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One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway
One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway | Asne Seierstad
One of The New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books of 2015 and a NYT Bestseller Widely acclaimed as a masterpiece, Åsne Seierstad's One of Us is essential reading for a time when mass killings are so grimly frequent.On July 22, 2011, Anders Behring Breivik detonated a bomb outside the Norwegian prime minister's office in central Oslo, killing eight people. He then proceeded to a youth camp on the wooded island of Utøya, where he killed sixty-nine more, most of them teenage members of the country's governing Labour Party. In One of Us, the journalist Åsne Seierstad tells the story of this terrible day and its reverberations. How did Breivik, a gifted child from an affluent neighborhood in Oslo, become Europe's most reviled terrorist? How did he accomplish an astonishing one-man murder spree? And how did a famously peaceful and prosperous country cope with the slaughter of so many of its young?As in her international bestseller The Bookseller of Kabul, Seierstad excels at the vivid portraiture of lives under stress. She delves deep into Breivik's childhood, showing how a hip-hop and graffiti aficionado became a right-wing activist, a successful entrepreneur, and then an Internet game addict and self-styled master warrior who believed he could save Europe from the threat of Islam and multiculturalism. She writes with equal intimacy about Breivik's victims, tracing their political awakenings, teenage flirtations and hopes, and ill-fated journeys to the island. By the time Seierstad reaches Utøya and relates what happened there, we know both the killer and those he will kill. In the book's final act, Seierstad describes Breivik's tumultuous public trial. As Breivik took the stand and articulated his ideas, an entire country debated whether he should be deemed insane, and asked why a devastating sequence of police errors allowed one man to do so much harm.One of Us is at once a psychological study of violent extremism, a dramatic true crime procedural, and a compassionate inquiry into how a privileged society copes with homegrown evil. Lauded in Scandinavia for its literary merit and moral poise, One of Us is the true story of one of our age's most tragic events.
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Hestapleton
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Pickpick

Oof. This was a tough one to read. I don‘t remember hearing about this when it happened, but Seierstad lays out the history of the POS terrorist AND some of his many victims in a way that was honest, compassionate, and still really high quality story telling. Her respect and attention toward the several people who died rivals that of Ann Rule‘s.

64 likes2 stack adds
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maleahrae
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This has been a rough book to read. Getting to know several if the victims all while knowing what their fate would be... the authors detailed descriptions of the massacre... but I'd held my emotions in check until this part. It gutted me! I'm not sure yet what will happen to Anders... this is really a #subjectnewtome ... but I am hoping for so many bad things. Ugh!
#booked2020
@4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen

Cinfhen Oh wow!! This sounds really hard to read but important. Nice choice 5y
38 likes1 comment
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arlenefinnigan
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Cinfhen I totally remember this event 6y
emilyhaldi Oof, this was a tough one. I didn't remember the murder victim number being so high!! 😢 6y
Mdargusch Sounds tragically fascinating. Stacking. 6y
Reviewsbylola This guy was referenced a lot in the book I just read about Sandy Hook, as Adam Lanza was obsessed with this rampage. 6y
Meredith3 This story is nuts, I have to check this book out! 6y
38 likes4 stack adds5 comments
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Argon
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Pickpick

This true crime book is incredibly well-researched and written, providing a clear picture of not only the murders of July 22, but also Breivik‘s life, the trial, and the lives of some of his victims and their families.
I found it very difficult to read, especially once I realized I was the same age as some of the youth killed on Utøya, and I cried a number of times throughout the book.
While it‘s worth reading, it‘s certainly not easy reading.

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8little_paws
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Pickpick

This has got to be one of the best true crime books out there. The research is staggering and it holds your interest ther whole way through. I appreciate the author's reporting on the killer's upbringing and background, and the care in which she approached the victims stories. Definitely going to read whatever else she's written that's in English.

43 likes3 stack adds
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8little_paws
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Holy crap, this book starts with a kick in the teeth.

