Schindler's List recreates the true story of Oskar Schindler, the Czech-born southern German industrialist who risked his life to save over 1,100 o...
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Mar 17, 2011
K.D.
rated it: 
Much has been said about the 1993 Stephen Spielberg Oscar-winning movie. In 2007, it ranked 8th in the 100 Best American Movies For All Times list. I saw it twice in the movie house when it was released. I bought copies of it. Copies... because you know how technology progresses: VHS, then VCD, then DVD, then Blue Ray. (when will this ever stop?) Every time I bought me a copy, I watched it. Every time I watched it, I cried.
But surprisingly, I did not cry reading the book, 1982 Thoma More...
But surprisingly, I did not cry reading the book, 1982 Thoma More...
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Apr 24, 2009
Sam
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This was an incredibly written and thought-provoking book without over powering the reader. The focus of the story on Schindler and the 1100 Jewish people he saved actually makes the Holocaust all the more real as you can relate to each individual person rather than being overcome with the shear numbers of people involved.
The portrayal of Schindler is well written and doesn't preach to the reader about how great a man he was, it simply describes what he did and how he did it and all More...
The portrayal of Schindler is well written and doesn't preach to the reader about how great a man he was, it simply describes what he did and how he did it and all More...
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Aug 07, 2008
Becca
rated it:
This was not a light read. It was, in fact, a very thought provoking book. The author has done very good research and he makes it very clear what is fact and what is supposition. I really like that in a historical work.
The first half of the book was harder to read because it involved the slow, steady slide into the evils of the holocaust. It was amazing to watch the Jews being transformed from citizens to substandard citizens and eventually to being seen as less than beasts. I More...
The first half of the book was harder to read because it involved the slow, steady slide into the evils of the holocaust. It was amazing to watch the Jews being transformed from citizens to substandard citizens and eventually to being seen as less than beasts. I More...
Aug 08, 2011
This is a wonderful book and a wonderful story, everyone should know what oskar schindler did for Jews in WW2. However, this book was very hard to read, like reading a research paper. Pfefferberg basically begged Keneally for an hour to write a book. because of that the first half of this book was very forced. i felt like he didnt want to write this, that his heart wasnt in this, Toward the middle of the book i flowed a little more but not until the last 8-10 chapters did it start to be easier t
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Nov 27, 2008
1. ) This book is based on a true story, in this book there is a man named Oscar Schindler who wants to help the Jews because he see's many things happen to them and there really in-humane things that happen. Oscar is a Nazi Czech business guy who makes up a camp of his own in Poland in which he makes a list of over 100, 000 Jews names on it and who he intends to save. He pays for each and every one of them. Oscar comes to realize though out World War 2 that the Jews fate is a really bad one. So
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Jan 25, 2012
Ashley
rated it:
Schindler's List is a Holocaust themed book going through the times of factory works under the command of Oskar Schindler. During the Holocaust, Nazi's killed many Jews and forced them out of their homes and put them to work like slaves. The Jews were treated inhuman and many of them died for disease, starvation, being over worked, or just being killed by SS officers. Schindler ran a factory where he would take in many Jews as workers and save them from being killed by the SS. Over a thousand Je
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Sep 30, 2011
Julia
rated it:
When I was still in single digits, I asked the fountain of all knowledge (my Dad) why no-one tried to save the jewish people from the death camps during the 2nd WW.
'There was one man, I think his name was Schindler, but what happened to him after the war I don't know. I think he went to Russia. Apparently he was a bit of a playboy.'
I pondered on Schindler's fate a little, and somehow the fact that one man tried to make a difference helped elevate the horror slightly. (I know now More...
'There was one man, I think his name was Schindler, but what happened to him after the war I don't know. I think he went to Russia. Apparently he was a bit of a playboy.'
I pondered on Schindler's fate a little, and somehow the fact that one man tried to make a difference helped elevate the horror slightly. (I know now More...
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Sep 19, 2011
MTM
rated it:
When I was at school two things changed the way I saw the world - and my fellow human beings - for ever. The first was an informal chat with someone who turned out to be one of the first handful of liberating troops to walk into Belsen. He gave us a detailed account; sights, sounds, smells and his and his fellow soldiers' reactions.
