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More Than I Love My Life
More Than I Love My Life: A Novel | David Grossman
8 posts | 5 read | 1 reading | 6 to read
"From the internationally best-selling author--and revered moral voice--a remarkable novel of suffering, love, and healing, the story of three generations of women and a secret that needs to be told. The story was inspired by the life of a friend and confidante of David Grossman who, in the late 1940s, was imprisoned and tortured on the notorious Goli Otok, a barren island prison off the coast of Croatia. Grossman's telling focuses on three strong women--Vera, 90; her daughter, Nina; and her granddaughter, Gili, who at 39 years old is a filmmaker and a wary consumer of affection. A bitter secret divides each mother and daughter pair, though Gili--abandoned when she was just three by Nina--has been close to her grandmother throughout her life. With Gili making the arrangements, they travel together back to Goli ("the Adriatic Alcatraz"), where Vera was imprisoned, enslaved, and tortured for three years as a young wife, when she refused to betray her husband and denounce him as an enemy of the people. This unlikely journey, documented by Gili's camera, lays bare the intertwining of fear, love, and mercy, and the complex overlapping demands of romantic and parental passion. With flashbacks to the stalwart Vera protecting what was most precious on the wretched rock where she was held, and Grossman's fearless examination of the human heart, this swift novel will thrill his many readers and bring new ones into the fold"--
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blurb
Leftcoastzen
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Eggs Excellent 👌🏼 11mo
BarbaraBB Is this a new one? The man writes so fast I can‘t keep up! 11mo
Leftcoastzen @BarbaraBB No, it‘s about a year old . Another one I just had to have that I haven‘t got around to reading yet .😁🙄 11mo
50 likes3 comments
review
thereflectiveflaneur
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Pickpick

Really intrigued by this text! Great opening 100 pages! Hope it continues!

BarbaraBB One of my favorite authors. 2y
4 likes1 comment
blurb
Cinfhen
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One of the perks of volunteering at the charity bookshop is getting first picks on the new donations!! I was excited to see this beauty yesterday🥰It was on the International Booker LongList & it seemed to be well regarded. Apparently it‘s based on a true story -

BarbaraBB You can‘t go wrong with Grossman! 2y
Cinfhen If you want I can pass it along after I read it @BarbaraBB 2y
BarbaraBB I‘d love that but please believe me that I don‘t comment just for you to send me so many books 🙈😘 2y
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Cathythoughts That‘s a great perk 👍🏻 book sounds good, look forward to your review. 2y
Cinfhen It‘s really a pleasure @BarbaraBB 💕💕 2y
Cinfhen I know @Cathythoughts !!! But it‘s not often “newer” books are donated - so yesterday was a real find 😁 2y
78 likes6 comments
review
Suet624
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Pickpick

Based on Eva Nahir Panic‘s life, this tells the story of Eva‘s choice to protect her husband‘s reputation by going to prison at the dreaded ‘Alcatraz of the Adriatic‘, with the understanding that her young daughter would be abandoned. This is very much a political story as well. Ideals & devotion keep running through my mind after reading this story. There is also a film that tells her story that could be found on YouTube. This story shook me. …

Suet624 I feel as if she is judged harshly for her decision and yet this story is so complex (at least in my mind). It was a different time where she and her husband saved 1500 people who would have been sent to concentration camps. This was a time that very few of us have experienced and I can‘t possibly imagine what I would have done. (edited) 2y
Nute I want to know this story. Stacking! 2y
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Suet624 @Nute To be honest, most of the political work they did is not fully explored in the novel. I wish the author had spent time on that. I found out more about their political acts after reading articles about Eva's life. This book focuses on three generations of women and how Eva's decision affected the next two generations.
2y
Leftcoastzen Wow , I was going to try & get this today, but the parking lot was so full at my local indie I didn‘t go in. 2y
Suet624 @Leftcoastzen nice to know the store has so much business! 2y
Leftcoastzen Yes! Happy for them ! There may have been a live event finally. plus , they have coffee, tea , treats ! 2y
Jeg @Suet624 I just watched the documentary on YouTube. Amazing woman. 2y
Suet624 @Jeg Truly. 2y
53 likes9 comments
review
BookwormM
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Pickpick

#BookerInternationalLonglist2022 Book 5

This sounds like a bleak book and in some ways this was, the details of the torture are not graphic or overdone but they are harrowing. It is scary to think that if she hadn‘t believed in her principles Vera‘s life and her daughter‘s life could have been so very different.

A tough read but an interesting insight into a place and time I had no prior knowledge of.

45 likes1 stack add
review
Simona
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Mehso-so

The story revolves around a family, three generations of women, each in their own way facing the pain caused by the generation before her. It all starts with Vera Novak, a Yugoslav Jew (who escaped to the Israel after she survived imprisonment in Goli otok - political prison in former Yugoslavia), and her dramatic decision that marks future generations. The main narrator is Gili, Vera‘s granddaughter, a filmmaker who documents the family's … 👇

Simona … journey - the actual trip to Serbia and Croatia, as well as their emotional healing. The story is based on real events, a real person (Eva Panić Nahir) who was successfully portrayed by the author as sparkling, unbreakable, dramatic, insightful, complex person ... 👇 2y
Simona … and this characterization, at least for me, is also the strongest point of this book. Time jumps give the story more dynamic structure, but those time switches are also distracting, as well as author‘s ‘obsession‘ with unnecessary details that eventually become repetitive and boring. 2y
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BarbaraBB Sorry to hear this, I love this writer! But I haven‘t read this one yet. 2y
Simona @barbarabb It is a good story, but with soooo boring details about recording/filmmaking, didn‘t add anything to the atmosphere or characterisation or storyline … I have only read by him A Horse Walks into a Bar and I really liked it. If you plan to read the book, I recommending to watch (after reading) the film about Eva Panić (with English subtitles) on YT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Erw-lDi93-Y 2y
BarbaraBB Thanks for the YouTube link. If you didn‘t like the details about film making (you‘re in the same kind of work!) then I highly doubt I‘ll like them! 2y
Simona @BarbaraBB Maybe that is the reason 😘 2y
batsy Thanks for your thoughtful review. For some reason I'm not really drawn to this one, and since I can't read the entire longlist at this point, I'm hoping it's not shortlisted so I can skip it 🙈 2y
Simona @BarbaraBB @batsy If I‘m totally fair - if the book wasn't on the list, I'd probably have made a different decision and I would probably choose pick, but because it is long-listed my reviews are more meticulous🤷🏻‍♀️ 2y
BarbaraBB That is awesome I think 👏 and now I will give it a try too I think! 2y
Simona @BarbaraBB But absolutely watch YT after reading‼️ 2y
BarbaraBB I will!! 2y
44 likes12 comments
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Simona
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Only on the 10% and I already like this story, very much …
#FirstLineFridays

BarbaraBB I love this author! 2y
Leftcoastzen I‘ve only read one of his books.I remember it was powerful, not much else.Not because it wasn‘t memorable ,but I read it so long ago I blame my brain. (edited) 2y
Simona @BarbaraBB @Leftcoastzen Me too, I have only read one of his books, but … and I loved it. 2y
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BarbaraBB He was written so many good books. My absolute favorite, which you should really really read is 2y
BarbaraBB It‘s quite political, I think you‘d love it. Another great one, less political, is 2y
Simona Thank you for recommendations @BarbaraBB I think that I need to dig in his previous books … but after IBP longlist 😘 2y
36 likes6 comments