Armenian-American Books

What a great read. I am so happy I tumbled onto author Jane Haddam. This is my second of her Gregor Demarkian novels and I am now going to go back to book one and read them in order.

What could be more intriguing? Bennis is invited to the 100th birthday of silver screen great, Tasheba Kent, who lives on a small secluded island off the coast of Maine with another silver screen legend, Cavender Marsh, a cousin of Bennis'. And, of course, when Bennis goes, Gregor goes along . . .

It seems Cavender was once married to Tasheba's sister (another screen legend from the 30s), and after her questionable death moved to the Maine island and isolation with Tasheba. The birthday party guests are a different lot (and include Cavender's estranged daughter from his marriage to Tasheba's sister)and once they are all on the island strange things start happening, starting with the first murder.

Who done it? A reviewer should never tell. In the case of this book, I was glad it was who it was--and I had a great time getting there.

The other reviewers have described the plot for this mystery novel with skill. My review consists only of comments to assist new Jane Haddam fans.

Do I think this novel is worth buying? No. Worth reading? Only for die-hard fans.

If you feel you must read all of her novels, check this one out of the public library. I feel it is her weakest effort. Except for Gregor & Bennis (who are the only decent parts of the novel), the characters are all shallow and two dimensional. The murderer is obvious & more of a caricature than a character. Gregor gets quite testy with the games that his fellow inhabitants of the island are playing -- who could blame him? Not me. They are a shrill and unappealing group.

Of all her titles that I have read, I like this one the least. My apologies to the author for this review! I generally like her work tremendously & have started buying her more recent work in hardback.

Tasheba Kent has decided to celebrate her 100th. birthday by inviting people to her home for an auction of her memorabilia. She invites a diverse group which includes her lawyer, her accountant, a reporter, her daughter, and a collector of movie souvenirs. The auction seems strange because Tasheba and her husband Cavender have been recluses on a remote island off the coast of Maine for many years. Among the guests are writer Bennis Hannaford and her friend Gregor Demarkian, an ex-F.B.I. agent. The presence of Demarkian seems to make some of the guests nervous, and some of them appear to have secrets to hide. There is a severe storm which traps the guests on the island and soon dead bodies begin to appear. As in Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", the people on the island begin to fear one another. Demarkian, however, has the solution to the murders all figured out, and eventually he shares his findings with the guests. Haddam is a good writer, and she creates interesting characters in a foreboding setting. There are a few points of the plot which don't make much sense, but all in all, this is a a good read.

I loved Zabelle...one of the few books that I cried like a baby after reading, but this latest one left me with a feeling that it was not complete. If you liked Zabelle and have an interest in the Armenian genocide then please do yourself a big favor and read "Rise the Euphrates" as beautiful and painful book as Zabelle.

After Zabelle, I was dying to read Dreams of Bread and Fire and while at first I was a little unsure about the Paris episodes and the love affair, I was very excited by the second half of the book.
The main character, Ani, is an interesting character who seems to come alive halfway into the book. The New York episodes are particularly riveting.
The only shocking aspect (and I don't mean scary) is the ending, I hope there is a sequel because at the end it feels like the real Ani is coming of age.
The book is a good read with well-crafted prose. Kricorian finds some interesting angles, though the Paris episodes make me thankful my college years are far behind me becauase they were a little pretentious.

After coming across an interview with the author in the webzine, ..., I was sufficiently intrigued to pick up her book, Dreams of Bread and Fire. I could not put it down until I had completed it. At certain points, I grinned or even felt tears come to my eyes in recognition of some of the themes that Ms Kricorian deftly weaves into a compelling narrative--not necessarily the themes that relate specifically to Armenian history, but the universal ones of self-realization and identity, how they relate to relationships and the search for love, the need to belong and the choices inherent in one's background and "Old World" heritage.

Ms. Kricorian gives enough details to form carefully observed and vivid depictions of characters without a single wrong note; this allows for a very credible and engaging portrayal of the main character's relationships that are formed and transformed over the course of the book. Some of my favorite moments occur between the main character, Ani, and her comic-tragic grandmother (an short glossary is provided at the back of the book for added enjoyment of her colorful exclamations) and also between Ani and Sydney, the little American girl she is a nanny to in Paris. And especially when it comes to Ani's experiences with men, Ms. Kricorian accomplishes the difficult task of portraying encounters between people of differing class sensibilities and differing views of nationality and gender relations without being didactic or (a worse offense) resorting to cartoonish stereotypes. You can understand the choices that Ani makes even if you don't agree with them.

