An Armenian Sketchbook

An Armenian Sketchbook | Vasily Grossman

pick

Vasily Grossman is finally getting the recognition he deserves as one of the 20th century‘s most important writers. He came to prominence as a journalist during WWII; he was traveling with the soviet army when they found the ruins of Treblinka. This travel memoir is a gentle introduction to a truly gifted humanist writer at the peak of his skills.

Librarybelle I liked this one! 2y

MemoirsForMe Great review! It‘s nice to see a memoir sneaking into your pile of reads. š‰ 2y

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Hooked_on_books

An Armenian Sketchbook | Vasily Grossman

so-so

This book wasn‘t for me. I just couldn‘t get past the meandering, stream-of-consciousness style. I also disliked the occasional use of the third person and don‘t understand the inclusion of 2 separate episodes, for pages, of needing a toilet. Odd. I did think the chapter on nationalism was excellent and relevant to now. If I didn‘t need a book for #Armenia, though, I would have bailed.

#ReadingEurope2020

Librarybelle, BarbaraBB

suzie.reads Armenia is classed as Asia for me so I'm not doing it haha 5y

Megabooks I‘m reading this for Armenia too. 5y

Hooked_on_books @suzie.reads I would have called it Asia as well, but I‘m just following what the group put together. Though I‘m a bit perplexed by finding a book for Kazakhstan. š¤” 5y

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Hooked_on_books @Megabooks I think a lot of people are. It‘s hard to find other options in the US for this country, I think. 5y

suzie.reads I haven't done Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan either as they're Asia but I've still got the same number of countries as the list from the group as I split up the UK š 5y

Hooked_on_books @suzie.reads I‘m actually splitting up the UK as well. To me they‘re all separate countries. 5y

Librarybelle I did like this one, though I can see where it‘s not for everyone. 5y

Librarybelle @Hooked_on_books @suzie.reads When @BarbaraBB and I put together the list of countries, we acknowledged that a few may be considered Asian countries, but if the country affiliated with the EU, then it was also counted for Europe. Some of the map links provided also include a bit more countries than others. 5y

suzie.reads @Librarybelle I know what you mean I'm just going from the European map we teach the children in school. Plus those countries have no books that look any good so it's a cheeky cop out š‚š‚ 5y

Librarybelle @suzie.reads š‚ Not a cop out at all! 5y

51 likes10 comments

Librarybelle

An Armenian Sketchbook | Vasily Grossman

pick

First book read for #Alternate24in48 . Grossman evokes such a haunting, captivating picture of Armenia in short book. The people, the culture, the landscape, the hardships, the joys - though this was originally written in the early 1960s, I have such strong images in my mind about the country.

I‘ll post later what challenge prompts this fits, though it‘s kinda obvious this is my #Armenia book for #ReadingEurope2020

#Zeke #Vladimir #catsoflitsy

ferskner, BarbaraBB

squirrelbrain Glad you liked it! 5y

Librarybelle My Letter A for #LitsyAtoZ @BookishMarginalia , and I‘m using this for #ABookWithAtLeastAFourStarRatingOnGoodreads for #PopSugarReadingChallenge 5y

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BarbaraBB

An Armenian Sketchbook | Vasily Grossman

#BookReport 06/20

I read two books this past week, one travel journal about Armenia for #ReadingEurope2020 and a #ToB2020 book. Nothing special.

Cinfhen

Cinfhen š’—š“ 5y

Suet624 š‘¸š¸½š‘¸š¸½š‘¸š¸½ 5y

Nute Cool photo! 5y

70 likes3 comments

Librarybelle

An Armenian Sketchbook | Vasily Grossman

Starting off #Alternate24in48 later than I normally do for a weekend #readathon , but I have no plans to go anywhere or do anything all weekend, so I‘m ready to read! The tagged book arrived at the library yesterday, so I‘m setting my stack to the side for now to dive into this. #Zeke is purring encouraging thoughts to me as I get ready to read. #catsoflitsy

ferskner

squirrelbrain Enjoy! š 5y

BarbaraBB I hope you‘ll enjoy it! 5y

Sace Have fun! 5y

91 likes3 comments

squirrelbrain

An Armenian Sketchbook | Vasily Grossman

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I really enjoyed Grossman‘s ā€sketchbook‘ of #armenia for #readingeurope2020.

