#Plotting Murder. (Klara Interaction)

[ziegenkind094]

hello i saw on ur twitter that you read alot and do you have some book recommendations? im open for anything

1 The Prince of Milk by Exurb1a = if you're like me and can't read any mr. gaiman books bc his writing style bores you to death then this might be for you. really fun cosmic horror/ scifi book. there's some gore, lots of death and a character who's been battling constant suicidal thoughts with several suicide attempts under her belt, so pls be careful

2 The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly = it's about the dark and twisted nature of fairytales, plays during WW 2 and covers difficult topics like loss and death. There's also some murdering and sick experimentation going on, like sewing a human's head on an animal's body etc.

3 Prosper's Demon by K. J. Parker = quick and fun read with an interesting take on exorcism and demon handling. loved the main character's interactions with the demons and how he solved his problems in the book lol

4 Afterlove by Tanya Byrne = sweet book about girls falling in love and then unapologetically staying in love for the rest of the book. srsly, they're so sweet :')

5 All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman = YA about teenagers killing each other in a blood tournament with an intersting magic system. pretty dark, lots of blood and injuries, actual death and, of course, feelings. funniest straight bait i've seen in a while, promising gay romance (not confirmed yet but it's hinted at and I hope we'll see it come true in the sequel). it's a bit of a pynch situation, just with more murder :)

6 The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern = it was recommended to me as a love letter to literature and it really didn't disappoint. one of my favorite books I've read this year. also gay with lovely characters and a stunning world, but has unfortunately one-dimensional and flat villains. it's literally about being gay and liking books (didn't like the pop culture references at the beginning but thankfully that stops after a few chapters)

7 Bunny by Mona Awad = AHHHHHHHH I LOVED IT SO MUCH. really, really, REALLY fucked up. I srsly don't recommend it if you don't like horror and gore and murder. feral women becoming even more feral, committing some actual atrocities most dark academia books don't dare to mention. the main character is bi. the book even made me tear up at the end bc of how it handles the topic of loneliness and despair

8 If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio = you probably witnessed me losing my mind over this book on twitter when i live-tweeted my reading journey. nothing has changed, i still think about this book daily. it's one of the books i'm gonna draw fanart for once i'm done with all of my exams. i can't put into words how much i love it, it makes up like 60% of my personality by now. oliver and james are the bitches i will still cry about in 30 years. the book has one of my favorite endings of all time tbh

9 The Secret History by Tonna Tartt = We've all read it. It's one of my favorites

10 Piranesi by Susanna Clark = it's one of those books you shouldn't know ANYTHING about when going itt, which makes it hard to recommend bc I refuse to say anything about it. If you like dark academia then maybe give it a try. I loved it a lot. it's weird but has a very special place in my heart. pls don't look up th plot. pls don't. srly

11 Wicker King by Kayla Ancrum = it has a really interestng fantasy concept i wish we would've seen more of. it's about two best friends becoming more and more obsessed with each other while losing themselves in their.... uh.. "game". really felt for them and their desperation to stay together

12 Horseman by Chhristina Henry = a dark retelling of the legend of sleepy hollow with a trans main character who i ADORE and still think about daily. again, lots of death and gruesome, gory scenes. really cool concept. have i mentioned that i love the main character? bc i really love him

13 Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro = if you're interested in scifi that's not a grand and overwhelming space opera than pls give this book a try. it's about AI and the appreciation of life, how do deal with sickness and destiny and loss without losing hope Hope these help a bit. idk why but i prefer reading about unhinged and sad characters in summer. makes me feel good somehow <3 sorry if these are too depressig for you!

[bloodisonourhands]

Just Desserts

"Look. It's simple. Just take this knife and stab this man!" Where she got the picture of her father was a mystery - it didn't matter to Klara. "His name's Mehmun Salton. He's my dad. He's also the guy who murdered me when I was ten years old. Great guy, isn't he?" The knife was resting on a table, as was the picture, and she was floating in front of the person. "Just kill him brutally for me, and I'll find a way to pay you back. Maybe not. Maybe you won't get caught. You can pretend to be insane, but that might not work."

