Black Dog of Fate

Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC MASTERPIECE
Review: FROM: Black Dog Of Fate is a classic masterpiece! If you areArmenian, if you have Armenian relatives (as do I), or if you know anyArmenian people out there in the real world and you would like tounderstand their past better, then you will learn a lot from this book. Also, if you are interested in the history of the Middle East in general, or in the topic of genocide in particular, then you MUST read this book! You simply must.

... Peter Balakian is a true Azad Adzvadzazeen - "a free man of God" - and a poet of magnificent proportions. He writes like an artist, not a scholar. Nevertheless, he is a great scholar and researcher - as you will learn while reading the book - otherwise, he would NEVER have been able to uncover and discover all he did in the process of writing this great book. This book reads like a novel and a detective-story - not like a personal autobiography.

... As soon as you begin reading it, you will NOT be able to put it down. It is that good. Your eyes will be closing, and you will say to yourself: "Just one more page. Just one more chapter." The hours will fly by, and before you know it, you will have read the WHOLE book!

... I read this book in three days, finding it to be one of the most captivating books I have ever read. It does for the Armenian people what ELENI (the book on the Communist occupation of northern Greece, by Nicholas Gage) did for the Greek people. Only in this case, it is The Turks who are the perpetrators of uncivilized acts of human cruelty - something The Greeks understand with total empathy, after having had endured 500 years of subjugation under Ottoman rule themselves.

... Reading this book will help the whole world to better understand the unacceptable suffering the Armenian people were forced to experience at the hands of the Turkish government, military, released criminals, Kurdish-sympathizers, and ruthless renegades from the true spiritual values of the Godly wisdom of Islam.

... This book absolutely MUST be made into a major motion picture! As you read it, it will come alive in your mind as if it were a panoramic film, playing itself out before you in your mind's eye. The images it produces in your consciousness will linger for MONTHS - if not years. I see the scope of its visionary magnitude as being on the level of "Gandhi," by Richard Attenborough! It is truly a maginificent work of art.

... Peter Balakian has done a great service - not only to his ancestors and his people (both the living and the dead) - but to the whole world. The "Armenian Genocide" was the first genocide of modern history. As we all know, it was not the last. Reading this book will educate those who are now ignorant about the seriousness and total, utter gravity of the matter of human genocide, which - as we also know - is continuing till this very day in various parts of the globe.

... If this book does not help inspire the American people to create - once and for all - an "Armenian Genocide Memorial Day," then nothing will.

... - The Aeolian Kid END

Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC MASTERPIECE!
Review: FROM: The Aeolian Kid TO: All Amazon.com Readers DATE: 7-27-1999, 4:33 PM ITEM: Black Dog of Fate: A Memoir

Dear Reader,

Black Dog of Fate is a classic masterpiece!... If you are Armenian, or if you know any Armenian people and would like to understand their past better, or if you simply are interested in the history of the Middle East in general or genocide in particular, then you will learn a lot from this book.

Peter Balakian is a true Azad Adzvadzazeen!... "a free man of God" - and a poet of magnificent proportions. He writes like an artist, not a scholar! Nevertheless, he is a great scholar and researcher, otherwise he would never have been able to write this great book. This book reads like a novel. As soon as you begin to read it, you will not be able to put it down. Your eyes will be closing, and you'll say to yourself:"Just one more page; just one more chapter." ... It's that great! I read this book in three days, finding it to be one of the most captivating books I have ever read. It does for the Armenian people what ELENI (the book by Nicholas Gage) did for the Greek people. It helps the world to better understand their suffering at the hands of the Turks. Peter Balakian has done a great service to his ancestors and his people, both the living and the dead.

Rating:
Summary: Excellently written, exposes people to the truth.
Review: I am Armenian and could relate to Peter's upbringing. My grandmother and his are striking in similarities. The language references he uses are words that I grew up with. My family has always been open with me about the genocide and shared stories of what hapened to my family during 1915. I am 19 years old and my whole life I have been explaining to people where Armenia is. Nobody knows about the genocide. This book enlightens the common reader to a genocide that almost destroyed an entire race of people. I applaud anyone who takes the time to write books on the genocide, read the books, and educate others.

Rating:
Summary: Let the Historians Decide
Review: I condemn all the hatred against any nations including Turks. What a sad way to attack a nation and her people. It is a cheap way to sell books. Let today's Armenia and Turkey get along and prosper instead of bringing a subject that should be left to historians to be investigated.

Rating:
Summary: A connection
Review: I felt so connected to Balakian, his family and their ordeal. My Armenian family has suffered similarly, yet I never knew the horrid details of their past. This book educated me and opened a door to Armenian history.

