pallas_athenaa t1_j1zidt9 wrote on December 28, 2022 at 3:48 PM

I dont think you'd be an asshole but I do think the Holocaust tends to be a bit overdone in literature (speaking as an Eastern European Jew who reads a LOT of Holocaust literature). I like to think book clubs can be used as a vehicle to expand thinking and knowledge... most "regular" people don't deny the Holocaust but there are a lot of other historical events that happened to other marginalized people that don't get nearly the same amount of attention. Maybe pick one of those?

Gen_Give_Me_My_Medal OP t1_j20c448 wrote on December 28, 2022 at 7:06 PM

That's a fair point. I acknowledge that my focus on the Holocaust is due to the rise in antisemitism that is happening, but I do agree that the average person isn't denying it happened. Do you have any suggestions on other historical events that don't get as much focus?

pallas_athenaa t1_j20xvtl wrote on December 28, 2022 at 9:29 PM

Books about the Apartheid, North Korea, Native American culture, pretty much any non-white group in the United States (but try to find books that are written by people from that culture).

Some ideas: Farewell to Manzanar (this is a kids book though) by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (Japanese internment camps in the US)

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (European colonization)

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (Mexican American culture)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (I really recommend this one) (military intervention in Afhanistan)

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (a Korean family living in Japan)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (police violence against Black men in the US)

There's a lot out there if excellent novels that provide fresh perspectives on other systems of oppression.

IDontEvenKnowThisKid t1_j20zu9b wrote on December 28, 2022 at 9:42 PM

I would like to second the suggestion for The Hate U Give. The author tied in lyrics from Tupac (he's responsible for the book's title) and can generate conversation for the book club around the poetry of rap lyrics as well as the realities of police violence in the US.

WholeBeautiful4194 t1_j2210av wrote on December 29, 2022 at 2:07 AM

What happened in Rwanda. Many people don't realize the full extent of what happened and many don't realize how involved a few European nations were in supporting the genocide.