[chromeskullx13]

Mr.Lovato 1st period Book Report: Fatherland by Robert Harris - Jason Aguirre

Personal Narrative

The historical fiction book, Fatherland, by Robert Harris was an interesting take on history creating a universe where what if the Nazis won WW2 and I believe it was a great book and would suggest it to other readers, here is why. The book follows our protagonist, Xavier March, also known as Zavi. who was a u-boat submarine pilot in WW2 for Germany. Now he works for the Kriminalpolizei as a detective who is a high ranking official in the SS. He had a son named Pili and got married with his nurse, Klara but they divorced and now he lives by himself. While investigating the murder of Josef Buhler, a high ranking Nazi. His body was found by the Havel river in Brandenburg. The only witness to it all Hermann Jost didn’t wanna reveal everything, but eventually he revealed everything that he saw. He claims to have seen Odilo Globocnik a high ranking SS member. The gestapo orders the krippo to shut down their investigation of the murders but March presses on. He meets with an American journalist named  Charlotte 'Charlie' Maguire. They work together and while investigating in Zurich they discover the head of the SS, Reinhard Heydrich,who has ordered the deaths of all the members who attended the Wannsee Conference in 1942 ordering the go of The Final Solution which killed all the Jews. The two head for neutral Switzerland to expose the Nazis as they are about to have peace conferences with the US and end the cold war, but this will cripple the Nazi faith and hopefully put an to their regime. Pili reports March to the gestapo which then apprehends him. A he is being tortured for Maguire’s location. The krippo chief stages a rescue hoping to get March to lead them to Maguire, but he figures it out and instead leads the authorities to Auschwitz. After knowing that charlie had enough time to cross the border he finds the remains of Auschwitz and satisfied he pulls out a gun. The book ends with the presumed death of Xavier March, but he succeeded in his goal at the end having Charlie be safe and the news breaking out to the rest of the world.

Timeline

Plot Entry #1: Xavier is reported to investigate the murder of Josef Buhler as his body was found by the Havel river in Brandenburg. After further investigation he learns that a high ranking SS member was the one who murdered Buhler. The gestapo closes the investigation on Buhler’s death, but Xavier decides to press on

Plot Entry #2: Xavier comes across American journalist, Charlotte 'Charlie' Maguire, who accompanies him on his journey after being convinced of the murder plot. They head to Zurich where they discover that the murders were ordered by the head of the SS, Reinhard Heydrich,who has ordered the deaths of all the members who attended the Wannsee Conference in 1942 ordering the go of The Final Solution which killed all the Jews.

Plot Entry #3: Xavier and Charlie are heading out to Switzerland the neutral country not affected by Germany and are going to expose the Germans for the Holocaust as they are about to have a meeting with the US to have a peaceful end to the Cold War between them.

Plot Entry #4: Xavier gets apprehended by the gestapo and is now being tortured for information. The krippo chief stages a rescue on March to try to get him to reveal where Charlie is headed, but he catches on to this and leads them to Auschwitz where he finds evidence of the camp is satisfied as he knows Charlie made it to safety across the border. The book ends with his presumed death and the new information revealed to the public about the Holocaust.

Historical Entry #1: Xavier March was a U-boat submarine pilot for the German Navy in WW2 and he married his nurse, Klara and had a son with her named Pili. They eventually divorced and his son now lives with his ex wife and has joined the Jungvolk Youth training camp.

Historical Entry #2: Hitler is turning 75 in the book’s setting and is scheduled for a meeting with the US President, Joseph P. Kennedy to end on a peaceful end with their Cold War. Germany now controls all of Europe and has authority in every country except Switzerland who has stayed neutral throughout everything. Russia is no more either and all there is left is terrorist organization groups plotting against the Nazis.

Historical Entry #3: The Wannsee Conference in 1942 is a huge deal which kicks off the whole book as that conference decided the the Final Solution executing and murdering millions of Jews. Members are then being assassinated to be silenced and have no record of anything.

Historical Entry #4: Churchill and Princess Elizabeth have fled to Canada where they reside at the time of this book. Japan lost America due to the Atomic Bomb being dropped on them. The year is 1964, other important Nazi officials have died like Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goring, etc.

Journal Entries

Journal Entry #1: I had been called to investigate a murder scene by the Havel river in Brandenburg. The only witness Hermann Jost is telling me he only saw the body, but I know he has more not willing to say just yet, but eventually I’ll get the information out of him. The body has been identified to be Josef Buhler a high ranking member in the Nazi Party. After further investigation and questioning the young 19 year old Jost, he told me he also saw Odilo Globocnik who is the right hand man of SS leader Reinhard Heydrich who took leadership over the SS after Heinrich Himmler’s death in 1962. Recently the gestapo swung over to the department and told us the case is under their control and we don’t have to proceed with anything else. Knowing how odd the gestapo are, I believe they’re trying to cover something up. I need to further investigate this on my own. The people over at the gestapo have never really liked me much as they know i’m not a big supporter of our government. I was disappointed to hear my son had joined the Jungvolk as I would rather have him get involved in other things than join the war machine. I never like donating to the winter relief drive they have going on. They’ve tried inviting me to the Nazi party, but I don’t want to get involved in all this political stuff as i’m happy where I am. I have also always been curious about what happened to the jewish family that lived in my apartment before me.

