The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale

Book Description

At last! Here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first masterpiece in comic book history” (The New Yorker). It now appears as it was originally envisioned by the author: The Complete Maus.

It is the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story. Maus approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), shocks us out of any lingering sense of familiarity and succeeds in “drawing us closer to the bleak heart of the Holocaust” (The New York Times).

Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent read.......2007-09-12

I read Maus I and II back in junior high and thought it was really cool that I was reading a book while also reading a comic. I purchased and re-read the boxed set recently when I stumbled upon it on Amazon. It's excellent. Truly a one-of-a-kind story, told in a way that gets the reader engaged in the details of what went on back in World War II. I love the cleverness of the Jews being portrayed as mice and the Nazi soldiers as cats. The only qualm I have with this series is that Maus II (the second and last book) ends rather abruptly, which is sort of understandable if you read the books. Honestly, I wanted more from the author and the storyline. Either way, it was a good read back when I was age 12 and still a good read at age 25.

DEMEAMING, INSENSITIVE, STEREOTYPING, TOO GRAPHIC - JUST NOT CORRECT.......2007-09-01

I just don't understand, how any type of stereotyping, as maus is loaded with it, can be acceptable. Stereotyping like bigotry, can "never" be justified! The graphic nature of this book is also "disturbing." With so many other books out there, I personally am unable to understand why anyone would use this book that offends "other" (3 million Catholic Poles for starters)holocaust victims. Many, many books out there get the job done, without such dark graphics and offending peoples, who were also victims. There are three books that I feel are truly objective, factual and just not as offensive, as Maus is: "Auschwitz," by Sybile Steinbacher, Richard Lukas' "The Forgotten Holocaust," which "objectively" talks about "everyone's" suffering in the holocaust; and finally, Michael R. Marrus' "The Holocaust in History." On Marrus' book: "An ideal introduction to the subject for any student of the Holocaust, and an authoritative summary for the expert." Yehuda Bauer, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem(back cover). With all the suffering and sensitivity on the Holocaust, "all" victims' feelings should be considered - maus does "not" accomplish this.

Sometimes truth is better than fiction........2007-08-21

I stumbled across this a few days ago in a book shop in Cambodia, of all places. I sat transfixed reading the book until 4 a.m., when my eyes could no longer focus. When I awoke the next day, I finished the book.

We are provided with a narrative by the father, a Holocaust survivor, and a more recent portrayal of the author (the son, who happens to be the artist, also). We see the trials and tribulations of his father and his mother as a young Jewish couple in World War 2 era Poland during the Nazi invasion and subsequent occupation.

We also get to share the experience of being the guilty son of Holocaust survivors. He worries about seeing his father as the stereotypical "miserly old Jew." Can he have judgment about people who have suffered through so much? Can he have a bit of animosity towards his parents, as most people tend to do? The author has to question how his mother could have survived the Nazi regime, but committed suicide when he was 20. He has to question the relationship with his father. Is he annoying or pitiful or admirable?

All these muddled emotions and the true story of a man who lived through the most brutal crime of the 20th century all come into play.

The drawings are great. The format is great. The idea to show different races as different animals is also great. Because, as silly as that sounds- isn't even sillier that people see our own races as different creatures?

Maus.......2007-08-10

As a Polish/american/alsacian I need to say this book is amazing. It captures all cultures together and produces the most authentic representation of WW2 I have ever read.

Immensely sad. Full of pathos. An immense work.......2007-06-13

More than a graphic novel. Rather a powerful moving tale of a son's recovery of a father's experience of the years of the holocaust and how this trickled down into contemporary family life. Reflective and immense in scope. I would recommend this book genuinely to anyone interested in what makes life worth living. The vignettes of Spiegelman's father are harrowing and inspiring, accentuated by a matter of fact story telling style. Spiegelman's insertion of his own family into the narrative serves to contrast the relatively normal travails of a modern family with those of families on the edge of survival and extinction.

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History

Average customer rating:

Maus: Explores the ineffable with creativity and ease
A Compelling Graphic Novel
Approbation for Maus
Excellent seller!!
DEMEANIG, INSENSITIVE, CRUDE STEREOTYPING, HURTFUL TO "OTHER" HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
Art Spiegelman
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0394747232
Release Date: 1986-08-12

Amazon.com

Some historical events simply beggar any attempt at description--the Holocaust is one of these. Therefore, as it recedes and the people able to bear witness die, it becomes more and more essential that novel, vigorous methods are used to describe the indescribable. Examined in these terms, Art Spiegelman's Maus is a tremendous achievement, from a historical perspective as well as an artistic one.

Spiegelman, a stalwart of the underground comics scene of the 1960s and '70s, interviewed his father, Vladek, a Holocaust survivor living outside New York City, about his experiences. The artist then deftly translated that story into a graphic novel. By portraying a true story of the Holocaust in comic form--the Jews are mice, the Germans cats, the Poles pigs, the French frogs, and the Americans dogs--Spiegelman compels the reader to imagine the action, to fill in the blanks that are so often shied away from. Reading Maus, you are forced to examine the Holocaust anew.

This is neither easy nor pleasant. However, Vladek Spiegelman and his wife Anna are resourceful heroes, and enough acts of kindness and decency appear in the tale to spur the reader onward (we also know that the protagonists survive, else reading would be too painful). This first volume introduces Vladek as a happy young man on the make in pre-war Poland. With outside events growing ever more ominous, we watch his marriage to Anna, his enlistment in the Polish army after the outbreak of hostilities, his and Anna's life in the ghetto, and then their flight into hiding as the Final Solution is put into effect. The ending is stark and terrible, but the worst is yet to come--in the second volume of this Pulitzer Prize-winning set. --Michael Gerber

Book Description

A story of a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father's story and history itself.

