My Favorite Read - 10 - Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Guilt is a hunter.
Fear is a hunter.
Shame is a hunter.
Fate is a hunter.

This novel reaffirmed my faith in good writers. The last few WWII novels that I read left me disappointed, there was always something lacking. I was told by a friend that maybe it's because I am reading too many similar genre books that they don't excite me anymore. But if we have good artist, even the billionth book or painting or movie on the same subject can still make it's audience catch their breath.

"The poet Emerson said that when we have worn out our shoes, the strength of the journey has passed into our body"-The Shoe Poet.

I liked Ruta's style. How she is making us constantly read every character's thoughts on a given situation. And, yet the story is not stuck in that moment, it keeps moving. To keep switching sides and analyzing conflicting views at the same time, it's a different reading experience.

I loved all the characters, they grow on you. The way she chose to end the novel also touched me. I takes immense talent to sing a story to the reader, especially true tragedies like these. It was a melancholic read. Not sure, if everyone likes this kind of conversational writing style, but for me it was refreshing.

Emilia - A Polish, Florian - A Prussian, Joana - A Lithuanian, Alfred-a German - 4 views, 4 story tellers. Eva, the wandering boy, the shoe poet, Ingrid and others, equally important and interesting.

Emilia- her pink woolen hat and her Knight - "All the little duckies with their heads in the water.."

Florian - "What had human beings become? Did war make us evil or just activate an evil already lurking within us?"

Alfred - his Hannalore and butterflies- "Hitler, he understands my theories. And I his."

The Shoe Poet - "The shoes always tell the story."

And many more.

I am once again thankful to have read about one more truth from the past. The Wilhelm Gustloff disaster. All these historical fiction, even when 'loosely' based on a true story, even if we want to say not everything is true, but even if 1% of what's in it is true, the horror that's wrapped in it is still beyond my comprehension.

"When the survivors are gone we must not let the truth disappear with them. Please give them a voice." True that.

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When Silence Speaks...

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