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digmusic's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
"El Chal" presenta una mirada íntima a la sombría realidad de la represión judía durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Polonia, narrada a través de dos conmovedoras historias. La primera, que da título al libro, es un relato corto pero potente que sumerge al lector en la vida dentro de un campo de concentración nazi, enfocándose en la experiencia desgarradora de ser madre en tales circunstancias. A pesar de su corta extensión, este relato logra capturar y transmitir de manera intensa los sentimientos y el ambiente de desesperación.
El segundo relato, "Rosa", sigue a su homónima en su vida después de escapar de la opresión nazi, ahora tratando de adaptarse y sobrevivir en Miami, Estados Unidos. Este segmento ofrece una perspectiva de la vida después del trauma, explorando cómo Rosa lidia con su pasado y se esfuerza por encontrar un sentido a su existencia en un nuevo entorno.
Aunque es una lectura breve, que se puede completar en una o dos horas, "El Chal" es intensamente conmovedor y revelador, ofreciendo una mirada cruda pero necesaria a un capítulo oscuro de la historia. Su accesibilidad y el impacto emocional que logra en tan poco tiempo hacen de este libro una obra significativa, merecedora de una valoración de 3 estrellas sobre 5 por su capacidad para conmover e iluminar sobre una realidad histórica compleja.
El segundo relato, "Rosa", sigue a su homónima en su vida después de escapar de la opresión nazi, ahora tratando de adaptarse y sobrevivir en Miami, Estados Unidos. Este segmento ofrece una perspectiva de la vida después del trauma, explorando cómo Rosa lidia con su pasado y se esfuerza por encontrar un sentido a su existencia en un nuevo entorno.
Aunque es una lectura breve, que se puede completar en una o dos horas, "El Chal" es intensamente conmovedor y revelador, ofreciendo una mirada cruda pero necesaria a un capítulo oscuro de la historia. Su accesibilidad y el impacto emocional que logra en tan poco tiempo hacen de este libro una obra significativa, merecedora de una valoración de 3 estrellas sobre 5 por su capacidad para conmover e iluminar sobre una realidad histórica compleja.
solliereads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
A beautiful and thought-provoking story derived from the experiences of a Holocaust survivor. A really well-written depiction of trauma & loss.
sarahanne8382's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, that was intense. A story of a Holocaust survivor refusing to let go of the child she lost in the Holocaust. This was such a raw story I was surprised they used it as a Sync YA title, but it would be a good contrast to Ben Lesser's story. Where he was grateful to survive and eager to make the most of the life he'd regained, here all Rosa can focus on is everything she lost, and not even that, as she twists her memories into versions of the truth that hurt less. While intense, this is mercifully short.
agapsch's review against another edition
I couldn’t rate this one, it didn’t seem appropriate. I also am struggling to review it. Orzick is definitely a literary author, so it was interesting to discover various genres of Holocaust literature. This book is much more difficult to get through than other Holocaust titles, despite it’s short length.
onomatopoeia320's review against another edition
5.0
The Shawl is the most powerful short story I've ever read.
sarah_____nicole's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
“Consider also the special word they used: survivor. Something new. As long as they didn't have to say human being. It used to be refugee, but by now there was no such creature, no more refugees, only survivors. A name like a number -- counted apart from the ordinary swarm. Blue digits on the arm, what difference? They don't call you a woman anyhow. Survivor. Even when your bones get melted into the grains of the earth, still they'll forget human being. Survivor and survivor and survivor; always and always. Who made up these words, parasites on the throat of suffering!”
I borrowed this audiobook mostly because it was short. When I was working, I listened to a lot of talking books. I had a short commute to work, but I often had a lot of driving for work. Now that I am mostly retired, it takes me months to get through a book.
Once again, I figured out that I forgot to review this. It has been a long time since I listened, but just reading the quotations here reminded me of the pain Ozick showed me in these two stories. Although the first story is about the Holocaust and so obviously agonizing, it is the second story that I found most distressing. I was not as prepared for the hurting that surviving can bring. I think both these stories were even more powerful because I heard them rather than reading them.
If you haven’t read Ozick before, these stories would be a good place to start. She is an excellent writer. Her faith, Judaism, permeates her works which I find makes them very thought provoking.
I borrowed this audiobook mostly because it was short. When I was working, I listened to a lot of talking books. I had a short commute to work, but I often had a lot of driving for work. Now that I am mostly retired, it takes me months to get through a book.
Once again, I figured out that I forgot to review this. It has been a long time since I listened, but just reading the quotations here reminded me of the pain Ozick showed me in these two stories. Although the first story is about the Holocaust and so obviously agonizing, it is the second story that I found most distressing. I was not as prepared for the hurting that surviving can bring. I think both these stories were even more powerful because I heard them rather than reading them.
If you haven’t read Ozick before, these stories would be a good place to start. She is an excellent writer. Her faith, Judaism, permeates her works which I find makes them very thought provoking.
stella_starstruck's review against another edition
3.0
The first story was heartbreaking and difficult to read. The second story didn't work that well for me. I didn't see the point when it was over.
zisi's review against another edition
4.0
Ozick's literary style (dense, allusive, poetic) makes reading her always a pleasure. I first read "The Shawl" ("The Shawl," short story; "Rosa" novella) when it first appeared in 1984, and have returned to it several times in the years since. The stories, better read as a single narrative, are about Rosa, a Holocaust survivor, in mourning for over thirty years (the narrative takes place in 1977) for her dead parents, siblings, and infant child, who the Nazis discovered and threw against the camp's electric fence. The story is marred somewhat by its brevity (69 pages) and underdevelopment, and the protagonist's self-torment, which, after awhile becomes a bit tedious to read. But Ozick's prose, as usual, soars, the suppleness of the language making up for the story's unrelenting bleakness.