The second and the only other occasion when I felt as close to, and yet as scared of, history was reading this book. It's not an easy read, the style is qu More...
The second and the only other occasion when I felt as close to, and yet as scared of, history was reading this book. It's not an easy read, the style is qu More...
Sep 14, 2011
Lily
rated it:
Schindler's List, by Thomas Keneally is an accurate record which effectively tells the infamous tale of a man, Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of thousands of Jews during World War II. While it was accurate, it was far from boring, and was, at times, quite suspenseful. The story begins with a brief summary of Schindler's early life and ends not long after the second World War, getting across almost everything in between sufficiently. The tale is touching, but the descriptions of the inhuman
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Aug 26, 2011
David
rated it:
I am probably one of the few non-holocaust-deniers in the world to have never seen Spielberg's film of the same name... partly because, right from its cinema release friends "in the know" warned me that if I saw the film I wouldn't "enjoy" the book. Having read the book, and a few reviews of both the book and the film I think I understand what they meant. I hope the film has more of a driving narrative, because, particularly in the first half, the book is episodic and hard-g
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(2 people liked it)
Jun 08, 2011
Tarabuchanan
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Schindler’s List Book Review
Schindler’s List was written in 1982 by Thomas Keneally. This story is based off a true story and he did his best using records to figure out what actually happened but only knows the basis of it, written in third person. The book is a compilation of numerous stories that deal with the lives of the main characters. Oskar Schindler is a member of the Nazi party, a ladies man, and an eccentric war profiteer. He moves to Cracrow to take over a bankrupt busine More...
Schindler’s List was written in 1982 by Thomas Keneally. This story is based off a true story and he did his best using records to figure out what actually happened but only knows the basis of it, written in third person. The book is a compilation of numerous stories that deal with the lives of the main characters. Oskar Schindler is a member of the Nazi party, a ladies man, and an eccentric war profiteer. He moves to Cracrow to take over a bankrupt busine More...
Sep 13, 2010
Ali
rated it:
I don't know why, or when the title of the book changed from Schindler's Ark to Schindler's List - like the film, but I do think it is a pity that publishers feel compelled to bow to the Hollywood-isation of an author's work, do they really think people are so stupid that they can't work out for themseleves that Schindler's List and Schindler's Ark are essentially the same story.
*and breathe* rant over : )
This is an often difficult book to read - and it actually affected my m More...
*and breathe* rant over : )
This is an often difficult book to read - and it actually affected my m More...
Mar 27, 2010
Manny
rated it:
Certain people (you know who you are) were suggesting the other day that no one actually reads Thomas Keneally. Well, I notice surprisingly few reviews here, so maybe the accusation has some substance. At any rate, I did read the book, and really liked it.
Quite apart from anything else, it's an inspiring true story, which the author tells well. But the thing I've thought about most is what it says about the nature of good and evil. At the beginning of the story, Schindler is by no st More...
Quite apart from anything else, it's an inspiring true story, which the author tells well. But the thing I've thought about most is what it says about the nature of good and evil. At the beginning of the story, Schindler is by no st More...
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Aug 23, 2009
Smita
rated it:
This book took me close to two months to finish - one because the first 100 pages were quite slow, and two because the content was so heavy I could not get myself to read more than 10-15 pages at a time. In fact the first 100 pages were so tough to get through I decided to watch the movie in order to be able to understand the story better. The movie as everyone who has seen it will agree, is absolutely amazing. It is the most thought-provoking movie I have seen, which does not makes you burst in
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Mar 04, 2009
Danielle
rated it:
Plot Summery
Schindler's List, by Thomas Keneally, is a true demonstration of courage and integrity that people should have followed during WWII. This story tells about the lives of the Jewish people in Poland during WWII and how by one man. over 1200 Jew's lives were saved by Oscar Schindler, a buisness man from Czechoslovakia. Oscar Schindler aquanted himself with power menmbers of the Nazi party in order to build up favors in case he ever needed them. Jews were being forced to registar a More...
Schindler's List, by Thomas Keneally, is a true demonstration of courage and integrity that people should have followed during WWII. This story tells about the lives of the Jewish people in Poland during WWII and how by one man. over 1200 Jew's lives were saved by Oscar Schindler, a buisness man from Czechoslovakia. Oscar Schindler aquanted himself with power menmbers of the Nazi party in order to build up favors in case he ever needed them. Jews were being forced to registar a More...
