Fionnáin's quote from Second-Hand Time

Fionnáin quoted Second-Hand Time by Svetlana Aleksievich

Svetlana Aleksievich: Second-Hand Time (2016, Fitzcarraldo Editions)

I was fourteen... I didn't understand a thing... All I could do was try to remember it. And now, I told you the story... I don't like the word 'hero'. There are no heroes in war... As soon as someone picks up a weapon they can no longer be good. They won't be able to.

— Second-Hand Time by Svetlana Aleksievich (Page 303)

The end of a harrowing story from a man, half-Jewish, who survived World War II and ended up a cobbler's assistant in the Soviet partisan army. Nobody comes off well in this story, including the teller.