Looking Back - The Diary of Anne Frank: The Definitive Edition

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Diary of Anne Frank (The Definitive Edition) by Anne Frank

Nonfiction

1947/1995

Finished on January 28, 2002

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

The diary as Anne Frank wrote it: “The single most compelling personal account of the Holocaust ... remains astonishing and excruciating" (The New York Times Book Review).

In a modern translation, this definitive edition contains entries about Anne’s burgeoning sexuality and confrontations with her mother that were cut from previous editions. Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl is among the most enduring documents of the twentieth century. Since its publication in 1947, it has been a beloved and deeply admired monument to the indestructible nature of the human spirit, read by millions of people and translated into more than fifty-five languages. Doubleday, which published the first English translation of the diary in 1952, now offers a new translation that captures Anne’s youthful spirit and restores the original material omitted by Anne’s father, Otto—approximately thirty percent of the diary. The elder Frank excised details about Anne’s emerging sexuality, and about the often-stormy relations between Anne and her mother.

Anne Frank and her family, fleeing the horrors of Nazi occupation forces, hid in the back of an Amsterdam office building for two years. This is Anne’s record of that time. She was thirteen when the family went into the “Secret Annex,” and in these pages, she grows to be a young woman and proves to be an insightful observer of human nature as well. A timeless story discovered by each new generation, The Diary of a Young Girl stands without peer. For young readers and adults, it continues to bring to life this young woman, who for a time survived the worst horrors the modern world had seen—and who remained triumphantly and heartbreakingly human throughout her ordeal.

My Original Thoughts (2002):

I know I've read The Diary of Anne Frank in the past, but it wasn't the definitive edition; this one isn't quite as wholesome as the former! Anne is much more open and honest about feelings toward her parents and the other residents of the Secret Annex, including her romance with Peter. More sexuality is discussed, as well. Would love to have diaries written by Margot and Peter, which would be a great way to compare views of their time in hiding. Anne is wise beyond her years. Her writing seems so mature and insightful for such a young girl! 

Current Thoughts:

A timeless and important read. I wish I had been able to visit the museum in Amsterdam when we were there in 2015, but we didn't have enough time. 

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

 

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Fiction

2018 Harper Paperbacks

Finished on August 21, 2022

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

This beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov—an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity.

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

Had I read the cover of the book, I would have known that The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on a true story, but I didn't realize this until I reached the afterword and the author's note. I wonder if that information would have made a difference in my overall reaction to Morris' debut novel. It took me a while to get hooked, and I found the simplistic writing (particularly the dialogue) halting and awkward, but I was eventually drawn into Lale and Gita's story. I've read many novels set during World War II, including several set in the concentration camps, and while I liked learning about Lale's experience as the "Tatowierer," I didn't learn anything new about Auschwitz or the Holocaust. Lale and Gita's love story overshadows the horrors of the camp, which are given a cursory nod; it's the budding romance that takes center stage. 

There is controversy over the validity of the historical aspects in Heather Morris' novel; Gita's tattoo number, and the story about the use of penicillin on a prisoner, are just two examples. Click here and here to read more.

The Yellow Bird Sings

 

The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner

Fiction

2020 Flatiron Books

Finished on January 19, 2021

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

In Poland, as World War II rages, a mother hides with her young daughter, a musical prodigy whose slightest sound may cost them their lives.

As Nazi soldiers round up the Jews in their town, Róza and her 5-year-old daughter, Shira, flee, seeking shelter in a neighbor’s barn. Hidden in the hayloft day and night, Shira struggles to stay still and quiet, as music pulses through her and the farmyard outside beckons. To soothe her daughter and pass the time, Róza tells her a story about a girl in an enchanted garden: 

The girl is forbidden from making a sound, so the yellow bird sings. He sings whatever the girl composes in her head: high-pitched trills of piccolo; low-throated growls of contrabassoon. Music helps the flowers bloom.

In this make-believe world, Róza can shield Shira from the horrors that surround them. But the day comes when their haven is no longer safe, and Róza must make an impossible choice: whether to keep Shira by her side or give her the chance to survive apart.

