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A review by colleenlovestoread
The Violin of Auschwitz by Maria Àngels Anglada
4.0
I received this book as an ARC copy from Goodreads.com.
A short but poignant book about the terrors of the Holocaust and how one man survived the atrocities of the camps by building a thing of beauty.
Daniel is a prisoner in the Three Rivers Camp, a sub camp of Auschwitz. Like all the devastated prisoners, he does what he can day in and day out to survive. He is working as a carpenter in the camps (having not confessed to being a violin maker)and, after repairing a small crack in a violin, he is ordered to build a violin for the Commander in line with a Stadivarius. This task gives him a small glimmer of joy in his terror-stricken days and he can almost imagine he is back in his own workshop even if for only a few hours a day. Daniel soon learns that this project he has been given is actually a bet between the Commander and the sadistic doctor of the camp who uses prisoners to test his own sick experiments: if Daniel is able to build a perfect violin in the secret timeline established between the two monsters then the doctor must give the Commander a box of French wine...and if Daniel does not he will be handed over to the doctor. This violin now becomes more important that before, and becomes a true testament to the talent, love and determination that still lives within Daniel.
This was a wonderful book to read and my only complaint was that it was so short. I would have loved to learn more backstory about the many characters we get the chance to glimpse. In my opinion this book sits right up there with The Reader and Sophie's Choice.
A short but poignant book about the terrors of the Holocaust and how one man survived the atrocities of the camps by building a thing of beauty.
Daniel is a prisoner in the Three Rivers Camp, a sub camp of Auschwitz. Like all the devastated prisoners, he does what he can day in and day out to survive. He is working as a carpenter in the camps (having not confessed to being a violin maker)and, after repairing a small crack in a violin, he is ordered to build a violin for the Commander in line with a Stadivarius. This task gives him a small glimmer of joy in his terror-stricken days and he can almost imagine he is back in his own workshop even if for only a few hours a day. Daniel soon learns that this project he has been given is actually a bet between the Commander and the sadistic doctor of the camp who uses prisoners to test his own sick experiments: if Daniel is able to build a perfect violin in the secret timeline established between the two monsters then the doctor must give the Commander a box of French wine...and if Daniel does not he will be handed over to the doctor. This violin now becomes more important that before, and becomes a true testament to the talent, love and determination that still lives within Daniel.
This was a wonderful book to read and my only complaint was that it was so short. I would have loved to learn more backstory about the many characters we get the chance to glimpse. In my opinion this book sits right up there with The Reader and Sophie's Choice.