The winner of CBC's Canada Reads 2012; Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre; re-issued by Vintage Canada. Six-year-old Carmen Aguirre fled to Canada with her family following General Augusto Pinochet's violent 1973 coup in Chile. Five years later; when her mother and stepfather returned to South America as Chilean resistance members; Carmen and her sister went with them; quickly assuming double lives of their own. At 18; Carmen became a militant herself; plunging further into a world of terror; paranoia and euphoria.Something Fierce takes the reader inside war-ridden Peru; dictator-ruled Bolivia; post-Malvinas Argentina and Pinochet's Chile in the eventful decade between 1979 and 1989. Dramatic; suspenseful and darkly comic; it is a rare first-hand account of revolutionary life and a passionate argument against forgetting.
#747774 in Books 2002-03-26 2002-03-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.21 x .96 x 5.52l; .81 #File Name: 0345448146456 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. 5 star content; 2 star editingBy TomasGA Chosen Few: The Resurrection of European Jewry is proving to be a very interesting book. It is not just a case study of the resurgence of Jewish life in Europe; post-WWI; but of the political histories of many Eastern European countries; as well. I am learning more about this time period that was ever taught in public schools in the late `60's.My main problem with this Kindle version of the book is the extremely poor editing of the electronic version. It appears as though the pages were scanned with OCR readers; and the discrepancies were either not caught or were ignored by human proofreaders. Many of the Eastern European names of people and places were absolutely butchered - and not even in the same way from page to page. Luckily; most were repeated often enough in the same chapter that I could generally figure out these mis-spellings well enough to make sense of the text.I want to continue reading Mr. Kurlansky's books as Kindle editions ( I read Salt in trade paperback format and thoroughly enjoyed it); and can only hope that the conversion to electronic format is better done.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Kurlansky sees and tells the truthBy Samoa W.Many stories about Jews who returned to European cities after the Holocaust and tried to resume normal lives. Compared to the pre WWII population; only a small number of Jews returned and stayed. Their stories are amazing and some are very sad. In a number of countries Anti-Semitism resurfaced and again ruined lives. Mark Kurlansky tells the truth as he sees it even if it is painful.The book was originally published in 1995. This paperback has a updated introduction at 2002. I only wish the whole text had been updated. Perhaps a sequel is in order.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A MUST!By Jose SandinoIt is a must to read this book for a clear understanding of a chosen nation surviving among evil forces through world history.They deserve a country of their own.
