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A review by sham1ka_
The Assault by Harry Mulisch
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
This book is essentially about the lasting effects of war on people and the unspeakable things they have to live with. I’ve never read a book quite like this before so i’m not so sure about what to look for. But i enjoyed it despite the pretty slow pace and the fact that we’re just following along one man’s life with his constant repression of the torment he had to deal with as a child.
Another thing this teaches you is context helps in making sense of the things that happen in this world. Some characters from this book have done morally wrong actions during the war, but they had better reasons for doing so. They just can’t save everybody and unfortunately Anton’s family got the worst of this situation.
Mulisch’s prose is also something that i liked about the book. It crosses the line between flowery and matter-of-factly at just the right moments. It lets you get inside the character’s head and immerse in the atmosphere they’re in.
Also just adding this quote from the book that i think is representative of how it depicted the effects of WWII:
Another thing this teaches you is context helps in making sense of the things that happen in this world. Some characters from this book have done morally wrong actions during the war, but they had better reasons for doing so. They just can’t save everybody and unfortunately Anton’s family got the worst of this situation.
Mulisch’s prose is also something that i liked about the book. It crosses the line between flowery and matter-of-factly at just the right moments. It lets you get inside the character’s head and immerse in the atmosphere they’re in.
Also just adding this quote from the book that i think is representative of how it depicted the effects of WWII:
“The world is hell, he thought, hell. Even if we had heaven on earth tomorrow, it couldn’t be perfect because of all that’s happened. Never again could things be set right. Life on this planet was a failure, a big flop; better that it should never have begun.”
loved this!