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Reviews tagging 'Death'
Mala's Cat: A Memoir of Survival in World War II by Mala Kacenberg
9 reviews
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Mala’s cat is a story about Mala Kacenberg’ s unique survival of World War II as a Jew from Poland. Alongside Mala is her cat, Malach (meaning angel).
I enjoyed this book for the most part, however I couldn’t bring myself to give it the full 5 stars. Unfortunately, I found the writing to be unengaging and rather lacking. I believe there should’ve been more historical context provided as well as some more in-depth talk about the Jewish religion. There were parts of the book that seemed to be rather confusing that need further explanations. As two events would go on, supposedly, at the same time, yet at different places.
Overall, I believe the book was worth the read, although I wish there were more details that could’ve been provided by an editor as not everyone is well-aware of the specifics of this religion and aren’t well-versed on World War II.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Grief, War
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Death of parent
Minor: Stalking, Car accident
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide
Moderate: Bullying, Slavery, Violence
Minor: Torture, Car accident
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying, Slavery, Torture, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
I’m not going to rate this book because it’s a biography and I feel weird about putting star ratings to people’s actual, real-world experiences. I will say that I found the writing a bit awkward and the title makes little sense because Malach (the cat) isn’t really a prominent figure, and also I feel a little uncomfortable with how much Kacenberg seems to promote people staying in their in-groups and not mingling (though I do understand her apprehension in light of what she’s witnessed and lived through).
No, I don’t really want to talk about the book itself, I’d much rather talk about publisher dishonesty, because here’s the thing: According to two articles I found (links below), a. Mala Kacenberg died at the age of 90, so in 2017 or 2018, and b. Mala’s Cat is actually a republication of Kacenberg’s 1995 book Alone in the Forest. This is pretty much the only information on Mala Kacenberg available online, so I’m inclined to believe these articles, also because I had already suspected as much. I haven’t heard of many 95-year-olds writing books, so it was always a little suspicious that Mala’s Cat would’ve been written recently, and also Kacenberg references an event in the 1940s by saying “almost 50 years later” when the 1940s are more like “80 years later” from a 2020s perspective. Besides that, the author biography given in the book and on the publisher’s website set of my plausible deniability alarm bells:
No, I don’t really want to talk about the book itself, I’d much rather talk about publisher dishonesty, because here’s the thing: According to two articles I found (links below), a. Mala Kacenberg died at the age of 90, so in 2017 or 2018, and b. Mala’s Cat is actually a republication of Kacenberg’s 1995 book Alone in the Forest. This is pretty much the only information on Mala Kacenberg available online, so I’m inclined to believe these articles, also because I had already suspected as much. I haven’t heard of many 95-year-olds writing books, so it was always a little suspicious that Mala’s Cat would’ve been written recently, and also Kacenberg references an event in the 1940s by saying “almost 50 years later” when the 1940s are more like “80 years later” from a 2020s perspective. Besides that, the author biography given in the book and on the publisher’s website set of my plausible deniability alarm bells:
Mala Kacenberg (nee Szorer) was born in Tarnogrod, Poland in 1927. As World War II broke out, Mala found herself having to fend for herself at the tender age of 12. Surviving by her wits, courage and the help of a guardian angel (her cat Malach), she was the sole survivor of her family. Mala immigrated to London with other Jewish refugees after the war, where she raised a large beautiful family, living long enough to be blessed with many grandchildren.
Note the lack of present tense and 0 indication of whether Kacenberg is alive or not here.