Quotes/Commentary

1. “So I have a choice: either I am an investigator in that uniform, and try to do a little good; or I am something else without that uniform, and do no good at all.” This quote has significant meaning to it because it’s when Xavier realizes that there is something amidst and he can either do his job to further investigate this conspiracy or just hushed about everything he learned. This is Xavier’s first step into his journey of investigating these assassinations on high ranking officials to cover up the Holocaust and his journey to expose the Nazi regime.

2. “What do you do,’ he said, ‘if you devote your life to discovering criminals, and it gradually occurs to you that the real criminals are the people you work for? What do you do when everyone tells you not to worry, you can’t do anything about it, it was a long time ago?’ She was looking at him in a different way. ‘I suppose you go crazy.’ ‘Or worse. Sane.” This is Xavier talking to Charlie about his plan to act on something about the Holocaust cover up since now he knows it’s by the higher ups which causes him to realize he needs to act on it and is telling Charlie about it. Charlie will then be his main partner and be the one to expose the Germans at the end of the book

3. “You can't build on a mass grave. Human beings are better than that - we have to be better than that - I do believe, don't you?" Charlie now believes everything Xavier was talking about and is determined to help aid him in his journey to expose the Nazis as she doesn’t believe it’s okay to cover up the events of the Holocaust

“4. A permanent state of war on the Eastern front will help to form a sound race of men,’ the Führer had once said, ‘and will prevent us relapsing into the softness of a Europe thrown back upon itself.’ But” This is Xavier explaining how the Nazi regime is operating now that WW2 has ended and to keep it’s citizens on the ready. This is also why Xavier's son, Pili, is in the Jungvolk training camp to turn them into soldiers which Xavier is against him being in.

Discussion Questions

1. Are our lives controlled by fate or free will? In other words, do the choices we make determine our futures, or is our life destined to be what it is? How does this perspective affect the way you interact with the world? Cite specific experiences or influences that have led you to your position.

I believe that our lives are shaped by our own decisions that we make and will shape our lives to what they become. This perspective makes me believe that through our own power we can make decisions that will further better our lives and help create an amazing environment for our younger generations. After WW2 and everything that coincided, we had the choice as people to shape our world and we ended shaping our world into a long time of death and grief, soon though we might be able to reshape it into a better world for the next generations.

2. How do you define success? Do you believe you’ve achieved success? If so, how do you know? If not, what has prevented you?

I define success by whether or not one achieves their goals that they want to reach in life and achieve happiness. I have achieved success as I have let the gestapo and SS away from Charlie and led them astray. I will die happily knowing the one I love will make it out alive and expose the the Nazi Regime for their war crimes, thus liberating the people’s mindsets to act on it and build a better world for the next generations.

3. Who are the most important people in your life? Why are they so meaningful to you?

The most important people in my life are my 10 year old son Pili and the new love of my life Charlie. Pili is my only son and I care for him so much and I only hope for him to live a good life, but I hope he doesn’t forget me after him now living with his mother and stepdad. Charlie means a lot to me because she is an amazing person that has entered my life and has helped me tremendously through this journey of unraveling this cover up by the Nazis. I will make sure nothing happens to her and succeeds in our mission as she is the new love of my life and only wish for the best for her.

4. If you change one thing in your life what would it be? How would this affect the circumstances of your story?

If I could change one thing in my life it would be to have the people not have created a Nazi Germany where now we’re almost back to the way of living as we were in the 1930’s. Then we wouldn’t have had such bad moments in our history and lived peaceful times.

Historical/Secondary Links

1. http://www.secretcitytravel.com/berlin-march-2014/albert-speer-nazi-architect-berlin.shtml

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ecmkIRpfJc&t=31s&has_verified=1

3. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-final-solution

4. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gestapo

5. https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/fatherland/

6. https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/03/books/inventing-a-world-in-which-hitler-won.html

7. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/30/guardian-bookclub-fatherland-robert-harris

8. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-05-bk-2491-story.html

Images

The New Berlin that Albert Speer had wanted to create with Hitler after WW2 that did end up being created in Fatherland

The Wannsee House where the meeting to start the Final Solution was held being a main focus point in Fatherland as they discover evidence of the Holocaust

the Havel River in Brandenberg, Germany where Josef Buhler died which triggered Xavier’s investigation

Auschwitz where the book ends having Xavier discover ruins of the camp now satisfied pulls out a gun, where he has a presumed death 

[bloodisonourhands]

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