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
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Genocide, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, War, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Murder, Hate crime, and Deportation
valeriabee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I never understood the desire to be entertained by people's traumas? This book is based on the life of Dita Kraus, and the author took some artistic liberties by fictionalizing parts of her story. For this reason, it is hard to tell what is true and what is not. I have seen people complain that the narration lacks emotion or passion, but I don't see why that emotion needs to be exaggerated when you're dealing with the genocide of a people. Despite being uncertain about the accuracy of the details, I found the book to be honest. You get the sense of dejection, anger, fear, hopelessness, helplessness, rebellion, and perseverance from the prisoners of Auschwitz. The book is honest about deception, it is honest about the desire to be hopeful, the desire to escape, the desire to survive. There were disturbing moments when you realize some prisoners would take advantage of the more vulnerable for their own survival. At the end of the day, they were all desperate to survive.
I saw someone on GoodReads that they prefer this novel to The Diary of a Young Girl because they found Young Girl to be boring. It is icky to me to desire entertainment from a book about such terrible traumas. I was moved by the honesty of the narrative, independent of the accuracy. It is not five stars because the weird limbo between reality and fiction confuses the narrative.
I saw someone on GoodReads that they prefer this novel to The Diary of a Young Girl because they found Young Girl to be boring. It is icky to me to desire entertainment from a book about such terrible traumas. I was moved by the honesty of the narrative, independent of the accuracy. It is not five stars because the weird limbo between reality and fiction confuses the narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, and Torture
antoniarachael28's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse
bookishalice's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I bought this when I finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s journey last year. I wanted to read more fictionalised accounts of survivors from Auschwitz. I wanted to understand more about their lived experiences. On that front, this book did not disappoint and like all war literature, was incredibly emotive.
The story focuses on Dita, a young girl who is sent to the family camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. I had NO idea there had been a family camp at Auschwitz and so this book provided insight into a part of history previously unknown to me. The book relays her experiences in the camp and introduces the stories of people she meets while imprisoned.
Although I loved these other stories, I felt that the narrative jumped between stories in a disjointed way that left me feeling a little disorientated. These stories could have been structured as separate chapters, dispersed throughout the main story, which I think would have helped with that feeling. This might also have allowed for a more thorough retelling of people’s experiences. I would have loved to read more about Miriam, Renee, Professor Morganstern and Rudi.
It might be because of the translation, but the narrative also felt quite stilted. I swear the tense or the person perspective changed a couple of times. I had to reread paragraphs or phrases and on occasion, this made it quite hard to get through. I will admit that at times, I was counting the pages left, which is a shame to admit.
This falls in the 2 star category due to the narrative structure alone. I found it quite slow paced and hard to get through. But the subject matter really interested me, which pushes it up towards a 3 star!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
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