historical

Where Books Are Burnt & Why It Is Wrong

 in Books / Creative by
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.

Book burning has been something that I’ve been seeing now and then that artists and people on Instagram are taking a part of. Is it beautiful to see? Absolutely. There’s something gorgeous about paper burning in general. But the idea behind book burning can be a very painful one which is why a lot of people lash out when they see it.

In 1823, Heinrich Heine wrote, “Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen” which translates to “Where books are burned, in the end, people will also be burned.” Heine was a German write, poet and critic of literature.

But why is this quote important? The Nazis.

Image of Nazi's burning books on a bonfire

Image of the Nazi’s burning books on a bonfire from Wikipedia via Public Domain

During WWII, not only did the Nazi’s burn books but they would burn people, or at least corpses.

These book bonfires are a very strong symbol of intolerance and censorship.

In famous works of literature like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, firefighters start fires to destroy books. Books are not just words but feelings, ideas and can be the soul of the individual who wrote it.

So while the idea of book burning may not seem like a big deal, especially with the fact that many of these books are available digitally, it’s the message behind it.

Book burning is one of the oldest forms of censorship, barring physically silencing an individual.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum created an incredible video which helps explain it further.

The Nazi’s decided to burn books that were classified to be “un-German” but what classifies as that? This is a subjective decision which is why it is censorship as well as oppression. If the book doesn’t fit the world that the leader wanted (ie Hitler) then the book was destroyed.

If you are considering burning a book for imagery, in many cases it will not be taken as a cute photo or something lighthearted. To make a statement or get a point across it may be an option but to do it to get a few likes, well do not be terribly surprised if it is met with some backlash.

What are your thoughts on the idea of burning books? Do you think that people doing it now for artistic purposes are alright to do so? Or do you think that there is some significance? If they’d like to burn books for artistic purposes, how do you think they could get around the ‘taboo’ nature of doing so?

Header Image: Fred Kearney

 

 

 

The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal [Book Review] 7

 in Book Reviews / Books / History / Older Readers by

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.

Summary

“A 2014 Michael L. Printz Honor Book

A young seamstress and a royal nursemaid find themselves at the center of an epic power struggle in this stunning young-adult debut.

On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches: brocade and satin and jewels, feasts of sugar fruit and sweet spiced wine. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion. Here in the palace at Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem — and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined with that of mad Queen Isabel. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power-lust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can.”

– From Amazon.com

Purchase here!

Review

An absolutely refreshing read that I’m super happy I picked up.

A definite cover grab for me.

Yup, this was another one that I got because of the cover. I’m super guilty of this but with all the books out there, with how many there are, you need one to grab your attention and this one did. I think for me it was the bright pink at the top that it looked like it was glowing. Something about it really just dragged me in. Also the fact it had a big fat award symbol on the front which always gets me. I like checking out books that have been nominated or won awards.

Older YA due to themes and writing style.

Honestly this was unlike any other book I’ve read in a while. It’s straight historical fiction and really feels like it. At moments I was waiting for something fantastical to happen but it was just basic historical fiction. The themes though I should probably address as a warning.

Trigger warnings would be: rape, miscarriage and violence.

To me, I liked these themes because it made the book real to the time period. People slept with one another to gain power, men used the servants for their own purposes, miscarriage was a thing during that time and could be prevalent. To me, I think it added to the book. I’ve read a lot of historical fiction and sometimes their lives are a little too simple and nice to be believeable. In this one, you felt the pain and struggle of the characters and to me that was so beautifully done.

Love, betrayal, hurt and revenge – you go girls!

Most of the main characters in this book were women, so we had some bad-asses and you got to see them develop from being these weaker females to formidable ones and watch them go up in power. And ultimately get revenge on those who hurt them later on. It was such a wonderful thing to read about and I loved it. It was maybe a little unbelievable in how it happened, maybe but I’m not an expert on this time period and I don’t really mind. To me I loved it.

Diverse characters and positions.

I really liked how you didn’t just get to see the life from one point of view. You got to understand royalty, those who were vying for more power in the castle and then see it from the view of servants. You got a broad view of life in a castle and to me it was such a journey.

Writing was a little challenging at times.

I’m not meaning the book was written in old english or anything, but some of the sentences were longer and had some bigger ideas and for one of the characters, when it was from her perspective, you really got into her mind and since she was uneducated, her speaking was much more choppy with words missing. I really really really liked that as you got to understand her more and really connect with her. But it did take some time to get used to.

Overall, fantastic read! Highly recommend!

This book was just so fantastic. I really loved it. I personally give it 5 tea cups out of 5. It was different and I liked that. Maybe I’m a bit biased as I don’t really read tons of historical fiction currently so it may be more of a novelty to me, but I know for a fact with everything it’s a solid 4 out of 5 but personally I give it a 5. I do recommend checking this one out. It is a bit longer and I read it in chunks as the themes were sometimes a lot. It is an older YA read because of the themes and adults would love it too because it would definitely keep you entertained!

5 teacups

Happy Reading!

