre- and post-revolution China
This collection of short stories by Yiyun Li is both charming and a little disconcerting, showing how Chinese citizens attempt to live in a changed consumer communist society. From a gay man attempting to eke out a space for himself after returning from America to China, to those with mental health issues and parents with more than one child, Li showcases a plethora of characters and voices, many reflective of her own experiences.

The first story about an elderly woman trying to work and survive, and feeling love for a young boy after many years of loneliness is poignant and sombre. While the final story is similar to Li's experience of living in America - she is in reality a dissident and at one point couldn't leave the country to collect an award for this book, hence the book is remarkable in the fact that it feels completely plausible. Even more laudable is the fact that she had only learnt English for six years when she wrote the book. It is a wonderful collection of stories.
  
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Brian Kapfer (2 KP) created a post

May 26, 2018  
I decided to take a chance and watch 'How to Talk to Girls at a Party,' starring a cute as a button Elle Fanning and an almost unrecognizable Nichole Kidman. The story is based in England during the Punk revolution with bands like, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and NY Dolls...well, maybe not them. It is a historical drama, with a fantasy twist. Though, it is lacking comedy and action, the dialogue between the main characters is very nice to watch. The hero, Mikey (actor's name unknown, no entry in IMDB and other sources) wants to be a punk singer and during a basement concert he sees and falls in love with Zan (Fanning) at first sight. A he woos here, we begin to suspect that this girl is not really what she seems. Further along, we find more and more of Zan's species and learn their terrible secret. As the movie ascends to a climax, we find that Zan and the others must leave Earth and fulfill their destiny, though not without trepidation. Overall, I enjoyed it and would watch it again. Fanning pretty much owned her part and the movie.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3859310/?ref_=nv_sr_1
      
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Deborah (162 KP) rated The Beau Monde: Fashionable Society in Georgian London in Books

Dec 21, 2018  
TB
The Beau Monde: Fashionable Society in Georgian London
Hannah Greig | 2013
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Greig's book takes a look at the Beau Monde - the fashionable elite - ranging from the 'Glorious Revolution' up to the early part of the 19th century. The Beau Monde and The Season were instigated by the more important role of parliament following the deposition of James II by his daughter and her husband - William III & Mary II. The peerage would spend a good deal of their time in London attending parliament, and so so social 'Season' was born. It was interesting to see the extent to which politics permeated the fashionable society and the importance of 'gossip' and 'chit chat' which letters from wives to husbands can be full of. The book covers jewellery and dress, exile from the Beau Monde and fraudulent claims to membership, court attendance and much more. Particularly with the clothing and jewellery, I think this would really have been enhanced with coloured plates, but sadly all the illustrations are black and white.

In her introduction, Greig states that this book has grown out of her doctoral thesis on the subject. It is a quite a scholarly read, but not completely inaccessible to the general reader.
  
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    Tidying up the nursery has never been more fun. Teach your child about sorting and arranging with...