In a 2012 interview with The Horn Book, Inc., Russian author Eugene Yelchin seemed to take quiet pride in his Newbery Award-winning book Breaking Stalin’s Nose and its special designation as “the first children’s book about Stalin.”
People of goodwill naturally attempt to make sense of terrible events like today’s bombings in Brussels, to help themselves address the psychological discomfort that occurs when seemingly incomprehensible violence occurs. We have a hard time processing a world where random bombs go off and kill peaceful travelers in airports or subway stations, because it threatens our equilibrium and sense of personal well-being.
In the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, some pointed out that “the government can’t keep you safe, but it can get you killed.” The slogan referred to the fact that the United States was courting terrorism from Islamic extremist groups through the US’s own reckless foreign policy.