47 Ronin (2013)

 in Movies by

Starring

Keanu Reeves ~ Kai
Hiroyuki Sanada ~ Ôishi
Ko Shibasaki ~ Mika
Tadanobu Asano ~ Lord Kira

Summary

“Keanu Reeves stars in the action-adventure epic, 47 Ronin. After a treacherous warlord kills their master and banishes their kind, 47 leaderless samurai vow to seek vengeance and reclaim their honor. This band of ronin must seek help from Kai (Reeves)—an enslaved half-breed they once rejected—in their ultimate fight for redemption in a savage world of mythic and wondrous terrors. Kai becomes their most deadly weapon and the heroic inspiration for these outnumbered warriors to confront their enemy and seize eternity.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

Wow…all I can really say is wow. And I know I say that a lot but with my love of Japanese things such as their language, culture, anime, weapons and all of that good stuff, this movie was just fabulous. I will warn you, do have a box of tissues ready because there were quite a few gut wrenching scenes. I honestly spent quite a lot of time crying my eyes out over a few of the scenes and what makes it worse is the fact that it is based on real events and a real legend from the Japanese culture.

They brought in seppuku quite a few times which was painful to watch, not in the sense that it was gruesome, but in the sense that it was just sad to see it happen and because of the reasons that it did. Of course all of this echoed back to the Japanese culture and such and that made it so much sadder because of the fact that it was real. I mean, these people did all of this stuff, that was honorable, or not even their fault, and still they were essentially punished. It kind of gives you a new kind of respect for a person when they kill themselves, or beg to be able to kill themselves, so that they can redeem their honor. And then when the time comes, they do not flinch. It’s just inspiring in a sad kind of way.

Now, I know that a lot of people have seemed to dislike this movie, based on reviews and such, but it was really really good. I can understand why people wouldn’t like it because it’s not all flash-bangy like many modern movies but it was just so good. The 47 Ronin were real people and you can actually visit their graves, but this story follows more of the legend with the mythological creatures and witches of the sort. It was definitely different but I really liked that about it. It isn’t a movie for everyone because of the style with which it was done, but I do recommend that everyone gives it a try because it was unique in the story line and the entire idea of the movie.

The cinematography was interesting as well. When the more evil guy took over, everything went darker and when there were good times, it was lighter and it was just quite interesting how it was done.

Also there was some magic in the movie as well as some mythical creatures and that just added an interesting element to it. Instead of it being more of a real life account, it made it more of a legend which was interesting and just added some quite nifty qualities to it because it made it a little harder to guess how it would end and what would happen because of this other element that defied the laws of logic to a level.

The general idea was of a man trying to protect his love and when he lost her, he wanted to do anything to get her back and protect her. I mean, nothing is more romantic that your true love doing anything, even after a period of time not being able to, to come and save you so that they could love you.

Overall I just loved it and definitely do suggest checking it out and watching it and let me know what you think. I’m curious how many people like it and how many don’t.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

 in Book Reviews / Books by

Summary

“Listed in the Marine Corps Professional Reading Program, The Art of War has influenced military tactics since the being written around the 6th century B.C. by Sun Tzu. The book has been credits to tactics used by General Normal Schwarzkoph and General Colin Powell in the Persian Gulf War. The Art of War has also been linked to other military leaders such as Napoleon, Vo Nguyen Giap, ho Chin Minh, and Mao Zedong.

Although written by Sun Tzu as a military reference, The Art of War is full of advice that has helped people of all backgrounds to prepare for many of life’s battles. The teachings of Sun Tzu go beyond the traditional battlefields and have been used in the boardroom, in sports, and anywhere challenges need to be faced and overcome.”

-From the back flap of the 2010 edition by P.L Publications, translated from Chinese by Lionel Giles, M.A.

Review

This book…..I’m honestly still working on processing it.

The book, my version (there are TONS of translations) was only 73 pages, but in that small amount of time, a lot of information was thrown at you and it was REALLY deep stuff.

When I started reading this book, I kind of sat there like, “Why can’t the US Military follow these rules?” But then as you progress and you see the word “chariot” and words such like that. This book really doesn’t apply to modern warfare anymore as land battles can be won from the air with planes and drones now. But its the thought process that still can be applied. As it said on the back cover, it’s good to apply to life and you most definitely can do that.

This is an older read, just because younger people won’t understand it at all. I had a hard enough time with it. You were constantly re-reading points to make sure that you actually understood what was written.

I do recommend reading this book just because of some of the points in it. None of this I would ever use because I am not a soldier, but still, the though process which is suggested in some of the points in the book are interesting and can be applied to life’s challenges.

There isn’t much else to say about it. It’s a classic, and an ‘easy’ read so if you have some spare time, go and check it out.

Let me know what you think while you’re at it ^.^

Happy reading!

P.S. Unfortunately I can’t find the cover of MY version of the book, but I love it. It’s a guy holding a Katana with a sunset behind him. All you see are his arms grasping the weapon. And with my personal love of Katanas…I just had to xD.

Sonnets of World War I ~ The Words of Wilfred Own

 in History / Poetry by

Royal Irish Rifles ration party Somme July 1916 Collection from Imperial War Museum

 

 

 

As today marks the 100 year anniversary of the start of World War I, I thought it was appropriate to share a poem by Wilfred Owen who was an English soldier and poet.

Just take a moment to think back to what those men went through and how without them, the world may not be as it is today.

 

Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,–
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

 

Wilfred Owen 18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918