Reviews

The Beautiful Mrs Seidenman by Andrzej Szczypiorski

julia_stng's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad

3.5

desirosie's review against another edition

4.0

This book was fascinating in its ability to create suspense and foreboding even though Szczypiorski tells you each character's post-war fate as he weaves his way through the story. To feel that suspense though, you have to know that the failed Warsaw Ghetto uprising is about to begin. What makes Irma Seidenman so appealing is personal to each of the individuals who play a crucial role in her fate. I may not have understood it personally, but I didn't need to, because the writing (and the translation) was more than convincing (although while she is a brunette on this cover, I don't understand). And of course, this book was about so much more than 36 tense hours in Warsaw in 1943; it was about Poland in the cruel 20th century.

feliz_in_a_bucket's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Grief, Murder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Antisemitism, and Death

justdani's review against another edition

5.0

Ein moderner, polnischer Klassiker von 1986, der 1988 bei uns veröffentlicht wurde. Die Geschichte lässt sich sehr leicht lesen, und ist auch wegen der episodenartigen Ausarbeitung keine schwere Kost. Themen des Buches sind individueller Schuld des Einzelnen in einem totalitären System, und Entschuldigung gewisser Taten Bewährung vor dem Hintergrund kollektivem Handelns.

Mehr dazu erfahrt Ihr in meiner Videorezension auf meinem YouTube-Kanal "JustDani".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8O55st-c7M

milchtute's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

kingkong's review against another edition

3.0

There are some cool scenes for sure

mslaura's review against another edition

2.0

I did not enjoy this book at all. Perhaps it is a function of the translation, but I found the writing dry and the story line difficult to follow. The characters never came to life for me and I just never connected.

Ratings:

Writing 3
Story line 2
Characters 2
Emotional impact 2

Overall rating 2.25

scarpuccia's review against another edition

4.0

I thought I was going to love this. It begins so brilliantly. The stories of the individual interconnected lives he focuses on are initially deeply compelling. It's 1943 in Warsaw. The first thing he shows us is how the social hierarchy of Warsaw has changed under the Nazi occupation. Ideally, civilisation is a social order founded on a hierarchy of spirit, sensibility, acumen. A police state enables the uncouth to lord it over their spiritual superiors. Here a former judge is at the mercy of a benign profiteer who has benefitted from the theft of all Jewish property. Power has shifted from the well-educated to the streetwise and unscrupulous. This was brilliantly achieved. We are then shown the close friendship of two young boys, one a Jew, the other a Catholic. Equals in every sense except in the eyes of the Nazis. Again this is brilliantly and poignantly done. The Catholic boy is in love with a neighbour's wife. This is the beautiful Mrs Seidenman. She is Jewish but pretending to be Catholic and is betrayed to the Gestapo by a fellow Jew. The Nazi is another example of the triumph of mediocrity. He has no special gift except a willingness to unquestioningly follow orders. It's often overlooked in the face of their innumerable crimes that the Nazis also sought to annihilate intellect and sensibility.

I suspect Anthony Marra is a fan of this novel as he copies (and improves) Szczypiorski's tactic of linking disparate characters with a single hidden thread and also telling us early on how their lives will pan out in the future. Thus we learn how each character will die early on in their narrative. This didn't bother me so much as Szczypiorski's penchant for abandoning the personal in favour of the philosophical and political. It soon becomes a novel of ideas. And for me the ideas began sucking all drama from the narrative. I grew less and less impressed with his narrative skills. For me too much attention was paid to the post war political convulsions Poland suffers and the novel began at times to read like an essay. Five stars for the first hundred pages but, though it was very wise and brilliantly written, it all ended up a bit lifeless for me. You could call it a disenchanted love letter to Poland. 3.5 stars.

aleksandraiwanowska's review against another edition

5.0

Niesamowita powieść. Była to zdecydowanie jedna z najlepszych książek, które miałam przyjemność przeczytać, w 2021r. Polecam serdecznie. Język, styl, budowanie akcji — to wszystko u Szczypiorskiego jest na wielce wysokim poziomie. Nie jest to najprzyjemniejsza powieść. Podejrzewam, że również nie dla wszystkich.

cynka's review against another edition

3.0

Jestem zaskoczona tym, jak bardzo mi się podobało? Forma, w jakiej "Początek" został napisany jest naprawdę ciekawa i angażująca. Poszczególne opowieści na pozór ze sobą niezwiązane, łączące się między sobą, pokazujące ciągi przyczynowo-skutkowe, różne aspekty historii i motywacje działań bohaterów.

Czasami trochę ciężko mi się było połapać w różnych osiach czasowych, które były ze sobą bardzo przemieszane, pewnie gdybym nie czytała tego "na czas" i na zaliczenie, to odebrałabym to inaczej.