Friday, February 01, 2019

Six Degrees of Separation: From The Fight Club to Exit Strategy


Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best in which our lovely host chooses a book and participants take it from there: creating a chain of books, each connected to the one before. Seeing where we end up is half the fun! 


This month’s lead in book is Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. I have seen mention of the movie so often that I am not sure if I am just remembering clips from trailers or if I have actually seen the movie myself. My husband says I have, and so I will take his word for it. 


Regardless, I know I have never read the book. That is partly because I read Chuck Palahniuk's Diary in which a wife tries to figure out the meaning behind the hidden messages her comatose husband has left for her. While I wanted to like it and could appreciate Palahniuk’s writing, I was left disappointed in the book itself.


Perhaps one of the most famous books published in diary form is The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank. I read her book as a child and connected with Anne, the young Jewish girl hiding in the attic during the Holocaust, just as many other girls have over the years.


And that brings to mind Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo, which is comprised of journal entries written by the author, Zlata Filipović, during the war in Sarajevo. It offers a glimpse of the horrors of war, the fears of a child and her family, as well as a thread of hope.


Steven Galloway's The Cellist of Sarajevo is a fictional account of the war in Sarajevo during the 1990's. Of all the story lines in Galloway's novel (the lonely baker, the father out to provide for his family, the sniper, and the cellist), I was most drawn to that of Arrow, the young female sniper, a former university student, once with dreams and hopes of her own--for whom killing is now second nature.


Arrow's character brings to mind that of Tat'yana, a poet and academic, turned soldier who became one of the top Soviet snipers during World War II in Beautiful Assassin by Michael C.White. While women soldiers were not new to the Soviet Union during that time period, their path was still difficult. Many men still did not believe women had a place on the battlefield, and Tat'yana had to prove herself time and time again.


It isn't always easy being one of the few women in a traditionally male role, as Nadia Stafford can attest to. Like Tat'yana and Arrow, she has quite the kill list. Nadia is a contract killer who readers are introduced to in Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong. Nadia is a killer with a conscience, but not one you would want to cross.

This week's chain was much more straight forward for me than previous ones I have taken part in. With the exception of Fight Club, I have read all of these titles. I cannot wait to see the direction others go with their Six Degrees of Separation!

Have you read any of these titles? What sort of chain do you think you would put together?


Next month (March 2, 2019), the starting book will be The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper. I hope you will play along!

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16 comments:

  1. Very nice, Wendy! I think the only one of these I've read is the Anne Frank book. I was pleased that I had read 4 of my 7. I enjoy doing this - it's fun to just let the mind roam go where it will.

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    1. Kay - Thank you! It is fun to see where we end up with these chains. Sometimes I think I spend too much time figuring out which direction I want to go though. Haha.

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  2. What a fun meme! I haven't read any of those except the Anne Frank diary.

    Off topic about the Holocaust... my son is staying with us for awhile and I let him choose a movie for us to watch occasionally. We wound up watching Schindler's List, and I was so absorbed that we watched the whole 3 1/2 hr. film in one sitting and through dinner. I think it's on Netflix or Prime right now. It was one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen and highly recommend it.

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    1. Rita - I saw Schindler's List years ago in the theater when it first came out, and it has stayed with me like no other Holocaust movie. It's not one I have been tempted to re-watch though, even as good as it is. As you said, it is quite powerful and worth seeing at least once.

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  3. Thank you for reminding me about Zlata's Diary, which I read some years ago, and mentioning The Cellist of Sarajevo, which I've been meaning to read. What different chains you and I created this month!

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    1. Melinda - Zlata's Diary was good, wasn't it? I hope you enjoy The Cellist of Sarajevo. I was quite moved by it.

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  4. Anne Frank's diary is still so amazing to read - and I like both of your books about Sarajevo!

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    1. Marina Sofia - Anne Frank's diary is a must read, I think. I think it is amazing still too.

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  5. Nice chain! The only one I've read is The Diary of Anne Frank. I agree it is a must-read.

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    1. Lark - Thank you! I hope my daughter will one day read her Diary. When she's older, of course.

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  6. Great way of linking the novels. I laughed when you said you didn't remember if you had seen the movie Fight Club or not but your husband says you did. Happens to me too sometimes! I loved The Diary of Anne Frank when I read it, I think when I turned around 12 or 13. That is probably one book I would love to read again one day.

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    1. Iliana - Thank you! My husband thinks it is funny because I usually have the better memory. But it depends on what it is. . . I think that's about when I read Anne Frank's diary too for the first time. Thank you for visiting!

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