Singularity
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What if the cataclysmic Tunguska explosion of 1908 was caused, not by a meteor or a comet, but by a...
The Navy Lark Collection: July - November 1967: Series 9
Full Cast, Lawrie Wyman, Leslie Phillips and Stephen Murray
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All 20 episodes from the ninth series of this much-loved BBC radio classic comedy starring Stephen...
Mythopoetic Cinema: On the Ruins of European Identity
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In Mythpoetic Cinema, Kriss Ravetto-Biagioli explores how contemporary European filmmakers treat...
Alexander Yakovlev: The Man Whose Ideas Delivered Russia from Communism
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A significant political figure in twentieth-century Russia, Alexander Yakovlev was the intellectual...
A Slip Under the Microscope
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'I will go in, out of this dust and heat, out of this dry glitter of vanity, out of these toilsome...
Scan Text OCR App - Convert picture to text easily
Productivity and Utilities
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***** Extract text from image and save as editable text file ***** ScanText OCR App will read text...
ClareR (5667 KP) rated Peach Blossom Spring in Books
Feb 13, 2023
Meilin leaves her home in order to protect her son Henry, and find somewhere safe for him to grow up. But without passports or papers to isn’t easy. She relies on her own abilities to survive along with the help she gets from others.
Henry goes to America to study at university and ends up staying on to work. He marries, gets a good job, and tries his best to be a good American. This is at a time of fear and suspicion of communists and everything either Chinese or Russian. Henry is terrified that he’ll draw the wrong kind of attention, and deprives his daughter of learning his language or traditions.
I felt so sorry for Meilin, left behind in Taiwan, so far from her son and unable to join him in America. I also felt for Henry, limited by his fear. But Henry’s daughter provides the bridge for Henry to return to his homeland.
I loved everything about this book - the settings, the history, the characters. And the fact that this is semi-autobiographical was just the icing on the cake.
A wonderful novel.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Salt to the Sea in Books
Dec 17, 2018
“We survivors are not the true witnesses. The true witnesses, those in possession of the unspeakable truth, are the drowned, the dead, the disappeared.” </i>– Primo Levi
World War Two has got to be the most well known and talked about period of history. Despite it not even being a century ago, it is already taught in schools around the globe. However a lot of events are omitted from our history books. A lot of people, including those alive at the time, have no idea of some of the situations Europeans found themselves in. Ruta Sepetys, despite having only previously written two novels, has become known for her stories about the lesser-known aspects of the Second World War. Her third book, <i>Salt to the Sea</i>, is no different.
In 1945 things were not looking great for the people living in Germany. Their greatest concern was the invading Russian army, resulting in thousands of Germans evacuating their hometowns. Four characters in their late teens/early twenties narrate <i>Salt to the Sea</i>: Joana, Florian, Emilia and Alfred. Their varied nationalities – Lithuanian, Prussian, Polish and German – help provide a range of opinions about the war, but regardless of who they believe to be the enemy, whether it be German or Russian or both, they are all figuratively in the same boat.
Joana, Emilia and Florian meet each other amongst a group of refugees trekking to freedom. A lot of trust is involved especially as no one is willing to reveal his or her true story. It is clear that each character is hiding something personal, something to do with the war, yet they all rely on and help each other to continue on their journey.
Naturally, being a war story there is masses of death and destruction. Set in January, the weather conditions are just as dangerous as the Russian soldiers. It is the end of the novel that contains the most shocking of events: a sinking of a ship that kills 9000 passengers. The most severe maritime disaster ever, yet it is doubtful that readers already know about it.
Despite being a work of fiction, Sepetys sticks to the facts in her heavily researched novel. She shocks the reader with the severity of the situation, and may even bring some to tears with the outcome. She has not sugar coated anything. Some storytellers save the innocents from harm, but this was not the case in <i>Salt to the Sea</i>. In war, no one can choose who lives and who dies. Millions of innocent people perish.
The short chapters keep the story flowing quickly. It is shocking, gripping and engaging. There is a brief notion of romance but this is not focused on and thus does not detract from the factual storyline. There was a hinted connection between characters in this novel and those in <i>Between Shades of Grey </i>– one of Sepetys’ earlier novels, however this is not a sequel or part of a series.
With the help of maps showing the difference between Europe now and Europe in 1945,<i> Salt to the Sea</i> is highly educational. Although aimed at young adults it is suitable for older generations as well. Whilst containing shocking content, you are certain to fall in love with Sepetys’ writing.
On Life-Writing
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Chapter 12 of this publication is open access, available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0...
Arab Orthodox Christians Under the Ottomans 1516-1831
Samuel Noble, Constantin Alexandrovich Panchenko and Brittany Pheiffer Noble
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Following the so called "Arab Spring" the world's attention has been drawn to the presence of...