Let me say this about my past: Personally, I am not an industrious reader and I actually always engage with professional reads – and this type of immersion – as much as I like it – is something different for me than reading for personal interest, which is something I haven’t done in the past year and a half.

However, if I take the books I most recently worked with, I would say that the (not new) novel Im Menschen muss alles herrlich sein by Sasha Marianna Salzmann was like a key hole to a world that is close, but completely foreign to me. After all, prior to the start of the war I knew embarrassingly little about Ukraine and fulfilled those criteria of western ignorance that Salzmann talks about on the sidelines. Reading her book brought me closer to the history of the country and listed, most importantly, the hard knocks this nation sustained since 1933 and it encouraged me to want to know more sourced from additional books, podcasts and films, through interactions with Ukrainian artists. Reading for work hence also encouraged me to do the personal work. It made me curious beyond the shock-induced paralysis and generated an interest in others. It was also fertile ground for the fostering of respect and empathy. In my eyes, it is impossible to ask more of a book.  

Let me say this about my past: Personally, I am not an industrious reader and I actually always engage with professional reads – and this type of immersion – as much as I like it – is something different for me than reading for personal interest, which is something I haven’t done in the past year and a half.

However, if I take the books I most recently worked with, I would say that the (not new) novel Im Menschen muss alles herrlich sein by Sasha Marianna Salzmann was like a key hole to a world that is close, but completely foreign to me. After all, prior to the start of the war I knew embarrassingly little about Ukraine and fulfilled those criteria of western ignorance that Salzmann talks about on the sidelines. Reading her book brought me closer to the history of the country and listed, most importantly, the hard knocks this nation sustained since 1933 and it encouraged me to want to know more sourced from additional books, podcasts and films, through interactions with Ukrainian artists. Reading for work hence also encouraged me to do the personal work. It made me curious beyond the shock-induced paralysis and generated an interest in others. It was also fertile ground for the fostering of respect and empathy. In my eyes, it is impossible to ask more of a book. 

Wiebke Puls, Munich, 15 June 2023