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Taunton Daily Gazette , MA
Aug 14 2012
Confessions of a Book Addict, 4
By Kristina Fontes
Title: The Sandcastle Girls
Author: Chris Bohjalian
Publisher: Doubleday, New York
This post was delayed by a hectic week before vacation, and then the
first three days of said vacation, which were spent in Vermont.
Relevant because this article mentions Vermont! Also, and this is the
truly exciting part: I was lucky enough to be able to interview Chris
Bohjalian in person.
So, at long last, let's get started.
When I was younger, I didn't think all that much of my heritage. I
just took it for granted. My entire family was Portuguese, and so was
basically everyone else I knew. We were nothing special.
Well, I know better now. I understand what it means to be a first
generation American. My parents and grandparents gave up the only life
they knew to come to the United States. They bravely sought something
better. They learned a new language--and a tricky one at that, let's
be honest. They adapted to a new culture, but in such a way as they
have never lost touch with where they came from.
Now that I'm grown, the best I can do is try to be the same way. To
honor what's come before, as I and those I love move irrepressibly
forward.
The Sandcastle Girls features a narrator who experiences a change of
heart herself. In learning her grandparents' story, Laura discovers so
much more about her heritage, and for the first time in her life is
truly moved by it. She is a second-generation Armenian-American, and
her grandparents, Armen and Elizabeth, had lived through the Armenian
genocide of World War I.
The book centers around Armen and Elizabeth's love story, from when
they meet in the city of Aleppo and how each of them are affected by
this dark time in human history. He has lost his wife and child: they
survived the initial slaughters, but their fate is obvious when
neither shows up in Aleppo after the awful Death March. Elizabeth is
in Aleppo to make a difference, despite the horrors that quickly
threaten to overwhelm her.
What makes this book so engrossing, really, isn't the love story
(although that's pretty great): it's the history. The details are
vivid, striking; you will be able to picture Aleppo immediately.
You will also be able to see the women who were the victims of these
Death Marches across the desert. Not many people have heard of the
Armenian Genocide during the course of their schooling. All we were
given when our history classes covered WWI was more information than
we'd ever need to know about Archduke Ferdinand.
If you read this book, I can assure you that you will be astounded
that we never turned our attentions from the Archduke in the wake of
such a tragic chapter in world history.
I'm also very happy to admit that I was able to meet with Chris
Bohjalian, and to talk about this book and his work. As a lifelong and
self-styled nerd, it was one of my prouder moments. And, I got to
bring my mom. Because who else would you bring to meet a bestselling
novelist? The answer to that question should always be "Mom!"
We started, naturally, with what it was that inspired him to write The
Sandcastle Girls. It was, of course, based mostly on the desire to
make more people aware of what happened to the Armenians in 1915. What
followed was a list that, if people would ever behave as they ought to
one another, would thankfully never exist:
"The Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur;
they're all linked."
One wonders what would happen if everyone truly would learn fron
history. One of the simultaneous beauties and shortcomings of the
human race, though, is our capacity to forget. Sometimes, that's a
good thing. But there are other times that this very tendency dooms us
to repeat things that should never have happened in the first place.
Bohjalian went on to call this "The Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing
About. By 1939, it had disappeared into history."
No offense to Archduke Ferdinand, but I think the deahts of 1.5
million people are far more important that his assassination by the
Black Hand. Tough break, Franz.
As important as the subject matter is, this book was still a long time
in the making. After initial unsuccess, the project was shelved for
some time. Then, Bohjalian happened to have a coffee with an old
friend, who got the wheels in motion with just one question: "When are
we going to try again?"
Much like his narrator Laura, Bohjalian didn't know all that much of
his heritage growing up. His father was a first generation
Armenian-American, and his grandparents were survivors of the
genocide. They had "a wonderfully exotic house in a New York City
suburb," quite like Laura's grandparents and their Ottoman Annex.
Bohjalian's father "wanted to be as American as possible" though. He
"only spoke Armenian when teasing or bickering with his parents."
That was unfortunate, as it certainly meant a lot more digging when it
came to researching this book. Not to mention the personal cost of
missing an entire volume of one's family history. Consequently, when
it comes to knowing his cultural roots, Bohjalian reflects that his
heritage's "importance has grown profoundly."
Should anyone be interested in learning more, there is the Armenian
Library and Museum of America in Watertown. It hosts a "wonderful
collection of not just Armenian history, but American history. All of
the artifacts are important."
Being a hopeful writer myself, and currently victim to the whims of a
cranky manuscript, I couldn't resist a few "writer" questions.
Like many of us scribes, Bohjalian always knew on some level that he
wanted to write. He's been quite successful at it too, but it was
heartening to learn that he received about 250 rejection slips before
he sold a single work.
Dedication won the day, thankfully.
Throughout our conversation, I couldn't help but think of Jane
Austen's maxim: "Write what you know." It seemed that it was exactly
what Bohjalian did with The Sandcastle Girls, and with a great deal of
his other works.
Living in a small town in Vermont has played a prominent role in his
career. Of his thirteen other novels, eleven are set in Vermont and
two are set in New Hampshire. His life is there, so why not his work?
It's as he said: "I know in my heart I found my voice in Vermont."
With The Sandcastle Girls, the locale is a world away from the Green
Mountain State. However, no work of his has ever been so close to
home. We get the sense that narrator and author are on a similar path
to discovery. The novel becomes something more than itself.
Bohjalian's final thought on that matter drove that thought home with
me: "This is the most important book I will ever write."
