Before I get into the nitty gritty review, may I just say that this book may possible be the best non-fiction book that I have read in a very long time. Maybe it's just me, but I thought it was (and still is) a total page turner with suspense, insults, history, and Elie Wiesel all thrown in together.
In Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America's Holocaust Museum, Linenthal attempts to outline the trials and tribulations that occurred during the conception, planning, and building of the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Linenthal moves through the arguments and events leading up to the April 22, 1993 dedication as an omnipresent narrator allowing leading characters the chance to explain their decisions and tell their side of the story through their own words. Linenthal also explores the rejected proposals for the museum throughout its development, allowing the reader to envision on their own terms, what the museum would have turned out had other methods been adopted.
If last week's readings provided the theory and broad definition of public history, this book provides us with its application (both its triumphs and its difficulties) within a real-world setting. The Holocaust Museum, from the beginning, could not just have been another museum. It had to possess practical functionality while at the same time deal accurately with the “sacred memory” of The Holocaust. This reminded me of my comment on Katie's blog last week in which I said public historians have the unenviable task of bridging the gap between academia and the general public. Historians working on this project had to make the museum become a reality but at the same time, remain true to those who were telling the stories, be it survivors or victims. To make it even more difficult for public historians, museum planners also had keep a balance between making this a Holocaust museum, a European event, and an American monument to injustice.
After reading the first 166 pages, I am blown away (and a little frightened) by the amount of work that goes into building a museum from scratch. Linenthal does a great job of describing the somewhat tedious work of designing the building and the planning that goes into it, both historically and physically. He also goes into great detail when describing the arguments surrounding the heart of the museum; its message to the public. With such conviction on both sides, it is no wonder why this museum was 15 years in the making.
Of this book, I have only a small annoyance rather than criticism that I noticed while reading. This would be that often I found myself having to flip back in order to remember who various people were and what their jobs had been. Obviously this is not Linenthal's fault as he was merely reporting an accurate history of the museum, which seems by nature to be rather fickle. While reading, I did wonder what Linenthal's opinions are on the main impedance to the museum planning (inclusion vs. exclusion of non-Jews in the museum) were. On the surface I would have to say he is quite unbiased in his presentation but the more I read, the more I wondered what his personal thoughts are on the matter and whether or not it can be determined by “reading through the lines” of his writing. I certainly find myself liking particular people over others and thinking some arguments made more sense as opposed to others.
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5 comments:
I have to agree that I found this book to be a great read as well. I thought he did a great job of presenting all different aspects of the controversies and arguments. However, all the information he presented seemed almost overwhelmingly detailed at times.
I also found it a little difficult to keep up with all the people involved, their different jobs, as well as their previous positions of employment (and all the other information Linenthal presented). But I stil think he did a great job of presenting all sides of the arguments, and portraying all parties involved.
I just have to say that I love that you love this book. I love it, but I'm rather partial to it after last year when this book helped me tremendously to write my own paper on the Holocaust museum. I agree with you about the scary reality this book demonstrates of building a museum from scratch. I did however find that Linenthal's opinion could be discerned (in one case) in regards to the many, many conceptual ideas for the permanent exhibition and its timeline; then again it could have been my own exhasperation with the topic that I felt that Linenthal was just as exhasperated by the frequent disagreements over the design as well.
I completely agree with you, this book is amazing and scary all in one. It's definetly a must read for anyone that wants to work in the field of museums. It really does show the trials and tribulations of the entire process.
I think that the confusion over names and jobs, and people involved helps to further the point that this wasn't just any museum, it helps show how difficult it was and how the event heightened the difficulty level.
You are right this is a great book. This book is well written and the author has done a wonderful job explaining all work and thought that went into the creation of the Holocaust Museum. I agree Kristen that the information presented in the book was overwhelmingly detailed at times, but I believe this was done to show the amount of effort it to create this museum.
The author does provide a great deal of information pertaining to the people directly involved with the museum. This information was heavily detailed and also difficult to remember what each of people was involved with at times. Most everyone in the class agrees that this is a great book and I must say that having never been to the Holocaust Museum this book has intrigued me enough to want to make a visit to the museum very soon.
I too really enjoyed this book, it is very insightful and wide-ranging. I really appreciated the extensive use of quotes an interviews, it is so much more visceral when you can hear an actual person’s thoughts. I do not envy the first few museum professional to come on board and begin discussing practical matters, placement of pipes and bathrooms, who I don’t doubt felt, like they were walking on glass. What had been pure, sacred experience was thrown into the nitty, gritty real world, which was obviously shocking to the survivors. It really does blow my mind thinking about the amount of work involved in constructing the museum. I was particularly impressed by the sections involving the permanent exhibit, I know I would be daunted to recreate an entire event and experience from scratch.
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