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21st out of 43 books
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Searching for Schindler
This is the captivating story behind Schindler’s List, the Booker Prize–winning book and the Academy Award–winning Spielberg film. Keneally tells the tale of the unlikely encounter that propelled him to write about Oskar Schindler and of the impact of his extraordinary account on people around the world.
Thomas Keneally met Leopold “Poldek” Pfefferberg, the owner of a Bev
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
October 14th 2008
by Nan A. Talese
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Most people have read or heard of Thomas Keneally's amazing book, Schindler's List. However, in this 2007 book, Keneally traces how he got the idea for the book. He was in a leather-goods store in Hollywood looking for a brief case when he me Poldek Pfefferberg who related the story of Schindler. Poldek had been one of the many who Schindler saved. After this, Keneally begins a world-wide trek with Poldek to interview survivors, see Warsaw and Cracow, visit Jerusalem, and back home to Austra...more
This book is precious, something special to read. This is the story of a man, Poldek,a victim of the Nazis who was saved by Oskar Schindler and eventually, "California, Beverly Hills" had a very good business in handbags and briefcases. His life's mission was to have a book, then a film, made about his hero and a chance meeting with the Australian-Irish author Thomas Keneally who was looking for a replacement briefcase, brought it about.
Truly its a story of how Poldek int...more
Truly its a story of how Poldek int...more
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The Search for Schindler, by Thomas Keneally, narrated by Humphrey Bower, produced by Bolinda Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
This book tells the story of collecting the stories of survivors from the holocaust, saved by Oscar Schindler, which ultimately became the movie, Schindler’s List.” Thomas Keneally is an Australian, and having Bower read this book imports the right Australian accent. Bower is also good at creating the Polish Jews’ accents.
Publisher’s Note:
A ...more
This book tells the story of collecting the stories of survivors from the holocaust, saved by Oscar Schindler, which ultimately became the movie, Schindler’s List.” Thomas Keneally is an Australian, and having Bower read this book imports the right Australian accent. Bower is also good at creating the Polish Jews’ accents.
Publisher’s Note:
A ...more
This was a truly wonderful read. I didn't give it 5 stars because I don't hand out a ton of those and the book did fizzle somewhat at the end.
"Searching for Schindler" is the story of how Thomas Keneally discovered the story of Oskar Schindler, the research for the book "Schindler's List" and how the movie came to be.
It is also, in some respects, a tribute to Poldek Pfefferberg the Schindler Jew whose persistence got Keneally's book written and Spielb...more
"Searching for Schindler" is the story of how Thomas Keneally discovered the story of Oskar Schindler, the research for the book "Schindler's List" and how the movie came to be.
It is also, in some respects, a tribute to Poldek Pfefferberg the Schindler Jew whose persistence got Keneally's book written and Spielb...more
I have finally finished this book and I have to say although I loved the first half I did find the second half a bit of a chore.
The first part of the book is about how Thomas Keneally came by the story and you are introduced to an amazingly passionate man Poldeck who has made it his mission in life to make sure the story of Schindler is heard. You join Thomas and Poldeck on their journey as they source Schindlers Jews and gather the story. The stories the survivors have to tell really grip...more
The first part of the book is about how Thomas Keneally came by the story and you are introduced to an amazingly passionate man Poldeck who has made it his mission in life to make sure the story of Schindler is heard. You join Thomas and Poldeck on their journey as they source Schindlers Jews and gather the story. The stories the survivors have to tell really grip...more
I absolutely loved this book. It tells the story about how the author of Schindler's list came upon the story of Oskar Schindler and the process he went through in writing the story. The story was funny, tender, and full of interesting details. I liked that the story didn't focus too intently on the details of the holocaust but still told the basic story of Schindler along with many brief accounts of holocaust survivors. I would highly recommend this book!!!
It also tells the story of...more
It also tells the story of...more
Pretty good book. It was definitely interesting to follow Keneally's quest to discover the true story of Oskar Schindler. It provided reasoning behind why Keneally portrayed Schindler the way he did in his novel, not to mention how he heard about the amazing story in the first place. There were times where Keneally got off topic though, and it seemed to draw away from the text, which was a little frustrating at times. It was definitely an interesting book to read, and now I've added Schindle...more
This book makes a nice companion to Schindler's List. Keneally does a good job fleshing out the background to his search for Schlinder. Additionally, he does a good job of bringing to life the inspiration for his discovery of the story. At times, however, the book is more telling than showing and especially towards the end, it feels like Keneally is dropping names. Totally understandable, but rather boring to read.
Why did Keneally write this book? He's already made a real mint out of Schindler with Schindler's Ark/List (as well as the film by Steven Spielberg), what could he add? Part of me was wondering if he ran out of money and thought now's the time for some income. Part of me thought it was a tribute to Poldek (Leopold Pfefferberg), but if this was the case, why wasn't it entitled something along those lines? He fires through the "search" as quickly as possible and with as many split infini...more
As much a memorial to Poldek Pfefferberg (the Schindler Jew whose persistence got Keneally's book written and Spielberg's film made) as a memoir of Keneally himself, I feel like this book should be part of a three-book set: Schindler's Ark (as it is in the Australian and British editions), Searching for Schindler, and the book about the making of the film (that I saw once in a second-hand bookshop and ever after have wished I had bought). I certainly see it as a natural companion to both the bo...more
This is not nearly as interesting as the story of Schindler itself--a good half of the book is about the reception of the book, receiving the Booker Award, and eventually having the movie made into the film--but it does has its moments. Leopold Poldek is introduced to the world as the driving force behind making sure Schindler's story was told. Poldek was a strong personality--he passed away in 2001 and the book is in part dedicated to his memory--and gave the book more "character."
