Customer Reviews

Names of the Dead: An Elegy for the Victims of September 11

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I too believe Mrs Fairben has misinterpretted the meaning of the descriptive following her sons name. The descriptives in this book were not directly related to the names listed. They were random listings of statistical facts about ALL the people who were lost 9/11/01, some were stories of what the people may have done on the 10th of september, there were a few interesting paragraphs describing what kinds of tatoos people had, or what kinds of cloths they were wearing. This book was so moving. I can't explain how intense and well thought out it was. The amount of information she used in the book is so vast. She just helps you to know more about the people who were lost. I am sorry Mrs Fairben feels that way, because the book is something to treasure and a way for those of us who did not know the people who were lost to feel closer to those who were. This was well worth the money and truly one of the best books I have read in a long time.

I think the negative review on this site may have missed (in an honest mistake) the rationale behind how this book is organized.

Names of the Dead lists, in alphabetical order, every single name of those who died on the morning of September 11th, 2001. Interspersed at random between the names are statistics from the various Ground Zeroes (New York, Washington, D.C., the field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania) and small anecdotes that don't necessarily relate directly to the specific names where they are listed.

Names of the Dead is a profoundly moving tribute to the lives that were ended so rapidly that morning. It "re-humanizes" what has become an almost symbolic event for our world. Ms. Schoemperlen has created a truly unique work of art and paid magnificent tribute to the innocent dead from that morning.

I was highly disappointed in this book. I wish she would have not used any fiction at all in writing it. Also I wish she would have listed the snippets of information by the names of the people they belonged to. I'd love to know who left the TV on CNN to keep her cat company, etc. I got more information on the victims, plus pictures of most, with Portraits of Grief put out by the New York Times. There may be more names in here (I haven't cross referenced them yet) but it's the individual comments about each individual that makes for a more appealing book in memorializing the dead. I would never have bought this book had I looked at it more thoroughly in a book store.

Picking up this book in a bargain bookstore is something I ordinarily would not do becauseI,ost my son on 9/11 and don't ever look at those books. When I looked at the first few pages, they seemed thoughtful, interspersed with lines of poetry and descriptions of individual personalities. However, when I got to the page where my son was listed, I almost felldown. He was listed with 3 or 4 other names, alkl women. Under that was the sub title, Physical Descriptions. After that followed what could be called a medical examiner's review of the people as they were found at recovery. It was digusting- not only inappropriate, but in the case of my son, totally wrong. I am so upset, that I am seeking legal counsel.

Not what I was expecting, but it would be a wonderful memorial for those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.