Vergeen: A Survivor of the Armenian Genocide [Paperback]

Mae M. Derdarian (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: Atmus Press Publications (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888156023
• ISBN-13: 978-1888156027
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,013,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > History > Asia > Armenia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book You Could Ever Purchase, June 16, 2005

By 

Alfred G. Mueller II (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vergeen: A Survivor of the Armenian Genocide (Paperback)

Both my wife and I use Mae Derdarian's book in our college courses, she in her course on Women's Studies, and myself in a course on the Genocide. I am a published author and have published analyses of the genocide in professional academic journals. My wife and I are in personal contact with Derdarian and only can praise the book and its impact on our students.

Derdarian tells the story of her mother's friend, Vergeen, who survived rape, starvation, and mutilation at the hands of the Young Turk regime in the last years of the Ottoman Empire. Vergeen entrusted Derdarian with her autobiography, which Derdarian edited into this book. It is a moving portrayal of life and death, with no punches pulled.

Usually it is difficult to engage students in a thoughtful, critical discussion of a trade book in a college course. This book was clearly the exception to the rule. Students who were normally reticient in class spoke openly about the examples of torture and murder that are entwined in Vergeen's life. One student was so moved that he started his own correspondence with Derdarian. All of the students in our classes have told us, "Once I picked the book up, I could not put it down," and "This book is a testament to the human spirit." It is that powerfully written.

There are many people on these boards who decry any story of the Armenian Genocide, calling it "fake" or "a piece of Armenian propaganda" and publishing the same canned responses over and over. I am not Armenian by birth or by blood. I am trained in history and historical research as well as in communication and persuasion. I have done my own research into the genocide. And I can assert from an outsider's perspective that this book accurately tells the tale. It is not easy to read what happened. But by no means should you let apologists for the Republic of Turkey scare you away from making the best purchase of your life in buying this book for your own collection.

Read it. Be horrified by it. Tell friends and neighbors about it, as my students did. And never, never forget the lessons it teaches.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick Read But Not An Easy Subject, May 31, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Vergeen: A Survivor of the Armenian Genocide (Paperback)

I use this book in a HS class I teach on Genocide and Human Behavior. Even though it is taught during the dreaded "senior spring," once the kids start reading this book, they can not put it down (That should be enough of a testment to read the book). I actually only assign a portion of the text but most of the kids end up finishing the story on their own. Vergeen's story of the Armenian Genocide works for we see the horrors of the "Young Turks" regime through the eyes of a teenager. That being said, it is just as powerful a story for adults. I know there are more famous titles on this subject out there but none more powerful...

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Denial of Genocide Infuriating, December 7, 2002

By 

"vanillacola" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vergeen: A Survivor of the Armenian Genocide (Paperback)

The ignorance of people who chose to deny that the Armenians suffered what can only be called a genocide is most infuriating. Over a million Armenians were killed (out of a pre-war population of 3 million) and the fact that the Turkish government, blatantly contradicting their own court documents from the trials of the Young Turks, try to claim that the Armenians were merely being punished for rebellious activities is ludicrous. My great grandmother's 12 year old sister was killed, you mean to say that she was some kind of rebel? Armenians, women and children included, were led on death marches and suffered mass drownings. Is this how a country combats rebels? Blaming the Armenians for what happened in 1915 is like blaming a rape victim for the crime committed against them. Don't allow the ignorance of a few people, or even entire countries, to deter you from reading this book. Great literature like this will hopefully influence our government and our people, so that one day the deaths of the Armenians will be acknowledged, and the dead can be vindicated.