Grossman is in Armenia to translate another author‘s book, and his own book covers the politics, people, customs and landscapes of Armenia in the early 1960s. I particularly enjoyed his account of a village wedding.

Librarybelle, BarbaraBB

BarbaraBB You read that one quickly! That was an interesting part indeed, about the wedding! 5y

squirrelbrain It‘s only a short book isn‘t it @BarbaraBB ? I think the wedding drew together all of the different aspects that he‘d previously covered throughout the book. 5y

Crazeedi Oooh good choice ! 5y

Librarybelle I placed this one on hold through the library after reading @BarbaraBB ā€s review. Can‘t wait for it to arrive! 5y

squirrelbrain Oh good, I think you‘ll like it @librarybelle! 5y

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BarbaraBB

An Armenian Sketchbook | Vasily Grossman

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And now I want to visit #Armenia...! I found myself googling all the time when reading this ā€Armenian Sketchbook‘ which it really is. Vasily Grossman travels through the country and shares little details with us. About Armenian people, their culture, their food and their country, filled with stones and beauty. Fascinating.

#ReadingEurope2020 š‡¦š‡² #pop20

Librarybelle

Librarybelle I should read this one for Armenia! It sounds like the type of book I want to read for this challenge, a nonfiction look at the country and people. 5y

BarbaraBB @Librarybelle Yes I think this is what you had in mind before starting this challeng: learn a bit more about the parts of the world your ancestors came from. This is perfect then - and short! š 5y

Librarybelle Short is good! I have a couple short country books I plan to read this coming weekend during the #alternate24in48 . I‘ve yet to record a book for our challenge...haha! 5y

squirrelbrain I just asked on the other thread if you enjoyed it - doh! Should have checked here first.... š Really looking forward to this one now..... 5y

BarbaraBB It learned me a lot about the country @squirrelbrain , I always like that. 5y

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squirrelbrain

An Armenian Sketchbook | Vasily Grossman

Picked up 3 books in the library today, ready for #readingeurope2020. I know it‘s not January yet but I can get books out for 3 months at a time, so I‘m planning ahead. I may start them over Christmas anyway; as long as I don‘t *finish* them until January then I can still count them in 2020, right?!

The tagged book is obviously Armenia, Border is for Bulgaria and Shetland Alexievich is Belarusian. They all look fascinating!

Librarybelle, BarbaraBB

eraderneely I‘ve heard good things about Border 5y

BarbaraBB There you go! Love it! 5y

Librarybelle Yay!! 5y

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youneverarrived Would you fancy doing a buddy read of this one?

The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II

squirrelbrain Yes I‘d love to @youneverarrived - do you have a copy already or are you planning on buying one? 5y

youneverarrived Oh fab š I have a copy that I got last year. When‘s the best time for you? 5y

squirrelbrain I was going to make a start early in the year - looks like it might be that sort of book that you can dip in and out of alongside something else. Shall we just aim for ā€January‘ as a rough guide?! @youneverarrived (edited) 5y

Caroline2 Oh good choices. I‘ve joined the reading Europe 2020 too. Need to get my thinking cap on. Some of the countries are hard. Are you doing it alphabetically?? I‘m wondering if that might be an easier way to keep track? š¤” 5y

squirrelbrain i have a lovely spreadsheet @Caroline2 - yes I know I‘m a geek! It took me quite a while to identify books that I owned and ones I could get from the library... I think I only need to buy about 10... 5y

Caroline2 Sounds like a good plan. I need to get organised. š‘¨ 5y

youneverarrived January is great with me š 5y

BarbaraBB I just read the tagged one, thanks to you. Have you read it yet? 5y

squirrelbrain No @BarbaraBB but it‘s on my pile at home so hopefully soon.... (my library lets you keep books for 12 weeks! š) Did you like it? 5y

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