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Schindler's List

4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 · rating details · 50,216 ratings · 742 reviews

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 of his Jewish factory workers from the death camps in Nazi-occupied Poland. Thomas Keneally's "documentary novel," based on the recollections of the Schindlerjuden (Schindler's Jews), Schindler himself, and other witnesses, is to...more

Paperback, 400 pages

Published December 1st 1993 by Touchstone (first published 1982)

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Mar 17, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: Booker Prize, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006-2010)

Shelves: 1001-core, holocaust

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 Thomas Keanally’s...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Courtney H. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookers

Schindler's Ark is a brilliant book. It really shouldn't count as fiction, I suppose; one of the things that I admired about the book is that Keneally was scrupulous in his research. Even the dialogue, though obviously fiction, are constructed from conversations that actually took place. Keneally does not embellish, he does not fictionalize, he does not fudge details to be cleaner, sadder or happier, more romantic or more grim (which, though good, the movie definitely does). It is what it is --...more Schindler's Ark is a brilliant book. It really shouldn't count as fiction, I suppose; one of the things that I admired about the book is that Keneally was scrupulous in his research. Even the dialogue, though obviously fiction, are constructed from conversations that actually took place. Keneally does not embellish, he does not fictionalize, he does not fudge details to be cleaner, sadder or happier, more romantic or more grim (which, though good, the movie definitely does). It is what it is -- the ghettos, the massacres, Oscar Schindler's own life and approach to his Jewish workers. Indeed, what is most intriguing is that Schindler was not, and was not written to be, a man torn, who reached some stunning conclusion that he must become a hero despite the risks. He just did it. He just
acted: deftly, with wit and the enormous assets and influence that he wielded. He was interrogated and was released, as he figured he would be. He saved people and got away with it, as he assumed he would. And in saying this, I don't mean to downplay his heroism, and Keneally certainly doesn't downplay his heroism. In some ways, it is even more impressive. He just did what was right to do, using what resources he had, and he didn't question whether he could pull it off. His self-assuredness, even as the potential for catastrophic failure stalked him, was remarkable, and definitely saved his life and the lives of his workers. Keneally does not white-wash anything: not Schindler (brazen, a womanizer, best under pressure), not the violence, not the petty corruption that affected the List itself, not the machinery of war or the people who were within it.
I also appreciated that Keneally researched and spent time crafting the other characters in the book, the Jewish workers and those in the ghettos. They lived as people with history and personality and while this seems like a small feat, it is one often overlooked in books that feature the "hero" saving the "victim." You see it too often in fiction about Africa (hello, Constant Gardner!) in which the white man is the hero and African characters are just tools that the author wields, to be saved by, to affect, to be interpreted by, the interloping hero. Keneally set out to write about Schindler and so would have, I think, more leeway had he fallen into this trap. But instead he sometimes moved outside of Schindler, not merely to describe the horrific violence, but to also give life to the people in that violence, the people who Schindler saved, but who also saved themselves -- and then, of course, who saved Schindler (in more ways than one; saving even his memory, in the end).
It is hard to put my fingers on what was so spell-binding about this book. Keneally -- clearly a novelist who approaches the book like a novel -- has a matter-of-fact style; because I haven't read his other work (though now want to), it is hard to say if it is because of the subject matter or because that is how he always writes. But this style is what made the book poignant, I think. Keneally sugar-coated nothing, and he did not rely on flowery prose to beat into us the senseless violence, brutalities, and horror in which his characters were immersed. His meticulous research, pushed into novel form without losing its truthfulness, does more to convey Schindler as a man, and does more to preserve his legacy, than something romanticised would have been able to do. And the tenseness of each page, knowing that each person, each moment is balanced precariously on a precipice above the Holocaust itself, is conveyed best through Keneally's writing. I got the sense that Keneally took seriously the legacy with which he was trusted -- the legacy of Schindler, of course, but also of the people on his List and the people who never made it to his list -- and this was translated into the careful, unadorned, uncompromised book that he ultimately wrote. It is certainly one of the hardest Bookers to read, but it also is one of the best.(less)

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Apr 13, 2012 Andreea Obreja rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, non-fiction, on-the-holocaust, read-in-romanian

Schindlerjuden

"Intrarea interzisa evreilor si cainilor" pagina 208 O_O

"Fiindca pentru un mit nu se pune problema daca a fost sau nu adevarat, si nici daca ar trebui sa fie adevarat." 312
desi eu as fi spus: "ci daca ar trebui sa fie adevarat", mai potrivit in context; asa si citisem pana a trebuit sa scriu aici ._.

