A review by yvo_about_books
The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45 by Władysław Szpilman

5.0

Finished reading: March 12th 2014

“And now I was lonelier, I supposed, than anyone else in the world. Even Defoe's creation, Robinson Crusoe, the prototype of the ideal solitary, could hope to meet another human being. Crusoe cheered himself by thinking that such a thing could happen any day, and it kept him going. But if any of the people now around me came near I would need to run for it and hide in mortal terror. I had to be alone, entirely alone, if I wanted to live.”

How to rate a book that contains such a tragic and above all true story of a man who survived the Holocaust against all odds? A story about a Jewish pianist who unsuccesfully tried to save his family, resisted the Nazi's and managed to stay alive under impossible conditions during the Second World War... It is incredible how a human being is capable of dealing with such an amount of physical and mental torture, and I have great respect for both Wladyslaw Szpilman and all other victims of the Holocaust. What makes his story even more special is that it was written right after the war in 1946, while other works appeared only many years after. Not long after Szpilman published his story, the Polish government tried to 'hide' the evidence of the terrible facts and his story wasn't republished until the nineties. If you haven't read The Pianist yet, I suggest you do. It gives you a great impression on how it was like for the Jews during the Second World War.

The Pianist is a very strong read and without doubt recommended to those who are interested in the Second World War and Jewish memoirs. Szpilman's story is both heartbreaking and mindblowing, and one of my favorite reads this year. Don't forget to watch the movie version directed by Roman Polanski if you haven't; it is just as powerful as the novel!