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Armenian Golgotha
Armenian Golgotha | Grigoris Balakian
4 posts | 2 read | 16 to read
Never before in English, "Armenian Golgotha" is the most dramatic and comprehensive eyewitness account of the first modern genocide. On April 24, 1915, the priest Grigoris Balakian was arrested along with some 250 other intellectuals and leaders of Constantinople's Armenian community. It was the beginning of the Ottoman Turkish government's systematic attempt to eliminate the Armenian people from Turkey; it was a campaign that continued through World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, by which time more than a million Armenians had been annihilated and expunged from their historic homeland. For Grigoris Balakian, himself condemned, it was also the beginning of a four-year ordeal during which he would bear witness to a seemingly endless caravan of blood. Balakian sees his countrymen sent in carts, on donkeys, or on foot to face certain death in the desert of northern Syria. Many would not even survive the journey, suffering starvation, disease, mutilation, and rape, among other tortures, before being slaughtered en route. In these pages, he brings to life the words and deeds of survivors, foreign witnesses, and Turkish officials involved in the massacre process, and also of those few brave, righteous Turks, who, with some of their German allies working for the Baghdad Railway, resisted orders calling for the death of the Armenians. Miraculously, Balakian manages to escape, and his flight--through forest and over mountain, in disguise as a railroad worker and then as a German soldier--is a suspenseful, harrowing odyssey that makes possible his singular testimony. Full of shrewd insights into the political, historical, and cultural context of the Armenian genocide--the template for the subsequent mass killings that have cast a shadow across the twentieth century and beyond--this memoir is destined to become a classic of survivor literature. "Armenian Golgotha" is sure to deepen our understanding of a catastrophic crime that the Turkish government, the Ottomans' successor, denies to this day.
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Tove_Reads
Armenian Golgotha | Grigoris Balakian
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It looks like the most boring book, it sounds like the most boring book, but it was seriously entertaining, an excellent read on a shameful topic. Some countries still deny the Armenian genocide. I highly recommend this book! #surprisedgiveaway #readtheworld #readingtheworld #armenia

cobwebmoth Thanks! I know very little about this subject, so I'll have to try this book. 6y
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Alisnazzy
Armenian Golgotha | Grigoris Balakian
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So @MrBook asked Littens for their favorite biographies. I would also love to know your favorite bio/autobio/memoir. This has quickly become one of my favorite genres. For my recommendation, I would have to go with a memoir of a survivor of the Armenian genocide. It's intense but it's an area of history very few know here in the US and therefore I would say it's an essential read. Send me your recs! I look forward to looking them up 😍📚

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8little_paws And for biography this is an incredibly in depth look 7y
Alisnazzy @8little_paws thanks! I've read sound of gravel, but I'll add the others. ☺️☺️☺️ 7y
RanaElizabeth I love medical and/or addiction memoirs. 7y
8little_paws @Ambrosnazzy left of boom has bad reviews here, people say the narrator is arrogant, which he can be at times, but I thought it was a really unique and interesting perspective. The narrator is a troubled guy and I don't think he's trying to hide that. 7y
8little_paws Oh yeah brain on Fire, that is also great!! 7y
MMenefee "My greatest claim to fame is that I discovered Bricktop before Cole Porter." - F. Scott Fitzgerald 7y
NatalieR I love learning about other people's homes. Such a fascinating read. 7y
Merethebookgal I've only gotten into memoirs recently myself but I really enjoyed 7y
prowlix I also really enjoyed Yes, please which is memoir ish? 7y
Hollie My favorite memoir is 7y
GlitteryOtters The Peter Jenkins title, not the John Green one! 😂 7y
GlitteryOtters All of the Gene Logsdon essay/memoirs 7y
Alisnazzy @GlitteryOtters thanks! And you should know I already have Murakami lol 😜 7y
GlitteryOtters Of course, but it is one of my top 5 fave bio/memoirs, so I HAD to list it (I just listed it on Liberty's nonfiction list, too, even though it isn't recent, because it really is that good)! Also, the Chernow Hamilton bio was really good. I read it on ebook, but my best friend read it on audiobook & said it was really good on audio, if you are looking for audiobook recs. I'm about to read Chernow's Titan & also House of Morgan(bought on audio sale) 7y
MrBook Ohhh, my goodness!!! This sounds so good! Added, added, added 😁🙌🏻👌🏻!!! 7y
Alisnazzy @MrBook you're an inspiration to us all! ☺️ 7y
MrBook *blushes* 7y
Zelma Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg. The detail and writing was phenomenal. 7y
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Alisnazzy
Armenian Golgotha | Grigoris Balakian
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#memorablememoirs I know I've posted about these before, but I still cannot get over how impactful, moving, and terrifying these accounts of genocide are. If more people read up on the Bosnian and Armenian genocides, I would expect there to be more compassionate people and fewer supporters of fascists. #booktober

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Alisnazzy
Armenian Golgotha | Grigoris Balakian
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Pickpick

For #MemoirMonday (if this isn't a thing, it is now lol), one of the best accounts of the Armenian Genocide told from one of the rare male survivors. It's heart-wrenching and there are some awful images evoked, but as with a lot of what I've been reading lately, this is history that most of us need to learn in order to avoid repeating these atrocities. (Best read with a cup of sour cherry juice)

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