One does not need to be Armenian or even half Armenian (as the main character is) to appreciate this book--but anyone who has ever been confronted with issues of class, an "Old World" background (and implied obligations) and/or compensation for a non traditional upbringing--all the while navigating what it means to be "in love"--will find a lot to relate to in this slender but thought provoking book.

I am a Georgian living in the US and I am quite offended by the ignorance of Georgian history portrayed by the reader from Germany. Georgian peoples have existed in the South Caucasus for millenia. Archeological findings have shown that Kartvelian, Svan, and Mingrelian tribes, who are Georgian peoples (Kartvelian =

After the invention of a national script, c.400 AD, Armenians rapidly developed their own literary forms, drawing on foreign texts as well as their own traditions. Historical writing is the most original genre in classical and medieval Armenian literature. Greek works (including the Chronicle of Eusebius, now lost in Greek but preserved in Armenian) constituted the major part of translated histories. But in the thirteenth century the extensice Chronicle of the Syrian Patriarch Michael and the first part of the Georgian chronicles were adapted for an Armenian readership. The collection known as the 'Georgian Chronicles' was finally codified in the eighteenth century and represents only a small part of Georgian historical writing. The thirteenth century Armenian version is in fact the earliest attestation of this growing corpus of texts, predating all extant Georgian manuscripts of it. This book presents the two texts, Georgian and Armenian, in English translation for the first time. The Introduction and Commentary draw attention to the ways in which the unknown Armenian translator changed his original material in a pro-Armenian fashion. His rendering became the standard source for early Georgian history used by later Armenian historians. The book includes a useful overview of the background to the chronicles, the history and culture of Christian Georgia and Armenia, and their respective languages and literature.

(i could not give a ZERO star since the system did not allow it)
WOW, incredible,

yes it IS a rewrite of history... I am German and in our schools we read many history books, and none of them have claimed the Georgians to have existed before the armenians, it was the opposite, considering the fact that the #1 comes before #2, logic implies that Ur/Armenos/Hayasa, as this is what they were called in the BC timespan existed and the Georgians didnt, the Armenians had a language, but the Georgians didnt even exist yet. as it is writen by not only Greek and Roman historians but of Original Arabic decent historians from that time period, whose books were not burned and distroyed, they were preserved in their countries.

The Armenian language has been studied by anthropoligists, historians, lingists, and other academic scholars from Germany, England, America, and so on... however the Georgian language is one that they adapted FROM the Armenians...

This book would be in the same category to a book about how Hitler was actually attacked by the Jews and not the opposite... does that make sence? no it does not... therefore this book is untrue, it is a falsity, and it is a discrace that someone took the time to attempt to discredit the entire world...

Please read books by French historians, American anthropoligists, and German Linguists, from all of the different views you will only come up with one conclusion, they all state that the Armenians and their language are one of the oldest and purest languages and culture (unmixed and unadapted from others)

Please dont be swayed by some minority of people's who attempt on a daily basis to distort the history of the entire European and American countries.

I say to the person who wrote this book, how about try your attempts on the Greeks. say that the Greeks adapted your language? wait you cannot since they lived much before you did, but that is the same case with the Armenians, they lived much before you did. The Armenians and the Greeks lived as rulers in the same time period.

Danka

Balakian is incredible. He speaks the truth. His audience loves him, both Armenians and non-Armenians alike are astonished by his style and charm. Truly an incredible man.

Elegant, spare, sensitive, bold.
A poet who takes care.
A stunning read.

It's a pity that the other online review is less than useful, sour grapes, and highly personal. Don't let it (or anything) steer you away from this fine writer and his stately words.

Balakian was a professor of mine, and this work stands firm as a clear representation of his pretentiousness.

A movie is being filmed on a small island near Cape Cod. The cast of characters consists of a couple of twits and the typical movie types. The island is the usual closed society consisting of year-round and summer residents, and a one-man police department with little experience. When a murder occurs, perhaps for the first time in anyone's memory, Gregor Demarkian is brought in as a consultant.

As the plot moves slowly along, there is little for the reader to grasp in this long, prolix story. It is full of wordy expositions, philosophy, and the antics of two female actors exhibiting their drinking habits and whatever else they can, and the plotting of a rich heiress who goads them on. Much is made of their showing off for a horde of photographers and the term "high school" is used throughout to describe a multitude of ills as well as the world in general, especially the celebrity culture extant.

