The depths of humanity
583213
This book presents a man that thought he had reached what was the bottom of his life, until an event sinks him further into despair.  Chris Divver has written a gem of a crime novel that digs deep into one man's battle with the bottle.  The story neatly pairs a hunted man with some ugly family secrets, making it an enjoyably quick read.
857393
This is the single piece of literature that has given me the most insight into the human condition, for it lays bare the core around which the human psyche revolves. No wonder why this book is not more popular: it brings to the forefront the elephant in the room that everybody is trying so hard to obviate, the greatest taboo of almost all human cultures throughout history, the existential paradox: that humans can imagine and long the divine, but it is all too evident that they are "a worm and food for worms". Don't let yourself be discouraged by the psychoanalytic mumbo-jumbo and read between the lines.
The only thing that I have to criticize from the book is the overly gloomy future that Berker forecasts for mankind, but let us not forget that the thesis of the book was the causa-sui of a human all too human.
4735439
The three stories in this collection capture the psychological complexity of communities and writers. They illustrate how that which makes us most deeply human is never straightforward. The capacity to love, form relationships and create art as well as people's innermost longings and ambitions (or lack thereof) are central themes in these well written narratives.

The setting in The Stylite is the same as the one in Mothers Teat, but there is a gap of about half a century between these two stories set in New England. In the somewhat eerie Hansom Dove the focus is on the protagonists inner processes more than the environment. There is a dark undertone to all the stories, but some resolution is offered. Death can come with new beginnings, oppression can be met with resistance and despair goes hand in hand with desire.

The depth of the characters is one of the greatest achievements of this work. There are a few malevolent supporting characters, but some of them invite sympathy and understanding of how their circumstances have shaped them. None of the kinder characters are without fault and they sometimes surprise the reader through their choices. The poetic style of writing is another outstanding accomplishment.

The one downside for me was the overwhelming hopelessness of the protagonist of The Stylite. I would have liked to see him fight back or make amends, but in this sense the book is true to real life. Hansom Dove is similarly dark, but in this case the anguish of the protagonist is more obviously symbolic.
3840349
A beautifully written, fast reading book that explores many themes that are often confined to our inner worlds yet are the threads that unite everyone in humanity. To view the world through the eyes of someone on the edge of death, who is able to express themselves with such clarity is a privilege.
2231799
A window on a century with profound changes in mankind's ability (and tendency to) inflict destruction and horror on his fellow man. And who could tell the story better than a man like Lifton, with impressive psychoanalytical insight, a sweeping sense of history and an integrative and compelling moral perspective. Hard to read, at times, due to the horrific acts of inhumanity explored. Nietzsche said (I paraphrase).. "sometimes when you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back at you." Lifton looks in and describes what he sees with distilled clarity, honesty and a message which this century needs to assimilate if we are to avoid more indefensible (collective) moral depravity.
I wish our "leaders" would read this!
3506102
Rilke's words spring from a compassion and nobility that plunges into the depths and rises to the heights of human experience. Spend time with this book. You will increase your humanity.

Everywhere transience is plunging into the depth of Being....It is our task to imprint this temporary, perishable earth into ourselves so deeply, so painfully and passionately, that its essence can rise again, 'invisibly,' inside us. We are the bees of the invisible. We wildly collect the honey of the visible, to store it in the great golden hive of the visible." (Rilke in a letter Witold Hulewicz, 1925).

"For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been given to us, the ultimate, the final problem and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation....Love does not at first mean merging, surrendering, and uniting with another person...Rather, it is a high inducement for the individual to ripen, to become something in himself, to become world, to become world in himself for another's sake...." Rilke

"The bird is a creature that has a very special feeling of trust in the external world, as if she knew that she is one with its deepest mystery. That is why she sings in it as if she were singing within her own depths; that is why we so easily receive a birdcall into our own depths; we seem to be translating it without residue into our emotion; indeed, it can for a moment turn the whole world into inner space, because we feel that the bird does not distinguish between her heart and the world's" Rilke "Letter to Lou Andreas-Salome" 1914)

Angel!: If there were a place that we didn't know of, and there,
on some unsayable carpet, lovers displayed
what they never could bring to mastery here--the bold
exploits of their high-flying hearts,
their towers of pleasure, their ladders
that have long since been standing where there was no ground, leaning
just on each other, trembling,--and could master all this,
before the surrounding spectators, the innumerable soundless dead;
Would these, then, throw down their final, forever saved-up,
forever hidden, unknown to us, eternally valid
coins of happiness before the at last
geniunely smiling pair on the gratified
carpet?

Rilke, Duino Elegies, the Fifth Elegy
1274623
Ruta Sepetys` first novel is a triumph in humanity. Between Shades of Gray is a must read for everyone.

In every age, there are books that challenge your world. Or at least, the world you believe exists. That force you to see the wrongs that were done and could be done again.

This book does that. And so much more.

This is a book where "one girl breaks the silence of history."

The most horrible reality is forced upon Lina, a 15-year-old girl deported from  Lithuania to Siberia. She endures unspeakable brutalities.

"Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch."

The book sheds light on an era in history that is not well known. What Stalin did to to Eastern European nations after he invaded. His systematic deportation and mass genocide. The cruelties that the survivors dared not speak of for fear of being sent back to Siberia.