“In cele doua zile nesigure dintre declaratia de pace si punerea ei in aplicare, unul dintre detinuti, un bijutier pe nume Licht, mesterise un dar pentru Oskar. Ceva mult mai expresiv d...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Jenna Watt rated it 3 of 5 stars

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...more

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Apr 24, 2009 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical

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 allows the reade...more

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Aug 07, 2008 Becca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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. It all happened gra...more 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. It all happened gradually, though, and so the transformation in status was grudgingly accepted (both by Jews and Germans who were upset about what was going on).

There were several scenes of violence that were disturbing to read about. That said, the author did a great job of not being overly graphic and detailed, and all of the accounts given were told because they really happened and were testified to by witnesses in his research. So, this wasn't gratuitous, pointless violence. Still, in some ways it was more disturbing because I knew this really happened. It was a good eye opener.

The second half of the book was easier to read as the end of the war approached and Schindler became like a madman on a mission to save as many Jews as possible. It was great to read about the ways that the system was outsmarted and Schindler's outrageous and audacious maneuvers to save lives.

At first I wasn't sure that I should read this book. Would it be too disturbing? Would it be inappropriate to be peeking in on the very private suffering of the people? In the end I am very glad that I did read it.

I feel that I now have a much better understanding of the holocaust. This book made the holocaust personal. It talked about lots of individuals (one town's worth) and their experiences. I also feel that I now have a better understanding of the human capacity both for horrendous evil and for equally astounding good.

I think the best part of this book is that during the holocaust it must have seemed like the world had ended, and yet the holocaust itself ended instead, and people were held accountable for the things they did when it felt like no one who cared was watching.

Most of all I was truly amazed by the horrendous things people endured, and yet they still kept fighting to live on for another day. (less)

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Nov 27, 2008 Candace added it · review of another edition

Shelves: english-12

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...more 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 his mind set of 'Jewish people are rats' turns into 'these are real human beings and they shouldn't be treated this way.' And he saves every single one of the people that were on his list from gas chambers in Auschwitz Bureau. Because of him saving these Jews there were many generations.

2.) I was really disturbed by the book but I also loved it at the same time. I felt that it was a story I needed to read and that everyone should read once just to know what went on and how horrible it was back then. I didn't like that it was in such gruesome detail but I also felt that without that the book wouldn't be as inspirational to me. This was based on a true story and it was very legitimate and believable. After I read it I rented the movie to have a visual for myself. I absolutely cried my eyes out but I felt it was a needed experience. The authors writing style kind of was annoying because I felt as thought it was repetitive. I made total personal connections beyond the story with the girl in the red. She made me cry a lot because she’s just such a tiny young girl and she was so cute but in the end she died and I felt so horrible.

4.) Oscar Schindler
I think that he didn’t really fit in neatly anywhere but id assume he was more of a 'theist' because he believes of a higher power and he believes that the Jews shouldn’t be treated the way that they were being treated. In this one part of the book the Jews are crammed into a train cart and its boiling hot outside and there all craving water like crazy. SO Oscar gets up and has to make it somewhat of a joke in spraying them all with water and then the commander says "Oh Oscar stop, your just giving them hope" and he says this while he's literally dyeing of laughter. But Oscar really feels for them and he goes back to get an even longer hoes to reach all the Jews in the train.
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Apr 30, 2013 Emma Kelleway rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Schindler’s ark is the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist during World War II, who saved the lives of more than 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. I saw the film of this book a while ago (the movie is titled Schindler’s list) and remembered it well because of the horrific stories it told and also because it was very detailed. I knew that the movie was based on a book, an, I thought that the movie was very detailed so I wondered how much more detail does the book have? So I decid...more Schindler’s ark is the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist during World War II, who saved the lives of more than 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. I saw the film of this book a while ago (the movie is titled Schindler’s list) and remembered it well because of the horrific stories it told and also because it was very detailed. I knew that the movie was based on a book, an, I thought that the movie was very detailed so I wondered how much more detail does the book have? So I decided to read the book, and the book has quite a lot more awful details that the movie didn’t have.

I placed this book into the ‘teaches you about another time in history’ in the wide reading programme. I quite liked this category, I found it quite interesting. I found the way that the Nazis treated Jewish people to be horrific, I also found it interesting because many people knew what was going on and just turned a blind eye to it, and I failed to understand how you could do that, how you could just turn and look in the other direction when other people were suffering, I didn’t understand how anyone could just leave them there to suffer and die.

One of my favourite quotes from this book is “He who saves a single life, saves the world entire”. At the end of the war the Jewish workers that Oskar Schindler saved made him a ring and it had this quote on it. I like this quote because of what I think it means. Oskar Schindler couldn’t save all the Jewish people that died during World War II, but he saved the ones he could, and in the end he saved over 1,200 lives. Many of the young people he did save would get married and have children. So he was saving future generations probably without knowing it and so, in a way, he was saving a whole world. I also like this quote because it’s short, but meaningful.

