452 books
—
428 voters


“There is that old joke. Why is there never a coup in the United States? Because there is no US embassy there.”
― Washington Bullets
― Washington Bullets

“Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.”
―
―

“Sidney Hellman doesn't remember who he was the last time around, if there was a last time. But how can he? None of us do.
Still, there are clues.
For instance, he starts seeing things. Images of events from another life. Terrible images."
--From the story "The Monster Inside," included in BROTHERS, FATHERS, AND OTHER STRANGERS, the new story collection by Mitchell Waldman”
―
Still, there are clues.
For instance, he starts seeing things. Images of events from another life. Terrible images."
--From the story "The Monster Inside," included in BROTHERS, FATHERS, AND OTHER STRANGERS, the new story collection by Mitchell Waldman”
―

“I looked at him. He sat in the darkness, with his brows knitted tightly together, as though trying to grasp something, to understand the inconceivable, to pinpoint the moment when everything suddenly got out of control and the point of no return was officially passed by both sides â€� the future murderers and their victims. The new Reich sorted us into two kinds and now he suddenly found himself among those who held an ax above our miserable heads.”
― No Woman's Land
― No Woman's Land

“Even so, the advance of the far right in Europe and the United States reveals the need to rethink memory work, to adapt it to new generations for whom the Second World War feels like a long-ago crisis. It's important to tell a story people can identify with, a story of ordinary people, the Mitlaufer, and not only of heroes, victims, or monsters. To raise awareness that, if history as such does not repeat itself, sociological and psychological mechanisms do, which push individuals and societies to make irrational choices by supporting regimes and leaders who are opposed to their interests, by becoming complicit in criminal ideas and actions. The most dangerous monster is not a megalomaniacal and violent leader, but us, the people who make him possible, who give him the power to lead. By our opportunism, by our conformity to all-powerful capitalism, which places money and consumption over education, intelligence, and culture, we are in danger of losing the democracy, peace, and freedom that so many of our predecessors have fought to preserve.”
― Those Who Forget: My Family's Story in Nazi Europe â€� A Memoir, A History, A Warning
― Those Who Forget: My Family's Story in Nazi Europe â€� A Memoir, A History, A Warning
John’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at John’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends�
Polls voted on by John
Lists liked by John