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boxer_dogs_dance t1_j0llybj wrote

a novel painting a picture of a miserable life works the same way a novel painting a picture of an unlikable character works. The misery is the point. Great art isn't only pleasant or fun. Try the Yellow Wallpaper for a short take on the same theme. Actual women live lives like this, just like there are actual migrant farm workers as well as migrant characters in Grapes of Wrath and Cider House Rules. What is your take on Holocaust or gulag survival stories?

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Singto_ OP t1_j0lmyjt wrote

I definitely understand that. Just like how the other comments suggested maybe it's just not for me. I absolutely understand the misery of the character in the book, but after 30 or so pages it just becomes stale for me. If you put it that way then I could understand how lots of people loves it.

I'll check out Yellow Wallpaper. I'm new to reading in general so I have no takes on Holocaust or gulag survival stories hahaha, any recommendations?

Thanks

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boxer_dogs_dance t1_j0lny5x wrote

For short, clear and beautifully written, Elie Wiesel Night and then Dawn. Man's Search for Meaning is more philosophical if you want that. For a woman prisoner, Corrie ten Boom's book the Hiding Place.

The Gulag Archipelago is a brick of a book. I wouldn't start there. Animal Farm is supposed to represent Stalinism although it works for exploitation generally.

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CurlyDee t1_j0mlplh wrote

I just have to encourage everyone to read Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. That book and Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Harold Kushner are my guides to make sense of the world.

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