Look, I don’t mind that Mala’s Cat is a republication. I don’t mind that Kacenberg is dead. I don’t blame her or any of her friends and relatives that may have been involved in the publication process, because I know that authors (or their representatives) often have little control over the marketing and publication of their works, and this seems like a decision an uninvolved third party would make, not someone who knew and loved the author. So I feel justified in blaming the publisher or marketing department or whoever’s idea this was because they indicated these two things — that Kacenberg predeceased this edition’s publication by a number of years, and that this book had already been published under a different title — exactly nowhere in the actual hardcover copy of Mala’s Cat that is in my possession. It’s like they’re afraid that people won’t want to read Mala’s story if they find out she died or that this book is a republication. As if art loses its value just because the artist has died or the work is a couple of decades old. It doesn’t discredit Mala Kacenberg or nullify what she has witnessed. I just honestly find it quite scummy and I needed to rant about it, and maybe someone else who is reading this book has wondered about this as well, and if you’re reading this now then you won’t have to wonder anymore, you’re welcome.
Links:
HamHigh:
- https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/things-to-do/holocaust-memoir-of-a-girl-and-her-cat-8626000
NYT:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/books/review/malas-cat-mala-kacenberg.html
Proxy for NYT:
- https://eu12.proxysite.com/process.php?d=iN%2BzEtLmK8X26ULt6h%2FUWcsB70Fvwli51mDbEyGN579%2B1CRvNn4WJ1ehldvUoBmOL8PCZakzhuOCGYQISsk8g4eimrPDilThmA%3D%3D&b=1&f=norefer
Alone in the Forest:
- https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/12743deb-a215-41d8-ab43-74dfe7f3efb6
Publisher page:
- https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/282644/mala-kacenberg?tab=penguin-biography
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War
Moderate: Bullying, Slavery
Minor: Car accident
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
A brutal and haunting introduction to memoir for me. The things that Mala had to go through were horrifying to imagine and disturbingly detailed. There was a certain lack of emotion in certain places but it doesn't detract overmuch from the story. I found it hard to relate personally to the heavy religious symbolism and the inherent belief that her survival was due at in part due to a higher power (purely because I am atheist) but given our main character is a practising Jewish person, I expected it and was happy to carry on regardless.
Haunting and powerful.
Haunting and powerful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Racism, Violence, War
Starvation and forced labour consistent with Holocaust history. At one point, someone tries to blackmail Mala and she lies, telling the soldiers that the other girl is the Jewish one, not her. This directly leads to the implied torture and death of the other girl while Mala escapes. The guilt of this is discussed quite heavily
dark
inspiring
tense
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Antisemitism, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Mala's cat is a WWII memoir of a young Jewish girl who survived against all odds, a feat she partially credits to a stray cat she names Malach, which in Yiddish means Angel.
I felt there was a distancing of emotion here between the author and events, something which I think must be a self defence mechanism. I cannot imagine how the heart would break and the tears would flow if it were written in a more emotive fashion. Kacenberg tries her best to stick to the events, rarely than delving into her own emotional state.
A child in a war-torn Poland, with only a cat as a friend and no idea who can be trusted. It is because of her faith, cunning and ability to lie convincingly that she survived.
There are times when she shows incredible compassion, kindness and bravery, risking her own life to help others. But necessarily there are times when she must be ruthless, put herself first or betray someone's trust in order to survive.
I really appreciated that Kacenberg did not gloss over or pretend that she herself had always acted perfectly in order to present herself as a hero. She makes sure we know she was always acting in a manner to make it out alive, and who could ever judge her for that?
A story of a survivor which deserves to be read
I felt there was a distancing of emotion here between the author and events, something which I think must be a self defence mechanism. I cannot imagine how the heart would break and the tears would flow if it were written in a more emotive fashion. Kacenberg tries her best to stick to the events, rarely than delving into her own emotional state.
A child in a war-torn Poland, with only a cat as a friend and no idea who can be trusted. It is because of her faith, cunning and ability to lie convincingly that she survived.
There are times when she shows incredible compassion, kindness and bravery, risking her own life to help others. But necessarily there are times when she must be ruthless, put herself first or betray someone's trust in order to survive.
I really appreciated that Kacenberg did not gloss over or pretend that she herself had always acted perfectly in order to present herself as a hero. She makes sure we know she was always acting in a manner to make it out alive, and who could ever judge her for that?
A story of a survivor which deserves to be read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture