"Loses some force in its latter half but the key story remains gripping. Unlocks 70-year-old horrors so the present can't shut the door on past complicities and crimes." Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada).
I found this quote very true. The story did in fact lose some force in the latter half. Once Sarah's story ended I became a little upset because I wanted to know more, I liked following her story- I did not find Julia's story as interesting as Sarah's. The story still gave out an important message though, and reminded people of the horrific past that will forever be remembered. Readers got an inside look at what actually went on during this war, it was life changing. I loved this book a lot. I learned so much about the war and what went on. I had no idea that it was this bad in France at this time, I thought it was only in Germany. I would recommend this book to anyone!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Going Back
As I went back to reread some chapters, I found a very interesting/ ironic line.
" Just the sort of thing an American would do. No respect for the past. No idea of what a family secret is. No manners. No sensitivity. Uncouth, uneducated American" (Rosnay 266).
This line is said by Bertrand's sister when the family finds out that Julia has been researching and trying to contact Sarah Dugard's family- the family who lived in their apartment prior to them. The sister felt that it was never a good idea bringing up the past, especially whatever happened during the war. She says "No one wants to be reminded of that, nobody wants to think about that" (Rosnay 266). I found this quote to be very ironic. Bertrand's sister stated that no one wants to remember the past-especially whatever happened during the war, and then she suggested that Julia had no respect for the past because she brought it up.
" Just the sort of thing an American would do. No respect for the past. No idea of what a family secret is. No manners. No sensitivity. Uncouth, uneducated American" (Rosnay 266).
This line is said by Bertrand's sister when the family finds out that Julia has been researching and trying to contact Sarah Dugard's family- the family who lived in their apartment prior to them. The sister felt that it was never a good idea bringing up the past, especially whatever happened during the war. She says "No one wants to be reminded of that, nobody wants to think about that" (Rosnay 266). I found this quote to be very ironic. Bertrand's sister stated that no one wants to remember the past-especially whatever happened during the war, and then she suggested that Julia had no respect for the past because she brought it up.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Thoughts
I am now finished the novel and I was upset with the way the author decided to end the life of Sarah. I was kind of hoping Julia would meet Sarah in person so they could get into more detail about what happened later on in Sarah's life. The fact that we found out that Sarah committed suicide kind of changed the way I feel about Sarah. I used to think she was a very brave, strong girl, but this changed everything. Sarah was weak and could no longer deal with her problems. She killed herself even though she had a son and a loving husband- she made them feel how she had felt when she lost her loved ones. I feel that what Sarah did was very selfish and it slightly ruined the end of the story.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Book Discussion
I discussed my book with my friend Cassie and it went like this...
I described the story line to her and went over the tragic events that had happened to Sarah and her family. We discussed how horrific it must have been to be in her position, as well as all the millions of others families that had faced other similar experiences. We discussed how we were able to connect to the events and the characters. She explained to me how it made her sick to her stomach to think about the types of things that we complain about today, considering the tragedies and events that they faced back then during those times. She then proceeded to tell me about how scary it is that while most people think that the Holocaust was the worst thing to ever happen to this world, and that things are different today, there are things going on right now, that the majority of people have no clue about. These things are very comparable to the Holocaust and even considered worse. There are things going on in places such as Rwanda and Lybia that are entirely unimagineable. Millions of people, including children, are being murdered, skinned, bombed, shot to death, tortured, held hostage, and the list goes on. Most of what is going on as we speak is so unbelievable. The government does not provide any information about these events so everyone is so uneducated about it. It makes me wonder, what if everyone knew what is really going on?
I described the story line to her and went over the tragic events that had happened to Sarah and her family. We discussed how horrific it must have been to be in her position, as well as all the millions of others families that had faced other similar experiences. We discussed how we were able to connect to the events and the characters. She explained to me how it made her sick to her stomach to think about the types of things that we complain about today, considering the tragedies and events that they faced back then during those times. She then proceeded to tell me about how scary it is that while most people think that the Holocaust was the worst thing to ever happen to this world, and that things are different today, there are things going on right now, that the majority of people have no clue about. These things are very comparable to the Holocaust and even considered worse. There are things going on in places such as Rwanda and Lybia that are entirely unimagineable. Millions of people, including children, are being murdered, skinned, bombed, shot to death, tortured, held hostage, and the list goes on. Most of what is going on as we speak is so unbelievable. The government does not provide any information about these events so everyone is so uneducated about it. It makes me wonder, what if everyone knew what is really going on?
