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A review by lorees_reading_nook
A Meal in Winter by Hubert Mingarelli
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
Real rating 3.8
"We explained to him that we would rather do the hunting than the shooting."
This small book packs quite a punch, as small books usually do. Initially, I sympathised with these German soldiers, sent out to hunt in a frozen wasteland, shivering with cold and weak with hunger. But, the horror of their mission and who 'one of them' was soon hit me. These soldiers were not sent to hunt birds or squirrels or foxes. Their mission was to hunt down Jews in hiding and take them back to their camp to be shot. This is clearly just another order for these men, an order they are keen to obey since their reward would mean being excluded from the firing squad when the captured were shot.
I felt there was a moral dilemma at play here: it seemed like these 3 men were able to separate the act of capturing from the act of shooting. Perhaps they felt that one was less evil than the other? But, on this occasion, they begrudgingly share a meal with their prisoner. For a brief moment the line between captured and captors is blurred. It is only when they are back in their original roles that the harsh reality of this single act of kindness hits them and the reader at exactly the same time.
This is a shocking but excellently written novella that can be read in one sitting but will remain with you long after reading the last page.
"Thus began the strangest meal we ever had in Poland."
"We explained to him that we would rather do the hunting than the shooting."
This small book packs quite a punch, as small books usually do. Initially, I sympathised with these German soldiers, sent out to hunt in a frozen wasteland, shivering with cold and weak with hunger. But, the horror of their mission and who 'one of them' was soon hit me. These soldiers were not sent to hunt birds or squirrels or foxes. Their mission was to hunt down Jews in hiding and take them back to their camp to be shot. This is clearly just another order for these men, an order they are keen to obey since their reward would mean being excluded from the firing squad when the captured were shot.
I felt there was a moral dilemma at play here: it seemed like these 3 men were able to separate the act of capturing from the act of shooting. Perhaps they felt that one was less evil than the other? But, on this occasion, they begrudgingly share a meal with their prisoner. For a brief moment the line between captured and captors is blurred. It is only when they are back in their original roles that the harsh reality of this single act of kindness hits them and the reader at exactly the same time.
This is a shocking but excellently written novella that can be read in one sitting but will remain with you long after reading the last page.
"Thus began the strangest meal we ever had in Poland."