Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town von Jon Krakauer
Zusammenfassung:
Missoula, Montana is a typical college town, home to a highly regarded state university whose beloved football team inspires a passionately loyal fan base. Between January 2008 and May 2012, hundreds of students reported sexual assaults to the local police. Few of the cases were properly handled by either the university or local authorities. In this, Missoula is also typical.
Rezension:
After Dean Charles Couture determined, in March 2012, that Jordan Johnson was guilty of raping Washburn, Johnson was given four opportunities to appeal Couture's decision. On his fourth and final try, Johnson prevailed and was declared not guilty by the new dean of students, Voorhees. Despite the letter President Engstrom wrote in January 2012 notifying Johnson that he was "to be expelled," and that Engstrom considered "the matter closed," Enstrom apparently endorsed Voorhees' ruling, because in March 2013 the University of Montana invited Johnson to return as the Grizzlies' quarterback.
When Johnson was reunited with his Griz teammates soon thereafter, most of Missoula rejoiced.
German:
Was für ein Buch. Was für ein Thema. In was für einer kaputten Welt wir doch leben. Ich habe neulich Invisible Monsters von Chuck Palahniuk gelesen, was wohl ziemlich verrückt und destruktiv ist, aber Jon Krakauer hat mir bewiesen, dass die echte Menschheit noch abgefuckter ist (wenn auch nur mindestens eben weil es "die echte Menschheit" ist).
Wenn du meinst, dass du mit dem Thema "Vergewaltigung" umgehen kannst, dann würde ich das hier definitiv empfehlen. Ich wusste zwar schon einiges darüber und ich war mir auch der ziemlich arg schrecklichen Situation bewusst, aber das hat einen neuen, sehr interessanten und beeindruckenden Einblick in die Geschehnisse gegeben, die wirklich schockierend sind.
Nebst des offensichtlich wichtigen Themas und der beeindruckenden, wenn auch notwendigen, Recherche, welche in dieses Buch geflossen ist, habe ich auch den Schreibstil sehr gerne gewonnen. Ich mochte Krakauers Stimme, die den grössten Teil des Buches ziemlich sachlich und objektiv (natürlich kann man niemals komplett objektiv sein, es gibt immer Entscheidungen die man trifft und die subjektiv sind, aber verhältnismässig) und die im richtigen Moment zu intervenieren weiss. Ausserdem hat Krakauer gemacht, was mir in vielen Fiktionen fehlt und ich oft kritisiere: Er hat gezeigt, anstatt zu instruieren. Indem er nämlich den Opfern selbst die Chance gegeben hat, ihre Geschichten zu erzählen, hat er niemals etwas geschrieben, dass wie: "und jetzt musst du traurig sein", geklungen hat, im Gegenteil. Er hat mir, dem Leser, die Möglichkeit gegeben, die Situation selbst zu evaluieren und darauf zu reagieren. Und meistens hat das auch in der "richtigen" Reaktion resultiert (So weit ich das beurteilen und den Begriff "richtig" hier benutzen kann.), was toll war.
English:
What a book. What a subject. What a messed-up ride this has been. I recently read Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk which is, arguably, messed up and kind of insane but Jon Krakauer made me realize that actual humanity is worse (if only because it is "actual humanity").
Reading this is at (a lot of) times really hard and unforgiving. I've got numerous goosebumps while reading and I was almost moved to tears a couple of times (I believe I mainly wasn't because I was in a public setting and, you know, not in the comforting solidarity of my room/bed). I also became increasingly tired the longer I read for; this book is very draining and very intense. The heart-wrenching ending to the big trial didn't help at all. And neither did the constant awareness that everything is real.
If you feel like you can handle the topic of rape I would definitely recommend reading this. This book was very impressively put together and, even though I already knew quite a bit about the topic and was very aware of the problems depicted, I've gotten a very powerful insight into the whole situation (and let me tell you: it is very fucked up).
Apart from the impressive, but necessary, amount of work that seems to have been put into this, I have also become quite keen on the writing. Naturally, Krakauer's language was considerably objective throughout the majority of the novel (though, obviously, there can't be a truly objective utterance: there are always choices being made that are somewhat subjective) but I still very much enjoyed it. His voice with its rather matter-of-fact tone, that intervened whenever it (appeared to be) necessary, was pleasing. Moreover, he gave the victims a chance to paint the pictures of their assaults themselves which accomplished something I often miss and criticize about fiction: it showed the reader rather than told him. It was not the author that told me: "And now you have to feel sad", on the contrary. The victims told their stories and it was up to me to process and react to it, which (at least as far as I can tell) worked brilliantly.
Bewertung:
Ich kann es nicht begründen, aber es sind 4/5 Sterne.
Lies das Buch umbedingt!
Details:
Name: Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
Autor: Jon Krakauer
Verlag: Anchor
Seitenanzahl: 416
Wo?: Amazon
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