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A review by simonmh
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
3.0
I have very mixed feelings on this book. Structurally, I think it’s interesting. The temporal swinging back and forth between the abundance of post-WW2 America and Sophie’s life in a concentration camp is effective and the sheer unreliability of so many of the characters makes for a compelling read.
I do find myself uncomfortable with the idea of an American from the south writing a book where the protagonist is a white man from the south (and the protagonist is explicitly the author William Styron himself) relating the story of a Polish and Catholic woman during the Holocaust who is herself our window into the Jewish experience. That many layers of identity between the real history and the author just leaves this seed of doubt in the back of my mind as to how seriously to take the psychology of the characters.
I do find myself uncomfortable with the idea of an American from the south writing a book where the protagonist is a white man from the south (and the protagonist is explicitly the author William Styron himself) relating the story of a Polish and Catholic woman during the Holocaust who is herself our window into the Jewish experience. That many layers of identity between the real history and the author just leaves this seed of doubt in the back of my mind as to how seriously to take the psychology of the characters.