Customer Reviews:

Maus: Explores the ineffable with creativity and ease.......2007-09-18

The book is adumbrated in the form of a graphic novel, giving a seemingly new perspective on the holocaust. The issue itself is nothing spectactularly new, although it approaches the holocaust in such a way that the most acerbic of events are bearable.
Most simply stated, the visual aid that accompanies the text allows for the reader to fully understand the author's stance, or viewpoint on the touchy issues of the holocaust. One does not need to have any sort of historical acumen, to grasp the concepts and ideas of the story.
The facade, of animals, instead of humans, used by the author also makes the events seem a little less human. However, throughout the novel, the thought doesn't escape your mind, that this was actually happening, to real people.
The reader is also easily captivated by the father-son presentation of the story, as Art (the author), interviews his father. With nothing but acrimony polluting the stories told by his father, a bond is formed between the reader, Art, and his father, as you must approbate anyone who braves these hardships, more specifically, the characters.
Overall, this story makes something new, that has been done so many times. It entertains, as well as informs. However, it isn't something I'd recommend for casual reading, as time must be set aside to truly appreciate the events in this book.

A Compelling Graphic Novel.......2007-09-18

When hearing the words "Graphic Novel" most people do not think of a moving and inspirational story, yet Maus by Art Spiegelman is just that. Firstly I would recommend this novel for its crafty and meaningful graphics. Various groups, such as the Jewish and German, are depicted as numerous animals. In doing so, the author expresses underlying themes, as one judges another's character by how they look, or their origin. Each picture also conveys the deep feeling in each moment. Frighten and sometimes acerbic faces, give the reader acumen on how the characters feel and are reacting. Also, several depictions of maps and drawings, heightening one's understanding of each setting. The second reason I would recommend the novel is because of the compelling story lines it contains. The first is Vladek's poignant account on how he and his wife survived as the Nazis abrogated their rights. From witnessing friends being hanged, to hiding in attics, the reader gains and insight on personal experiences of the Holocaust. The second is of a strained father and son relationship. As the father ages, the interest and reminiscence of a troubled past becomes their last connection. These assiduous characters are connectable for the reader, and acquire my last approbation. Anyone with a stained relationship or even an experience with isolation, can relate to the feelings and manners of the characters. With evocative graphics, gripping story lines, and relatable characters, Maus is a compelling novel which I highly propose.

Approbation for Maus.......2007-09-18

Maus should be greatly encouraged with approbation. The book displays the crude reality of the Holocaust and World War II in a creative, artistic way that makes the book classic and unique. Having Jews displayed as mice and Nazis as cats, Spiegelman uses much acumen in how the book is laid out and the story told. Even without reading, the graphic art adumbrates the story enough to understand.
Artie is a comic book writer who decides to write meaningful stories instead of useless funny ones, and wishes to interview his father about his experiences during the Holocaust. Vladek willingly tells his story to Artie, who seems unchanged by the troubling information his father is offering him. Throughout the story, Vladek becomes almost an anathema to Artie, and Artie finally finds the hate for his father that was always brewing. Although Artie dislikes his father, his father dislikes himself as well. After the war, life was never the same for Vladek. Having never gotten over his wife's death, and feeling antipathy for his new wife, he seemed to abjure all opportunities to enhance his life and adopted a new, somewhat acerbic personality.
Overall, the story told in Maus is an unforgettable one. It brings about several ineffable issues such as the harshness of World War II and how the Nazis arrogated lives with no right to do so. In addition, how these times were difficult even for the high class. The graphic art in the book ties all of the information together and allows a visual interpretation what the book is saying. Although the story is based on World War II and the Holocaust, it is as much about family issues and hidden hate as it is about history. Throughout the whole experience, Artie and Vladek discover where they truly stand with each other and decide that this deleterious relationship is not worth the trouble any longer.

Excellent seller!!.......2007-09-15

Good seller! Highly recommended for all buyers. My item was timely sent and the condition of the item was as described.

DEMEANIG, INSENSITIVE, CRUDE STEREOTYPING, HURTFUL TO "OTHER" HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS.......2007-09-14

This is as bad, as the 1st Maus: Horribly GRAPHIC, EXREMELY CRUDE and INSENSITIVE to the "OTHER" victims of the holocaust. Spiegleman shows absolutely "no" sympathy or sensitivity to the 3 million Polish-Catholics that were killed by the Germans. Adding insult to injury, he portrays the Poles in a very negative and hurtful manner, when in fact the Poles themselves lost everything. Poles, as well as Jews, lost their homes. Poles, as well as Jews, came home to homes that were piles of rubble. There are so many better vechicles out there to teach about this. This is the last one to use, as it seriously offends many innocent students whose parents and grandparents also suffered, died and lost everything in the Forgotten Holocaust. Better books are: Sybille Steinbacher's "Auschwitz. Steinbachers book gets the job done without all the grusome graphics and vulgar demeaning that is in Maus. Richard Lukas' "The Forgoten Holocaust; Poles Under Nazi-Occupation," and "Did The Children Cry: The suffering of Polish & Jewish children in the holocaust." After reading the latter one by Lukas, you'll never go anywhere near a Maus book again! "Did The Children Cry," will be a wake-up call - unless you are inhumane. Lukas, in both book, talks, OBJECTIVLY about "all" who suffered, without the sick graphics and personal attacks that maus has. Michael Marrus' "The Holocaust in History." Marrus, like Steinbacher and Lukas is controlled, scholarly and informative - Spiegleman is not. These 3 books will explain and teach you something, unlike Maus, that only teaches hateful generalizations through stereotyping and is grusomly graphic. Don't be fooled by the hype. Maus gets an F- for humanity. TEACHERS, PLEASE, BE TEACHERS!

Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (Maus)

Average customer rating:

Non Fiction
A hauntingly good work.
Astonishing -- a must read
An Incredible Historical Perspective (Part 2)
Spectacular account of the Holocaust

Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (Maus)
Art Spiegelman
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679729771
Release Date: 1992-09-01

Book Description

MAUS was the first half of the tale of survival of the author's parents, charting their desperate progress from prewar Poland Auschwitz. Here is the continuation, in which the father survives the camp and is at last reunited with his wife.

Customer Reviews:

Non Fiction.......2007-09-03

Spiegelman continues the story of his father's life, through Auschwitz and afterwards, and his feelings about what has happened to him.

The story is told using animal forms for the people within, different classes of people are represented as different animals. Mice, obviously are used to represent the prisoners.

A hauntingly good work........2007-01-11

Haunting, you'll find certain parts that keep coming back to you. Don't let the artwork fool you, this is no children's book. This work is honest, and perhaps because of it, is very emotionally affecting. I've had to read it more than once to really appreciate it.

Astonishing -- a must read.......2006-10-23

I was compelled to read this after finishing Art Spiegelman's astonishingly brilliant "Maus," a graphic novel retelling his father, Vladek's, experiences as a Jew in Poland during WWII. This sequel picks up right where the first left off, with Vladek's separation from wife, Anja, after arriving at Auschwitz. There Vladek must struggle to survive starvation and disease as well as the guards and the ovens, all while trying to get news of his wife from over in Auschwitz's second camp, Birkenau. His horrific time there is expertly rendered as Spiegelman manages to get across a complex range of emotions through his illustrations and words. Even after Auschwitz is abandoned and the Nazi soldiers go on the run, Vladek must still struggle to survive and make his way to safety. His journey home to his wife (from Auschwitz to an abandoned German landscape, through ruined cities and, finally, back to the now unrecognizable city he once called home) is utterly compelling, unforgettable stuff.

Equally compelling is the story of Vladek in later years that is mixed in with his history in both volumes of "Maus", after he has come to America with Anja, had another son (the first, Richieu, did not survive the war), lost Anja to suicide in 1968, remarried, developed a heart condition and a strained relationship with his surviving son, and begins telling his story to 'Artie', who is interested in adapting his father's tale into a comic book). In the WWII segments Spiegelman captures the horrors that took place during that tragic time, and in these father-son moments he explores how surviving an event like that leaves a mark on you forever, and can even pass on the burden of survivor's guilt to a new generation that wasn't even alive when the atrocities took place. Surprisingly, it is during these deeply personal moments that the "Maus" books really hit home the hardest. Spiegelman does a masterful job getting across the complex personalities of his characters and how the past has left a wide, seemingly impassable gulf between him and his father. Really, it is just a beautiful portrait of their relationship and I cannot recommend it enough. Spiegelman's delicate, earnest elegy to his father -- and to all survivors and victims of the Holocaust alike -- is a true triumph of literature and a heartbreaking look at one of history's greatest tragedies.

An Incredible Historical Perspective (Part 2).......2006-10-11

This conclusion of Maus 1 is the conclusion of Holocaust survivor Vladek Spiegelman's story and of the father-son relationship explored throughout the work.

This book tells the story of Vladek's time in Aushwitz, the liberation of the camps and the rebuilding of a new life. There is a lot more in Maus 2 about the relationships and mental trauma of a Holocaust survivor. It's really very moving.

Maus 2 is the second testament to Speigelman's brilliance as a story-teller and artist, Maus 1 being the first. His understanding of the depth of history and how it effects our lives is impressive.

Spectacular account of the Holocaust.......2005-07-09

I first read Maus II when I was in fourth or fifth grade, but, of course, I didn't really grasp the true horror of it all at the time. I decided to buy a copy a couple of months ago and see if it lived up to my memory, and I was not disappointed. Now that I'm nine or ten years older and more attuned to the world and its history, it's that much more poignant. The insanity of the time period is hard to comprehend, but even in a cartoon, Spiegelman is able to give us some small idea of the reality.

I definitely recommend this book to everyone. Even if (like me) you're not a fan of graphic novels, this is still worth the read.

Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language

Average customer rating:

comfortable in London, half way between New York and Cracow..
Lost in Translation
Lost, But Found As Well
Enlightening description of immigration and languages
a classic

Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language
Eva Hoffman
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140127739

Amazon.com

The condition of exile is an exaggeration of the process of change and loss that many people experience as they grow and mature, leaving behind the innocence of childhood. Eva Hoffman spent her early years in Cracow, among family friends who, like her parents, had escaped the Holocaust and were skeptical of the newly imposed Communist state. Hoffman's parents managed to immigrate to Canada in the 1950s, where Eva was old enough to feel like a stranger--bland food, a quieter life, and schoolmates who hardly knew where Poland was. Still, there were neighbors who knew something of Old World ways, and a piano teacher who was classically Middle European in his neurotic enthusiasm for music. Her true exile came in college in Texas, where she found herself among people who were frightened by and hostile to her foreignness. Later, at Harvard, Hoffman found herself initially alienated by her burgeoning intellectualism; her parents found it difficult to comprehend. Her sense of perpetual otherness was extended by encounters with childhood friends who had escaped Cracow to grow up in Israel, rather than Canada or the United States, and were preoccupied with soldiers, not scholars. Lost in Translation is a moving memoir that takes the specific experience of the exile and humanizes it to such a degree that it becomes relevant to the lives of a wider group of readers.

