ADVERTISEMENT

Recommended

Night

Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night’ – Lines of Remembrance

01/07/2023
11.1k
"Level Up Book Club - 7" by Gwyneth Anne Bronwynne Jones Attribution-ShareAlike License

How To Make Your Next Book Club More Engaging

03/02/2016
11.1k

Categories

  • Articles
  • Authors
  • Banned
  • Bestsellers
  • Book Club
  • Book News
  • Books & Titles
  • Characters
  • Children's Books
  • Controversy
  • Entertainment
  • Fiction
  • Fun
  • Health
  • Holidays and Events
  • Homework Help
  • Libraries
  • Life Lessons
  • Lifestyle
  • Lost Books
  • Quotes
  • Reading
  • Reading Guides
  • Uncategorized
  • War

Don't miss it

Uncategorized

Top 3 New Products That Are Making People’s Lives Easier

02/01/2023
11.1k
Where the Crawdads Sing
Book Club

What We Say About Where the Crawdads Sing

01/08/2023
11.1k
thesis
Homework Help

What is a Thesis?

01/08/2023
11.1k
Hong Kong Central Library
Banned

Banning Democracy Books in Hong Kong Library Shelves

09/28/2022
11.1k
Children's Books

Seraphina – Dare to Dream

12/22/2022
11.1k
April Fool’s Day – High-Tech Hoaxes and Shenanigans
Fun

April Fool’s Day – High-Tech Hoaxes and Shenanigans

01/08/2023
11.1k

About A Book Geek

A Book Geek

We bring you the best news, reviews, and insights on everything related to books, literature, lifestyle, and beyond. Check back for more details.

What’s Happening?

February 2023
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728  
« Jan    
ADVERTISEMENT
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
  • Login
A Book Geek
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • Books
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Books
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
No Result
View All Result
A Book Geek
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Lifestyle Book Club

‘We Are Called To Rise’ – A Story

Esther Lombardi by Esther Lombardi
07/13/2022
in Book Club
1
‘We Are Called To Rise’ – A Story
4k
SHARES
11.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Laura McBride’s book, We Are Called to Rise, places us in the midst of a modern-day war story (Iraq). It’s a journey to discovery, a search for meaning–with none of the fairy-tale frills.

The story stands on its own, but it comes to represent a host of other books. There’s a universality in the depictions of tragedy–spanning around the world in a story that adapts and retells some of the basic stories of our time.

You might also like

What We Say About Where the Crawdads Sing

The Voice of the Tiger’s Wife

Life-Changing Book Club for the Homeless

Along the way, the novel gets under your skin. As Atticus (in To Kill a Mockingbird) tells Scout: 

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

For me, We Are Called to Rise brought back memories of other readings: Pat Barker’s Regeneration (so full of the horrors of war), Willa Cather’s My Antonia (an immigrant family trying to survive under harsh circumstances), Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony (with Tayo’s search for meaning and healing), and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. 

I thought about everything and nothing…

What is the book about: We Are Called to Rise?

It’s about hate, fear, loneliness, despair and madness. It’s about everything that’s wrong with this world, with moments of the most gut-wrenching hate and loathing. But, infused in the lines, we also find brief glimmers of hope. There’s survival, care, and a search for meaning.

They’re all lost and broken; but you’ll also find serendipitous moments. As life goes on, we’re given brief flashes of epiphany.

Reality Bites…

It’s an over-simplification to say that the novel bombards us with heart-breaking pieces of human experience.

McBride tells us:

“I set out with the very clear intention to write a book that might make a reader have a big feeling, the sense that no matter how cruel or unfair life might be in a given moment, no matter how terrible the consequences of a tiny mistake might be, it was ultimately beautiful to be alive. I didn’t set out to write a book about war or poverty or racism. I just wanted the reader to love a child enough to feel devastated when that child’s heart was broken and euphoric when that child got a chance at hope. I wanted the reader to walk away believing that, with all our faults, human beings are worth saving.”

With reality (life) the way it so often is… those kids never had a chance. None of them did. The adults started out that way, and the kids find themselves in a world that seems to point them in the same tragic directions. And, to what end?

What do they have to look forward to: broken soldiers, divorce, abuse, and devastating (deadly) hate?

What Future, This?

There is no American Dream, except perhaps in some fractional-fictitious sense. Everyone dreams–they can’t help but do that. Then, when the dreams become nothing more than fanciful thinking, each of them must still move forward.

Survival is a choice for most in this book, although… yes, life is taken away from some–too soon. But, the rest of them (the ones that survive) work through the bad days, let themselves feel a little, and find that (somehow) life goes on.

Isn’t that what we all must do? Make a life (out of whatever misfortunes)–one day at a time, moment-by-moment…

Pub Date: Jun 3, 2014

It Ends with Us: A Novel
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Mexico: A Novel
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Board Book)
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Demon Copperhead: A Novel
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
The Bookstore Sisters: A Short Story
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Wild, Beautiful, and Free: A Novel
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
I Love You Like No Otter: A Funny and Sweet Valentine's Day Board Book for Babies and Toddlers (Punderland)
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Reminders of Him: A Novel
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
The House at the End of the World
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Goodnight Moon
(as of 02/06/2023 15:59 GMT -07:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Formerly, Amazon Auto Links. The plugin generates links of Amazon products just coming out today. You just pick categories and they appear even in JavaScript disabled browsers.
Esther Lombardi

Esther Lombardi

Related Posts

Where the Crawdads Sing
Book Club

What We Say About Where the Crawdads Sing

by Esther Lombardi
01/08/2023
11.1k
The Voice of the Tiger’s Wife
Book Club

The Voice of the Tiger’s Wife

by Esther Lombardi
01/08/2023
11.1k
Life-Changing Book Club for the Homeless
Book Club

Life-Changing Book Club for the Homeless

by Esther Lombardi
09/28/2022
11.1k
Book Club

Learning to Breath – ‘The Salt God’s Daughter’

by Esther Lombardi
07/13/2022
11.1k
ebook
Business

Where To Get And Read Ebooks

by Esther Lombardi
10/30/2022
11.1k
ADVERTISEMENT

Recommended

Night

Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night’ – Lines of Remembrance

01/07/2023
11.1k
"Level Up Book Club - 7" by Gwyneth Anne Bronwynne Jones Attribution-ShareAlike License

How To Make Your Next Book Club More Engaging

03/02/2016
11.1k

Categories

  • Articles
  • Authors
  • Banned
  • Bestsellers
  • Book Club
  • Book News
  • Books & Titles
  • Characters
  • Children's Books
  • Controversy
  • Entertainment
  • Fiction
  • Fun
  • Health
  • Holidays and Events
  • Homework Help
  • Libraries
  • Life Lessons
  • Lifestyle
  • Lost Books
  • Quotes
  • Reading
  • Reading Guides
  • Uncategorized
  • War

Don't miss it

Uncategorized

Top 3 New Products That Are Making People’s Lives Easier

02/01/2023
11.1k
Where the Crawdads Sing
Book Club

What We Say About Where the Crawdads Sing

01/08/2023
11.1k
thesis
Homework Help

What is a Thesis?

01/08/2023
11.1k
Hong Kong Central Library
Banned

Banning Democracy Books in Hong Kong Library Shelves

09/28/2022
11.1k
Children's Books

Seraphina – Dare to Dream

12/22/2022
11.1k
April Fool’s Day – High-Tech Hoaxes and Shenanigans
Fun

April Fool’s Day – High-Tech Hoaxes and Shenanigans

01/08/2023
11.1k
ADVERTISEMENT

About A Book Geek

A Book Geek

We bring you the best news, reviews, and insights on everything related to books, literature, lifestyle, and beyond. Check back for more details.

What’s Happening?

February 2023
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728  
« Jan    
  • All
  • Life Lessons
  • Book News
Uncategorized

Top 3 New Products That Are Making People’s Lives Easier

by Esther Lombardi
02/01/2023
0
11.1k

What You Should Know With the new year still newly upon us, you’re probably still looking for new products that...

Read more
Where the Crawdads Sing

What We Say About Where the Crawdads Sing

01/08/2023
11.1k
thesis

What is a Thesis?

01/08/2023
11.1k
Hong Kong Central Library

Banning Democracy Books in Hong Kong Library Shelves

09/28/2022
11.1k

Seraphina – Dare to Dream

12/22/2022
11.1k
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Atticus and Tom Robinson in court

What Does Atticus Say? – 7 ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Quotes

06/06/2018
Catcher in the Rye

Why Is ‘The Catcher In The Rye’ Important? 7 Ways

03/31/2017
Evernote

Top 4 Tools to Track Characters

07/13/2022
Agatha Christie Mania – 10 Reasons She’s Famous

Agatha Christie Mania – 10 Reasons She’s Famous

01/14/2016
Practicing Gratitude #Quotes

Practicing Gratitude #Quotes

39
The Secret Garden of Writing

‘The Secret Garden’ of Writing

29
Little House - Laura Ingalls Wilder

‘Little House’ – Writing the Story of Our Lives

23
Fall Musings

Fall Findings & Autumn Musings #LifeLessons #Quotes

18

Top 3 New Products That Are Making People’s Lives Easier

02/01/2023
Where the Crawdads Sing

What We Say About Where the Crawdads Sing

01/08/2023
thesis

What is a Thesis?

01/08/2023
Hong Kong Central Library

Banning Democracy Books in Hong Kong Library Shelves

09/28/2022

Top 3 New Products That Are Making People’s Lives Easier

02/01/2023
Where the Crawdads Sing

What We Say About Where the Crawdads Sing

01/08/2023
thesis

What is a Thesis?

01/08/2023

© 2022 A Book Geek

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Contact Us

© 2022 A Book Geek

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In