From LISTSERV@listserv.uic.edu Thu Aug 24 18:57:18 2000 Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 20:55:59 -0500 From: "L-Soft list server at University of Illinois at Chicago (1.8d)" To: Laura Quilter Subject: File: "FEMINISTSF-LIT LOG0001D" ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 19:00:26 -0600 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Susan Hericks Subject: BDG: Briar Rose MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I finally had a chance to read Briar Rose and must say I generally argree with most of the opinions expressed in the discussions so far, especially that the writing seemd a bit clunky, the romance contrived, and Josef's retelling of his Holocaust experience the mose engaging and memorable part of the book. I actually really enjoyed the character Magda and felt like I hadn't before been given the chance to think about what it's like for the next generation in Poland, Germany, etc. If the survivor's refusal to discuss what happened is the norm in the US (according to what has been said in the discussion), how much worse it must be to liveright where these atrocities happened and not able to talk about it--or even to be aware of it, which seems like a truly maddening silence and erasure of memory. Along those lines, I was really struck by the scene where Becca and Magda visit the town where the extermination camp was and the locals threaten them with the same "nothing" that happened to all the other Jews who came there. The whole question justice seems horrifying and impossible in the face of such hate, especially when you later read the details of what happened there. The priest is an interesting figure. I was grateful that Yolen portrayed his honesty about not being able to forgive the townspeople for what they did. I think I would've been happier with the ending of the book if Yolen held on a little more to this question of how the Holocost still effects the survivors and their families beyond the optimism that ultimately seems to gloss Gemma's "happily ever after." Despite assurances that there is not always a happy ending, that's what I felt like we got. Is it enough that Gemma survived and had a loving family in the US? Will Becca be like Stan, just getting the story and then moving on? It seems like more is called for. Susan