Customer Reviews:

comfortable in London, half way between New York and Cracow.........2007-03-25

I will not refer to the book itself as so many have reviewed it already. I just wish to make a brief comment, in addition to stating that it is a good book

The author, Eva Hoffmann, would never have written this particular book if, when leaving Poland, her mother had had the last word on where to immigrate to, North America or Israel. She had preferred Israel and the anxt, the feeling of being torn between two cultures would not have haunted her enough to write a book. I too have been transplanted. In my case at least three time but possibly five. As right through my cultural identity was always clear to me as Jewish, I could move from culture to culture without feeling that I had to be "translated" into them. Only few will understand what I am trying to say: had she been better grounded in her Jewish culture and identity, she would never have felt such conflict.

On the other hand, for those of us who have experienced her "angst" though in a lower dose, the book is a useful projection of something that could not be understood except as such a total and essential question; magnified for the sake of study.

If not London, but Jerusalem would have made Eva Hoffmann feel comfortable, she would be a less anxious (neurotic?) person but perhaps a lesser thinker. This is a book to keep even after reading it. It is almost a reference book.

Lost in Translation.......2007-01-04

A wonderful book on moving from one culture to another and one language to another--Polish to English. Anyone who has had this experience will immediately identify with the author. Eva Hoffman writes beautifully about every nuance of her family's move as a young teenager from Communist Poland to Canada. Cultures that are superficially similar turn out to be very different and the effect on family life is staggering.

Lost, But Found As Well.......2007-01-01

Hoffman's description of Poland in the Communist years following World War II is riveting, and so is her narrative of life in the U.S. following her arrival here at age 13. But what impresses me most about this book is its assured writing style, and the author's ability to skip back and forth from one decade and year to another without boring or losing the reader. Hoffman is an unusually gifted writer. I am using her text as a teaching tool for a would-be memoir/autobiographer. Thank heaven her parents survived the Holocaust and brought her to us.

Enlightening description of immigration and languages.......2006-12-16

I started reading this wonderful book 6 months before I left Brazil towards Israel. After finishing the first Part (Paradise) I just could not keep on reading, and I abandoned the book for a while. After I landed in Israel I re-took the book and was delighted again with the realness of it. A thought occurred to me that the reading was so descriptive of the immigration sentiment that I just could not understand it before immigrating myself.

The book helped me to understand and to organize the infinite sensations that come with the leaving/arriving to another country. How the language affects the way we think and act, how sadness and happiness are mingled into one strange feeling, how we cope and forget without noticing, and how we urge to succeed and prove that we can be part of the new country.

In addition, the book also brought to me new feelings and curiosities about my grandparents, whom also escaped from Poland and Russia in the late 40's. Hoffman describes so well how the old traditions and languages influenced the new live of those who left their country because of prejudice and persecution!

One passage that I am specially fond of: "No, I'm no patriot, nor was I ever allowed to be. And yet, the country of my childhood lives within me with a primacy that is a form of love. (...) All it has given me is the world, but that is enough. It has fed me language, perceptions, sounds, the human kind. It has given me the colors and the furrows of reality, my first loves. The absoluteness of those loves can never be recaptured: no geometry of the landscape, no haze in the air, will live in us as intensely as the landscapes that we saw as the first, and to which we gave ourselves wholly, without reservations." It reminds me of Wordsworth when he writes about Tintern Abbey.

A wonderful life-changing book.

a classic.......2006-06-19

I loved this book when it came out and I love it still many rereadings later. This portrait of the Wandering Jew as a young girl begins with Hoffman's childhood in Cracow, Poland just after the second world war; moves to Vancouver, British Columbia when she is thirteen; continues on to Texas and Massachusetts for her university years; and ends in New York, where she becomes a writer and an editor at the New York Times Book Review. It encompasses many themes: the defining power of language; the cost of changing cultures, the construction of personal identity, and the consequences, for many Jews, of the Nazi and Communist regimes. Hoffman was born in the summer of 1945. Like many Jews in post-war, Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe, the Hoffmans observed Passover and had home-baked challah, on shabbat but Eva was culturally Polish, reading Sienkiewicz's nationalistic novels, playing Chopin etudes, attending church with her friends, receiving gifts on St. Nicholas's Day. After emigration, she adapts to North American culture, first Canadian, then Texan, then New York. This is a memoir squarely in the Jewish immigrant tradition but one in which the immigrant is a graduate student at Harvard, and relates her situation not only to Mary Antin but to contexts laid out by Sartre and Nabokov, Jung and Freud. Lost in Translation contains stories and essays, phrases to ruminate on, ideas to consider. It is a demanding read that challenges its reader to consider her own autobiography, her own childhood, her own assumptions. Having compiled an international bibliography of Jewish women's non-fiction books with poet Irena Klepfisz (available on my website) , I can say this is one of my favorites.

