Forgotten Fire
by Adam Bagdasarian
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Book Summary Information
Author: Adam BagdasarianEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-04-09
ISBN: 0440229170
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780440229179
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Forgotten Fire
Book Review: "We must be very strong now."
Summary: 5 Stars
Oskina Kenderian speaks to her younger brother those words as they realize that their seemingly secure world will never be the same again. Their father was summoned from his home at night and is rumored to have been shot by Turkish gendarmes. Some of their servants are missing...
I think this book is a good one to start with if you know nothing about the genocide of Armenians and others in 1915. The story is told from a young boy's perspective, that of Adam Bagdasarian's great-uncle Vahan Kenderian, who, along with his sister Oskina, were the only survivors out of their large family. The book is simply and beautifully written, easily read in a day. The only historical details are found in a two page foreword of the book. The bulk of the story is Vahan's ordeal which began as a 12 year old orphan and ends three years later at the war's end in 1918 when he has finally found refuge at an orphanage run by Armenians in Constantinople. I already know quite a bit about the plight of the Armenians from other books and movies and from Armenians themselves. What this book offers that others don't is that it reveals the psychological impact on Vahan of seeing his loved ones, one by one, killed violently right before his eyes, and yet you wonder why this sweet christian boy doesn't lose it altogether. You wonder why, having seen such cruelty, that he doesn't become as cruel as they. He remembers his father's words to him when times were tough, "This is how steel is made." So he keeps on going and has many adventures, scares, tragedies along the way.
Yes, this book does not explain why the Armenians would be hated so much. Did they do something deserving their punishment, you may ask? I think that one has to understand the culture in which they were living at that time, and understand that, as christians by faith, ironically, by others, then and now, they're considered infidels and blasphemers. All I can say is that the Armenians I came to know, I've admired them for their quiet faith and their intense devotion to G-d which is so evident in their very, sweet natures. My explanation for their suffering, though partly explained by where Armenia is located geographically, is that there is an unseen, spiritual dimension to it based on what we've been taught by Christ and his disciples. His disciple Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12 that 'we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.' With so many people, so many factions, vying for others' loyalties today, as a person of the christian faith, it is imperative that one does 'not participate in evil deeds of darkness'. And King Solomon writes in his proverbs 'They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them'. Vahan's father was a lawyer, was one of the first in his town to disappear. These Armenians are contenders with and nonparticipants in the evil deeds they witnessed. Adam Bagdasarian heard a recording of his great-uncle who told of his experience. Possibly he had a key to Vahan's diary and edited his story somewhat. Yes, the story cannot be categorized as heart-warming, yet, from all I've read about Armenians, I'm always impressed by their families, how loving, sincere, and kind they are; that's a rarity these days.
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