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THERE WAS AND THERE WAS NOT: A JOURNEY THROUGH HATE AND POSSIBILITY IN TURKEY, ARMENIA, AND BEYOND
Library Journal Reviews
December 1, 2014
review by Erin Shea
Toumani, Meline. There Was and There Was Not: A Journey Through Hate
and Possibility in Turkey, Armenia, and Beyond. Metropolitan: Holt.
2014. 304p. ISBN 9780805097627. $28; ebk. ISBN 9780805097634. MEMOIR
Born in Iran and ethnically Armenian, Toumani (former journalism fellow
at the Inst. for Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria; former coordinator
of the Russian-American Journalism Inst. in Rostov-on-Don, Russia)
grew up in a diaspora in New Jersey where the 1915 Armenian genocide at
the hands of the Ottoman government came up daily in conversation. Her
neighbors boycott Turkish products, refuse to patronize businesses
owned by Turks, and constantly talk about the genocide to anyone who
will listen. So when the author leaves her job at the New York Times
and moves to Istanbul to confront and understand her historic enemy,
she is forced to explore complex questions of ethnic identity and how
to memorialize a tragedy without letting it consume her. She loosens
the shackles of her past by immersing herself in the culture of her
sworn enemy, a lesson many readers will relate to. VERDICT This brave
and balanced personal narrative will be a welcome addition to the
canon of books written about the century of hatred between Turks and
Armenians. [See Prepub Alert, 6/2/14.]--Erin Shea, Darien Lib., CT
From: A. Papazian
Library Journal Reviews
December 1, 2014
review by Erin Shea
Toumani, Meline. There Was and There Was Not: A Journey Through Hate
and Possibility in Turkey, Armenia, and Beyond. Metropolitan: Holt.
2014. 304p. ISBN 9780805097627. $28; ebk. ISBN 9780805097634. MEMOIR
Born in Iran and ethnically Armenian, Toumani (former journalism fellow
at the Inst. for Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria; former coordinator
of the Russian-American Journalism Inst. in Rostov-on-Don, Russia)
grew up in a diaspora in New Jersey where the 1915 Armenian genocide at
the hands of the Ottoman government came up daily in conversation. Her
neighbors boycott Turkish products, refuse to patronize businesses
owned by Turks, and constantly talk about the genocide to anyone who
will listen. So when the author leaves her job at the New York Times
and moves to Istanbul to confront and understand her historic enemy,
she is forced to explore complex questions of ethnic identity and how
to memorialize a tragedy without letting it consume her. She loosens
the shackles of her past by immersing herself in the culture of her
sworn enemy, a lesson many readers will relate to. VERDICT This brave
and balanced personal narrative will be a welcome addition to the
canon of books written about the century of hatred between Turks and
Armenians. [See Prepub Alert, 6/2/14.]--Erin Shea, Darien Lib., CT
From: A. Papazian