After reading this book, I sat with my Dad and for the first time, we talked for hours about the history behind my Grandparent's saddness.

Thank you Peter Balakian for opening that door.

Rating:
Summary: A connection
Review: I highly recommend this memoir/history on many levels. From a literary viewpoint, Peter Balakian is a superb writer: his descriptions of his home life as a child come to life vividly through his descriptions of food, tastes, smells, sounds. You are pulled into his environment and society as a participant.
From a pyschological viewpoint, this memoir is interesting as it reveals the layers of relationships within families and the struggles between generations.
But most important is the historical viewpoint: Balakian shares the unknown history of the Armenians and their persecution by the Turks, and the consequences of both the destruction of these people and the unacknowledgement of this destruction upon the few survivors. And he makes a strong case -- although he is naturally an interested party, the evidence he presents is factual and unbiased.
Having lived in Turkey, I often experienced Turks telling me that the holocaust did not occur, and that the Turks suffered under the hands of the Armenians as well. This continues to be official policy in Turkey, in spite of volumnious documentation of observers. Christian communities in eastern Turkey [such as the Suriani] are continuing to be destroyed. Yet the western world seems uninterested.
You will find this book fascinating on all levels.

Rating:
Summary: The Poetry of a Lost Nation
Review: I highly recommend this memoir/history on many levels. From a literary viewpoint, Peter Balakian is a superb writer: his descriptions of his home life as a child come to life vividly through his descriptions of food, tastes, smells, sounds. You are pulled into his environment and society as a participant.
From a pyschological viewpoint, this memoir is interesting as it reveals the layers of relationships within families and the struggles between generations.
But most important is the historical viewpoint: Balakian shares the unknown history of the Armenians and their persecution by the Turks, and the consequences of both the destruction of these people and the unacknowledgement of this destruction upon the few survivors. And he makes a strong case -- although he is naturally an interested party, the evidence he presents is factual and unbiased.
Having lived in Turkey, I often experienced Turks telling me that the holocaust did not occur, and that the Turks suffered under the hands of the Armenians as well. This continues to be official policy in Turkey, in spite of volumnious documentation of observers. Christian communities in eastern Turkey [such as the Suriani] are continuing to be destroyed. Yet the western world seems uninterested.
You will find this book fascinating on all levels.

Rating:
Summary: I am 36 and had no idea of the Armenians pain and suffering!
Review: I picked this book up becasue I wanted a historical biography. I was not prepared for the history lesson I would receive. I so much enjoyed the authors recount of growing up in the suburbs during the 50's. The book moved slowly into the genocide, which is good, because the story is horific.

I purchased the book in February 99 and have taken my time reading it. Now that I am in the last half of the book, I can't put it down. I look forward to reading more works by the author.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for EVERYONE!
Review: I think this book was extremely informative. It was an eye openerto what had happened in the Genocide. And to correct what another review said, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by the Turks. The worst part about this is that the Turkish government strongly denies that this ever happened. They spread lies about it and make sure that it never reaches any form of upper education. This is very wrong, as there are many people who can tell what happened, from their first person experience.

Another review had stated that the way it was written was very uninformative. This is correct, to some extent, as that reviewer wasn't Armenian. As an Armenian myself, I can relate to a lot of the things written in this story.

To wrap up my review, I think that everyone should read this book. It is about "The Genocide the world has chosen to ignore", as stated on the back cover. It is an important part of the world's history, and it is important that it is not lost.

Rating:
Summary: Turkey pressurizing? (2)
Review: I'd like to add to my last review that I'm neither pro-Turkish nor anti-Armenian. I have merely read more books about the Genocide and Armenian history and therefore know that there is quite some information missing in Black Dog of Fate. That's all I was saying. I personally appreciate and admire Armenians, but when it comes down to facts, Balakian obviously has done only so much research. A lot of the things Balakian discusses are true; it's the details that are incorrect, or at least according to other literature I've read about the Genocide. This book comes closer to fiction than reality: again, don't misunderstand: I've read enough documents to believe and know that the Genocide occured and that indeed it should get more attention than it is getting now, but let's not mix fact with fiction. All I'm saying is that there are more accurate books out there, and you'd be shocked to find that the Western Powers in those days supported and until now have helped the Turks deny their deeds. Close to 80% of European and American documents in 1915 were destroyed, but the remaining 20% is the proof that the Genocide as well as the destruction of documents indeed took place. What I'm saying is don't just blame the Turks and the Kurds: there were more nations involved during the Genocide and after.