We all differ from each other, seem to each
other alien. We are different - it is our curse and advantage. We are different
- that's what we have in common.
People usually hate the things that they are afraid
of. They are afraid of things they do not know or understand. Therefore, the
only way to overcome fear and unacceptance is to start to learn more about people
and the surrounding world, to broaden one’s attitude and mind.
The team of the IOA proposes you, to learn
together. You will find something new here every Friday. Today we are proposing
4 different fiction books about refugees, or people, for some reasons forced to
start re-building their lives in foreign countries.
1. ‘Shadows
in Paradise’ by Erich Maria Remarque
The book depicts a story of six people who have
learned to survive: an optimistic businessman, a beautiful model, a talented
surgeon, a writer who loves alcohol, an actress and the protagonist, a journalist
Robert Ross, a German who hates Nazis. They survived: in America, Gestapo has
no possibility to reach them. Learning how to survive and adapt sometimes makes
one to forget what it means to live. They became just the pale shadows of
themselves who didn’t forget to dream – to return home one day.
2.
‘The
Assassin from Apricot City’ by Witold Szabłowski’s
Witold Szabłowski, Gazeta Wyborcza journalist, representative
of the Polish School of Reportage, who lived for several years in Turkey, wrote
a book (collection of reportages) about this country. The book was awarded with
numerous titles, among which is an honorary mention at the Amnesty
International competition for the best articles on human rights issues. This book
is read in a single burst: on one page you enjoy the atmosphere of European
shopping streets of Istanbul, and on the next page, you're trembling with
terror "listening” the conversation about honor killings in the remote
villages of eastern Turkey. Reading ‘Two Bodies Will Wash Ashore Today’ Chapter,
the reader can feel the cold waters of the Aegean Sea, thirst and despair that illegal
immigrants running from Turkey to Greece are experiencing. For this Chapter (reportage) Szabłowski received
the European Parliament Journalism Award.
3.
The
Arrival’ by Shaun Tan
Have you ever read the graphic novel? If this
is your first graphic novel you're in luck. Because Shaun Tan speaks by drawing
better than other authors do with words. Shaun Tan is well known Australian illustrator,
children's books author and speculative fiction cover artist. This book will
show the reader a fascinating story of a man who left everything and went to
search of a new home for his wife and daughter. In the future, there is no
home, friends, and family support. But nevertheless optimistic story inspires,
brings the spirit of empathy and hope. This graphic novel - the story of every
migrant, every refugee, everyone who was forced to flee their homes
4.
‘Escape
From Camp 14’ by Blaine Harden
According to the Human Rights
Committee of the United Nations and human rights organizations, in 2013
Internment camps in North Korea held about 200,000 inmates. According to this information
the conditions in these camps are extremely cruel and inhumane: an acute
shortage of food, lack of medical care, inadequate housing and clothing, slave
labor, torture and ill-treatment by prison guards, rapes and executions of
prisoners. North Korea denied the accusations of human rights violations and
the fact of the presence of labour camps in their territory. Shin Dong-hyuk was
born 30 years ago in North Korea in a concentration camp number 14 and was the
only prisoner, who was able to run away. Thanks to well-known journalist Blaine
Harden, Sheen was able to tell what happened to him behind barbed wire and how
he managed to escape to America. Documentary, which is based on this book, has
received a worldwide recognition.
written by Iuliia Zadorozhnia
edited by Indre Lechtimiakyte
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