FPP-Chapter 3 "Get Dressed and Come With Us"

The more I read of Four Perfect Pebbles the more I grow to love it.  I think that this is a remarkable story.  Chapter 3 is laden with so much imagery and even though the nature of the story is terrifying and horrible, the way that it is written makes it somehow poetic and beautiful. 

I received my undergrad degree in history and for some obscure reason I am absolutely fascinated with the holocaust and even more so with the labor camps of the Soviet Union.  In my thesis work I did a tremendous amount of research and exploration on the Gulags in the Soviet Union.  In Keene's book she talks about being engaged and excited about developing your own intellect.  For me, studying about Stalin and the Gulags is where I really get excited to learn.  While reading this story I see many similarities between what I have learned about the Soviet Union and the dialogue that is taking place in FPP.  So needless to say this book is very engaging for me.

As I mentioned previously, I love the imagery in this story.  The particular part that I find to be really poetic is the passage describing Kristallnacht on page 29 and 30.  The passage reads,

                                       In Germany alone, some eight thousand Jewish owned shops

                                       had had their windows smashed and their contents looted.  Two

                                       hundred synagogues has been destroyed, their Torah scrolls and

                                      holy books burned.  Unoccupied Jewish houses and apartments had 

                                       been entered by force.  Furniture and even pianos were heaved from

                                       balconies into the streets below.  Possession of every sort crackled in

                                       the bonfires that leaped up on numerous street corners.  But it was

                                       the vast amount of shattered glass that gave the infamous night of

                                       November 9-10 the name Kristallnact, Night of Broken Glass.

There is just something about this passage that I love.  Even in the midst of this tragic event the author finds beauty and peace.  The description is very poetic and vivid.  As I read it over and over again I am able to get a clear vision of this scene.