nanikeeva's review
5.0
this goes into my category of "i love a good bit of vignettes, with macabre magical realism mixed in, with the holocaust as background"
galengreen's review
5.0
A book of short stories about a polish town during the Holocaust where the Jewish people are portrayed as more than just victims.
bjr2022's review
5.0
In the Land of Armadillos by Helen Maryles Shankman*
This prize-winning collection of connected Nazi occupation stories is so powerful and real that I could only process the feelings of one story a day. Helen Maryles Shankman puts you right there in 1942 Wlodawa, Poland, a small town occupied by Germans that is eventually overtaken by Russians. The people—civilians, soldiers—are so tangible and complex that it hurts. And the writing is perfect: beautiful, seamlessly combining history and folktales, prose and poetry, true stories and fiction (although I gave up googling to fact check), monsters and heroes, and realism and magic. Often, while reading, I found I had stopped breathing and had to consciously remember to exhale.
I read this stunning book as I was simultaneously reeling from the latest display of antisemitism in our U.S. of A. And in a very strange way, it was therapeutic. I felt my roots and that felt good.
________
*Because GR admins have deleted authors’ names from the review titles in daily newsfeeds.
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This prize-winning collection of connected Nazi occupation stories is so powerful and real that I could only process the feelings of one story a day. Helen Maryles Shankman puts you right there in 1942 Wlodawa, Poland, a small town occupied by Germans that is eventually overtaken by Russians. The people—civilians, soldiers—are so tangible and complex that it hurts. And the writing is perfect: beautiful, seamlessly combining history and folktales, prose and poetry, true stories and fiction (although I gave up googling to fact check), monsters and heroes, and realism and magic. Often, while reading, I found I had stopped breathing and had to consciously remember to exhale.
I read this stunning book as I was simultaneously reeling from the latest display of antisemitism in our U.S. of A. And in a very strange way, it was therapeutic. I felt my roots and that felt good.
________
*Because GR admins have deleted authors’ names from the review titles in daily newsfeeds.
If you are bothered by having to scroll to the end of long reviews to learn whose work is being discussed, please ask GR to restore authors’ names to the tops of daily emails of reviews—attributing books to the people who provide the meat for our community’s conversation: [email protected]
edwina's review
5.0
This was such a poignant collection of stories that are set in the midst of the Second World War in Nazi Germany and following the lives of both Jewish people or Germans. Helen Maryles Shankman captured the very essence of what it means to be living in a time where war was an awful place to be a part of. The fantasy and the imaginative addition to the novel was as whimsical as you'd expected it to be with the interweaving of Jewish folklore which was also a beautiful touching note to the stories. Highly recommend the novel!
kleine_e's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
taniabotes's review
4.0
There were many Messiahs in those years, coming from nowhere to emerge as heroes for a brief and terrifying time, vanishing afterward into the banality of everyday existence.
What a beautiful and touching book. In the Land of Armadillos consists of 8 short stories set in Wlodawa, Poland during the Holocaust of WWII. The stories are all interwoven and there are many themes running throughout. It definitely served as a reminder that once you become close to someone it is very difficult to treat them the same as the faceless group. This was one of the best WWII books I've read and I loved the beautiful descriptions, hints of magical realism and fully developed characters. I normally don't read novellas or short stories as it takes me some time to connect, but here I was invested in every story by the end of the first paragraph. The stories written from the perspective of Nazi's were especially interesting and thought-provoking. I look forward to reading more by this author.
My best-loved stories:
1. In the Land of Armadillos - I was shocked to learn that this was based on the live and death of Bruno Schulz.
2. The Messiah,
3. The Jew Hater,
4. The Golem of Zukow and
5. A Decent Man.
alliefeldman219's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
litpicks's review
5.0
Drawn to the cover and the word "Armadillos," I requested access to this title on Netgalley. I probably only read one or two short story collections a year, so it was an unlikely request. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I loved this collection. There were stories I loved more than others, but all of them were very solidly good. To pick favorites, the first, the title story and Jew Hater. I loved that both sides of people, all people, on all sides of the war were exposed: the crushingly evil and also the beautifully redemptive. This is definitely going on my Top Ten of 2016, I wish it was coming out sooner.