A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War

Written by one of America's most innovative and articulate feminists, this book illustrates how childhood experience, gender and sexuality, private aspirations, and public personae all assume undeniable roles in the causes and effects of war.

Editorial Reviews

"Perhaps every moment of time lived in human consciousness remains in the air around us." With these words Susan Griffin begins to draw the connections between personal histories and the violent and often unspoken events of this century. Believing that "each solitary story belongs to a larger story," she tells us the sad and violent tale of her childhood. Her calm and mesmerizing style builds to a crescendo as she ties her memories to the life stories of more powerful individuals - the architects of modern war who have shaped our history. Susan Griffin presents some disturbingly provocative accounts of war's atrocities, the stories of bomb makers and bomb victims and the contents of once-classified government documents. Not only does she bring us face-to-face with the horrific underbelly of war and fascism, she makes us look fresh at our journey from innocent child to ruthless warmonger or war enabler. Adamant that society's gender biases continue to coerce men into the shadow of war, she challenges us to understand that not a shred of our violent past is ever forgotten, that in our conscious lives we have entered into a collective silence which erodes our ability to see truth and act responsibly. A Chorus of Stones is a profound and accessible book which infuses insight into the overwhelming moral dilemmas of our time. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Rebecca Sullivan

Readers Top Reviews

mamanValentineGlenn

purchased for a class in college but it didn't feel like homework to read. fascinating perspectives.

Richard Gilbert OW

A mesmerizing mosaic made of different but reappearing elements including: snippets on cell biology and missile technology, WWII's savage war on civilians, the secrets people carry about emotional and other abuse, and the Nazis, especially Heinrich Himmler, chief architect of the Holocaust and his very strict, self-denying, Germanic childhood. This is an extended meditation on suffering and how it leads to more suffering, especially in the mass violence of war.

elizabethrosner

This exquisite and important book reflects a deeply insightful and broadly thoughtful approach to history --- both personal and collective. I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone interested in exploring the complex interweaving of past and present, identity and culture, self and world. Griffin's unique talent for juxtaposing inner awareness with outer events is one reason that this work will take its place among masterpieces of the 20th century.

M. Amani

Insightful, but hard to get into. Masterly written. A bit too much for me.