Average customer rating:

I wanted to read it since many years ago
DEVASTATING
Other Books
Powerful, poignant - a modern classic
The best-written character lost in dreck

Sophie's Choice
William Styron
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679736379
Release Date: 1992-03-03

Book Description

Three stories are told: a young Southerner wants to become a writer; a turbulent love-hate affair between a brilliant Jew and a beautiful Polish woman; and of an awful wound in that woman's past--one that impels both Sophie and Nathan toward destruction.

Download Description

One of the two or three finest novels about the Holocaust, Sophie's Choice encapsulates through Sophie's anguished story the sweep and brutality of history. The basis for a famed and honored movie with Meryl Streep (Academy Award Winner), the novel has ga

Customer Reviews:

I wanted to read it since many years ago.......2007-10-11

I first read some pages of Sophie's Choice in 1986, when a friend of mine would carry it for his personal reading. There was no Internet the way it is nowadays. If you wanted to buy books in English in a country where it wasn't the official language, you were forced to go to a seller whose prices were very high. Now, it took me less than 10 minutes to find the edition which pleased me the most and I proceeded to purchase it instantly. In a matter of 6 days I had the book in my hands here in Guatemala. I am happy with it, not only for the fact it is a superb novel written by a superb author, but with the quality of the material, the format of the book, the size and shape of the font type, the unique design of the cover and, of course, its very low price.

DEVASTATING.......2007-09-22

While the movie version of this book features an indelible performance of Sophie by the lustrous Meryl Streep, Styron's novel is in all ways richer, thicker, yet more taut and horrifying than the movie could ever be. This is one those books you become invested in; you can't put it down yet it draws you closer to the flame. It has never left me after 20 years. One of the all-time best novels about World War II, with almost tangible descriptions of places you know - like Brooklyn - and places you hope you never know - like Auschwitz.

Other Books.......2007-09-03

Sophie, a woman, is a concentration camp survivor. This has left her, not unsurprisingly, with a lot of problems.

This carries over into her life in the United States, and the relationships she has, in particular with one man. He is also an unstable and broken individual.

This is not set up to be a happy story.

Powerful, poignant - a modern classic.......2007-08-22

The cover for the edition I read looks like a romance novel, and the first third of the book reads like one, albeit a tortured one.

Then the core of the story is revealed, with Auschwitz and all its horrors taking center stage. I have read books with brief mentions of the camps, and of course seen Schindler's List, but this was by far was the clearest rendition of the evils performed there.

A hard read at times, but a necessary one.

The best-written character lost in dreck.......2007-08-07

In academic discussions, I have heard the nature of Sophie's actual 'choice' for decades. I decided I ought to read a book from which the central choice is so often quoted.

For those interested in Holocaust Studies, this is not the book you're looking for, and I urge you to seek out nonfiction accounts; this is a novel about a young American man's postwar intimate relationships and (sexual and creative) maturation.

For those who, like me, have heard of Sophie and her choice, I must say that in her, Styron creates a fascinating and, sometimes, brilliantly executed character. Her own Polish identity, her anti-Semitism, her choice-making moments throughout her life, and her compromised sense of self are facets of a richly dimensional character. Styron's struggles to write about an abused and damaged woman sometimes fail quite badly, though; especially (but certainly not only) those of us who've been abused may notice how he often mischaracterizes the felt experience.

The reason for my two-star review, however, is one I share with others; the main character of Stingo, which certainly seems quite autobiographical at times, takes up far more of the narrative and is far, far less interesting than Sophie, unfortunately! How could the author not tell, when finished, that his title character was much more compelling? I do believe I understand the ways he attempted to interweave the narratives of the different characters, but for most of the book, I wished this sighing, beer-drinking, horny boy would step aside so I could hear more of Sophie. Perhaps it is merely that I can't identify with the main character at all, perhaps [mild spoiler follows here] it's that at some point he invariably wishes to hit and/or rape every young woman with which he meets up, but for the most part, it's that he's just not that interesting. And although the two main characters profess a disdain for Freudianism, the whole book is so laced with layman's psychobabble that it added to my tedium. All in all, this was a somewhat tiresome book featuring one gripping character who, alas, is not the main character.

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The World Must Never Forget
eleanor's best book ever!
An Aryan and Jew become friends
This is a book you can not put down!
Amazing Story that takes your Breath Away.

Parallel Journeys
Eleanor H. Ayer , Helen Waterford , and Alfons Heck
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0689832362

Book Description

She was a young German Jew.

He was an ardent member of the Hitler Youth.

This is the story of their parallel journey through World War II.

Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck were born just a few miles from each other in the German Rhineland. But their lives took radically different courses: Helen's to the Auschwitz extermination camp; Alfons to a high rank in the Hitler Youth.

While Helen was hiding in Amsterdam, Alfons was a fanatic believer in Hitler's "master race." While she was crammed in a cattle car bound for the death camp Auschwitz, he was a teenage commander of frontline troops, ready to fight and die for the glory of Hitler and the Fatherland. This book tells both of their stories, side-by-side, in an overwhelming account of the nightmare that was WWII. The riveting stories of these two remarkable people must stand as a powerful lesson to us all.

Customer Reviews:

The World Must Never Forget.......2007-03-27

The world must never forget the holocaust. Today some people espouse a theory that the nearly 12,000,000 deaths (6,000,000 of them Jews) at the hands of the Nazi party never happened. This sad, but honest, tale traces the lives of two persons who lived through that era. Helen Waterford was a Jew who experienced the atrocities first hand. Alfons Heck was a high ranking member of Hitler's youth. Both lived to tell their tales. Both met each other after the war. Both told their tales together. This book alternates chapters between the two principle characters so the reader can witness this period through eyes on both sides of the ideological conflict. This is really two books in one. Either story will challenge the mind and heart. Either one of the stories is an important read, but both placed together in this manner makes for a 5-star book. Our local middle school uses this classic in some of the literature classes. You will be richer for having read this book.

eleanor's best book ever!.......2006-08-14

WOW, what a book i would say. It's a very moving book about the memoirs of Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck during WWII.This book should be in high school history not to say only for high schoolers but 12 year olds and up.

An Aryan and Jew become friends.......2006-08-02

This book is not your usual book. It details the lives of Ayran Alfons Heck and Jewish Helen Waterford.

Alfons was a member of the Hitler Youth and fought-and even met Adolf Hitler. After the war he was depressed about the things that he and his countrymen did to the Jews and moved first to Canada and then to the U.S.

Helen is a Jew who spend part of the war hiding with her husband. They were eventually caught. Helen's husband did not survive, but Helen did, eventually moving from Holland to the U.S. with her daughter Doris.

While in the U.S Helen read some of the things Alfons wrote about and contacted him leading to a friendship and career as they travel telling their stories to students all over the place.

A very moving book!

This is a book you can not put down!.......2006-06-27

Seriously this book is impossible to stop reading once you pass a certain point. I stayed up 'til seven in the morning reading this book. Mind you I started reading that night around ten or eleven at night. It is seriously that captivating. This book tells some very important and over-all relatively unknown facts about the period surrounding WWII. It is an intriguing and captivating book that I believe every human being high school age and older should read. I also think it should be added to high school curriculums.

Amazing Story that takes your Breath Away........2006-05-03

This was a very touching and sweet story. It is amazing that someone would be that mean to take thousands of lives and destroy them. It is also amazing that [Hitler] would force kids to join the army. I would hate to serve him.

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Excellent Novel
Long and boring
Exodus
The Ode to Promise Land
Rebirth of a Nation

Exodus (Modern Classics)
Leon Uris
Manufacturer: Wings
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0517207982
Release Date: 2000-04-04

Book Description

Exodus is an international publishing phenomenon--the towering novel of the twentieth century's most dramatic geopolitical event. Leon Uris magnificently portrays the birth of a new nation in the midst of enemies--the beginning of an earthshaking struggle for power. Here is the tale that swept the world with its fury: the story of an American nurse, an Israeli freedom fighter caught up in a glorious, heartbreaking, triumphant era. Here is Exodus --one of the great best-selling novels of all time.

From the Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Novel.......2007-10-12

This is a powerful novel. You won't be able to put it down. Surely, the author is partisan, but isn't every author? The book is well worth reading. Tom Segev's "One Palestine, Complete" is a non-fictional account of the same topic.

Long and boring.......2007-10-05

I have had this book in my line-up for quite some time. Every time I looked at it as a possible read I just got a sense that it would be uninteresting. Well, I have to say that my fears were warranted. This book is almost as long and arduous as the plight of the Israelites. The story itself would be better off without the huge section of dull history stuck in the middle. I did become involved in the characters to a point, but never got a true feeling of realness in them. They just never completely developed. I do have to say that I came out with a better sense of the problems that the Israelites have had to face and I am sure that was the author's purpose.

Exodus.......2007-08-09

This time I read the book, my 4th to be exact, it was still as amazing as the first time. It was and remains my favorite book.

The Ode to Promise Land.......2007-04-04

One of the most powerful books of the last century, Leon Uris "Exodus" (1960) is an exiting and deeply moving novel which was written by a talented and passionate man. The best, the most inspirational parts of the book are the depictions of the historical events dealing with the origins of ghetto system, pogroms in Russia, the long and fascinating journey of two brothers from a small Russian town to Palestine by foot, the ideas of Theodor Herzl, the birth of kibbutzes in Palestine, and enormous labor of kibbutznicks to make the land fertile, to grow plants and trees where the desert, rocks, and swamps had been. Uris was also able to find the compelling words, images, and characters to reflect on the tragedy of European Holocaust, on the dramatic story of United Nations voting for partition of Palestine in 1947 and on the war of the infant state of Israel against its multiple and hostile neighbors for the right to exist and be an independent country. I took the book with me in my trip to Israel a year and a half ago and reading it while be able to see the places it describes with such passion and love, to see the land that is called "promised land" or "Holy land" WAS one of the most emotional and unforgettable experiences in my life.

Rebirth of a Nation.......2007-01-18

In the same manner that Herman Wouk's "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" took us through the vast event that was WWII, as seen through the eyes of a family of beloved fictional characters -- so does Leon Uris' "Exodus" carry us through the labor pains and birth of the modern State of Israel, as seen through the eyes of a family of fictional figures in that resurrected nation.

The story is huge in scope and Uris covers a lot of territory within the allotted pages. He takes us from the Jewish displaced persons camps of post war Europe, through the Zionist immigration into Palestine(much of it illegal) under the British mandate, then through the rebuilding of the land and the growing skirmishes leading to all out war for survival as the Britsh withdrew (as prescribed by the UN) and the State of Israel was birthed - and immediately and overwhelmingly attacked by the surrounding Arab nations. Miraculously, Israel overcame their attackers, survived, and even thrived.

