A review by bookishalice
The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

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! 
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