Around the World in 80 Books discussion

I am planning to start reading this book and I was wondering if anyone wanted to read it with me. It's been on my shelf for a while and I thought it would be fun to involve more people in the reading of this novel. The discussion of course is open for everyone so I hope some people will be interested in reading this novel with me.

It looks like a quality novel - a good contrast to the fluff I've been reading recently. I just put a hold on the book at my library. :)

i've read it - a few years ago - but i'll happily chat about it with you guys as you read - its an area of history that I would love to study more

I read it awhile ago too, and I'd love to discuss it as well while you read it. I have a copy of it at home and can find specific pages.

I'm glad to have some people to discuss it with. I think the main reason I wanted someone to be there while I was reading it is because I hear it's pretty sad and I find as I get older sad stories just... Destroy me a lot more than they did when I was younger XD (I talk like I'm so old but I'm 25 haha)

I'm only a few pages in and this is already one of the saddest books I've read this year. There's one book this year I read that just made you feel... Very empty inside, and that in itself is a terrible feeling, but this book... 20 pages in and I want to cry. Goodness, what have I gotten into?

I know how you feel. It gets pretty depressing.

The book hasn't gotten to my library yet... anxiously waiting!

@corinne I haven't had a lot of time to read it! I plan on sitting down today though and get some reading in. (I'm dealing with finals and all). Hopefully your library will get it in soon! You'll be able to catch up to me quickly. :)

It's hard to imagine what anything good happens in this novel. When something good happens, something tragic occurs at the same time. It's a short lived victory.

On a side note I teared up a bit when they started to sing the Lithuanian national anthem. That pulled at the heart strings. I think I might try to get a book on Lithuanian history. I'll be honest, my only exposure to its history is Hetalia, which is faaaar from a credible source haha.

I love the mother in this story. She's so strong and does whatever she can, not just for her children, but for everyone. She's truly inspirational.

I love the mother in this story. She's so strong and does whatever she can, not just for her children, but for everyone. She's truly inspirational.

I know. She was my favorite character in the book for that reason.

I finally got the book. Hooray! Or maybe not hooray because I need to prepare myself for all of the sadness. I will start reading it today in any case!

I'm about 80 pages in. I like how it's already challenging my thoughts on history and my sensitivity to what was going on where at the time. At the part where everyone celebrates when they hear that the Germans are coming to Lithuania, I was reading late at night, so I'll blame my fatigue on the fact that I didn't catch on that they were referring to Nazis until one of the characters said something vaguely ominous. I had already gotten caught up in the "Stalin is the big enemy" feeling of the main character. Basically, I think this book is already really successful at pulling you into its world.

The super short chapter structure is interesting - I think it gives the book a journal-type feel.

I also love the mom. I hope I could be half as calm and strong as her if I ever found myself in a similar situation. Hopefully that won't happen though!

I'm happy to see you got the book in!! I agree about the chapter structure. I tend to like short chapters. It's very fitting for this novel and helps it flow along nicely.

I also agree about how it pulls you into the historical aspect of it all. A long time ago I took a course on Russian history and I recall learning about the Stalin era, but of course it was from a completely different perspective. Reading it from this perspective is far more horrifying, which is crazy because it was already horrifying when I first learned it. I want to learn more about Lithuanian history after this.

I also think there's a good balance of feeling like there's hope but also feeling like there's no hope at all. I think that has a lot to do with the character dynamics. Someone has constant hope while others are falling slowly into despair. Or falling fast and hard into despair. The mother in particular is an inspiration. Honestly she keeps the hope going. I feel like without her the group wouldn't be able to hold it together, at least for the most part.

Yeah, I just got the book and I'm already almost finished! I will probably finish it later today. Thanks for posting about it, because I don't think I would have found it on my own.

I also find myself wanting to know more about Lithuanian history. What is Helatia, which you mentioned earlier? I'm wondering how thoroughly the author researched everything, and how much of it is based on her parent's experience. Maybe there will be more about that once I actually finish the book...

Corinne wrote: "At the part where everyone celebrates when they hear that the Germans are coming to Lithuania, I was reading late at night, so I'll blame my fatigue on the fact that I didn't catch on that they were referring to Nazis until one of the characters said something vaguely ominous."

This reminds me a bit of when I was maybe about 10 and first realised that USA and UK had been helping the Soviet Union during WWII. In the (American) movies Allies had always been the good guys and at the same time I knew what Stalin had done in the beginning of WWII and especially before that. His record in 1941 was much worse than Hitler's. It really didn't make sense to me, stil doesn't really.