This is the first book in the series which this reviewer has read (there were 21 previous entries) and based on this one, there does not seem to be any compelling reason to go back and read others. The characters in this novel are wooden, and Gregor seems to be a parody on Sherlock Holmes, arriving at the scene and immediately espousing his belief that he knows all, without any investigation. The book is written with a heavy hand and, to this reader at least, is ponderous. But there must be a lot of fans of Gregor Demarkian out there for 22 books to have been written about him, and presumably a 23rd is in the offing describing his forthcoming wedding endlessly previewed throughout this effort.

Having read every Gregor Demarkian mystery, I was anxioiusly awaiting the latest installment, Cheating at Solitaire. Previous volumes were devoured like a box of gourmet chocolates, often in one long weekend orgy of indulgence. The author seems to favor the isolation of snowstorms and ice bound landscapes to keep her characters locked in place, and Cheating at Solitaire dares to bring her favorite clime to a New England island not usually associated with drastic winter weather. The setting and main characters were the first disappointment of many, unfortunately.

Perhaps it is because I live in New England, home to the real Martha's Vineyard that I took offense at the amateurish disguise of the island and its main town. The weak attempt at renaming the places was not worthy of a talented and seasoned author. The population of post-pubescent non-talents was a cheap take off on current headlines worthy of only tabloid journalism. The supporting cast, unmemorable. Their constant inner musings were boring, pointless and did little or nothing to move the plot forward. The "perfect" former science fiction series hero and the reclusive author have no chemistry and it is a mystery itself as to why they were given so great a share of the book.

The only reason I plodded through this seemingly knock-off of previous Demarkian installments was to find out how the relationship between Gregor and Bennis was playing out. That, too, was a disappointment. The only revealing feature was that I now have insight into each of their ages. (I always suspected that Gregor was younger in actual years than he is in spirit and self-appraisal.)

I felt betrayed by the poor quality of Ms. Haddam's plot and writing after all these years. Could it be that, like others with a long character-driven series, she has abandoned the effort and the publisher has enlisted ghost writers to bring in the bucks?

One final question concerning the overall "style": what is the reference to the title? All previous titles tied in to the setting or the crime. (If anyone can explain the significance of "cheating at soliatire," I would be grateful for at least that.)

This book was a serious disappointment to me. As a long-time fan of the Gregor Demarkian books, I've come to expect them to be intriguing and insightful stories. Jane Haddam has a real gift for getting the reader inside the minds of people whose perspective we're usually unfamiliar with. Whether it's conspiracy theory junkies, prep school teachers, nuns, whoever, she gets you into their heads and you get a chance to see the world through their eyes, and learn about what makes them tick. And you (and Gregor) need to gain that insight in order to follow the plot through to its solution.

Unfortunately, in this book, her chosen target group is minor pop stars. Y'know, the ones who seem so superficial and ridiculous when you read about their antics in the tabloid headlines at the grocery store checkout counter. After slogging through this entire book, Jane Haddam has shown me their perspective, and I've learned that guess what... they're superficial and ridiculous.

Since there's no real psychological insight to be gained in this story, either by the reader or by Gregor, Gregor just plods along pretty mechanically to solve the crime.

Long-time Gregor Demarkian fans, feel free to skip this one. You won't even miss out on any significant new installment in the Gregor/Bennis love saga, since pretty much all it covers is that the wedding preparations get hectic, so Gregor gets out of town.

When Gregor Demarkian is asked to come to Martha's Harbor to investigate the murder of a young man attached to a film crew, nothing in Gregor's background prepares him for what he finds.

The usually quiet private island has celebrities and media people everywhere. Whereas the locals have little use for the media, and the rich summer people shun publicity of any kind, the film people crave media attention-often doing outrageous things just to generate news. Then a local photographer is attacked, and a summer resident who was hanging around with the film people ends up dead, too. While there are many rivalries among the crew, there seems to be very few real motives for murder. Eventually Gregor realizes that in spite of the glitz and glamour, the motives for murder remain the same regardless of class.

This is essentially a "country house" mystery. The key players are on an island cut off from the mainland by a storm when the first murder is committed, so the potential suspect list is limited. It won't take readers long to mentally substitute Martha's Vineyard or Bar Harbor for Martha's Harbor, or celebrities such as Britney Spears or Paris Hilton, for the main characters.

