I've just finished "all the light we cannot see". It follows two kids, german orphan, and a blind french girl, in parallel, while their lives get derrailed by the war. Somehow they manage to be true to themselves among the mayhem. Starts slow, but picks up speed. I loved It.
@DarkMatterZine@bookstodon Oh, that's interesting! I didn't catch the albino reference, but I have to agree with you in that one. But then, wouldn't you find Werner to also be a victim of Nazism? He was a kid doing a men's work. And he is being traumatized by their actions, don't you think?
@gabriel@bookstodon Ok, it’s complicated but a couple of things. Definitely he’s a collaborator and a victim. But also to have albinism means you ARE VISION IMPAIRED. There is NO alternative. The more severe the albinism, the more vision impaired you are. So he canNOT have perfect eyesight AND albinism.
@gabriel@bookstodon PS very happy to talk to someone open to having a conversation, discussing the text. I am acutely aware that I miss symbolism etc so love learning from and discussing with others. Very happy to challenge ableism in a text too.
@DarkMatterZine@gabriel@bookstodon
This is the most interesting opinion I've heard on this book. It's sitting on my coffee table and I've bypassed it for other books multiple times because before even opening it I feel like I'm supposed to love it because former president Obama read it and put it on a list and so everyone around me (US) considers it beyond reproach. Thank you for sharing that.
@jiujensu@gabriel@bookstodon You’re welcome. I loathe that book SO MUCH. Speaking as a person with albinism that was not as “severe” as the nazi had, but which fked my life due to the vision impairment that is part of it. And O.M.G. that poor blind girl, how her father abused her, and no one taught her how to cook or fend for herself. Somehow she magically knew - saw it while being blind? - how to cook etc when she was abandoned. So much hatred for a bigoted ableist story reenforcing bigotry.
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