{"product_id":"life-should-be-transparent-conversations-about-lithuania-and-europe-in-the-twentieth-century-and-today-9789633863596","title":"Life Should Be Transparent: Conversations about","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book of thirteen conversations introduces us to the life of an exceptional person--theatre critic, Germanist, and long-time chair of the Open Lithuania Fund board Irena Veisaite. The dialogue between Lithuanian historian Aurimas Svedas and a woman who reflects deeply on her experiences reveals both one individual's historically dramatic life and the fate of Europe and Lithuania in the twentieth century. Through the complementary lenses of history and memory we confront, with Veisaite, the horrific events of the Holocaust, which brought about the end of the world of Lithuania's Jews. We also meet an array of world-class cultural figures; see fragments of legendary theatre performances; and hear meaningful words that were spoken or heard decades ago. This book's interlocutors do not so much seek to answer the question \"What was it like?\" but instead repeatedly ask each other: \"What, how, and why do we remember? What is the meaning of our experiences? How can history help us to live in the present and create the future? How do we learn to understand and forgive?\" A series of Veisaite's texts, statements, and letters, presented at the end of the book suggest further ways of answering these questions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The 13 conversations between Veisaite and Lithuanian historian Aurimas Svedas are far-reaching and memorable, covering Veisaite’s rich and varied life, taking in the horrific events of the Holocaust, which brought about the end of the Lithuanian Jewish world. We also meet an array of cultural figures and experience fragments of theatre performances that moved her. Veisaite and Svedas have a close bond and the experience of recording Veisaite’s memories prompts them to explore in detail the nature of memory itself — “What, how and why do we remember? What is the meaning of our experiences? How can history help us to live in the present and create the future?” At 92, Irena Veisaite is able to supply plenty of raw material for this discussion.\" * Jewish Chronicle *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Aurimas Švedas has produced what can be called a historical document about one of the few transgenerational and transformative personalities of twentieth-century Lithuania, Irena Veisaitė.\u003cem\u003e Life Should Be Transparent\u003c\/em\u003e is neither a memoir nor a biography, portraying one of the most intriguing Germanists, theater critics, and pedagogues still alive. In 13 sympathetic interviews, Švedas, the foremost historian of modern Lithuanian culture, has provided a history of twentieth-century Lithuania from the point of view of a frightened young girl maturing through life into an old woman whose memories may soon fade. He gives the reader a remarkable insight into the different epochs she lived through, most notably her survival of the Holocaust and the Soviet occupation. Švedas and Veisaitė are kindred spirits seeking the meaning of life and a way to authenticity.\"\u003c\/p\u003e * Journal of Baltic Studies *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction: Engaging Memory and History\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConversation I: Life Should Be Transparent\u003cbr\u003e Conversation II: We Could All See That Lithuania Was Trapped\u003cbr\u003e Conversation III: What Had Happened to the World?\u003cbr\u003e Conversation IV: To Forgive and Build the Future—These Are the Duties of the Living\u003cbr\u003e Conversation V: I Was Surrounded by Very Good People\u003cbr\u003e Conversation VI: I Needed a Change\u003cbr\u003e Conversation VII: I Saw My Work as a Kind of Mission\u003cbr\u003e Conversation VIII: The Theatre Suits My Interests and Temperament Perfectly\u003cbr\u003e Conversation IX: People Developed Close Relationships within \"Islands\"\u003cbr\u003e Conversation X: Why Was Faust Redeemed, Even After Making a Pact with the Devil?\u003cbr\u003e Conversation XI: I Felt a Powerful Connection with My Spiritual Brothers\u003cbr\u003e Conversation XII: I Regret Nothing, But I Continue to Pay Dearly for My Decisions\u003cbr\u003e Conversation XIII: It Is Probably Only Possible to Feel a Part of History Once in One's Lifetime\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn Lieu of an Epilogue: More and More Questions, But Fewer and Fewer Answers\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAppendices—Voices from the Past\u003cbr\u003e Appendix I: What questions matter the most to me now?\u003cbr\u003e High School QuestionnaireAppendix II: Texts and Statements\u003cbr\u003e Review: \"Measured Optimism\"\u003cbr\u003e \"Left Unsaid\"\u003cbr\u003e \"The Holocaust in My Life\"\u003cbr\u003e \"Does Litvak Culture Have a Future on Lithuanian Soil?\"\u003cbr\u003e Appendix III: Letters\u003cbr\u003e Appendix IV: Post Scriptum\u003cbr\u003e \"On Memory and Remembering\"\u003cbr\u003e \"An Important Meeting\"\u003cbr\u003e \"The Debate about Our People\"\u003cbr\u003e Key Biographical Events\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central European University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51047191347543,"sku":"9789633863596","price":25.6,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9789633863596.jpg?v=1750970612","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/life-should-be-transparent-conversations-about-lithuania-and-europe-in-the-twentieth-century-and-today-9789633863596","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}