Corinne wrote: "Yeah, I just got the book and I'm already almost finished! I will probably finish it later today. Thanks for posting about it, because I don't think I would have found it on my own.

I also find..."

Ahhh you read so fast XD I'm such a slow reader hahah! I want to try to finish it today before I go to work, but we'll see how that goes. I'm glad you enjoyed it! Really, that makes me so happy.

Hetalia is a Japanese anime where all the countries are personified and they basically make fun of stereotypes and parody history. As far as accuracy it is accurate in a very general sense. I don't recommend it if you're looking for something very historical. This is more for comedy and to laugh at your own country and other countries. It's all in good fun.

I believe there is an interview with the author in the back of the book! I bet they go into a lot of detail about how she researched and how she was inspired by her parents or grandparents.

I just finished the book. Normally I don't get emotional watching movies or reading books, but when I finished this novel I let out a deep, shuddering sigh as I tried to hold back my tears. This was an incredible and powerful novel and I desire nothing more than to go and research the Baltic States and learn about what all they had to endure.

So it's hard to say that there are favorite characters in this novel. You grow so attached to people you never thought you would like the man who wound his watch or the woman Lina and her family had to stay with, but I felt particular affection for Elena (the mother) and Kretzsky. Kretzsky... I don't even know where to start with him. Or Elena either. Any of them hahah.

I should give myself a few moments to compose myself since I literally just finished the book. It's hard to have a discussion when you're an emotional wreck XD

I know how you feel! I know for me personally, I couldn't stop the tears. I hoped you still liked it even though it was so depressing.

Julianna wrote: "I know how you feel! I know for me personally, I couldn't stop the tears. I hoped you still liked it even though it was so depressing."

I absolutely liked it. I loved it in fact. I went ahead and added it to my favorite books shelf. There aren't enough words to express how impactful and amazing this book was for me.

I think I ended up finishing on Sunday and then I've been working a lot the last few days, so now I'm back! I do read quickly, but I also read a lot. I tend to race through novels, and sometimes have to reread them to catch details.

Really brilliant book. I had a friend ask me if it was anything like Fifty Shades of Gray.... haaaa!

I definitely had a few emotional and spine-tingly moments, especially at the end and with the mother. Lissa, you talked earlier about the balance of hope/no hope. I felt that keenly throughout the book, but especially at the end, when she is thinking of Andrius. I do wonder how likely it would have been for two people to meet again after years in different work camps, but I suppose stranger things have happened. I'm also really glad that the doctor at the end was based on a real person. At least someone was trying to help!

Tytti - Just a few years ago, I was shocked to learn that Stalin's communism killed many more people than Hitler's nazi regime. In the US, at least, we have so much more exposure in school and in books, movies, art, etc. to the horrors of the Nazis than to all of the terrible things that happened during Stalinist communism. So, it's good that books like this are being published, especially since it's targeted toward youth.

It came to me as a surprise that it wasn't taught in schools everywhere, and especially the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, its secret protocol and effects. How can you not teach the starting point of WWII in Europe?

Everyone is so angry to Hitler for starting a war but when Stalin started one, he got rewarded for it, and soon they celebrate the Victory Day. Fair... Especially after he had targeted people of my ethnicity (among others) and had them shot and buried in mass graves. And of course Churchill and Roosevelt helped to cover up the Katyn massacre and to blame Nazis for it. It was more convenient that way. Nice way to treat your own allies...

I took a look at this book some time ago and, even though the subject is kind of interesting, the style it was written sounded too simple and maybe childish, even. It also bothered me that NKVD was referred as NKVD. Of course that was its name, then, but people used to (and still do) call it Cheka. The members were called "Chekists" until the late 1980's. So that rang false to me.

Actually I am currently reading a book set in Estonia called Purge and it happens partly during those times. The author used to spend summers with her grandparents in the Soviet Estonia as a child, so she got to see things that were otherwise forbidden from Westerners.

And if you are interested in those times, here is an Estonian documentary about WWII and Estonian and Finnish women (and girls) who were members of Women's Home Guard and Lotta Svärd Organisation, respectively. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP9p9...

Wave of Terror was a book I found around the same time as this one about the soviet annexation of belarus

But Belarus was already one of the original Soviet Republics, or at least a half of it was. And Belorussian divisions fought already in the Winter War... Are you talking about the part that belonged to Poland?

I believe so but since its it taught I don't know

I just finished this book, which I discovered through Goodreads and am I read the book. I knew about the deportations, but not the extent of them.