Inspired by the true stories of Jewish children hidden during World War II, Jennifer Rosner’s debut is a breathtaking novel about the unbreakable bond between a mother and a daughter. Beautiful and riveting, The Yellow Bird Sings is a testament to the triumph of hope―a whispered story, a bird’s song―in even the darkest of times.

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, particularly novels about World War II. However, it's been a few years since I've read anything set during that time period (as I was getting burned out on the subject), so when a  neighbor loaned me The Yellow Bird Sings, I decided to give it a try.

It took me a little while to get engaged in Roza and Shira's story and the first half felt somewhat repetitive and, oddly (due to the difference in time periods), reminiscent of Emma Donoghue's bestselling novel, Room. The pace eventually picked up in the second half and I was eager to see what the future held for Shira. 

My favorite sections of the book centered around Shira's music lessons and I found myself wishing for a soundtrack, so I could listen to the classical music mentioned. I can easily picture Shira and her violin teacher, Pan Skrzypczak, playing those beautiful pieces together and for this reason, would love to see the book optioned for the big screen.

The Yellow Bird Sings is a fairly quick read and while categorized as general fiction, it could easily cross over to Young Adult fiction. I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as some of my favorites of this genre (The Book Thief, All the Light We Cannot See, City of Thieves, and The Nightingale, to name a few). The ending was somewhat disappointing, but overall I would recommend this to those who enjoy historical fiction.

Looking Back - After Long Silence

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

After Long Silence by Helen Fremont

Nonfiction - Memoir

1999 Delacorte Press

Finished in April 1999

Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Helen Fremont was raised Roman Catholic in America, only to discover in adulthood that her parents were Jews who had survived the Holocaust. Delving into the extraordinary secrets that held her family together in a bond of silence for more than forty years, she recounts with heartbreaking clarity and candor a remarkable tale of survival, as vivid as fiction but with the eloquence of truth. When Helen was small, her mother taught her the sign of the cross in six languages. Theirs was the tender conspiracy of a little girl and her mother at bedtime, protected by a God who could respond in any language. What she didn't understand was that she was being equipped with proof of her Catholicism, a hedge against persecution, real or imagined. It wasn't until adulthood that she began to comprehend the terrible irony of her mother's gesture, as she and her sister discovered their parents' remarkable, long-held secret. She knew that her father had spent six years in the Siberian Gulag, surviving nearly on will alone; that her mother's elder sister, fearless and proud, had married an Italian Fascist whose title and connections helped them to survive during the war. But their faith, their legacy as Jews, was kept hidden for decades.

"After Long Silence" is a searching inquiry into the meaning of identity, self, and history. It's about the devastating price of hiding the truth; about the steps we take, foolish or wise, to protect ourselves and our loved ones. No one who reads this book can be left unmoved, or fail to understand the seductive, damaging power of secrets.

My Original Notes (1999):

Suspenseful narrative, yet somewhat distant. I feel like I learned more about the treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust, but didn't truly connect with any of the people in this memoir.

My Current Thoughts:

Not a remarkable or favorite memoir. 

Night

Night by Elie Wiesel
Memoir
1982 Bantam (First published in 1958)
Finished on November 13, 2017
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family... the death of his innocence... and the death of his GOD. Penetrating and powerful, as personal as The Diary of Anne Frank, Night awakens the shocking memory of evil at its absolute and carries with it the unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again.

Original Yiddish title: Un di Velt Hot Geshvign/And the World Remained Silent

This is another book that I decided to re-read for the Nonfiction Challenge last November. It's a very quick read and I got halfway thru in one afternoon/evening. I found it to be much more powerful than the first time I read it, perhaps because I'm 21 years older than I was back then? It's still a keeper!

My Original Notes (1996):

I highly recommend this book. Short, concise and heartbreaking. How could anyone survive the ordeal without losing their mind?!