And he told me I could definitely quote him on that.
http://www.tauntongazette.com/blogs/bookaddict/x1222024675/Confessions-of-a-Book-Addict-4
Aug 14 2012
Confessions of a Book Addict, 4
By Kristina Fontes
Title: The Sandcastle Girls
Author: Chris Bohjalian
Publisher: Doubleday, New York
This post was delayed by a hectic week before vacation, and then the
first three days of said vacation, which were spent in Vermont.
Relevant because this article mentions Vermont! Also, and this is the
truly exciting part: I was lucky enough to be able to interview Chris
Bohjalian in person.
So, at long last, let's get started.
When I was younger, I didn't think all that much of my heritage. I
just took it for granted. My entire family was Portuguese, and so was
basically everyone else I knew. We were nothing special.
Well, I know better now. I understand what it means to be a first
generation American. My parents and grandparents gave up the only life
they knew to come to the United States. They bravely sought something
better. They learned a new language--and a tricky one at that, let's
be honest. They adapted to a new culture, but in such a way as they
have never lost touch with where they came from.
Now that I'm grown, the best I can do is try to be the same way. To
honor what's come before, as I and those I love move irrepressibly
forward.
The Sandcastle Girls features a narrator who experiences a change of
heart herself. In learning her grandparents' story, Laura discovers so
much more about her heritage, and for the first time in her life is
truly moved by it. She is a second-generation Armenian-American, and
her grandparents, Armen and Elizabeth, had lived through the Armenian
genocide of World War I.
The book centers around Armen and Elizabeth's love story, from when
they meet in the city of Aleppo and how each of them are affected by
this dark time in human history. He has lost his wife and child: they
survived the initial slaughters, but their fate is obvious when
neither shows up in Aleppo after the awful Death March. Elizabeth is
in Aleppo to make a difference, despite the horrors that quickly
threaten to overwhelm her.
What makes this book so engrossing, really, isn't the love story
(although that's pretty great): it's the history. The details are
vivid, striking; you will be able to picture Aleppo immediately.
You will also be able to see the women who were the victims of these
Death Marches across the desert. Not many people have heard of the
Armenian Genocide during the course of their schooling. All we were
given when our history classes covered WWI was more information than
we'd ever need to know about Archduke Ferdinand.
If you read this book, I can assure you that you will be astounded
that we never turned our attentions from the Archduke in the wake of
such a tragic chapter in world history.
I'm also very happy to admit that I was able to meet with Chris
Bohjalian, and to talk about this book and his work. As a lifelong and
self-styled nerd, it was one of my prouder moments. And, I got to
bring my mom. Because who else would you bring to meet a bestselling
novelist? The answer to that question should always be "Mom!"
We started, naturally, with what it was that inspired him to write The
Sandcastle Girls. It was, of course, based mostly on the desire to
make more people aware of what happened to the Armenians in 1915. What
followed was a list that, if people would ever behave as they ought to
one another, would thankfully never exist:
"The Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur;
they're all linked."
One wonders what would happen if everyone truly would learn fron
history. One of the simultaneous beauties and shortcomings of the
human race, though, is our capacity to forget. Sometimes, that's a
good thing. But there are other times that this very tendency dooms us
to repeat things that should never have happened in the first place.
Bohjalian went on to call this "The Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing
About. By 1939, it had disappeared into history."
No offense to Archduke Ferdinand, but I think the deahts of 1.5
million people are far more important that his assassination by the
Black Hand. Tough break, Franz.
As important as the subject matter is, this book was still a long time
in the making. After initial unsuccess, the project was shelved for
some time. Then, Bohjalian happened to have a coffee with an old
friend, who got the wheels in motion with just one question: "When are
we going to try again?"
Much like his narrator Laura, Bohjalian didn't know all that much of
his heritage growing up. His father was a first generation
Armenian-American, and his grandparents were survivors of the
genocide. They had "a wonderfully exotic house in a New York City
suburb," quite like Laura's grandparents and their Ottoman Annex.
Bohjalian's father "wanted to be as American as possible" though. He
"only spoke Armenian when teasing or bickering with his parents."
That was unfortunate, as it certainly meant a lot more digging when it
came to researching this book. Not to mention the personal cost of
missing an entire volume of one's family history. Consequently, when
it comes to knowing his cultural roots, Bohjalian reflects that his
heritage's "importance has grown profoundly."
Should anyone be interested in learning more, there is the Armenian
Library and Museum of America in Watertown. It hosts a "wonderful
collection of not just Armenian history, but American history. All of
the artifacts are important."
Being a hopeful writer myself, and currently victim to the whims of a
cranky manuscript, I couldn't resist a few "writer" questions.
Like many of us scribes, Bohjalian always knew on some level that he
wanted to write. He's been quite successful at it too, but it was
heartening to learn that he received about 250 rejection slips before
he sold a single work.
Dedication won the day, thankfully.
Throughout our conversation, I couldn't help but think of Jane
Austen's maxim: "Write what you know." It seemed that it was exactly
what Bohjalian did with The Sandcastle Girls, and with a great deal of
his other works.
Living in a small town in Vermont has played a prominent role in his
career. Of his thirteen other novels, eleven are set in Vermont and
two are set in New Hampshire. His life is there, so why not his work?
It's as he said: "I know in my heart I found my voice in Vermont."
With The Sandcastle Girls, the locale is a world away from the Green
Mountain State. However, no work of his has ever been so close to
home. We get the sense that narrator and author are on a similar path
to discovery. The novel becomes something more than itself.
Bohjalian's final thought on that matter drove that thought home with
me: "This is the most important book I will ever write."
And he told me I could definitely quote him on that.
http://www.tauntongazette.com/blogs/bookaddict/x1222024675/Confessions-of-a-Book-Addict-4