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We Must Not Think of Ourselves
We Must Not Think of Ourselves | Lauren Grodstein
10 posts | 15 read | 7 to read
This book is a masterpiece: profound, gripping, urgent, and beautiful. Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe and The Song of Achilles A heart-wrenching story of love and defiance set in the Warsaw Ghetto, based on the actual archives kept by thosedetermined to have their stories survive World War II On a November day in 1940, Adam Paskow becomes a prisoner in the Warsaw Ghetto, where the Jews of the city are cut off from their former lives and held captive by Nazi guards, and await an uncertain fate. Weeks later, he is approached by a mysterious figure with a surprising request: Will he join a secret group of archivists working to preserve the truth of what is happening inside these walls? Adam agrees and begins taking testimonies from his students, friends, and neighbors. He learns about their childhoods and their daydreams, their passions and their fears, their desperate strategies for safety and survival. The stories form a portrait of endurance in a world where no choices are good ones. One of the people Adam interviews is his flatmate Sala Wiskoff, who is stoic, determined, and funnyand married with two children. Over the months of their confinement, in the presence of her family, Adam and Sala fall in love. As they desperately carve out intimacy, their relationship feels both impossible and vital, their connection keeping them alive. But when Adam discovers a possible escape from the Ghetto, he is faced with an unbearable choice: Whom can he save, and at what cost ? Inspired by the testimony-gathering project with the code name Oneg Shabbat, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Grodstein draws readers into the lives of people living on the edge. Told with immediacy and heart, We Must Not Think of Ourselves is a piercing story of love, determination, and sacrifice for the many fans of literary World War II fiction such as Kristin Harmels The Book of Lost Names and Lauren Foxs Send for Me.
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Smlambert725

“Our task is to pay attention…To listen to the stories. We want all political backgrounds, all religious attitudes. The illiterate and the elite. Every ideology. Interview everyone. Learn about their lives. I need the best minds here to help.”
#December2024

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fictionaddictbooks
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Current read🙂 and first time reading this author.

15 likes1 stack add
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MyNamesParadise
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Pickpick

Finished this one last week after seeing the author talk at my local independent bookstore! It‘s set in the Warsaw ghetto in WWII. I‘ll read anything about the Holocaust &this story doesn‘t focus on the horrors of it, while they are there. It focuses on one man‘s ability to survive it. It‘s a beautiful story set in a tragic setting. The good and the bad are shown here. I recommend this one even if you don‘t normally read books about the Holocaust.

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marleed
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Pickpick

It‘s impossible to set a novel in the Warsaw Ghettos of WWII without acknowledging the atrocities to the Jewish people, but these horrible acts were not center-stage of this story. Instead the reader focuses on Adam Paskow, a widow, an English teacher, a man who barely considered his Jewishness in the years prior to his detainment in the ghetto. In a world shrouded in hopelessness be an Adam Paskow.

CoverToCoverGirl Stacked! 11mo
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JHSiess
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Pickpick

📖 𝔹𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛 🏆

𝗪𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 is a riveting story of defiance & resilience, an homage from 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 to those who preserved “what they could not shout out to the world.“ Telling the horrific, heartbreaking tale in an unsparing fashion, her characters retain their optimism & hope. Timely & contemporary. Must-read historical fiction.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

http://tinyurl.com/4utjzaza

Crazeedi Didn't they actually find papers that were buried in the ghetto after the war? This sounds good, but I'll probably cry 11mo
JHSiess @Crazeedi Yes! The documents were hidden in large, buried milk cans that survived the destruction of the ghetto in 1943. They are in the archive museum. I'd love to visit it. 11mo
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Reecaspieces
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Pickpick
Reggie Is this new?!!!! I had no idea she had a new book out. I really like her. 12mo
Reecaspieces @Reggie yes it is a new one. 12mo
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blurb
JHSiess
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🍁𝓝𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝓦𝓻𝓪𝓹-𝓤𝓹📖

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝘈𝘮𝘺 𝘑𝘰 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝗪𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝘓𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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TorieStorieS
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Pickpick

Happy Publication Day! I really couldn‘t put this one down! WWII stories always draw me in & this account set in the Warsaw Ghetto is no exception! Adam, a widower, finds himself unexpectedly sharing an apartment with nine others after his ex-father-in-law sets him up. As an English teacher & fluent in multiple languages, he‘s recruited to help participate in an archive to capture the variety of experiences within this new & harsh time. Riveting!

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Amor4Libros
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Pickpick

Adam Paskow is part of a collective tasked with archiving lives of Warsaw ghetto residents through interviews. It also tells the story of how Adam came to the ghetto, what he had to do to survive and the people he meets along the way.

I loved the premise of the book, and even though I enjoyed it, it fell a little flat for me.

If you enjoy reading about the Holocaust, this book is a recommended read.

3.5⭐️

Pub Date: 11/28/23 #NetGalley

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EKonrad
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Mehso-so

There were some flaws with this book, but it wasn't a terrible read. I did appreciate learning about Oneg Shabbat, which was a group of people that tried to document Jewish people's lives in the Warsaw ghetto during WWII. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars

Full review at: https://erinkonrad.com/2023/11/24/we-must-not-think-of-ourselves-book-review/

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