The Storyteller

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Fiction
2013 Recorded Books
Read by Mozhan Marno, Jennifer Ikeda, Edoardo Ballerini, Suzanne Toren, and Fred Berman
Finished on May 13, 2016
Rating: 4.75/5 (Fantastic!)

Publisher's Blurb:

Jodi Picoult's poignant #1 New York Times best-selling novels about family and love tackle hot-button issues head on. In The Storyteller, Sage Singer befriends Josef Weber, a beloved Little League coach and retired teacher. But then Josef asks Sage for a favor she never could have imagined-to kill him. After Josef reveals the heinous act he committed, Sage feels he may deserve that fate. But would his death be murder or justice?

I love Jodi Picoult's books, but with alternating POVs and time periods, I should know better than to listen to them on audio. One time period in particular was so out of place, I found it disruptive to the flow of the story. In the print edition, varying fonts for each point-of-view, as well as chapter headings with a character's name, help make the transition between narratives much easier. Unfortunately, these cues are not available to the audio listener. However, all complaints aside, the further into the story I progressed, the more I realized that this book is well worth listening to. The chapters focusing on Minka's story were particularly moving and I found myself deliberately taking my time in order to savor the last section of the book.

As with many works of historical fiction, The Storyteller has inspired me to read more about the camps. There's a new book out by Sarah Helm called Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women. After listening to Minka's story in Picoult's novel, I felt drained and heartbroken for all those who suffered in the camps, so maybe reading about the actual accounts of the horrors that took place would be too sad and depressing. I'm also interested in The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesenthal. In an interview with The Washington Post, Picoult explains how she came to write The Storyteller:

It began with another book, “The Sunflower,” by Simon Wiesenthal, who was a concentration camp prisoner. He was called to the bedside of a dying Nazi officer who wanted to confess what he had done and be absolved by a Jew. There have been a lot of arguments and discussions by philosophical and religious leaders about whether Wiesenthal did the right thing, which was not to forgive this Nazi. He says: “It is not my place. I am not the one he committed the wrong against. Those people are dead, and he can’t ever be forgiven.” What if that same kind of request was made not during the Holocaust but 70 years later? I began to come up with this fictional account of a reclusive woman, Sage, who bonds with an elderly man in her home town, who is everyone’s favorite citizen. He’s been a teacher, a Little League coach. Then he confides his secret.

Final Thoughts:

In spite of my complaints about the flow of the audio version, I thought this was an outstanding novel. I like that it was a departure from the author's usual contemporary stories and believe it's her only work of historical fiction. This is one that was impossible to put down and which I won't soon forget. It is also one that I plan to read again. Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, Everyone Brave is Forgiven, and City of Thieves won't be disappointed.

Looking Back - Night

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Night by Elie Wiesel
Nonfiction - Memoir
1982 Bantam (First published in 1958)
Finished on July 10, 1996
Rating: 5/5 (Outstanding!)

Publisher's Blurb:

A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family... the death of his innocence... and the death of his GOD. Penetrating and powerful, as personal as The Diary of Anne Frank, Night awakens the shocking memory of evil at its absolute and carries with it the unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again.

Original Yiddish title: Un di Velt Hot Geshvign/And the World Remained Silent


My Original Notes (1996):

I highly recommend this book. Short, concise and heartbreaking. How could anyone survive the ordeal without losing their mind?!

My Current Thoughts:

It's probably time to read this book again. 

Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must--at that moment--become the center of the universe.

Looking Back - Katerina

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Katerina by Aharon Appelfeld
Fiction
1991 Random House
Finished on March 17, 1996
Rating: 1/5 (Disliked)




From Publisher's Weekly (1992):