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Aug 09, 2011
This book was outstanding. Usually, I much prefer books to their movie interpretations. In this case, I had seen the film first and found it to be an adequate interpretation of the book, minimally glamorized, only with one key difference. At the end of the movie, there is a feeling that Oskar was a hero, he was well loved and everything worked out in the end. In fact, he found himself hated by his countrymen and lived out the rest of his life on the generosity of the Schindlerjuden. The book
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Apr 12, 2011
Natalie
rated it:
I really enjoyed reading this book. The main aspect of this book that made it so enjoyable was the character development. Less than half way through this book, I felt strong emotions towards many of the characters. For example, in the beginning I really didn't like Schindler because he seemed like a selfish drunk, but, as I read on I came to obviously love him and look highly up to him. Likewise with Amon Goeth, I was terrified of him and also felt a strong hatred towards him throughout the enti
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Sep 17, 2011
Stacy
rated it:
This was a very sobering read but so gripping. It is the true account of Oscar Schindler, a Polish businessman who spends the entire war trying to save and hold on to as many Jews as he can. The movie closely follows this book and actual coversations, however, it depicts Oscar as a profiteer who seems to just care about making a buck and eventually comes to the realization that the Nazi regime is wrong and he needs to take a stand. It's clear from the beginning that he knows what he's doing a
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Aug 24, 2009
Geoff
rated it:
A tale assembled from first-hand accounts of Oskar Schindler and his Kitchenware/munitions factories in Poland/Czechoslovakia during WWII.
It's still hard to comprehend the atrocities of Nazi Germany, but Schindler's List is full of details from the first days of occupied Poland, through the development of the Concentration and Death Camps outside of Krakow, and finally the nerve-wracking closing days of the war in which anything could have happened in trying to cover up the Holocaus More...
It's still hard to comprehend the atrocities of Nazi Germany, but Schindler's List is full of details from the first days of occupied Poland, through the development of the Concentration and Death Camps outside of Krakow, and finally the nerve-wracking closing days of the war in which anything could have happened in trying to cover up the Holocaus More...
May 22, 2009
Stephanie
rated it:
Schindler's List, written by Thomas Keneally, is a novel about a German, Oskar Schindler, who was later transformed from a drinker and briber to a savior during the Holocaust. He helped to save thousands of Jews and wished he could have saved more. Schindler had a factory in which he encouraged the Jews to obtain a job to help them be safer than they were. The Jews were able to escape, but before they did, they made Oskar Schindler a gift. He cried and wished more of the innocent Jews could have
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May 07, 2008
I have always wanted to read this book and I got about half way through and I just couldn't get any imagery in my mind. I felt like I was reading a newspaper story though this is no slight on the writer, more on my own attitude. I think I was just so very weary of reading it in the first place so I put up a mental block. I have never been able to bring myself to watch the film, either. Maybe one day I will revisit it with a change in attitude.
May 10, 2010
Dave
rated it:
This book succeeds where the movie fails. Which is not to say that the movie wasn't great. I was mesmerized by the unflinching visual story that Steven Spielberg's camera provided. However, The book bestows so much more background to the various characters than the movie, that we begin to understand the motivations of the people behind the narrative. Because of this, the book seemed that much more human to me. Contrary to the movie, the book did not shock me or cause me to read passages between
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May 26, 2009
April
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Who hasn't seen the movie Schindler's List? Seriously, I think most people know the story of the beneficient nazi who saved at least 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust. Anyways, Schindler's List written by Thomas Keneally is a fictional book, it is not a biography or a history book. I am absolutely not a Holocaust-denier, I'm just repeating what the copy-right page says. However, there are non-fiction books out there about Schindler. This book reads like non-iction trying to be fiction, as in it's
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May 08, 2009
Jon
rated it:
What i liked about it
Im still reeling from it. No matter what you think you know about the Holocaust, or seen in newsreels, it never fails to shock at the sheer scale of it. To say the Jews were treated far worse than livestock is an understatement, I can't even begin to describe their treatment. Like 'The Pianist' this is brought to home even more chillingly when its an account of actual individuals and their testimonies of what happened, what they had to do to survive and who th More...