The book is as much a commentary on our society's celebrity worship and celebrities 'extravagant lifestyles as it is a mystery. While Haddam shows the lack of connection to real life of these celebrities (many are high school dropouts-and don't wear underwear), she also reminds readers about the differences in Gregor and Bennis's backgrounds and how differently they view the world. Bennis Hannaford, is a member of a Philadelphia Mainline family--a family much like the summer rich on the island. Bennis's family is as removed from Gregor's background as the summer people are from the locals on the island.

Fans of Haddam's series should be pleased not only with this book as a mystery, but the with glimpse into Gregor and Bennis's personal relationship.

Armchair Interviews says: Readers unfamiliar with the series will have no trouble enjoying this book.

In Philadelphia Gregor Demarkian and Bennis Hannaford are planning to marry after seeing each other exclusively for quite some time. However, the wedding preparation demands are driving the sleuth crazy. He considers eloping, but his beloved Bennis is looking forward to the ceremony celebrated with their family and friends.

Thus when he has an opportunity to escape to New England to work on a high visibility homicide, he does not need a second invitation; Gregor informs Bennis that whatever she does re the nuptials in his absence is acceptable by him as he leaves town immediately for Margaret's Harbor. Famous celebrity Arrow Normand and her boyfriend of the moment Mark Anderman were filming on location when she was murdered during a nasty nor'easter. Normand was arrested for the murder.

CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE is a terrific whodunit as the hero struggles with a case involving pseudo and 15 minute celebrities; a sub-species he does not understand. Gregor's difficulties with what makes the shallow in-crowd tick turn this into a superior entry in a strong series, as he cannot find a reliable motive for the homicide while also working a couple of other investigations.

Harriet Klausner

I am a Turkish who comes from Harpoot roots. I ordered that book to learn the story of old daily life of Harpoot.
I am so happy to read the book honestly. But there are some points to share with all of you:
- The book name is written politically.. Ok let us say Harpoot was located at LITTLE ARMENIA but cant be told as Armenia. Little Armenia is called as a name for the whole land but armenia is a country name which noone can accept it inside Turkish borders. Can we say Texas is Mexica?
- Riggs has written from his side only, he has not written from the real way which means to listen both sides and write from the centre position. He would be the best guy to do that to help us understand eachother.. but if you only read his book you will never understand the Turkish side. He is one sided person here....
- I got many nice details about my studies about Harpoot by that book but i would love him to add some photographes to show us the daily life of those days. We know that themisionaries had taken many photos to show their efforst an sucess to their supporters in USA but Riggs has not put any pictures...

I continue my study about the Harpoot history and anyway i got many nice details of the city from that book...

I'd recommend reading this book, but also reading the ones written by second and third parties.

I hate to say this about a book that deals with massacres, but this is a funny, sad book. The author has no love for Armenians or Turks. He just tells it like he sees it. I had to laugh when the Turkish officer beat up the Kurdish conscript for defecating on the street, and the Kurd snapped to attention, saluted and resumed the squatting position. Turns out that he didn't speak a word of Turkish. Turks are from Mars and Kurds are from Venus?

On a more serious note, this is great storytelling. We get to know the people Rev. Riggs knew. We get to learn their terrible fate with him. We see him desparately trying to get the bigshots he plays cards with to spare the lives of the condemned race. I've read quite a few memoirs, and this is definitely the best.

The book is apparently taken from an archive that includes numerous other reports about the Armenian massacres. The rest of the reports are shorter, and they are compiled in James Barton, "Turkish Atrocities."

This book, besides being an invaluable first-hand account of the Armenian Genocide, is actually quite readable and entertaining. Written by an American missionary living in Turkey in 1915, it is an insightful chronology of the events that unfolded in his town, Harpoot. The great thing is, Riggs is an American and quite unbiased. Turks and Armenians alike in many ways annoy and befuddle him. But he knows the country well, and describes that it was quite obvious that there was a centrally-planned massacre going on. The book is written in so much detail--of how the deportations and massacres unfolded--that it is hard to believe that there are some who question the existence of the Armenian Genocide. This is probably the best primary account of the Armenian Genocide out there, because it's not told through the eyes of one survivor, but through the eyes of someone who saw all of the events unfolding before him. This book is must read for historians and experts on the subject and is certainly a "thorn in the side" for revisionists who claim that the wholesale massacre of Armenians didn't take place.

