story here. Thanks to the RA German Board for the photos and Guylty for the links.
One way or another, Richard Armitage can’t get away from tattoos.
Alas, this might be the only work of his I pass on. I’m off Holocaust works. But, we’ll see.
I think this is only the second time we’ve seen him in red.
I thought I recalled another one out there without a shirt, but if so, I couldn’t find it.
Armitage Agonistes 
Oh yes, tattoos… I hadn’t made the connection!
And I completely understand your reservations re. an Auschwitz book. (That resonates with me because my grandfather could’ve easily ended up there. My great-great-grandfather did end up in Theresienstadt.)
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I know, the tattoo connections abound. I swore off Holocaust literature years ago. Decided I just can’t take it any more. The Shawl, by Cynthia Ozick did me in. Also never watched the Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I made an exception for Schindler’s List and the The Counterfeiter, because I was researching it for a film festival, and it’s not that graphic anyway.
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The three line synopsis makes it sound awful. Whatever it is, it has to be better than that synopsis.
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OK, the longer synopsis makes clear it’s a true story. Sigh. Yeah. Not enthused.
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We all have our red lines. I’m not sure I can step over this one. It would be the solitary work of his I pass on, if I do. I won’t read the book, for sure.
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I hear you. (I have my own issues on that front which are probably different from yours — but it’s a topic that just throws up red lines over and over again.) The serious problem for me in terms of blogging is this a topic with a history and a historiography — i.e., there’s a real context here that’s built up over half a century, in light of which I evaluate projects like this, and I’m doubtful that an author like this one would be aware of any of it. If I write about it, I’ll get charged against with “over analyzing” … Anyway, I’m tabling this one for the present as other stuff is on my mind.
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My issue is pretty straight-forward and not even political, and not even because I’m a Jew. I’ve seen/read/taught too much about it. It’s always gut-wrenching and often too violent, so I figure, why put myself through this again? I’m not going to learn anything materially new.
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Interesting; so actually our personal issues are pretty similar.
Professionally speaking — your reservations reflect something that a lot of scholars have been saying for a while now. It’s clear that we are not even close to reaching the number of narratives and research projects we *could* document on this topic. The paper trail is nowhere near exhausted. The question is what continuing to do it in the same way that we have always done it brings us.
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