Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

8 reviews

livia_jewel's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, War, and Deportation

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Grief, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child death

leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Vomit, War, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Confinement, Death, Religious bigotry, and Torture

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Sexual harassment

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Iturbe says in an afterword to the book that the facts and history are the bricks in his story, and the fiction is the mortar that he uses to hold it all together. I think this is an important distinction from some other fictional Auschwitz stories, which have been found to have more inaccuracies and controversy regarding "sensationalising" people's real stories. That's not to say that keeping the reality alive isn't important (which it so obviously is), but this book handles the information as sensitively as I think it's possible to do with anything that includes fiction.

The idea of using books for a sense of escape or normality even at the very worst moments of humanity is incredibly humbling. And the "living books" on offer come so close to creating beauty in this bleak landscape. That there are more books on offer than the physical ones in Dita's meagre library, thanks to the vivid memories of some of the teachers and their retellings of popular stories. It's astonishing the lengths adults (and older children like Dita) would go to in order to give the younger prisoners opportunities and education.

Of course the emotion is so raw throughout, as the dates and the number of dead are all taken from accurate records. It's a really difficult book but gives as much information as it can about what happened to all of the people mentioned after the events of the story. The biographies at the end are fascinating - in particular it was astonishing to me how long Joseph Mengele was able to evade capture and live a relatively normal life, after the atrocities he committed and oversaw. I think because of all that it's an important book for keeping stories alive for all the victims, whether they survived or not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Genocide, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, War, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Murder, Hate crime, and Deportation

nneka's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

"The real disease is intolerance"

This book was tearjearking, insightful and at certain times humorous. It really allowed me to delve deeper into the Holocaust and the atrocities that happened in Auschwitz. It is a constant reminder to us all that we can never forget what happened, and Antonio Iturbe did a superb job at ensuring Dita Kraus's voice was heard.

"Adults are corrupted. That's why young people are so important. You can still shape them, improve them"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Child death, War, Antisemitism, and Physical abuse

chronicallyplotting's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book was… It’s hard to put into words how powerful this book and the characters are. Such an amazing story; full of heart ache and truth behind real people who literally survived hell. 
You know a book is amazing when you become invested and feel at times as if you are with the characters. I cried, I found myself gasping when things were revealed, I had to put my cheez-its down because i couldn’t eat while some parts where explained. This is a must read for everyone. History repeats itself, and education is a powerful weapon; the Nazis’ knew this and tried to destroy knowledge and truth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

inkell's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Excrement, Genocide, and Xenophobia

lauramcc7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, War, Racism, Murder, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Excrement, Homophobia, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, and Suicide

mjwilliamson's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I enjoyed this book, though saying that makes me feel weird. It was very sad and thought provoking. The idea that these were real people, a real place and real stories was probably the most terrifying thing about it all. But that was also what kept me engaged. I needed to know what happened to these people through it all. Their surroundings were so desolate and depressing that it, in a way, made it feel like I needed to protect them. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Excrement, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Murder, and Racial slurs