mxgxn_03's review
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
eclectic_reader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
kellyjadecramer's review against another edition
5.0
First of all, this book needs some explanation. A blend of fiction/memoir, it’s based on the true story of an author who as a teen leaves her Facist Italian family to volunteer for the Nazi Labor Camps. After opening her eyes to the horrors of these camps, she joins the resistance and is paralyzed during a bombing in the last months of the war. So it’s a different story of the Holocaust but is no less a scream into the void of humanity’s bottomless potential for evil. This book was published in the 70’s, written over several decades, and only now translated in English.
What stands out about this book is it’s complexity. It’s main focus is memory, specifically how it’s mutated after trauma. What compelled me was that at points the author could not grapple with the choices she made, more so than what had been done to her.
A note: it’s obviously a deeply upsetting book, even though it is starkly original. I had nightmares until I finished it.
What stands out about this book is it’s complexity. It’s main focus is memory, specifically how it’s mutated after trauma. What compelled me was that at points the author could not grapple with the choices she made, more so than what had been done to her.
A note: it’s obviously a deeply upsetting book, even though it is starkly original. I had nightmares until I finished it.
shegetsliterary's review
2.0
Deviation book review - no spoilers -
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This one had such promise but for me I think the beauty was lost in the translation. I've read translated books before and some have been done wonderfully, keeping the full experience intact but unfortunately sometimes it just doesn't work out. This is the case for me.
Deviation, first published in Italian in 1979, is part memoir and part historical fiction. The author begins as a devoted fascist who after hearing of the atrocities being committed in the concentration camps decides to volunteer at one to see for herself. Because for her, it couldn't be as horrific as they are saying it is... Can it? As we all know yes, yes it can and was. The novel follows her journey in and after Nazi Germany and shows how she has to come to terms with what she experienced and saw.
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I really wish the translation had been more fluid and I wasn't exactly a fan of the POV jumping from first to third person. I'm glad I tried it though, the topic is incredibly important.
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Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
.
#deviation #netgalley #bookreview #holocaust #nazigermany #memoir #historicalfiction
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.
This one had such promise but for me I think the beauty was lost in the translation. I've read translated books before and some have been done wonderfully, keeping the full experience intact but unfortunately sometimes it just doesn't work out. This is the case for me.
Deviation, first published in Italian in 1979, is part memoir and part historical fiction. The author begins as a devoted fascist who after hearing of the atrocities being committed in the concentration camps decides to volunteer at one to see for herself. Because for her, it couldn't be as horrific as they are saying it is... Can it? As we all know yes, yes it can and was. The novel follows her journey in and after Nazi Germany and shows how she has to come to terms with what she experienced and saw.
.
I really wish the translation had been more fluid and I wasn't exactly a fan of the POV jumping from first to third person. I'm glad I tried it though, the topic is incredibly important.
.
.
Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
.
#deviation #netgalley #bookreview #holocaust #nazigermany #memoir #historicalfiction
shegetsliterary's review against another edition
2.0
Deviation book review - no spoilers -
.
.
This one had such promise but for me I think the beauty was lost in the translation. I've read translated books before and some have been done wonderfully, keeping the full experience intact but unfortunately sometimes it just doesn't work out. This is the case for me.
Deviation, first published in Italian in 1979, is part memoir and part historical fiction. The author begins as a devoted fascist who after hearing of the atrocities being committed in the concentration camps decides to volunteer at one to see for herself. Because for her, it couldn't be as horrific as they are saying it is... Can it? As we all know yes, yes it can and was. The novel follows her journey in and after Nazi Germany and shows how she has to come to terms with what she experienced and saw.
.
I really wish the translation had been more fluid and I wasn't exactly a fan of the POV jumping from first to third person. I'm glad I tried it though, the topic is incredibly important.
.
.
Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
.
#deviation #netgalley #bookreview #holocaust #nazigermany #memoir #historicalfiction
.
.
This one had such promise but for me I think the beauty was lost in the translation. I've read translated books before and some have been done wonderfully, keeping the full experience intact but unfortunately sometimes it just doesn't work out. This is the case for me.
Deviation, first published in Italian in 1979, is part memoir and part historical fiction. The author begins as a devoted fascist who after hearing of the atrocities being committed in the concentration camps decides to volunteer at one to see for herself. Because for her, it couldn't be as horrific as they are saying it is... Can it? As we all know yes, yes it can and was. The novel follows her journey in and after Nazi Germany and shows how she has to come to terms with what she experienced and saw.
.
I really wish the translation had been more fluid and I wasn't exactly a fan of the POV jumping from first to third person. I'm glad I tried it though, the topic is incredibly important.
.
.
Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
.
#deviation #netgalley #bookreview #holocaust #nazigermany #memoir #historicalfiction
abookishtype's review
3.0
As I read Luce d’Eramo’s Deviation (translated by Anne Milano Appel), I had the image of a moth fluttering around a bug zapper constantly in my head. Lucia, the protagonist of this book—which I can only describe as autofiction—resembles nothing so much as a moth furiously and irrationally trying to kill itself. Lucia volunteers to work as a laborer for the Nazis in Germany to get a better look at the Arbeitslager and Konzentrationslager because she believes that they can’t be as bad as the rumors make out. As if this wasn’t enough of a deviation, Lucia makes decision after decision that puts her straight back into harm’s way. In this reflective book, d’Eramo uses fiction to explore her decisions, the consequences of those decisions, and her lost memories. Fiction that hews closely to autobiography (or vice versa) seems the best way for her to try and understand her actions...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
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