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onthevalentine
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At a local brewery enjoying the conclusion of the day with the bf. The book is a hard read at times due to the subject matter, but it‘s imperative to see how people can hate so deeply. #nowreading

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WeAreLegion
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Pickpick

I finished reading this days after the Las Vegas shooting.
I wonder what motivations might be uncovered as the investigation continues.
In this book we observe the life of the perpetrator and some of his victims. We understand his mindset and reasoning for what he did. But I still feel we really know nothing of the evil that lurks in the hearts of others. Until we can understand this better, I'm afraid this will be a repeating nightmare.

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WeAreLegion
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This quote jumped out at me. When these days we have Holocaust deniers, it really is important for the truth to come out.

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WeAreLegion
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So far I'm enjoying this book very much (despite its incredibly depressing topic), but this line just made me stop cold. I had to read it over a few times to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding.

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DocBrown
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Mehso-so

So I was finally able to finish this twenty-hour audiobook. I stand by my initial impression. Author is a master of her craft, but there's nothing at all sympathetic about her subject. Which is probably why the narrative feels so cold and unmoving. I don't recommend this to anyone except history buffs who insist on the full story. I didn't learn anything, and apparently neither did the shooter. Heartbreaking entry in the Needless Tragedy dept. 😢

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Argon
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I've just finished my final exams and now I finally have time to read this book. I've heard some really good things about it so I'm looking forward to digging my literary teeth into it!

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DocBrown
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Having a hard time following the narrative so far. Print copy was a fail, audio doesn't seem to be any easier. Has anyone gotten through this? It was so highly touted last year.

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kristinshafel
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Catching up! #Riotgrams, day 21: #CoolSpines. I love the spines on these two, One of Us and House of Leaves.

cc @bookriot #bookriot

18 likes1 comment
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bookandcat
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Pickpick

Finished this book about the 2011 massacre in Norway. It is an excellent and important book. Stellar reporting from Seirstad and it reads easily, like a novel.

However, since it was painful to read, I do not plan on keeping it on my shelves.

Anyone up for a #bookswap ? It's a hardcover and it's in like new condition. It was originally purchased from The Strand. I'd mail it to whoever has something of comparable value/condition to mail to me!

RinaBrahmbhattBarot Yep - are you in USA/Uk? 8y
bookandcat @MyBookSwapClub hi sorry the book was already claimed elsewhere! I forgot to change this post because it was a while ago. 8y
RinaBrahmbhattBarot No worries :) 8y
18 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Argon
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Went shopping for some Christmas presents and bought myself some presents of my own! I really can't help myself when I'm in a bookstore... but at least they were all on sale. And it's my 'yay! for the end of classes' treat and something to look forward to after my final exams :) #bookhaul #Christmas

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ariell
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About 75 pages in and [sadly] feeling this is required reading. Hate, fear, racism, bigotry, and misogyny are exhaustingly global.

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megt
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Yesterday's #libraryhaul. Of course, this morning is all about reading for school.

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WesleyHoffmann
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This has been an intense but incredibly riveting read so far.

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kristinshafel
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"We are a small country, but we are a proud people. We are still shaken by what has happened to us, but we will never relinquish our values. Our answer is more democracy, more openness and more humanity. But never naivety."

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LeahBergen
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Book Mail!!!!

BestOfFates I think for the first time I've read at least part of every book in a pile!! They are all great, though I didn't finish One of Us because I was not up for it, it was both incredibly sad and also a bit boring regarding his childhood. 8y
LeahBergen Really, @BestOfFates ? Awesome! I'm on a bit of a N. Korea kick. How was Confessions? 8y
BestOfFates I really enjoyed it - it's a bit twisty, but I totally bought in! And dear leader is so cool bc it's such a different perspective than most n.korean escape tales! And 1,000 miles to freedom showed me so much I didn't know about China and how illegal immigration works w/n.korean escapees. 8y
32 likes5 stack adds4 comments
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booksofmainandmaple
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Picked this one up in vacation in SF. I can't wait to get started - have any of you read this?? The book seller I got this from was also currently reading which was pretty exciting..

LeahBergen It just came in the mail today! 8y
booksofmainandmaple @LeahBergen nice!!! I'm excited to hear what you think! 8y
10 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Rhondareads
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The horror of the Massacre that shocked Norway .A true crime procedural &WA revealing intimate look about how the country healed.

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