In this book I of course learnt about the awful things that the Nazis did to the Jewish people, but I also learnt about the extraordinary things that people could do. Oskar Schindler put himself at risk doing what he did for the Jewish people, and a couple of times he was even arrested, but that didn’t stop him. He couldn’t save everyone, but he saved all the Jewish people he could. Even if he didn’t actually need them to work in his factory, and even if they were unable to work in his factory he still saved them.

A character that I found interesting is Amon Goeth. I found him interesting because the way he treated Jews was awful, and I didn’t understand how he could do it or why he did it. He also abused his maid who was Jewish. One time he sat on his balcony and shot Jewish people who had the misfortune of walking past him. I don’t understand what could make a person do that.
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Mar 05, 2013 Ursula rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, world-war-ii, fiction, biography-autobiography, nonfiction-novel

Oskar Schindler was more than a rescuer of Jews; he was a subversive force. He was able to get SS officers to look the other way, able to avoid manufacturing anything of value to the German war effort, able to show other people that there might be a way to at least save some people. It would be hard to overstate what he managed to do. He may have "only" saved a small number of people, but that was more than he could have been reasonably expected to do. He put himself on the line for them in a ve...more Oskar Schindler was more than a rescuer of Jews; he was a subversive force. He was able to get SS officers to look the other way, able to avoid manufacturing anything of value to the German war effort, able to show other people that there might be a way to at least save some people. It would be hard to overstate what he managed to do. He may have "only" saved a small number of people, but that was more than he could have been reasonably expected to do. He put himself on the line for them in a very real way.

At the same time, the book is so insistent on not sanctifying Schindler that it feels like the author tries very hard to point out Schindler's failings. He was a womanizer, he drank too much, he mostly ignored his wife, he lived as big as his station in life would allow. It's great to acknowledge that he wasn't perfect, but his failings were also part of what made his entire enterprise work. Plying people with food and drink, having long conversations with them even when he abhorred them, letting some heinous things continue - all were part of why he was able to do anything at all. If he'd gone around trying to save everyone, or stopping a camp commandant from beating his maid, the illusion that he was on the Germans' side even slightly (and appearing so slightly is all he could manage) would have disappeared, and his chances to do any good along with it.

It's an interesting story, and an important one. My rating is lower than the book probably deserves, but I wasn't as affected by the story as I expected to be. I think that having toured Dachau two years ago changed my ability to be moved by words written about the Holocaust. Everything pales in comparison to standing there.

Recommended for: anyone and everyone

Quote: "It was fortunate for Abraham that Oskar did not ask himself why it was Bankier's name he called, that he did not pause and consider that Bankier's had only equal value to all the other names loaded aboard the Ostbahn rolling stock. An existentialist might have been defeated by the numbers at Prokocim, stunned by the equal appeal of all names and voices. But Schindler was a philosophic innocent. He knew who he knew. He knew the name of Bankier."(less)

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Feb 27, 2013 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved every word and chapter of this book. The picture of Oscar Schindler portrayed in this book is not what I thought he would be going in. I love reading stories of individuals who had the opportunity to change the lives of even one person, or a small hand full of people during WWII, and specifically Nazi occupied territory. Schindler's List is both historiography and historical narrative, as it pertains to the life of Oscar Schindler just before, during, and after WWII. Because of its narra...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Mark Aldridge rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have seen the movie. Saw the book on a library's friends' 50 cent discount bookshelf. I thought, you know, what every book has over its movie, is detail. And the detail on this account could likely make an exceptional story amazing. I was correct. We all know the story. But in the detail accounts of the camps, and in the individual accounts of pain as well as fleeting pleasure, this story comes alive. I would have loved to meet Mr. Schindler. I relate to his hedonism. I relate to his initially...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Jannelle Sullivan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Schindler's List is a Holocaust themed book going through the times of factory workers under the command of Oskar Schindler. During the Holocaust time period, Nazi's killed many Jews. Jews were forced out of their homes and put to work like slaves. The Jews were treated inhumane and many of them died from diseases, 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...more Schindler's List is a Holocaust themed book going through the times of factory workers under the command of Oskar Schindler. During the Holocaust time period, Nazi's killed many Jews. Jews were forced out of their homes and put to work like slaves. The Jews were treated inhumane and many of them died from diseases, 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 Jewish people have lived through the Holocaust because of Schindler. People say Schindler took advantage of the situation and earned himself many benefits, such as free labor, for the Jews it was between a life and death situation. In the book, it tells in detail about what the Jews had to go through and what Schindler had to go through to protect them.

The first half of the book was harder to read because it involved the slow, steady slide into the troubles of the holocaust. It was crazy to read how the Jews changed from citizens to lower standard citizens and eventually to being seen as less than animals. It all happened gradually, though, and so the change in status was unwillingly accepted by both the Jews and Germans who were upset about what was going on.
The second half of the book was easier to read. As the end of the war approached, Schindler became like a madman on a mission to save as many Jews as possible. We found out the ways how the system was out mastered. We read about Schindler's extreme and risky moves he takes to save the lives of so many Jews.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and learning about the Holocaust. It was interesting to see how Oskar Schindler at the beginning of the book could have cared less about what was happening to the Jews, then as the war got more intense we saw how he changed his ways and he wanted to save as many Jews as possible. I also liked how the author, Thomas Keneally used real people who lived through this time as his resources. I didn't like how the beginning of the book was a slow reading it because it took me a few chapters to finally get into the book. Also some of the language was not English, so it was harder for me to understand what they were talking about at some points in the story.

I would definitely recommend this book to people. I think it would be best for people who like learning about the time period of the Holocaust. You get to see a different view of the Holocaust then the usual books about it. It is also great for kids in high school doing a history project! It's great to have knowledge on this topic. (less)

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Jan 14, 2013 Abhinav rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-cj-library, favorites, non-fiction, i-own-a-copy

Summary: In the shadow of Auschwitz, a flamboyant German industrialist grew into a living legend to the Jews of Cracow. He was a womaniser and heavy drinker who enjoyed the good life, yet to them he became a saviour.

Thomas Keneally's Booker Prize-winning novel recreates the story of Oskar Schindler, an Aryan who risked his life to protect Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland, who continually defied and outwitted the SS, and who was transformed by the war into an angel of mercy. It is an unforgettable ta...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Iceman rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Provavelmente que mais de meio mundo já viu o excelente filme realizado por Steven Spilberg em 1993 e que lhe valeu 7 óscars da Academia de Hollywood. Esse filme retractava a acção de Óskar Schindler durante a II Guerra Mundial, quando na Polónia ocupada pelos nazis, monta uma indústria suportada por mão de obra judia e assim consegue salvar da morte milhares de judeus.
Este livro, escrito pelo escritor australiano Thomas Keneally, é precisamente o "documento" que deu origem ao filme de Spilberg....more Provavelmente que mais de meio mundo já viu o excelente filme realizado por Steven Spilberg em 1993 e que lhe valeu 7 óscars da Academia de Hollywood. Esse filme retractava a acção de Óskar Schindler durante a II Guerra Mundial, quando na Polónia ocupada pelos nazis, monta uma indústria suportada por mão de obra judia e assim consegue salvar da morte milhares de judeus.
Este livro, escrito pelo escritor australiano Thomas Keneally, é precisamente o "documento" que deu origem ao filme de Spilberg.
E afirmo "documento" porquê?
Porque conta a história verídica de Óskar Schindler, empresário alemão que conseguiu, mediante o emprego na sua fábrica, salvar a vida a milhares de judeus que assim escaparam aos campos de extermínio nazis.
E parece que a origem do livro surge um pouco por acaso.
Pelo que li, foi em 1980, quando Keneally efectuava compras em Beverly Hills que conheceu Poldek Pfefferberg, dono da loja onde se encontrava. Conversa puxa conversa e Keneally fica a saber que Poldek era judeu e um dos que haviam sido salvos por um tal de Óskar Schindler.
É este o ponto de partida.
Interessa-se pelo assunto e é a partir de Poldek que consegue encontrar e entrevistar cerca de cinquenta pessoas que haviam sido salvas por Schindler e que o haviam conhecido. E basicamente o livro é isso mesmo; assente em história verídicas, Keneally constrói o percurso de Schindler durante o conflito mundial. A forma especuladora, os pactos e amizades, o ódio que nutria pelos nazis e a vergonha que sentia pela política do "seu" governo, é algo que salta à vista. Mesmo assim os seus jogos de interesse sobrepõem-se a tudo isso e é precisamente por isso que Schindler não pode ser visto apenas como um "bom samaritano". Embora ele tenha salvo muitas vidas, em parte fê-lo porque também precisava delas para alcançar os seus objectivos. Embora de uma forma algo leve, o livro mostra um pouco dessa faceta.
O certo é que o livro é realmente um documento pungente do Holocausto. Ao contrário de outros que já li: "Treblinka" e "Se isto é um Homem", em "A lista de Schindler" não conhecemos os campos de extermínio, mas sim a vida dos judeus que se vêm, de repente, cercados por arames farpados e delimitados a uma certa área, um género de campo que antecede os campos de extermínio. Ou seja, é a partir desses campos que eles são depois enviados para os de extermínio. Assim essas pessoas vêm-se sem nada e sem esperança, sempre na contingência de morrer. Keneally, nitidamente de propósito, usa o livro como um alerta futuro para a humanidade, pois narra com uma impressionante minuciosidade algumas das atrocidades e assassinatos cometidos pelos nazis. Foi dos poucos livros em que tive de parar por diversas vezes, pois as barbaridades, os horrores eram tão grandes que me inquietavam e me repugnavam, parecendo que ouvia os gritos das mulheres e das crianças...
E é precisamente por todas aquelas atrocidades, contadas ao pormenor e com um requinte algo macabro, que me recuso a dar nota máxima ao livro. Está efectivamente muito bem escrito, podem até dizer, tal como eu, que é um género de exorcismo de todo aquele horror, mas é que o escritor ao não nos poupar, fez com que tivesse que viver tudo aquilo e, as minhas horas de leitura que são sempre horas de lazer, transformaram-se em horas de guerra onde constantemente era assaltado pelos fantasmas das vítimas. Ou seja foi muito cansativo!
Esta é a minha sincera opinião. Um documento histórico belíssimo, mas muito violento e pesado, não aconselhável a espírito sensíveis.(less)

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Oct 20, 2012 Stefanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

A prime example of a book I'm kind of on the 3/4 cusp with. I'd probably really give it a 6.5/10 or a 3.5/5.

The story itself is remarkable- heroism in the face of nazis and all that. It's pretty badass what Oscar Schindler did to protect a bunch of people he didn't even know. You get a pretty good idea that he was somewhat batty, but that he used his bravery/insanity/recklessness as a force of good.

What drove me crazy about the story was the writing. It's another "historical accounts packaged as...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: booker-winners

Not an easy book to review or to categorize. Is it fiction, history, a bit of both. Keneally has clearly taken the historical account and stuck to it fairly closely, but has fictionalised the dialogue. It has also been overshadowed by Spileberg's remarkable film.
Schindler did nothing remarkable before or after the war and without his wartime efforts would have been remembered as a womaniser, drinker and bankrupt. However his efforts to save the Jews who worked in his factory and his treatment o...more Not an easy book to review or to categorize. Is it fiction, history, a bit of both. Keneally has clearly taken the historical account and stuck to it fairly closely, but has fictionalised the dialogue. It has also been overshadowed by Spileberg's remarkable film.
Schindler did nothing remarkable before or after the war and without his wartime efforts would have been remembered as a womaniser, drinker and bankrupt. However his efforts to save the Jews who worked in his factory and his treatment of them compared with what was going on around him means he will always be remembered. The story behind the book; the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg to get the book written and the film made are also remarkable. Keneally went into Pfefferberg's shop to look at briefcases and was persuaded to write the book!
The book is at times pedestrian, but there is no getting away from the horrors being described. It is the individual details that stand out; the boy who hid in the latrine, the girl in red, the casual cruelty of Goeth and the descriptions of some of the executions. It didn't have the gut wrenching effect of If This Is a Man / The Trucebut it was powerful enough.
Schindler himself comes across as the larger than life character he clearly was and his character flaws even seemed to assist in what he was trying to do. His opposition to Nazism was clear from an early stage and the historical detail relating to his passing information about the camps to Jewish bodies monitoring the treatment of the Jews in germany and Poland, at quite an early stage. The most shocking part of the book for me was the epilogue. This describes Schindler in the 60s and 70s being hissed on the streets of Frankfurt, having stones thrown at him and workmen shouting he ought to have been burnt with the Jews. In typical Schindler fashion he was charged with assualt when he punched a factory worker who called him a Jew-kisser. Those reactions were really very shocking.
A remarkable record which should be required reading.(less)

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Aug 01, 2012 Tami Greaney rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, non-fiction

Schindler's List is a spectacular movie and I love it so when I finally sat down to read this I was expecting to love it as well....I didn't. But I did.

The story itself is beautiful. A man who spends and gives all he has to save a people on the doorstep of murder. I learned a couple of things that the movie didn't show - after Schindler saved the Jews from his factory and the labor camp and moved to a new factory,he also saved another two train car full of men from Auschwitz who would have died...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok, if you're expecting Ralph Fiennes to jump out at some point whilst you're reading, be calm, it doesn't happen. I half-expected this book to be as graphic and as heart-warming as the film. I am three-quaters of the way through and I can tell you that nothing in this book is as graphic as the film we all know and love.
But what am I saying? When we read, we read for the book and not for a mere copy of a film. So... to the book! This book does not exaggerate. It does not hide anything. It mere...more

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May 14, 2012 Dakota rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

For many reasons this was an extremely difficult book to get through.

I initially selected this book as a project for a class. However, as I began working my way through it, it became harder and harder to read, NOT because of a difficult reading level per se, but because of its horrifying content.

I respect Schindler in a way I never did before after reading this historical account of all that he did for Jews captured and forced to work in a concentration camp. The novel takes readers through Schi...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more 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 Jewish people have lived through the Holocaust thanks to Schindler. Though people say Schindler took advantage of the situation and reaped many benefits, such as free labor, from the Jews it was between life or death for the Jewish people. In the book, it tells in detail about what the Jews had to go through and what Schindler had to go through to protect them.
Schindler's List recreates the true story of Oskar Schindler, a Czech-born southern German industrialist who risked his life to save over 1,100 of Jewish factory workers from the death camps in Nazi-occupied Poland. Thomas Keneally's documentary novel is based on stories from Schindler's Jewish factory workers. It tells the lives of the profiteer and womanizer Schindler; Schindler's long-suffering wife, Emilie; the cruel SS commandant Amon Goeth; Schindler's quiet factory manager, Itzhak Stern; and dozens of other Jews who had to go through the horrors of the Nazi machinery. In the middle of the story, Schindler comes to Krakow, Poland seeking his fortune and ends up outwitting the SS to protect his Jewish employees. It is the story of Schindler's bravery and attempt to do good against shocking evil. The book explores the good nature of man, the importance of human life, and going through the Holocaust.
Schindler's List is made up of a series of stories about different people, which take place over a period of time. Keneally provides the details of the lives of many of the main characters. Events from their pasts, their experiences in the ghetto or labor camps, and their reactions to the history they witnessed are told in parts over the course of the book. But in the middle of these parts, the main story comes out. Oskar Schindler and his outrageous rescue of his Jewish workers. Keneally stops in the book occasionally to tell about historical commentary or to mention what happened to a character after the war was over. So the actions of the novel does not go on chronologically but jumps around in time.
Thomas Keneally is the author of the novel Schindler's list. It is a biography on Oskar Schindler following him through the hard times of the Holocaust. Keneally took a different approach to writing this book and used people who went though that time as his sources. In the book he tells the personal story of several Jewish factory workers and what that had undergone. He stops at many random points to explain in depth exactly what happened to the person and their tragic stories. It breaks off from the main story line to tell the reader about the characters.
Since the book is about the Holocaust many people would believe that the author would have a bias more leaning towards following the Jewish side and not really showing what the German side is doing. But in this novel I found that Keneally has really shown both sides of the story. I saw how the German's and the SS where to the Jews and to each other but I also got to see what the Jewish workers had to go through. I felt like I could really understand the relationships between all the characters and different groups of the book. Thomas Keneally wrote this book to show readers what the Holocaust really was like. When reading the book I found that the descriptiveness of the working conditions and the everyday lives of the main characters really gave me the true sense of the cruelness that was, the Holocaust. When writing this book I feel that Keneally wanted the readers to get the feeling of actually being in that time of the Holocaust and looking throw the eyes of a person of that time. He wants to show how secretive Schindler had to be to save as many people as he did and how hard the Jewish workers had to work just to keep alive.
From reading this book, I have learned a great ordeal of information from this time. I have come to understand of just how much the Jewish people had gone threw in the Holocaust. They were treated as less than human and very unfairly by another race. Not only did the Jewish go through a lot but so didn't Oskar Schindler by protecting the Jewish people he could. He risked his life to save many others. In my opinion he is a hero for saving as many people as he could when he could have been killed over it. Other people may see him as a man who just took advantage of a bad situation but I feel like they do not understand that he could have been killed over what he did.
Other things I have learned from this book is that not every German person wanted to treat the Jewish people like this. Some people thought it was terrible what the Germans were doing to the Jews and stood up for what they thought. Many people were killed just trying to stand up for the Jews and many Jews were killed just out of hatred of others. I did not know much about the Holocaust time before this book. I have read The Diary of Anne Frank and learned much from it but not to this extent. In this book it told me of the many things the Jews had to go through just to be even excepted as a worker.
Such things I have read in the novel were how all the Jewish people had to go through physical tests to be considered healthy or not. If you were not healthy, then you were not able to work or do anything, therefore making you useless and you would be killed. I also learned that if you were healthy, you would be cramped into large train crates with hundreds of other Jewish workers barely fed, hydrated, and without days of sleep. Once you were in the crates, the SS would ship you off to work in grueling conditions.
Lastly I learned that what Schindler did for the Jews was a courageous act. He went around the other German SS officers just to save Jewish people. This shows that not every German in the Holocaust, was for the Holocaust. Though working in Schindler's factory was not easy, it was still a very big step up from working in the fields or the crematories burning other peoples bodies. It was especially a big step up from being killed by the SS. Still to this day over a thousand Jewish people are grateful to Oskar Schindler and what he had done for them.
In conclusion, Schindler's List was a Holocaust themed book showing the hard times of not only the Jews, but what this man Schindler went through. It told the horrible stories of many Jewish factory workers and just what they had to go through. This biography was written to show how Schindler saved so many Jewish workers and tried to save as many people as he could. The author really makes you feel through his text the pain that how many people had to suffer and go through.
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Sep 30, 2011 Julia Hughes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: war, true-stories

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 that there wer...more

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Sep 19, 2011 M.T. McGuire rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 quite dense...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Lily F rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more

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Aug 26, 2011 David Campton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, history, factual

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-going (hence my scorin...more 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-going (hence my scoring). I have been reading this for months now... partly because of the writing style... partly because of the sheer emotional weight of it. The episodic nature is integral to the whole, as the author seems to be conveying the fact that the central act/s of Schindler were not a result of a coherent, purposeful drive on his part, but somehow evolved in situ. Schindler may have been accorded the title of "righteous gentile" in Jewish hagiography, but he was no traditional saint. And that is one of the strengths of this book. The moral complexity of all the characters, the lack of a straightforward black and white approach to the appaling evil that took place over this period, and the sheer unromantic nature of Schindler's "rescue" of "his" Jews. Keneally emphasises the lack of any hint of fiction in the book (raising hackles when it won the Booker prize for fiction apparently), and it does, at times read like a dry historical record... But it is a record that needed to be set down. Why the title of the book was changed from "Schindler's Ark" to "List" can only have been in response to Spielberg's film... although I can understand the stated rationale for the film having a different name, with its emphasis on the "lists" of various kinds that were commonplace over this period (as well as avoiding any undue association with Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark"), I don't believe that the title does justice to the book... I'm not sure, but I did see one place where it seems as if there was an editorial change to make the title change easier... But never mind, whatever title it goes under it should be compulsory reading for all, particularly as the survivors of the Holocaust pass into memory.(less)

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Jun 08, 2011 Tarabuchanan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 business and takes...more 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 business and takes over a Jewish apartment building. He has a staff full of Jewish employees at the DEF enamelware factory with the help of Itzhak Stern, a Jewish accountant who hires the Jewish people that are in the ghettos with him. The antagonist of the novel is Amon Goeth, a member of the German Nazi Party and owner of a concentration camp run out of Cracrow. The main setting of the novel is in Czechoslovakia, but also includes background on characters and what became of them after the war had ended and all camps were liberated. Keneally wrote Schindler’s List not originally intending to publish it, but out of pure fascination of Oskar Schindler. After digging deep into Schindler’s life and uncovering what a brave man he was, Keneally published his novel to convey the boldness and perseverance of an individual in the worst of times. The published piece seems to be intended for an adult audience. Its an intense genre of historical fiction of the Holocaust. In my opinion, the novel’s main theme is putting others before yourself. The theme is portrayed in the novel by the motifs death, trains, and lists. Before reading Shcindler’s List, I had some background on Holocaust literature from reading Night by Elie Weisel. In comparison, they are much different. The point of view of a third party observer and an actual Holocaust survivor differ in the emotion. I recommend Schindler’s List to anyone interested in the Holocaust. The book was very difficult to comprehend, and the reading level was very high. Adults would be more interested, along with Germans.
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Sep 13, 2010 Ali rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 mood whilst I was rea...more

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Mar 27, 2010 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-and-biography, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, linguistics-and-philosophy

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 stretch of the...more 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 stretch of the imagination a good guy. He's an up-and-coming entrepreneur in the Third Reich, with a clutch of complicated business interests and an appetising collection of mistresses. He sees an opportunity. Jews in Poland have been expropriated and deprived of most of their rights. They will work for next to nothing to get enough food to keep from starving. Many of these people are highly skilled. The potential is obvious. He'd better get hold of this one before his rivals do! So he sets up a factory, and starts operating at a staggering profit margin. The fact that he's away from his wife is only good news for his romantic life - icing on the cake.

Everything is going wonderfully, when the Nazis start deporting his workforce to the concentration camps. Nazi ideology holds that they're vermin, who are worth no more than the gold fillings, soap and hair that can be extracted from their dead bodies. But Schindler knows this isn't true. Alive, they can carry on making money for him. Dead, they're worthless. Like a good businessman, he starts bending rules to keep them in his factory, and out of the gas chambers.

Somehow, by imperceptible degrees, this Nazi shark becomes a saint who ends up saving the lives of over a thousand people, at great risk to his own. Keneally traces what happens in an unsentimental, matter-of-fact way. Each individual step is completely logical: there is no blinding relevation on the road to Damascus. But how can you explain the overall transformation? Was Schindler pushed by Adam Smith's invisible hand? Is it an example of the principle George Orwell enunciates, that freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two is four, and that everything else just follows from that? Or was God, as He so often does, moving in mysterious ways?

