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6th out of 68 books
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25 voters
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Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land
"From the moment I got to Auschwitz I was completely detached. I disconnected my heart and intellect in an act of self-defense, despair, and hopelessness."
With these words Sara Nomberg-Przytyk begins this painful and compelling account of her experiences while imprisoned for two years in the infamous death camp. Writing twenty years after her liberation,...more
With these words Sara Nomberg-Przytyk begins this painful and compelling account of her experiences while imprisoned for two years in the infamous death camp. Writing twenty years after her liberation,...more
Paperback, 197 pages
Published
August 30th 1986
by University of North Carolina Press
(first published June 30th 1985)
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I heard the saying once - to forget murder victims is to murder them twice. I don't know who said that, but it is the big reason why I read this book. Sara Nomberg-Prztyk is a remarkable author, her narrative is well written and compelling, and she manages to capture both the good and evil that went on in Auschwitz. On one hand, she talks about the horrors committed by Mengele and the other Nazis. She does not shy away from relating the terrible things that happened. Most disturbing of all was h...more
Auschwitz: True Tales From a Grotesque Land by Sara Nomberg-Przytyk is a astonishingly powerful book, that takes you into the world of one of the most brutal concentration camps of all time. Sara writes how the cruel and deceitful life in the camp was truly more inflicting then anyone could imagine, considering that the people were whipped and gathered into gas chambers. In one of the chapters, a girl was put inside one of the gas chamber except she jumped out of the window before the gas wa...more
The author cleverly weaves fiction into the non-fiction account of some of her experiences at Auschwitz. While some of the events are more folk tale that historical fact, that hardly matters against the backdrop of the Holocaust's most notorious death camp where, even if an event didn't happen exactly like Ms. Nomberg-Przytzk relates it, or at all, the moments being shown exist like ghosts - a palimpsest with reality. They're believable because they easily could have happened that way, with no s...more
Again, seeing that this is apparently targeting the YA audience, I just can't agree. He/She would have to be a very mature young adult before I handed them this book. Maybe I'm not giving young people enough credit but the stories included here I wouldn't want my daughter reading at a young age. I'm 100% for knowledge, most especially of anything like this, but one has to be able to process the information being learned or no good will come from it, only pain, if anything.
That being said,...more
That being said,...more
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Laurie Novoryta
rated it
Recommends it for:
those who are interested in reading about the Holocaust from a slightly sociological perspective.
It took me a while to finish this book because the (true) stories within it can, of course, be difficult to read. Nonetheless, this book is different than the other personal account I read of being in a concentration camp, Night, because this book asks a lot of questions of human nature in a sociological manner...especially towards the last 1/3 of the book.
For the most part, I appreciated these questions because I majored in sociology. These questions and Sara's stories made me feel ...more
For the most part, I appreciated these questions because I majored in sociology. These questions and Sara's stories made me feel ...more
If you are only going to read one book about Auschwitz, let this be the one. While the short stories are I think fictionalized and sometimes not strictly accurate (Irma Grese is in one of them, for example, and she was never at Auschwitz), Sara Nomberg-Przytyk did an excellent job of conveying the atmosphere of the place, all those people trying to live surrounded by death and the deepest despair imaginable. It's the stuff of nightmares. I could see everything she wrote about, like on a grainy b...more
Very strong and hard book to read. Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land is written from the perspective of a nurse working in the hospital at Auschwitz. It provides context to many of the horrific things that occurred At Auschwitz. Very powerful book.
This was a hard book to read!!! Gruesome and graphic deathly details of this death camp in Germany during WWII! It's so sick to hear of the mass murder of millions! A very good, interesting, well-written book written by a survivor! Age 18+!
After having visited Auschwitz, I get tears just thinking about it. Very emotional.
This is a wonderful autobiography, very insightful and mind-opening!
This was a great book. I would recommend this to anyone.
This account of the Holocaust will always stand out to me among all of the others due to the author's intense appreciation of beauty. The fact that she was able to perceive any beauty at all in a concentration camp is mindblowing to begin with, but that she remembers it with such detail shows that it wasn't an afterthought. Admist all the horrific events that she describes, the author was able to pick out moments of intense adoration for her fellow prisoners. These moments make the majority of u...more
Probably tied for my favorite book ever...
Fantastic!
The most descriptive character-driven holocaust book I've read. Recommended for the story, not so much for it's truthfulness. I understand there were some plot and character details taken for granted, but it is difficult to critique a book such as this. As always, quite a disturbing read.
Loved it
How awful we can be to each other. This book just reinforces the terrible price many faced for life.
Right now the translation is quite good. And i love the flow to it, I lost track of time while reading one night.
eyeopening account of the tragic memoirs of life in a concentration camp
It's intense and heartbreaking, just like all Holocaust books...
consummate artistry brought to hell on earth
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