Sympathy Towards Sarah's Son
"It was strange, moving, to see him on the threshold of that apartment, the very place that had caused his mother so much pain, so much sorrow, and to think he did not yet know, he did not yet know what had happened here, to his family, his grandparents, and his uncle." (De Rosnay, 254)
When I read this quote, I felt very sympathetic towards Sarah's son because he does not know about the tragic events that his family endured, yet alone the pain they had felt in that very room. I can relate to how Julia is feeling, while she knows the tragedies Sarah's family faced that her son is unaware of. There have been a few instances in my life where I have known information that was about to change someone's life and really hurt them emotionally as soon as they found out. It made me wish that I could protect them but at the same time I knew that there was nothing I could do to protect them from the pain they were about to feel.
When I read this quote, I felt very sympathetic towards Sarah's son because he does not know about the tragic events that his family endured, yet alone the pain they had felt in that very room. I can relate to how Julia is feeling, while she knows the tragedies Sarah's family faced that her son is unaware of. There have been a few instances in my life where I have known information that was about to change someone's life and really hurt them emotionally as soon as they found out. It made me wish that I could protect them but at the same time I knew that there was nothing I could do to protect them from the pain they were about to feel.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sarah's Strength Brings Julia To Shame
"Sarah was the only person I could bear thinking about right now" (Rosnay 177).
Julia was going through a very rough time prior to stating this line. She has found out she is pregnant again and her husband is not impressed. He gave her two choices; either get an abortion or they are getting a divorce. Julia did not want to give up this baby, she was so happy when she found out she was pregnant again and she thought her husband would be too. Unfortunately this was not the case and there was no making Bertrand change his mind about this baby. Eventually Julia decided it would be best for her marriage if she got an abortion-even though it was not at all what she wanted to do. During this time when she stated this line she was in the clinic awaiting her surgery. I found it very symbolic that Julia could only tolerate thinking about Sarah. I feel that Julia can only think about Sarah because of how guilty she feels about getting this abortion. Sarah did everything in her power to save her little brother. No matter what anyone said or did Sarah never gave up; she hid him in a cupboard away from the police, she escaped from the camp, walked a very long distance, and found a family to bring her back to Paris. Then Julia is just letting her husband tell her what to do even though she wants this baby. She has certainly not done all she could to save this child. She is not fighting for this child's life like she should. Sarah's Strength Brings Julia To Shame.
Julia was going through a very rough time prior to stating this line. She has found out she is pregnant again and her husband is not impressed. He gave her two choices; either get an abortion or they are getting a divorce. Julia did not want to give up this baby, she was so happy when she found out she was pregnant again and she thought her husband would be too. Unfortunately this was not the case and there was no making Bertrand change his mind about this baby. Eventually Julia decided it would be best for her marriage if she got an abortion-even though it was not at all what she wanted to do. During this time when she stated this line she was in the clinic awaiting her surgery. I found it very symbolic that Julia could only tolerate thinking about Sarah. I feel that Julia can only think about Sarah because of how guilty she feels about getting this abortion. Sarah did everything in her power to save her little brother. No matter what anyone said or did Sarah never gave up; she hid him in a cupboard away from the police, she escaped from the camp, walked a very long distance, and found a family to bring her back to Paris. Then Julia is just letting her husband tell her what to do even though she wants this baby. She has certainly not done all she could to save this child. She is not fighting for this child's life like she should. Sarah's Strength Brings Julia To Shame.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Who is Amelie?
"That's where I told him I found out about Amelie. Not tonight. Not now. Amelie was over. Was she, though? Was she really? I had to admit I was not sure. But for now, I did not want to know. I did not want to see. There was going to be a new baby" (Rosnay 101). Julia has brought up this person-Amelie- a few times now. I am beginning to wonder if Amelie is a baby that she had lost in the past. She mentions in the chapter prior to this that she was pregnant five years ago, after two miscarriages. She says it had been a nightmare. The baby was growing outside the womb and then died. She had to undergo an operation and had her one ovary removed. Maybe she named the baby Amelie before she discovered that it had died, maybe thats why Julia is so upset when she mentions Amelie.
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