Books

The Hunger Angel paperback
The Hunger Angel paperback

Herta Müller’s The Hunger Angel is a strange, depressing, and fascinating look at post-World War II Europe. The narrative is one I hadn’t heard before: internment and forced labor of Germans in Soviet work camps as payment for damages sustained by the USSR during the war. While the novel is technically fiction, it is based on real-life events experienced by Müller’s mother and a personal friend, poet Oskar Pastior. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole forced labor of Germans after World War II thing…

Although I found the mood of the novel rather somber, Müller’s writing is sometimes downright hilarious!

Once a dusty raisin was lying underneath the little white formica table. And I danced with the raisin. Then I ate it. And then there was a distance deep within me.

The Hunger Angel, Herta Müller

The Hunger Angel was originally written in German, so reading passages like the above in the English translation made me feel like there was something lost in translation. After finishing the book and reading Müller and translator Philip Boehm’s afterwards, however, I no longer feel that way; I think the author was trying to convey the physical, mental, and spiritual deterioration of the characters. In that light, it’s easy to understand how people’s conversations, thoughts, and actions wouldn’t always make sense!

All in all I really enjoyed reading the book. The Hunger Angel was unique for me because I had never heard this particular post-World War II narrative. I’ve picked up a few more books by Herta Müller and I’m curious to see how they compare.

Books

I’m reading The Girl in the Picture by Denise Chong. In short, it’s about the life of the girl central to one of the most famous pictures from the Vietnam War. I wasn’t alive when the war was going on (so the history and politics surrounding it are a mystery to me), but I’m pretty sure everyone has seen that picture…

Paperback cover for <cite>The Girl in the Picture</cite>
Paperback cover for The Girl in the Picture

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Books

Skeletons on the Zahara cover
Skeletons on the Zahara cover
I’m resisting writing about the USA’s presidential election because I fear it will turn into a lengthy rant, and I know you guys don’t care what I think. In lieu of that I figured I’d write something that was a little more interesting. I just finished Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King. This is another book recommended and given to me by a fellow VSO volunteer, which means I paid nothing for it. It also means: if you’re a volunteer in Kenya (even non VSO) I will give it to you for free!

This was a fascinating story of an American trade ship that crashed on the West coast of Africa in 1815. The crew ends up being robbed and enslaved by the locals, which sounds like it was more common than you might think in the nineteenth century. I wonder if would have steered clear of the merchant marine line of work if I lived during those times. Anyways, the men experience the harshness of life on the desert, constantly shifting to find clean water and shrubs for their owners’ camels.
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