Perhaps all three explanations are just different ways of saying the same thing. I'm sure I don't know. But if you haven't read the book, and you're interested in these questions, you might want to check it out some time.
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Aug 23, 2009 Smita rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more

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Mar 04, 2009 Danielle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 and wea...more 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 and wear a yellow Star of David in order to distinguish themselves from the rest of society. soldiers would cut off thier side curls in the street to make a mockery of them. As the German occupation increased, Jewish residents were tossed out of their homes and forced to all live in a 16 square block walled ghetto located south of the Vistula River in Poland. The liquidation of the ghetto lead by Amon Geoth, Nazi officer, forced everyone out of their occupancy and into the Plaszow forced labour camp. Oskar Schindler with the help of Itzhak Stern, a member of the jewish community, set up a metal works plant so that the Jews were able to escape, if only for a moment, from the brutality of the concentration camp where they were forced to fight for survival. His factory was known to all who worked there as a piece of heaven in the depths of hell. Schindler striked a deal with Amon that included Amon recieve a said amount of the profits that came in for the labour that was required to run the factory. Amon let it slip to Oscar that he was ordered to send all the prisoners to Auschwitz where they would ulitmatly face death. With this horrifying news, Schindler set out on a mission to save those who had become so dear to his heart.

Personal Response
The story of Oscar Schindler is one that would not be easily forgotton. This man saved the lives of 1200 Jews and their decendants who would have other wise been killed in the masacre of WWII. Although this is a great story of survival, it gets you thinking about all the other people who weren't as lucky to have worked for such a man. thousands of Jews died in the worst conditions possible and for those who did survive, the faced the memories of the suffering and the violence that happend before their eyes. It was insipring to see the change of hear that Schindler had when his mind set changed form moking money to saving lives. Itzhak Stern had a huge part to play in the conversion of Schindler because he was in chanrge of the buisness end of ther factory, so he was the one who did all the highering. Stern worked relentlessly in making sure that as many people as possible were able to come to the 'place of refuge.' Schindler created a future for so many who thought there was nothing else for them.

Collection of Quotes
-While Schindler and Stern were writing the list of Jew that they were trying to save;
Oskar Schindler: "How many?"
Itzhak Stern: "400, 450."
Oskar Schindler: "More. More."
-When Amon told Schindler about the transporting of the prisoners. this sparked up the determination for Schindler to create his list.
"Can you believe this? As if I don't have enough to do, they come up with this? I have to find every rag buried up here and burn it. The party's over, Oskar. They're closing us down, sending everybody to Auschwitz."
-When Oscar was rounding everyone onto trains so that they could be sent to his camp in Czechoslovakia, the officers tried to seperate the children and put them on a different train.
"What are you doing? These are mine. These are my workers. They should be on my train. They're skilled ammunition workers. They're essential. Essential girls! Their fingers polish the inside of shell metal casings. How else am I to polish the inside of a 45 millimeter shell casing? You tell me. You tell me!"
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Apr 12, 2011 Natalie Tonnesen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, biography

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...more

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About Thomas Keneally

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.

Life...more 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.

Life and career

Born in Sydney, Keneally was educated at St Patrick's College, Strathfield, where a writing prize was named after him. He entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly to train as a Catholic priest but left before his ordination. He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist, and he was a lecturer at the University of New England (1968–70). He has also written screenplays, memoirs and non-fiction books.

Keneally was known as "Mick" until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use what was really his first name. He is most famous for his Schindler's Ark (1982) (later republished as Schindler's List), which won the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film Schindler's List. Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.

Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (based on his novel) and played Father Marshall in the Fred Schepisi movie, The Devil's Playground (1976) (not to be confused with a similarly-titled documentary by Lucy Walker about the Amish rite of passage called rumspringa).

In 1983 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). He is an Australian Living Treasure.

He is a strong advocate of the Australian republic, meaning the severing of all ties with the British monarchy, and published a book on the subject Our Republic in 1993. Several of his Republican essays appear on the web site of the Australian Republican Movement.

Keneally is a keen supporter of rugby league football, in particular the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the NRL. He made an appearance in the 2007 rugby league drama film The Final Winter.

In March 2009, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, gave an autographed copy of Keneally's Lincoln biography to President Barack Obama as a state gift.

Most recently Thomas Keneally featured as a writer in the critically acclaimed Australian drama, "Our Sunburnt Country".

Thomas Keneally's nephew Ben is married to the former NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally.
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Quotes from Schindler's List

“Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.” — 77 people liked it

“He was one of those men who, even in the years of peace, would have advised his congregation that while God may well be honored by the inflexibility of the pious, he might also be honored by the flexibility of the sensible.” — 3 people liked it

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