Hello Shelter,
As a gay Armenian, I'm touched that you are interested in the Armenian Genocide. My grandparents were survivors of the Genocide and lived through experiences that one wouldn't wish on their greatest enemy. My grandmother in particular is the only survivor of her entire family, and literally saw all of her family be killed.
Let me make some recommendations for books and movies.
Taner Akcam's books are certainly important and worth reading, but they are more for the serious reader than someone casually interested in the subject. The best overall book for someone who wants to better understand the subject without necessarily getting into it hardcore (which would be the case with Taner Akcam's books) would be to read "The Burning Tigris" by Peter Balakian. It's intended for the general reader and it's really well written, accessible, and just well done overall.
There are many survivor memoirs and all have their interesting perspectives. The single best survivor memoir that I've read--by far--is "Armenian Golgotha" by Rev. Grigoris Balakian. Father Balakian was the great-uncle of Peter Balakian, and the book was saved from oblivion by Peter Balakian and edited by him (as well as translated by others). Rev. Balakian was one of the 250+ Armenian leaders and intellectuals who were arrested on April 24, 1915 (the date in which the genocide began) and almost all of whom were executed. But he miraculously survived, and his story of survival and escape is almost impossible to imagine because it is so improbable. And as a leader of the community, Father Balakian had a vantage point and access to people to better understand what was happening in real-time. But his book is interesting not just because of his eloquent description of what happened, but because the book is as much a book of life-wisdom and philosophy. Throughout the book, Father Balakian shares his observations on life, on what makes for a meaningful life as compared to one that goes without meaning, on relationships, on love and friendship, etc. If the self-help crowd knew what was in the book, they would be reading it in droves and derive so much positive wisdom from it. Overall the book is incredibly rich and rewarding, while also being painful. I can't recommend it enough.
There is another survivor story that has been very well-received, but it's a little different because it's a fictionalized re-telling of a true story. The book is called "Forgotten Fire" by Adam Bagdasarian, and it's his uncle's story told in first-person. The book is touching and very powerful, and it's a relatively quick read.
The definitive movie on the Armenian Genocide has not yet been made, but one extremely good one is "The Lark Farm" by the Taviani brothers from 2007. It's actually a completely true story, and is deeply moving, deeply sad, and exceptionally well done. It tells one family's story, and the events depicted in the movie actually happened (I had my doubts that it could all be true, but upon investigating the matter, I learned that in fact it was). And anyone who loves world cinema would be familiar with the Taviani brothers, who have made many memorable films and bring their own distinct style to the story. It's an excellent film. Atom Egoyan made a powerful movie that is about the genocide but gets at the subject somewhat indirectly, called "Ararat." But the problem with Ararat is that it's a film for Armenians, and it assumes that the viewer knows the history and the story and a lot of other related things which most viewers will not know, and as a result non-Armenians find this too difficult a film to truly understand let alone appreciate. I wish Egoyan had made a more accessible movie that did not assume that so much was already understood, but as someone who did have that perspective, let me assure you I was in a flood of tears when the film ended. [My non-Armenian partner understood that I had been deeply touched, but he himself didn't have that experience or even understand what it was that had elicited that response, and was understandably not "getting" what affected not just me but so many others (all Armenian) he could see in the theater who were also having that same experience.]
If you really want to read the masterpiece and definitive book on the Armenian Genocide, unambiguously the book is "The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History" by French historian Raymond Kevorkian. Reading the book is a mammoth undertaking as it is a huge book. But it's stunning and brilliant, and a lifetime's work. I am in total awe of what Professor Kevorkian achieved with this brilliant book.
I hope this is helpful! If I may ask...what was it that brought you to this subject in the first place? That would be most interesting to know.
ented. Same with the unrepentant Japanese in occupied China, same with members of the Cambodian politburo with their own people, same with the Croatia-Serbian genocidal conflict, the recent mass slaughter of Tutsis by the Hutus, same with the white cops towards individual black citizens of America. Given this human propensity, it is truly surprising that it does not happen more frequently. Maybe liberal, humanist, progressive thought have somehow mitigated barbarity and marginally triumphed over violent instincts?
p
