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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
This is the saddest book I think I've ever read. It made me physically sick. I like sad books but damn
Spoiler!
Al principio un poco flojo, pero a medida que vas avanzando y por ahí de la mitad del libro se vuelve más interesante.
Creo que el final estuvo muy precipitado... luego de sufrir tanto con Dita, me hubiera gustado que te platicaran más al final...
También nos quedamos como Dita: nunca supimos que pasó con Freddy!
Un tanto forzado que nombraran a Ana Frank... creo yo...
No le doy 5 estrellas porque para mí, contaba la historia de lo que veía Dita y a ratos se iba con otros personajes....
Pero sí me gustó!
Al principio un poco flojo, pero a medida que vas avanzando y por ahí de la mitad del libro se vuelve más interesante.
Creo que el final estuvo muy precipitado... luego de sufrir tanto con Dita, me hubiera gustado que te platicaran más al final...
También nos quedamos como Dita: nunca supimos que pasó con Freddy!
Un tanto forzado que nombraran a Ana Frank... creo yo...
No le doy 5 estrellas porque para mí, contaba la historia de lo que veía Dita y a ratos se iba con otros personajes....
Pero sí me gustó!
It never decreases, the horror that a massacre of this scale by a civilised nation could have happened. That being born of a particular race can lead to systematic murder on a factory scale, using state of the art technology. That a nation so similar to our own could find enough willing participants to carry out the evil will of a nazi government.
Amidst the horror the camp inhabitants continued everyday life. Brave, intelligent souls worked hard to bring a routine to each day to keep up hope and spirits, especially amongst the younger children.
At Auschwitz the nazis set up a 'family camp' and the inhabitants of this camp worked. The intention was that this was the camp that the nazis would show the Red Cross if they visited in the hope of persuading them that they were behaving in accordance with international law. How they would explain the smoke and the chimneys is anyone's guess but the Red Cross didn't visit, nobody came until the end of the war.
14 year old Dita comes to the camp with her mother and father. Like many of the camp's inhabitants she is Czech. In the 'school' that is set up in the family camp she is the librarian, charged with looking after the 8 books that have been smuggled into the camp. She checks them out to the teachers, she repairs them and she hides them every night. The nazis know nothing of this as teaching is forbidden, books are forbidden and pencils are forbidden. But for all the evil in humanity there is a greater amount of ingenuity, of spirit, of determination and of love.
This is a novel based on the story of Dita. Many of the characters are real and the events are as described but worked in a storyline format. It is heartbreaking and sickening but also uplifting.
Amidst the horror the camp inhabitants continued everyday life. Brave, intelligent souls worked hard to bring a routine to each day to keep up hope and spirits, especially amongst the younger children.
At Auschwitz the nazis set up a 'family camp' and the inhabitants of this camp worked. The intention was that this was the camp that the nazis would show the Red Cross if they visited in the hope of persuading them that they were behaving in accordance with international law. How they would explain the smoke and the chimneys is anyone's guess but the Red Cross didn't visit, nobody came until the end of the war.
14 year old Dita comes to the camp with her mother and father. Like many of the camp's inhabitants she is Czech. In the 'school' that is set up in the family camp she is the librarian, charged with looking after the 8 books that have been smuggled into the camp. She checks them out to the teachers, she repairs them and she hides them every night. The nazis know nothing of this as teaching is forbidden, books are forbidden and pencils are forbidden. But for all the evil in humanity there is a greater amount of ingenuity, of spirit, of determination and of love.
This is a novel based on the story of Dita. Many of the characters are real and the events are as described but worked in a storyline format. It is heartbreaking and sickening but also uplifting.
I feel like an asshole for not liking this but I just didn't like it. The lack of emotion and flow frustrated me. I understand that this was a translated text but I still didn't make any connection with it.
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Reading books about holocaust survivors has always felt odd to me. I read about these horrific things that have happened to these very real people, however, I very rarely feel anything about it. Yes, of course, I feel a level of sympathy and hurt. The topics discussed are atrocious. But the characters just fall, flat? Throughout this book I failed to connect with any of the people mentioned, even the main character.
The writing was also very poor, which I don't think helped this disconnection I felt. Though this could be a translation issue. I assumed it would focus solely on Dita and her story. But randomly (and I mean very randomly) we would switch to another character's point of view. The people we switched to very rarely interacted with Dita, furthering the feeling they had no connection. I believe the author wanted to mention these other people to bulk out the story, as Dita's story, whilst very interesting, was not terribly long. If I were to write Dita's story, I would focus more on her time in Terezin and life afterwards. To explore how the death of her parents and the other people she met impacted her life.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book. Though one positive is, I learned quite a lot about Auschwitz. Though this need to put facts in did make the conversations seem unnatural and stilited.
If you do want to read a book about a survivor of the Holocaust I recommended the [b:The Endless Steppe|29800412|The Endless Steppe|Esther Hautzig|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1462813650l/29800412._SY75_.jpg|1958155], it's a memoir, meaning it's more naturally written and I connected to the characters much more.
Main character: 3/5
Other characters: 1.5/5
Writing: 1.25/5
Ending: 1.5/5
Overall: 7.25/20
36%
The writing was also very poor, which I don't think helped this disconnection I felt. Though this could be a translation issue. I assumed it would focus solely on Dita and her story. But randomly (and I mean very randomly) we would switch to another character's point of view. The people we switched to very rarely interacted with Dita, furthering the feeling they had no connection. I believe the author wanted to mention these other people to bulk out the story, as Dita's story, whilst very interesting, was not terribly long. If I were to write Dita's story, I would focus more on her time in Terezin and life afterwards. To explore how the death of her parents and the other people she met impacted her life.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book. Though one positive is, I learned quite a lot about Auschwitz. Though this need to put facts in did make the conversations seem unnatural and stilited.
If you do want to read a book about a survivor of the Holocaust I recommended the [b:The Endless Steppe|29800412|The Endless Steppe|Esther Hautzig|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1462813650l/29800412._SY75_.jpg|1958155], it's a memoir, meaning it's more naturally written and I connected to the characters much more.
Main character: 3/5
Other characters: 1.5/5
Writing: 1.25/5
Ending: 1.5/5
Overall: 7.25/20
36%
Great read. Sometimes I forget and books like this are a great reminder.
Beautifully written, a heartbreaking example of courage and conviction in a hopeless situation. A foreword by the real-life Dita gives weight to this horrific account of survival against the odds. If you devoured The Tattooist of Auschwitz as I did, you will find this equally unputdownable
DNF, For school I’m currently reading Night by Elie Wiesel, and I’m afraid reading two books taking place during the holocaust I might get a little burnt out due to their similarities, so I’m saving myself and I hope to pick it back up very soon!