As best I can judge from comparison to other sources, the historical sequence of events as described by Uris is accurate. The information is highly educational. More subjectively, Uris was Jewish and writes from a Zionist perspective. He depicts the Hebrews as noble, resourceful, and courageous. Generally, the Arab elements are portrayed as cruel, deceptive, cowardly, and not given to playing by the rules. The British are painted as anti-Semites. I'll leave it to the reader to root out the truth of the matter.

Uris does not neglect the spiritual aspect and the acknowledgment of the supernatural provisional and protective hand of God . . . the God of the Hebrews. Uris employs this sometimes by intimation and sometimes very directly.

The author did masterful research and presentation relating to the historical facts. However (at least in this early novel), his character development and continuity, and dialogue, is not on par with other 20th century master novelists (use Herman Wouk again for comparison). Some characterizations are overstated, others are fluid and changing, some are borderline silly. Also, Uris could have given us a little better peek at the personalities, quirks, foibles, etc. of the actual historical political and military figures of the era (David Ben Gurion is barely mentioned just a couple of times). He didn't. A shame.

Still - this is an epic piece of modern historical fiction. If you deeply love or hate Israel, this is worth the read and highly recommended.

Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors

Average customer rating:

How did the world let this happen?
Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors
Excellent
Stories of the soul
A sad story.

Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors
Dith Pran
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0300078730

Amazon.com

Dith Pran, the Cambodian photojournalist portrayed by Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields, compiled this collection of eyewitness accounts to the genocide perpetrated by Pol Pot's regime from 1975 to 1979. All of the survivors who recount their stories here were children when the Khmer Rouge took power, and the horrific images from a time when an estimated third of the Cambodian population died of disease, starvation, and execution remain fixed in their minds to this day.

The bleakness of evil made commonplace permeates these testaments. "There was a man who was friends with a woman, and they had a friendly chat under a tree," one woman writes. "Pol Pot saw them and accused them of having an affair... Pol Pot tied them up on a cross and then told everyone to watch the couple being questioned and hit. The lady was pregnant and was hit until she lost the baby and died. The man was also beaten to death." As Cambodians struggle to rebuild their lives and nation, books such as this make sure that they--and we--will never forget the depths from which they have been forced to rise.

Customer Reviews:

How did the world let this happen?.......2006-05-01

This is one of the most powerful books I have read. The writing may not be the greatest. After all it is not a novel; it is a composition of the stories of Cambodians that have survived horrendous atrocities. Before we blame the U.S. we must realize that The U.N. and the rest of the world failed to take action as well. Would the public have supported sending troops into a situation similar to Vietnam? Is Burma the next killing field? We still ignore similar circumstances that are occurring as I type this review.

Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors.......2004-01-21

This book of memoirs is deeply moving with one eulogy to a mother which I will never forget. It brought me to tears and crying out loud. Books such as these should be read by our youth before they enlist in the armed services. Naive Americans such as Jessica Lynch might not be so swept up by the manipulative promises of military recruiters if they became more informed before they enlist.

Excellent.......2003-03-31

This is a good introduction for anyone who wants to learn about life under the Khmer Rouge. The stories may be different, but they all provide a vivid detail of children struggling to survive Pol Pot's regime.

Stories of the soul.......2003-01-19

I read a lot of books Cambodia. This is yet another collection of stories about people who survived the holocaust. My heart is always touched by such stories. These types of books are always similar even though the stories are specific to individuals there are common themes. If you are interested in more personal accounts there are 2 others which I would recommend. "When Broken Glass Floats," and "First They Killed My Father."

A sad story........2002-01-14

These are the collected accounts of children who suffered untold atrocities under the Pol Pot regime such as torture, rape, starvation, beating, and killing. People were buried alive or thrown into a pot and cooked like fish or poultry. Others had their gallbladders and liver removed to serve as meals for the Khmer Rouge.

This is the story of a revolution going haywire and of ruthless men who, in the name of distorted and senseless ideologies, inflicted pain, fear, terror, and death on their countrymen.

Book Description

Between 1915 and 1923, over one million Armenians died, victims of a genocidal campaign that is still denied by the Turkish government. Thousands of other Armenians suffered torture, brutality, deportation. Yet their story has received scant attention. Through interviews with a hundred elderly Armenians, Donald and Lorna Miller give the "forgotten genocide" the hearing it deserves. Survivors raise important issues about genocide and about how people cope with traumatic experience. Much here is wrenchingly painful, yet it also speaks to the strength of the human spirit.

Customer Reviews:

Numbing.......2007-08-28

Very well designed and laid out, the background to this very sad chapter in history is nevertheless one of the most poignant I have ever read. This forgotten first Genocide of the 20th Century should be in the curriculum of every senior school and read by all politicians and law makers.
The last phase of Genocide is it's denial and unfortunately most of the 103 interviewees will have died under the enormous pressure of their pain and sufferings ignored and denied for nearly 100 years.

"Anatomy of Human Evil & Flickering Flames of Hope".......2007-02-13

"Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide", Donald & Lorna Miller, UC Press, CA, 1999, ISBN-13 978-0-520-212956-4, pbk 192 pgs., plus 3 Appendices 15 pgs., Notes 24 pgs., Biblio 5 pgs., Index 4 pgs., Map & 15 pgs. of B/W photos, 9" x 6"

Authored by Donald Miller, USC Prof. of Relig. & wife Lorna Miller whose parents survived the Armenian Genocide (AG) providing Armenian translation from personally conducted audio-taped interrogations with 103 (62f/41m) Armenians born in Turkey. Interviewees largely garnered from Southern California. Using "Interview Guide" as format allowed representative sampling & synthesis of queries for proper balance of content & a check for internal consistency.

