hidingzeus's review

Go to review page

slow-paced

4.5

It's hard to think of rating this when it really is just a bunch of women's stories collected together.  This was heart-wrenching.  I say women.  Some of these 'women' were no older than 15!  They were so young, they grew taller during the war!

linda101's review

Go to review page

informative sad tense slow-paced

3.0

minguyen's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Sách là một quyển hồi ký nên tính nghệ thuật không quá cao, chủ yếu thể hiện tính hiện thực. Những chương đầu bị lan man, vụn vặt không hấp dẫn lắm, nhưng 3 chương cuối thực sự làm mình khóc rất nhiều. Mỗi lời tâm sự đều có thể phát triển thành một historical fiction. 4.5/5 sao

seph5040's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

katie_l21's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

This was an incredible book! Taking the stories of different Russian women during WWII was a great idea and Svetlana Alexievich perfectly captured the stories of these heros! A genuinely phenomenal non-fiction book!

piikuri's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative medium-paced

4.5

ameliatmoss's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Truly an awesome book. I love how many interviews she did and that the stories all compliment each other in one way or another. It's really an entirely different perspective on the war, one that I didn't know existed until I read this book. The women are passionate and honest and open and real and it is so valuable that they allow themselves to be that way so they can share their stories. I also like that it can be picked up whenever as it's a bunch of interviews so you don't really have to follow any sort of storyline. My only criticism is the organization of the stories didn't make much sense to me and the author herself has some overly flowery little intros, but I have a feeling that it's the translations fault.

So many great quotes but this one is one of my favorites:

"I'll say this: if you're not a woman, you can't survive a war. I never envied men. Not in my childhood, not in my youth. Not during the war. I was always glad to be a woman. People say that weapons - submachine guns, pistols - are beautiful, that they conceal many human thoughts, passions, but I never found them beautiful. I've seen the admiration of men looking at a fine pistol; I find it incomprehensible. I'm a woman." - Elena Borizovna Zvyaginsteva (Private, Armorer)

alanacca123's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

5.0

aclassi_k's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

This is a book about war everyone should read.

I cried, I smiled, at times it was breathtaking and at times I could feel my heart skipping a bit. I've never felt more connected to the women of my culture and my heritage.

War's Unwomanly Face has definitely become one of my most favourite books.

junyan's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

写大历史而抛弃小人物是对人类的背叛。
抗击covid-19的战役中有多少女性出征?事后我们的媒体又如何作为?在贯穿人类历史的bropropriating的阴影之下,除了女权运动,女性和男性共同参与斗争的结局就是倒戈。父权制不倒,女性就永远不被当做并肩同伴。