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juliaz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
So fucking beautiful and heartwrenching
bkish's review against another edition
3.0
Book was written in 1961 about a man who was in concentration camp in Germany and survived without his family who were killed murdered really. It was made into a superb and very dark movie. I saw movie few times and just learned it was a book. what you can get from this if whether or not you are Jewish is the problems of a life that shuts out Everyone and trusts nobody because of something from the past. This is a gentle story of a major change in a man's life and way of Being.
spankmyownass's review against another edition
3.0
While I enjoyed this book and thought many parts of it were quite thought-provoking, I didn't have an overall feeling of satisfaction with the way in which the ending plays out. It felt rushed compared to the rest of the novel, and I think that there were several parts that could have been expanded upon to round out the novel. I'll be trying to write about this on my blog in the next few days. I've already fallen off the wagon on that.
karakidi88's review
challenging
dark
reflective
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
3.75
zachkuhn's review
5.0
Dara Horn called it a masterpiece in her essay "Against Holocaust Novels."
The late, great D.G. Myers wrote, "The Pawnbroker is not really a Holocaust novel at all. It is something different. And at least when it comes to the American novel, something better. The Pawnbroker is one of the last examples of a genre that has largely disappeared from American shores — the meaning-making novel, the novel with something to say, the novel with an overt and unembarrassed message."
All I have to say is that it moved me and it's beautiful. That's enough.
The late, great D.G. Myers wrote, "The Pawnbroker is not really a Holocaust novel at all. It is something different. And at least when it comes to the American novel, something better. The Pawnbroker is one of the last examples of a genre that has largely disappeared from American shores — the meaning-making novel, the novel with something to say, the novel with an overt and unembarrassed message."
All I have to say is that it moved me and it's beautiful. That's enough.
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