With piercing clarity, Israeli novelist Appelfeld tells the profoundly moving story of Katerina, a Polish housekeeper who works for a succession of Jewish families in the years before WW II. Raised in a culture permeated with virulent anti-Semitism, she must constantly try to overcome the prejudice instilled by her bitter mother, who beat her, and her callous father, who attempted to rape her. One by one, Jewish people who are good to Katerina die: an employer murdered by thugs on Passover; a moody, perfectionistic female pianist. Then her own baby, whom she has raised as a Jew, is snatched from her arms and killed. For knifing her son's murderer, Katerina spends more than 40 years in prison. Other inmates cheer as freight trains take Jews to concentration camps. Released from prison, Katerina lives in a hut on her deceased family's deserted farm and, at age 79, narrates her life story, lamenting that ``there are no more victims in the world, only murderers.'' A theme that might be didactic in the hands of a lesser novelist is here conveyed with moving, unpreachy simplicity. This masterful novel is a powerful study of the poison of prejudice, a poignant meditation on life's horrors, beauty and God's inscrutable ways. Appelfeld imbues every scene with deep humanity in a riveting tale of universal appeal.

My Original Notes:

So-so. Not a whole lot of depth and has a simplistic feel to it. Somewhat boring.

My Current Thoughts:

I have no memory about this book other than my disappointment. I don't think it was one my book club read, so I'm not sure what inspired me to pick it up.

Sarah's Key

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Historical Fiction
2007 St. Martin’s Griffin
Finished on 3/24/11
Rating: 2.5/5 (Fair)




Publisher’s Blurb:

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door-to-door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard—their secret hiding place—and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.

Sixty Years Later: Sarah’s story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own romantic future.

Over the years, I’ve become quite interested in World War II, and I’ve read several books about the Holocaust, so I was eager to finally get a chance to give Sarah's Key a read. I’d heard great things about this novel, but wanted to wait for the hype to die down before reading it myself. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that the delay made any difference. The positives? Well, the short chapters made for a very quick read. Going into the book, I was not familiar with Vel’ d’Hiv, so I appreciated learning about this particular event in Parisian history. However, short chapters, alternating between time periods, does not a great read make. Julia’s narrative is trite and melodramatic, and it was all I could do to continue reading about her unhappy marriage and obsession with Sarah’s life. The novel’s conclusion is contrived and sappy, and I’m fairly certain I’ll take a pass on de Rosnay’s new novel, A Secret Kept.

On Vel’ d’Hiv’:

There had been over four thousand Jewish children penned in the Vel’d’Hiv’, aged between two and twelve. Most of the children were French, born in France.

None of them came back from Auschwitz.

On a memorial on the boulevard de Grenelle:

On July 16 and 17, 1942, 13,152 Jews were arrested in Paris and the suburbs, deported and assassinated at Auschwitz. In the Velodrome d’Hiver that once stood on this spot, 1,129 men, 2,916 women, and 4,115 children were packed here in inhuman conditions by the government of the Vichy police, by order of the Nazi occupant. May those who tried to save them be thanked. Passerby, never forget!

Final thoughts: This is most definitely not of the same caliber as The Book Thief.

And yet, these three words spoke to me:

Zakhor. Al Tichkah.
Remember. Never forget.

Ashes

Ashes by Kathryn Lasky
Teen Fiction (Historical)
2010 Viking Juvenile
Finished on 4/6/10
Rating: 3.5 (Good)




Publisher's Blurb:

Berlin, 1932: In many ways thirteen-year-old Gabriella Schramm lives a charmed, carefree life. She loves her parents and her sister, Ulla. She loves her new literature teacher. She loves her family’s summer lake house, next door to Albert Einstein’s. And most of all, Gaby loves books.

But soon she begins losing these things as Hitler unstoppably climbs to power. People Gaby thought she could trust turn out to be Nazis. Many of her friends are fleeing, or, worse, being taken away. And there’s something troubling about Ulla’s boyfriend that Gaby can’t quite figure out. As always, she turns to her books for comfort—but even those are disappearing.

Newbery Honor winner and master of historical fiction Kathryn Lasky once again brings the past to life with this searing portrait of a nation on the brink of war, and a girl whose life is about to change.


I think I should stop looking for another Book Thief and just go ahead and re-read that fantastic novel. Every other young adult book I've read about the Holocaust and World War II pales in comparison. Ashes was, by far, much better than The Boy In the Striped Pajamas, but it still lacked the literary finesse of Markus Zusak's brilliant novel. I enjoyed Gaby's story and read the book in less than 24 hours, and yet the plot felt contrived. Every opportunity to teach the reader a point in history (including placing key figures, such as Goebbels and Einstein within Gaby's world) was utilized. Zusak did the same, but his historical scenes were seamlessly woven into the storyline. Show, don't tell.

Skeletons at the Feast

Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
Historical Fiction
2008 Shaye Areheart Books
Finished 3/7/10
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)





Publisher's Blurb:

In January 1945, in the waning months of World War II, a small group of people begin the longest journey of their lives: an attempt to cross the remnants of the Third Reich, from the Russian front to the Rhine if necessary, to reach the British and American lines.

Among the group is eighteen-year-old Anna Emmerich, the daughter of Prussian aristocrats. There is her lover, Callum Finella, a twenty-year-old Scottish prisoner of war who was brought from the stalag to her family's farm as forced labor. And there is a twenty-six-year-old Wehrmacht corporal, who the pair know as Manfred—who is, in reality, Uri Singer, a Jew from Germany who managed to escape a train bound for Auschwitz.

As they work their way west, they encounter a countryside ravaged by war. Their flight will test both Anna's and Callum's love, as well as their friendship with Manfred—assuming any of them even survive.

Perhaps not since The English Patient has a novel so deftly captured both the power and poignancy of romance and the terror and tragedy of war. Skillfully portraying the flesh and blood of history, Chris Bohjalian has crafted a rich tapestry that puts a face on one of the twentieth century's greatest tragedies—while creating, perhaps, a masterpiece that will haunt readers for generations.

I seem to be on a World War II kick these days. I was helping a co-worker put together a list of World War II books for an upcoming event at the store and I now have dozens of titles to add to my wish list. I could easily spend a year reading nothing but books set during this time period, but I think that would be a bit too depressing. As it is, I chose a couple of lighter books to read once I finished Skeletons at the Feast.

Skeletons at the Feast is not a light, entertaining read. It's one of the more gritty WWII novels I've read and on several occasions I found myself cringing. We're all aware of the atrocities of this particular war, but to read the details of the incredible cruelty inflicted upon those in the camps and death marches made me stop and wonder if I really wanted to continue reading. But I did. And I'm not sorry, as the book is a refreshing account of a well-documented time in our history.

I was impressed with this novel and found myself wondering why I haven't read more of Bohjalian's books. It's been quite a few years since I read Midwives, The Law of Similars, and Trans-Sister Radio, and I enjoyed each of these enough to think I'd discovered a new favorite author. But I still have several of his works (Water Witches, The Buffalo Soldier, Before You Know Kindness, and The Double Bind) on my shelves or TBR list. And just last month, Secrets of Eden (his 12th novel) was released. Am I the only one who forgets to read an author they enjoy?! If it hadn't been for book club, I may not have stumbled on this gem for who knows how long!

My book club meets in a couple of days and I'm anxious to hear the other members' reactions to this dramatic story. The novel is a little slow-going at the beginning, but once the narrative returns to the earlier days of the war, when the characters come to know one another, the pacing picks up and I found it difficult to set the book aside. But I wouldn't be surprised if some of the group members decided to skip this month's selection due to the disturbing nature of the story.

Bohjalian was inspired to write Skeletons at the Feast after reading the diary of a friend's East Prussian grandmother, which spanned the years between 1920 and 1945. In addition to the diary, Bohjalian's research included several books that are already on my TBR list. One in particular, All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein, continues to call to me. Like Elie Wiesel's Night, I'm sure it will be a heartbreaking read. And yet, I'm still drawn to it and others of this time period. I find I learn a little bit more each time I read a book about World War II.

Final thoughts: I originally gave this book a higher rating (4/5), but while discussing it with my husband, I decided to drop the rating down a notch. The following are my quibbles:

Bohjalian's excessive usage of em dashes was distracting, particularly in the opening chapters. The fact that they're typographically disruptive is one thing, but more importantly, it seemed to indicate a jarringly parenthetical series of thoughts that might have flowed better had they been woven more naturally into the main sentence.

I found it difficult to care about any of the characters and feel they could have been fleshed-out more.

The second portion of the epilogue felt like an after-thought or a means of tying up a loose end. (I can't go into detail without revealing a spoiler.)

The "love affair" between Anna and Callum didn't ring true and the sexually explicit details seemed gratuitous and unnecessary.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Young Adult Fiction - Historical
2006 David Fickling Books
Finished on 2/26/10
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)




Publisher's Blurb:

Berlin 1942. When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

When I learned that The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was coming out on DVD, I decided I needed to make time and give it a read since I'm one who likes to read the book before watching the movie. Now that I've finished the book, well, let's just say I'll be skipping the movie.

Over the years I've become quite a fan of historical fiction, particularly that of World War II. As a matter of fact, my current book is set during WWII and is quite engrossing. And, one of my absolute favorite books is The Book Thief, which, like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, focuses on the life of a young German child during the war. However, that's where the similarities end. John Boyne badly missed the mark with his simplistic tale of a young, naive boy (the son of a high-ranking German soldier), living literally next-door to Auschwitz. The story consists of one-dimensional characters, improbable situations, a ridiculous literary device (the usage of puns to describe Auschwitz and the Fuhrer), and a trivialized plot that barely held my interest and which does no credit at all to the weighty matters with which it attempts to deal.

As I read, I began to wonder exactly for whom this book was written. It lacks the sophistication of any teen book I've read in the past few years, and I found myself comparing the reading level to that of The Penderwicks, which was written for young readers. Obviously, this is not appropriate subject matter for a seven- or eight-year-old, unless handled much more carefully and delicately than Boyne manages here. Yet, it reads as if young children, not teens, were the target audience. What we have here is a book aimed at teens but which talks down to its audience.

Final thoughts: Meh. Read The Book Thief instead.

Maus I

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
Nonfiction - Graphic Memoir
1986 Pantheon
Winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize
Finished on 6/13/09
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)



Publisher's Blurb:

Maus is the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father, his father's terrifying story, and History itself. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), succeeds perfectly in shocking us out of any lingering sense of familiarity with the events described, approaching, as it does, the unspeakable through the diminutive. It is, as the New York Times Book Review has commented, "a remarkable feat of documentary detail and novelistic vividness...an unfolding literary event."

Moving back and forth from Poland to Rego Park, New York, Maus tells two powerful stories: The first is Spiegelman's father's account of how he and his wife survived Hitler's Europe, a harrowing tale filled with countless brushes with death, improbable escapes, and the terror of confinement and betrayal. The second is the author's tortured relationship with his aging father as they try to lead a normal life of minor arguments and passing visits against a backdrop of history too large to pacify. At all levels, this is the ultimate survivor's tale--and that, too, of the children who somehow survive even the survivors.

Part I of Maus takes Spiegelman's parents to the gates of Auschwitz and him to the edge of despair. Put aside all your preconceptions. These cats and mice are not Tom and Jerry, but something quite different. This is a new kind of literature.

It's been years since I first heard about this book and I'm glad I finally got around to getting a copy to read. I've never read a graphic novel (although that's a misnomer for this work, as it's not fiction but rather a memoir), so I wasn't sure what to expect. Would the cartoons distract me? Would they minimize the horrors of the Holocaust? Surprisingly, I found I didn't spend too much time looking at the drawings and wondered if this was common or if a true graphic novel demands more attention to the artwork. And I certainly didn't think this form of narrative did anything to minimize the severity of the story. If anything, its impact might actually have been enhanced, rather than minimized, by the fact that it's such a horrible story told in a medium normally reserved for more innocent, child-like pursuits.

Maus is a deeply moving story, especially knowing it's Spiegelman's father's true history. In spite of the subject matter, I enjoyed this compelling book (as well as one can enjoy such a tragic tale) and I look forward to reading Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began.
Go here to listen to an excellent NPR interview with Art Spiegelman.