Customer Reviews

Forgotten Fire

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am not going to waste anyone's time here and re-summarize the book. What I will say is this.

I am a 10th grade teacher and I assigned this book for the first time this year to my 10th grade World History students. The student reaction to this book was unbelievable.

Repeat: I forced students to read a book for a class and they loved it.

Actually it was quite unbelievable, both before, during, and after class the students were discussing, and arguing with each other over the book.

I even caught kids reading the book in the lunchroom and cafeteria, and study hall!

As a teacher my only criticism of the book is that it does not really explain why the Turks targeted the Armenians. To me that was the one thing this book needed but did not really have.

But the best way to sum up how thought provoking and good this book is is a quote from a 70-80 student who told me

"I normally do not like to read, but I loved this book."

A forgotten piece of history that needs to be read, and students will actually like!

I once read where the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Carol Shields said that a great novel should follow the characters' search for a metaphoric home. Forgotten Fire does that, both literally and metaphorically, and the result is a masterpiece of a novel.

The novel's protagonist is Vahan. At the beginning of the novel, he is one of the sons of a very rich and influencial Armenian lawyer. He is twelve. The family's life is certainly one of luxury and security. Then, the Armenian Holocaust begins, though. Vahan sees brothers murdered, his grandmother shot, and his sister's suicide among other almost unspeakable atrocities. Eventually, Vahan is forced to try to run, and that results in his three year struggle to survive alone in a country torn by war and the hatred of his race.

There are so many things that make this novel great. First, the characterizations are wonderful as you see Vahan forced to grow into a man. It is also inspiring to see a person like Vahan moving ahead in life in such horrible conditions. The writing is so good; the prose flows smoothly yet the narrative is unflinching and unsentimental. The novel also has the ability to blow you away with one beautiful piece of insight or one loving human relationship amongst the chaos. This is one of the most powerful reads I've had, and I'm sure that Forgotten Fire will never be forgotten. It will survive to remind the world of the plight of the Armenian people.

`Who does now remember the Armenians,' said Adolph Hitler in 1939 in reference to the impending Jewish mass murder. Certainly The Fuhrer hit the nail on the head. Where is the history channel episode on the Armenian genocide? Aside from Ararat, where are the great Hollywood films on the subject? And, at a profoundly deeper level, where, my friends, is the vigorous debate within Turkish society on the genocide . . . even today . . . the silence is deafening. Why such sensitivity about the truth; surely the events happening ninety years ago deserve reflection today.

As a child, one of the first books whose cover intrigued me was The Destruction of European Jewry by Hilberg. I read Night, marveling at Wiesel's poetry. I watched in awe Polanski's masterpiece The Piano and Spielberg's emotional Schindler's List. I saw the tattered number's burned on my cousin's arm, a memento of a concentration camp. The subject of `restorations' to the state of Israel in the 1950's provoked vigorous debate within Israel(and an emotional dissent by a young Begin of the future Likud party). But, the Israeli's accepted; more important, the Germans offered. Many would say this was a shallow restitution for the mass murder of six million, but a debated occurred, official acknowledgment was fact. In the case of the butchering of one and a half million Armenians . . . silence.

It is in this emotionally charged backdrop that Adam Bagdasarian's debut novel The Forgotten Fire occurs. First it is a well told story based on the verbal recounting of a relative's tape recording before his death. Painful to read because of the subject matter, The Forgotten Fire tells about the ability to withstand almost an imaginable degree of suffering.

There are moments of great emotion in the story. The writing, at times, reaches soaring heights. A wonderful example near the end is this excerpt:

`And then the current of the river began to slow; and that night, when we finally got into our beds and lay our heads on our new pillows, it handed us back to time and disappeared beneath us. `

There are many such examples with such emotional power. This is great storytelling; this is a story that needs to be heard.

Bagdasarian's first novel, based on his great uncle's childhood, is one of the best books I've read this year. The story is not only compelling, but the language the author uses is exquisite, as he describes the three years an Armenian boy survived on his own during the holocaust carried out by the Turks. The book opens with the famous 1939 quote from Adolph Hitler: "Who today remembers the Armenians?" After reading Bagdasarians books, we will all remember.