As is usual with Tom Kenneally, his writing skilla are superb and I am on the hunt to find his book Schindler's List or Schinler's Ark. I want to read what he has researched for this book. Here he gave us a description of his meetings with the Schindler Jews, trials of those involved with Schindler during the war and how they felt about him, and one exceptional man Poldeck, who actually got Kenneally interested in writing the story. It would be nice if more writers could do that, that write biog...more
This was a fascinating telling of not only Keneally's writing of & research for Schindler's List, but also his responses to the long process by which it became a movie, and the movie itself. We see Keneally's writing process of this particular book as well as in general, and how the research for it affected him.
I'm no more willing to deify Keneally than he was (or I am, for that matter) Schindler, but in the used copy of this book that I bought, someone taped a picture of Keneally & S...more
I'm no more willing to deify Keneally than he was (or I am, for that matter) Schindler, but in the used copy of this book that I bought, someone taped a picture of Keneally & S...more
hmm...'Searching for Schindler'...my search is still on.Couldn't gt to know much about Schindler,though came to learn a lot about the people he saved, but ironically not him. However,I hope my search will end up on 'Schindler's List'....n i wish i don't fall asleep while reading SL, the way i did in this one!
This was such an interesting story....how Schlindler's list, book and movie came about. The dedication of the survivors to bring out the story is amazing....as is the original story. \it still does not really shed light on what motivated schlinder to do what he did.....but he did something good.
I guess its just me, but I think this is a book that would have made really great article. Don't get me wrong, the meat of book makes for a great story is great. The meat of this needed to be shared, but there just isn't enough to fill all of the pages of a book.
A book on how the "Schindler's List" book and movie was made. I am certain that you will love the major character in this book - Poldek, who was a luggage bag shop owner and a Holocaust survivor. Both the making of the book and movie would not be successful without him.
This is a "behind the scenes" look at the people who were saved by Schindler and the story of how the movie Schindlers List was born. I did quite a bit of "skimming" during some slow parts, but it still kept my interest
Just read this - short memoir on the real story behind Schinder's List. The real characters are more nuances than movie, and true story is very moving. Easy reading, offering historic underpinning to incredible story.
A intresting book, found the background story to the book and film facinating at times.
Did get a bit dull in the end.
Neverless, I am inspired now to read the book, schindlers ark/list.
Did get a bit dull in the end.
Neverless, I am inspired now to read the book, schindlers ark/list.
Great book, only if you have read 'Schindlers Ark' though. Keneally is very interesting.
This was ok -- the interesting parts would have made a good essay. It started strong and then petered out and didn't feel like it had a strong narrative, or enough interesting material.
Excellent book - highly recommended.
Finding this a bit slow-going and have moved on to something more enlightening and entertaining ... but found the background for the final book interesting. Might just return to it at a later time.
An engrossing gem of a book relating the chance meeting of Keneally and Poldek Pfefferberg that led to the best-selling book and the Speilberg movie. Keneally manages to make his account just enough suspenseful that you wonder if the book will come out all right and if the movie will happen at all. In addition to Pfefferberg, Keneally also does justice to the scores of Schindler survivors who informed his book.
This book came in to the library the other day and it looked interesting so I decided to check it out. I really liked Schindler's List so I thought reading about how the book was conceived would be fascinating. I was right. The story of how Keneally literally stumbled on to Schindler's story is amazing. It is also amazing to read how he was able to convince so many survivors to share their experiences with him. I definitely recommend this one, especially to lovers of history!
An inspiring story of commitment, conviction and belief personified in the hero of this story about a story, Poldek/Leopold Pfefferberg, one of Schindler's Jews.
This book was written by the author who wrote the original book Schindlers List. It tells of how he became interested in the story and how it got written and then how it became a Academy Award winning movie. Some might think this is a self serving story for the autor, but as it unfolds, it is told in a very humbling manner. I think it was a good book and a good way to learn of the history of that period of time.
This book is by the author who wrote Schindler's List. It is basically about writing that book. I really loved knowing the background and the research that went into writing Schindler's List. Of course now I have to read Schindler's List and watch the movie!
Poldek was the guy who was instrumental in getting the book and film (Schindler's List) out! Interesting insights on how this was made possible.
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Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize winning novel of 1982 which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor. The book would later be adapted to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
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“But then what is the alternative to trying to tell the truth about the Holocaust, the Famine, the Armenian genocide, the injustice of dispossession in the Americas and Australia? That everyone should be reduced to silence? To pretend that the Holocaust was the work merely of a well-armed minority who didn’t do as much harm as is claimed-and likewise, to argue that the Irish Famine was either an inevitability or the fault of the Irish-is to say that both were mere unreliable rumors, and not the great motors of history they so obviously proved to be. It suited me to think so at the time, but still I believe it to be true, that if there are going to be areas of history which are off-bounds, then in principle we are reduced to fudging, to cosmetic narrative. ”
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“Paradox is beloved of novelists. The despised savior, the humane whore, the selfish man suddenly munificent, the wise fool, and the cowardly hero. Most writers spend their lives writing about unexpected malice in the supposedly virtuous, and unexpected virtue in the supposedly sinful. ”
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