Im still reeling from it. No matter what you think you know about the Holocaust, or seen in newsreels, it never fails to shock at the sheer scale of it. To say the Jews were treated far worse than livestock is an understatement, I can't even begin to describe their treatment. Like 'The Pianist' this is brought to home even more chillingly when its an account of actual individuals and their testimonies of what happened, what they had to do to survive and who th More...
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Jan 05, 2009
Schindler’s List, by Thomas Keneally, narrated by Ben Kingsley, produced by Simon and Schuster Audio, and downloaded from audible.com.
This was an abridged version, but after reading the book about how Keneally came to write Schindler’s List, (called The Ark in Europe) I had to read the book itself. The publisher’s note explains this book as well as I ever could.
During the Holocaust at the German concentration camp near Plaszow, thousands of Jews lost their lives at the h More...
This was an abridged version, but after reading the book about how Keneally came to write Schindler’s List, (called The Ark in Europe) I had to read the book itself. The publisher’s note explains this book as well as I ever could.
During the Holocaust at the German concentration camp near Plaszow, thousands of Jews lost their lives at the h More...
Oct 14, 2011
I think the Authors purpose was to show what power can do. The some people have no heart while others have a huge one. Oskar Shindlers had a huge heart. He saved the giving tlives of many Jews by giving them jobs so that they could live during the Holocaust. He risked his life for theirs. That is true courage and heart.
The theme of this book was good over evil. Oskar was good. Hitler was bad. while many Germans helped Hitler, Schindlers lied about the things he did and helped the Je More...
The theme of this book was good over evil. Oskar was good. Hitler was bad. while many Germans helped Hitler, Schindlers lied about the things he did and helped the Je More...
Apr 25, 2011
Travis
rated it: 
Michelle and I gave up on Schindler’s List half-way through. Yes, I know, we’re philistines. While its historical and ethical value cannot be denied, I would rather read a history book. It’s just not much in the way of an actual narrative. There is very little personality in the characters and way too many disconnected characters and events. It reads more like a series of anecdotes about different people in the same location, and, worst of all, every page is a bewildering avalanche of names whic
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Oct 15, 2009
Cameron
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Thomas Keneally
Schlinder’s List
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982
397 pp. $14.99
0- 671- 449777-X
The novel Schlinder’s List by Thomas Keneally is one of the most eye-opening and moving pieces of Holocaust literature out there. Thomas Keneally takes the reader into the life of Oskar Schindler, a man who single handedly saved 1,100 Jews from their ever certain death at Auschwitz-Birkenau (The largest Nazi concentration camp), and some of the Jews that worked for More...
Schlinder’s List
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982
397 pp. $14.99
0- 671- 449777-X
The novel Schlinder’s List by Thomas Keneally is one of the most eye-opening and moving pieces of Holocaust literature out there. Thomas Keneally takes the reader into the life of Oskar Schindler, a man who single handedly saved 1,100 Jews from their ever certain death at Auschwitz-Birkenau (The largest Nazi concentration camp), and some of the Jews that worked for More...
Jan 26, 2011
Alan
rated it:
This is a great story. Oskar Schindler, hard drinking womanising profiteering German industrialist saves 1200 Jews from the gas-chambers of Auschwitz. He does so by fairly correctly claiming that they are essential war workers in his factory. As this claim become gradually more tenuous, Schindler backs it up with ever flowing bribes to the appropriate officials, culmination in a fortune to get the 200 women on his list out of Auschwitz as the Third Reich disintegrates in the face of the Russi
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May 27, 2010
Brie
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From watching the movie (many years ago), I was expecting a more fiction type read, but it definately reads more like non-fiction. This is neither a good thing or a bad thing, it just took me a couple chapters to realize that.
The beginning was a bit slow for me. Perhaps it was because I was expecting it to read more like fiction, but regardless it took me a little while to get into. There are also a multitude of characters to keep track of, as it seemed that each chapter in the begi More...
The beginning was a bit slow for me. Perhaps it was because I was expecting it to read more like fiction, but regardless it took me a little while to get into. There are also a multitude of characters to keep track of, as it seemed that each chapter in the begi More...
