Speaking of pulling one’s compass the wrong way…

Speaking of pulling one’s compass the wrong way: book 111 has emerged recently as one of the top praised books in the field of children’s books and I finally got to read it. And I had to put aside all my ingrained political upbringings and sensibilities to appreciate the truly distinguished aspects of this title. I hate to, but I will, go back and re-read and re-look at this outstanding volume and appreciate it on its literary and artistic strengths — and to keep telling myself that this experience presented within the book is also a valid portrayal of a historical and political scene that I, like anyone who is not a trained historian of any given period or region, have only seen from a limited angle.