Book is in 3 Parts: - I: Historical Background, II: Survivor Accounts, and III: Analysis. - but also Appendices on Methodology, Interview Guide, & Survivors Interviewed. A large portion of the material is similar in detail, very often many precise quotations, etc. of same material given in most contemporary books on AG, thusly, names, dates, places & events are validated & often same reference sources utilized extensively.

However, unlike most treatises on AG, this oral history provides a much keener, even intimate depiction of life in Anatolia before & after the massacres & genocide that details ghoulish atrocious barbaric acts of torture, killings, rape; of family dissolutions; of adopting survival techniqes occasionally working to thwart being murdered or quash a suicide. There are sundry, detailed references to acts of kindness shown by a few Turks, rarely a Kurd; but much tribute is paid to that help & hope extended by charitable organizations (for the "starving Armenians") of several countries, of missionaries & of orphanages, etc. wonderfully helpful to the child survivors. A large section devoted to emigrations, resettlements, & of survivor's responses & their moral reflections on the genocide is also unique to this book.

The photographic reproductions are flunky due to inferior paper quality. If one is bent on reading 3 or 4 books on AG, this should be one of those books because it reflects with such great clarity the horrific evils of war & genocide on infants, children, mothers & the family structure. It examines the anatomy of human evils even when the flame of hope flickered with great uncertainty.

Gift for my husband.......2007-01-15

My husband is reading this book and finds it well written and well documented. As with all books on this subject is is very hard reading, but does a good job of explaining what took place in the lives of individuals and families.

A fascinating perspective.......2005-06-06

The authors have tapped into a vastly unknown arena, by seeking out survivors of the century's first genocide. It is a riveting read of testimonies, interwoven with sociological and psychological theory, to explain how the survivors have made it through and coped with the memories, losses and experiences. It is probably the largest collection of testimonies in one publication, and for students of psychology or sociology, it is a must-read.

The authors very plainly state in language that a layperson is comfortable the backgrounds and theories surrounding survivor personalities. They address the survivors' reactions to the continued denial of the genocide by the Turkish government; the interesting repeated experience of Armenian children leaving Turkish homes for orphanages, and the path many survivors have taken to end up in the United States.

A good read, sometimes a difficult one due to the subject matter, but one that is important due to an event that is largely forgotten.

Keeps up the memory of the armenian genocide.......2005-05-14

Personal reports are the best way to silence those who are not ashamed to deny a genocide, even though it is a proven fact.

Let's read books like "Survivors" and never forget, what humans can do to other humans.

Average customer rating:

more than just a survivor
A "Must Read" Book
Unbelievable horror!

Echoes from the Holocaust: A Memoir
Mira Ryczke Kimmelman
Manufacturer: University of Tennessee Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0870499564

Customer Reviews:

more than just a survivor.......2007-02-25

Mira lived to tell the tale of the holocaust. She's carried the message of strength and forgiveness, of working through the horrors she's lived by bringing the message to all who will listen. This is a strange and different book: on the one hand, so repulsive, so unbelievable, yet, on the other hand, compelling. Several questions ran through my mind: how does a person continue to live with any humanity at all after such an experience; why does one person live, while all the rest die; what kind of magnetism did Mira have that encouraged people to help her?
I've met Mira; she lives here in my home town of Oak Ridge. She will speak before my class. Perhaps my questons will be answered, and I will know who Mira is after all.

A "Must Read" Book.......2006-04-13

Echoes from the Holocaust by Mira Ryczke Kimmelman is a riveting memoir that recounts her life as a child in Danzig to her life in the United States after World War II. Mira describes how the innocence, effulgence, and peace of her youth are shattered once the Nazi troops force her family to leave their home in Poland in October 1939. Embracing her Jewish heritage, Mira tells of how she strives to preserve her identity and pride as a Jew alive by receiving secret Hebrew lessons, attending prohibited Jewish gatherings, and becoming a member of the Zionist movement. Kimmelman refuses to let herself become discouraged when she learns that more than twenty of her family members and friends are killed by the SS officers.

Infused with aspirations, Mira does whatever she can to cope with the persecution she and others receive at the ghettos and concentration camps. After suffering from typhoid, physical torture, starvation, horrendous living conditions, and simple dehumanization, Mira continues to be a burning flame among all the melted candles. All her struggles and lucky moments become learning experiences.

Mira is able to move on with her life, after the end of the war in 1945. She marries Max Kimmelman, another Holocaust survivor, and has several children and grandchildren after. She gives them the names of her relatives and close companions so that her memories of them will live on. Although life in the United States becomes a bit of a struggle, Mira manages to carve out a content life with her husband and family. She continues to encompass her traditions and tell her story of survival.

The memoir is written simplistically, but with very powerful imagery and episodes, that capture Mira's moments effectively. Metaphors, similes, or hyperboles are not necessary to make this memoir memorable. The book is divided into several short chapters that make it an easy read. With cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, this book becomes a real page-turner. An atmosphere of hope surrounds the events Kimmelman depicts and reiterates the idea that Mira has survived for a purpose. No history book can tell a story such as this one. To capture the meaning and depth of the Holocaust, one must go out and read Mira Kimmelman's account.

Unbelievable horror!.......2001-05-21

From a priveleged upbringing in pre-war Gdansk, the author and her family are deported first to Warsaw then to other ghettos and camps. The book is written in a frank, no-nonsense fashion and she really states the facts about what happened to her and her family. An amazing book and one that everyone should read.

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