Imagine being 12 years old, the youngest child in a wealthy family, with no concerns beyond plotting mischief. One day, soldiers arrive at your door, ending your carefree existence. Within a week, you are transformed from a lighthearted child into a homeless, starving orphan in constant fear of execution. This is the story of Vahan Kenderian. Author Adam Bagdasarian's novel, based on his great uncle, is a well written look at the horrors of the often forgotten Armenian Genocide. Written in first person, Bagdasarian does a wonderful job of making it seem as though he is the one that went through this terrible tragedy, rather than his great uncle. It is easy reading, with short chapters, and text geared toward the young adult. Don't hesitate to pick this book up just because of the easy reading, anyone would enjoy it. Forgotten Fire is a great book that you won't be able to put down.

This book was great! It tells of a twelve year old boys struggles in Turkey during the Armenian Holucast. This is the best story I have ever read. It is a true story and the book isn't at all what I thought it would be. I thought it would be a story that would show a brave boy thriumphing at the end with his head held high always. But you feel as if you are there with him on his journey to freedom. His feeling are realistic and his story is tragic, but through his many obstacles he learns about life. As for me I never knew that there was an Armenian culture. Mr. Bagdasarian brings back the forgotten for all of uss to remember. Now we all remember. This is a great bookk, and I recommend it to everyone.

This is an excellent novel written by Bagdassarian. My understanding is that this is his first novel. The facts behind the story are ture, but the storyline is fiction. Unbelievable, story. Bagdassarian does an excellent job telling his story of a young boy surviving the Armenian Genocide. The story is riddled with facts about the horrible Turkish government and the persecution of the Armenians.

A quick read but boy was it gut-wrenching. I think this is good to help us understand what young people go through anywhere there is genocide going on. I suspect Vahan has a lot in common with those in Bosnia, Cambodia, Poland and Rwanda.

It has been a long time since a book has brought me to tears. This one did it at the end.

Vahan Kenderian is caught in the Armenian Holocaust. When the book begins, we meet the Kenderians, a large, high class Armenian family of great importance and future. There is Vahan, his brother Sisak, his Uncle Mempreh, his sister Oskina, his other brother Tavel, his sister Armenouhi, his eldest brother Diran, and his mother and father.When Vahan's father is taken by the police, Vahan is not allowed to leave the house for any reason. His uncle is taken to jail, and when he returns, gives all the women poison in case of any troubles. A day after that, Vahan's family is taken to their garden and Tavel and Diran are killed. A week later the remainder of the family is taken to Goryan's Inn, and stuffed in a room with 60 or 70 other bodies. Armenouhi takes the poison and dies. They are taken out of the inn, and are forced to walk to Diarbekir. When the prisoners are allowed to drink, Vahan's grandmother is killed. Vahan's mother forces Sisak and him to escape, and they do. Sisak and Vahan separate while running away from Turkish soldiers. After a week at his best friend Pattoo's house, Vahan finds Sisak with a terrible fever. The next day Sisak dies, and Vahan becomes a beggar along the streets.

I think this is a wonderful book. It amazingly is true, and actually happened to the author's great-uncle. It really hits me that all the pain and suffering is real, that this much death could occur in someone's life. This book really changed what I thought about the past, and the present, how much more I value my family. This novel was really good. The author writes with extreme detail, and shows every feeling that Vahan experiences. "As I grew thinner and my clothes became the color of the streets, I began to hate every Turk I begged from. Even when they smiled, even when they were generous. I hated their faces, the clothes they wore, the money in their pockets, their language and their blood. I hated them for having food to eat and homes to return to. I cried because I hated them-tears of rage and self-pity, tears to annihilate the world, and beg it for a second chance." I recommend this book whole heartedly to anyone who wants a good read that will ask you how much you value everything around you.

Every chapter of Forgotten Fire ended leaving me wanting to read more. Perhaps most intriguing and captivating aspect of book is that it is a true story. The author was inspired to write this book based on the real life experiences of his great uncle in Armenia. It is a story that I think all high schoolers should be required to read, because of its portrayal and personalization of the horrors of war and genocide and true human suffering.
By the end of World War I, 1.5 million Armenians--75% of the Armenian population of Turkey--had been massacred by their government. This is the true story of one of the survivors; it is a story you will never forget.