A review by margaret_j_c
Beatrice and Virgil, by Yann Martel

4.0

This book shook me up. Yann Martel infuses Beatrice and Virgil with the same adept magical realism as is found in all his books, and just like his other books he doesn't shy away from the truth of reality – only this time the reality he focuses on is a much more intense, troubling one: the Holocaust, the horrific revelation of human nature that it was. In the book Martel uses a metaphor for faith: it is like being in the sun, and anyone who is in the sun necessarily casts a shadow. If his other books represent the vitality and beauty of living in the sun, this book is the chill, dark shadow. It is an exquisite book, but deeply unsettling.