The editor of the book is armanian, and therefore he is presenting the facts in the biased way. Moreoer, only 3 % of the information in the book is true. The rest is a well-known armenian way of complaining to the world and lying about the facts. It is easy to lie about the history, and present fake facts, isn't it? When the actual politicians involved in the whole thing do not exist, and therefore, canno protect themselves. Wyy didn't armenians call for genocides years ago, when it just happened? Because the whole world knew what actually happened- it was just another war in the history, when people from the both sides died.

Interesting fact is, that the same kind of lie armenians are trying to spread around Azerbaijan-Armenian conflict, but in this case this is more difficult task for armenians, since the events happened not so much far back in history, and there were internaitonal observers to the conflict. Otherwise, armanians would happily call to the "second armenian genocide". Or may be they'll try to, centuries from now. Who knows?

1. the survey data is outdated 1985 2. only NY/NJ area Armenians are surveyed and then the author expands their results to ALL Armenian-Americans 3. the text barely includes Armenians originating from anywhere but Beruit.

It's an alright book, but there are many other superior studies worth reading.

Book has lots of good information gathered from varying sources. But the author and editors took no time whatsoever to check their findings, and correct inconsistencies. The book, unfortunately, contains a large portion of copy and paste of documents gathered from churches, organizations, etc. There is no background checking done to see which document is correct and to fix errors. On one page you may read that an event took place in a particular year, and then a few pages later the same event is noted with a different date. Just a few examples:

1. Page 100 reads "In 1961....proposed establishment of a monument in honor of the Martyr's of the Armenian Genocide of 1915". Then page 139 reads "In June of 1971....proposed that the three churches in Providence undertake construction of a Martyr's Memorial".

2. Page 101, again in regards to the Martyrs Memorial, reads "formal dedication took place on Sunday, April 24, 1979." Then on page 141 it reads "On April 27, 1975....a dedication march took place."

Additionally, the writing where it is copied and pasted from external sources (i.e. church documents) is at times difficult to follow and not in chronological order. It is the job of an author to investigate sources and put down the gathered knowledge in a refined manner; not to simply copy and paste documents and constitute whole chapters out of them.

This book tells the truth about the Ottoman Turks. Don't believe the negative reviews by the turks on this site.

A propaganda work presented to people as a legitimate book? I'm impressed. It seems the next thing they will publish is a collection of propaganda leaflets; those which warring countries airdrop in each other's territory. This book, better known by the name Blue Book, is one of the two propaganda books (the other was about what Germans supposedly did in WW1) "ordered" by the British government, to undermine the image of their adversaries in neutral eyes. You should buy this book only to see what the desperate armenians have come to rely on, in putting forward their claims of a fictitious genocide.

Professor Justin McCarthy*, speaking at a conference in London, said that a source known as the "Blue Book" chosen by Armenians to prove their claims of genocide is one of the products of British war propaganda bureau's efforts of misinformation during first world war.The Blue Book written by Viscount Bryce and Arnold Toynbee has been used as proof that Armenians and the victims of the Jewish Holocaust suffered the same fate in history. This book has been said to be a product of British intelligence designed to promote and promulgate lies during World War I. Britain had set up the war propaganda bureau at Wellington House for the sole purpose of promoting lies and misinformation on Germany and the Ottoman Empire. The British were in full co-operation with American missionaries in Anatolia and the American Embassy in Istanbul conjured a so called Armenian genocide based on gossip, hear-say and erroneous information.
The real purpose behind this exercise was to create and strengthen an image in the minds of British military officers that the Turk were evil, horrible and untrustworthy McCarthy adds.

*PROFESSOR JUSTIN MCCARTHY, HISTORIAN AND EXPERT ON OTTOMAN AFFAIRS

The Blue Book consists of eyewitness accounts of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire. Accurate and honest, despite what those who deny history believe. Truly historic book.

The British Blue Book is a well known war propoganda book. Even the British admitted to it. Its pure fiction, war propoganda. Believing that the great European powers of the time was going to create an Armenian State from the Turkish homeland, ambitious and barbaric Armenians, very rich, well connected, supposedly faithful and trusted Ottoman citizens hit the Ottoman armies in the back and barbariously butchered and raped Ottoman children and women. So the Ottoman Government relocated them out of the war zones where their treachery caused problems to the Turkish army and civilians. It is very disingenuous of the British to criticize Ottomans when British shot the freedom fighters in India through their cannons. British were Ottoman allies for five centuries untill they figured that they were weak enough to dismember ans annihilate so that they could take over Ottoman oil fields which accounted for most of the oil reserves at the time. Need I say more?