ADOLF HITLER KEPT a bust of Ataturk in his office. Heinrich Himmler considered moving to Turkey in the early 1920s. And Rudolf Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz, admitted in his memoirs (penned while awaiting his execution) that he first killed while serving in the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. Make no mistake: The Young […]
Tag Archives: Armenia
16
Dec
Dec
The forward trenches in the hills just beyond the abandoned village of Talish, in Nagorno-Karabakh, are reminiscent of World War I: long, endless, slits in the ground, the dirt buttressed by wood, with periodic firing posts and dugouts. Stacked tires packed with dirt stand in for sandbags, but otherwise it looks like the Western Front […]
21
Oct
Oct
For most of America, the heartbreaking faces of Syrian refugees this year have belonged to children. We have seen them drowned and we have seen them stunned into silence by warfare and covered in blood. (We’ve also seen them likened to Skittles, but that appalling analogy belongs only to the Trumps.) At the moment, however, […]
26
Apr
Apr
Today I am in Manhattan. This morning I am at St. Vartan, the magnificent Armenian Cathedral on Second Avenue, for the Divine Liturgy. In the afternoon I am in Times Square, helping to host the commemoration of the centennial of the start of the Armenian Genocide. There will be thousands of Armenians at both events. […]
A child brings two heavy buckets of water into the home of a strange old woman and discovers there a wall of cages with dogs trapped inside – and a small carpet on the floor that has been woven from dog fur. A nine-year-old girl refuses to go to bed, reducing her parents to tears […]
08
Jun
Jun
A woman I met last month in southeastern Turkey is going to die, probably sometime soon. Asiya’s death will not be covered by any news service, and for all but a few people in her small village of Chunkush, she will not be missed. Even the relatives who love her will probably think to themselves, […]
HERE’S THE setup: A Coca-Cola bottle falls from a low-flying airplane over an undeveloped corner of Africa. How undeveloped? The local tribesman who finds it — as well as the rest of the villagers — have no idea what it is and presume it’s a gift from the gods. Unfortunately, the empty bottle, with its myriad […]
Writing about The Sandcastle Girls in a recent issue of The Armenian Weekly, reviewer Wendy Plotkin concluded, “”The scope of The Sandcastle Girls is almost epic. . .While there are the rich personal stories that his readers connect to, what he has achieved is much larger. Bohjalian has written a compelling and powerful novel that will bring […]
Booklist weighed in this week on “The Sandcastle Girls,” calling the novel “powerful and moving,” and concluding, “It will leave you reeling.” So, big, big thanks to Booklist and to the reviewer, Elizabeth Dickie. See below: Here is the review in its entirety. The book arrives next month. To preorder it (No pressure!), click here.
Publishers’ Weekly weighed in on “The Sandcastle Girls” this week and I couldn’t be more grateful — given how important this book is to me. “Powerful. . .Bohjalian’s storytelling makes this a beautiful, frightening, and unforgettable read.” Here is the review in its entirety: ++++++++ The Sandcastle Girls Chris Bohjalian. Doubleday, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-385-53479-6 […]
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