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San Antonio Express
Sept 28 2012
A 20th-century genocide unfolds in `Sandcastle'
By Deborah Martin
Somewhere deep in Chris Bohjalian's papers at Amherst College is his
first stab at a novel about the Armenian genocide.
It was never published. And there's a reason for that.
`It's a terrible, terrible book,' he said in a phone interview. `If
you're a masochist or a scholar, you can read it.'
He seems to have done much better on his second attempt.
Most of the best-selling `The Sandcastle Girls,' his 15th book, is set
during the 1915 genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
In a modern-day thread, a female novelist starts looking into that
history as a way to make sense of her grandparents, an Armenian
engineer and an American aid worker who met and fell in love while
those events were unfolding.
The story has personal significance for Bohjalian, who is of Armenian heritage.
Putting some of his own story into the mix - the grandparents' home in
the book is similar to his grandparents' home, for example - is one
reason this novel works and his first attempt didn't, he said.
`I didn't begin with the personal (then),' he said. `My grandparents
were both genocide survivors. They took their stories to their grave.
I will never know precisely what they endured in 1915.'
The story has a much broader meaning as well, and that's why he wanted
to try again. In the book, he frequently refers to the genocide as the
`Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About.'
`There is a direct link between the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust,
the killing fields of Cambodia, Serbia, Rwanda and Darfur,' he said.
Making sure that the Armenian genocide isn't lost to history is
important, he said. `Denial is the final stage in the genocide.'
http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/books/article/A-20th-century-genocide-unfolds-in-Sandcastle-3900055.php
Sept 28 2012
A 20th-century genocide unfolds in `Sandcastle'
By Deborah Martin
Somewhere deep in Chris Bohjalian's papers at Amherst College is his
first stab at a novel about the Armenian genocide.
It was never published. And there's a reason for that.
`It's a terrible, terrible book,' he said in a phone interview. `If
you're a masochist or a scholar, you can read it.'
He seems to have done much better on his second attempt.
Most of the best-selling `The Sandcastle Girls,' his 15th book, is set
during the 1915 genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
In a modern-day thread, a female novelist starts looking into that
history as a way to make sense of her grandparents, an Armenian
engineer and an American aid worker who met and fell in love while
those events were unfolding.
The story has personal significance for Bohjalian, who is of Armenian heritage.
Putting some of his own story into the mix - the grandparents' home in
the book is similar to his grandparents' home, for example - is one
reason this novel works and his first attempt didn't, he said.
`I didn't begin with the personal (then),' he said. `My grandparents
were both genocide survivors. They took their stories to their grave.
I will never know precisely what they endured in 1915.'
The story has a much broader meaning as well, and that's why he wanted
to try again. In the book, he frequently refers to the genocide as the
`Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About.'
`There is a direct link between the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust,
the killing fields of Cambodia, Serbia, Rwanda and Darfur,' he said.
Making sure that the Armenian genocide isn't lost to history is
important, he said. `Denial is the final stage in the genocide.'
http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/books/article/A-20th-century-genocide-unfolds-in-Sandcastle-3900055.php