This is their book. And Ms. Sepetys awakens everyone to the horrors that tested their humanity.

One of the most beautiful and important books I will read in my life-that is how I would categorize Between Shares of Gray.
3130803
Whenever someone survives something horrible, whether it's a terrible event,  an awful experience, a life-threatening disease, or this case, the racist regime of Apartheid, often one emerges from the other side of it, forever changed.  Perhaps those sweet, fragrant things in nature begin to smell better, more intensely.  Maybe they develop a deeper sense of compassion.  Sometimes they are imbued with a different vision of the world we inhabit.

Don Beukes, the author of The Salamander Chronicles, is a writer, a poet, and a man.  But before any of that, he was a child; a child of Apartheid.

It was an ugly time... archaic, cruel and often even deadly.

Ironically, for such a demonic practice, in the final analysis, it has shaped him, as well as informed and educated him.  As terrible, shameful, and ungodly as the practice was, it has alarmed, bittered, and yet ripened him..

I've read his poetry before.  It has always contained bite and bile, and sometimes even Beauty. The poems within these pages reveal a terrible beauty exquisitely written by the hand of a survivor.  Vividly drawn and achingly penned,  The Salamander Chronicles contains a voice steeped in life's more harsh realities.  Beukes  uses his art to describe the dozens of inequalities, and it will teach you a horrid history.

More than this, the gist of these poems will enlighten you in the hopeful hue of a brighter day.

That alone is quite an achievement.  But then again so is this book, The Salamander Chronicles because it is more than a collection of poems.  In fact, it contains lessons in survival.

One.
1469564
The ability of the human psyche to overcome the brutality that we as humans inflict upon each other is vividly brought forth.
3027613
This is a dark novel. The characters seem devoid of humanity. One can picture them as forms with holes in them. There is hardly a conscience in the best of them. Though they feel some guilt and regret, they don't act on these to save a human life. The setting is likewise dark. The men spend many months fishing in the Bering Sea near Alaska. It is hard and crushing work, yet they want to protect it at any cost. Families suffer from the long absences of the fathers. Marriages break apart and children drift. There seems to be some longing for connection but that does not happen. At some level, of course, this is all real. People hurt one another. Greed wins out over kindness. People fail to reach out strongly enough. Connections do not happen and people drift away from their roots and their families.
749096
The best and the absolute worst of humanity.  I couldn't put it down even when it it filled me with tears.
1549330
Openly a novel delving into the destruction that mankind tends to impose upon the natural laws, this book is an incredible read.  The histories of various characters are so haunting they will bring tears to your eyes, and  the purity of intentions will make you long for that kind of generosity in  today's society.  The story is touched with humor and suffering, longing  and sacrifice... the stories of family, both blood and spirit.  Readers of  all preferences will savor this timeless tale.
4003532
This book opens up a world apart -- unaccessible unless you live in the middle of it, or have the questionable fortune to be employed to "deal" with it. From one dark and troubling case to the next, the author takes us on a journey through hell.
1146640
Everyone can relate to the problems of others.
Read this complex interweaving of people's real pain and suffering, whose prognosis seems bleak, yet who come together to help one another, in this thought provoking  novel.
724434
There's a great balance here of dark and light. Some satire, some wide-eyed wonder.

In some there are corpses in freezers, hunters being hunted, and people without eyes. In others there are children running in the snow, Ray Bradbury opening a college-age kid's eyes to the magic of the cosmos, and a husband and wife keeping their marriage alive.

My favourite story was Wings, which I think is represented on the cover in the form of a meat-man (When I needed pate for breakfast, thats when I knew I had a problem.). It is inconceivable strangeness set in a normal world. It is horrifying. And it has a beautiful coda that made me tear up.
4068705
Wiesel's words are at once crisp and searing.  He transported me to places that I could never have conjured even in my most vivid nightmares.  How did these events transpire a mere 70 years ago?  Where was our sanity, rationality and humanity?  Every person should read this book, get this brief glimpse of hell, see this portrait of mankind at his most terrorizing and unyielding.  You will walk away with a deeper understanding of the human spirit, a deeper appreciation for human strength and limits, and a firm belief that we each have a duty and a role to play to prevent such unspeakable evil from ever occurring again.
2633677
As Rodion Raskolnikov demarcated humanity in terms of "ordinary" and "extraordinary," humanity can also be generalized in terms of those who empthasized with Rodion, and those who feel this book is simply  glorifying the abnormal psychology of killers.  The fact of the matter is  this story is important for anyone attempting to philosophize  upon  humanity's darker side; sometimes it takes such an extreme example to raise  the right questions.  To bind one's opinion of this story by the mere  confines of law and order does this story no justice as it would also limit  the enlightenment one gets out of it.  Especially today, as more young  people strive to achieve righteousness through misinfluenced means, this  book's importance is founded upon the over-intellectualization of the  righteous path, and if any human can dub themselves worthy of taking it.  Dostoevsky's unique way of humbling us with such journeys do more than  merely increase our capacity for thought, they aide us in our travel to  understand even the most outcasted mind, thus increasing our understanding  of ourselves.  I reccomend this classic piece of literature to anyone, both  young and old, free-thinking and close-minded alike.  Crime and Punishment  is the essential documentation of introspection and the questionable void  between cause and effect.