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A Bag of Marbles
by
Joseph Joffo
When Joseph Joffo was ten years old, his father gave him and his brother fifty francs and instructions to flee Nazi-occupied Paris and, somehow, get to the south where France was free. Previously out of print, this book is a captivating and memorable story; readers will instinctively find themselves rooting for these children caught in the whirlwind of World War II.
Paperback, 302 pages
Published
January 15th 2001
by University Of Chicago Press
(first published 1973)
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I have downgraded this from four to three stars. Perhaps b/c this is my review, and I am not a young adult. Please see the comments between Lisa and I below. Should a book be written for a specific audience? Isn't a really good book going to work just as well for kids and adults?!
This is an excellent book about being a child in France during WW2. I was not aware when I began the book that it was a young adult book. It is not fiction, but a memoir written by a father who then at that time was onl...more
This is an excellent book about being a child in France during WW2. I was not aware when I began the book that it was a young adult book. It is not fiction, but a memoir written by a father who then at that time was onl...more
A Bag of Marbles by Joseph Joffo is a truly amazing story of how the author himself and his brother, Maurice, travel throughout France and other parts of Europe in 1941 to escape Nazi capture. The beginning of the book starts off during what would seem to be any ordinary day for a ten-year-old boy, who has just lost a game of marbles to his twelve-year-old brother outside their father's barbershop. But by the next day, these two ordinary boys realize that they are not ordinary at all. They are...more
So glad to have discovered this true memoir about two brothers, aged 10 and 12, who come from Jewish lineage and live in occupied France during World War II. Their parents are left with no choice but to send them out of Paris into the country on their own, with the equivalent of $20.00 , their friendship and their street smarts to escape the Nazi raids of Jewish neighborhoods. They have one dangerous encounter after another with the Nazis and are forced to grow up way too fast as they fend for t...more
Esta novela es una autobiografía contada por uno de los niños, el más pequeño, Joseph Joffo. Desde la inocente visión de este niño vivimos las aventuras, las penurias y la persecución que ambos hermanos sufren cuando huyen de París invadido por los nazis. Y poco a poco vamos viendo como esta huía y todo lo que conlleva provoca la pérdida de esa inocencia, la desaparición de la infancia.
La obra está narrada siempre en primera persona, nunca nos encontramos con un narrador omnipresente que nos hab...more
La obra está narrada siempre en primera persona, nunca nos encontramos con un narrador omnipresente que nos hab...more
I recommend everyone to read this book,gosh it so facinating and make you see how the jews were persecuted ..... i read it when i was in high school for my french lit class jeez it kept suspended till the end.
J'ai dû lire ce livre pour mon cours de français et je l'ai beaucoup aimé! J'ai adoré les details et le choix des mots. C'est un livre vraiment bien écrit, de la perspective d'un jeune de 12 ans. L'histoire était vraiment intéressante, ça fait changement des autres livres de ce genre dans lequel les personnages racontent leurs aventures dans les camps de concentration...Ce livre-ci raconte les aventures de la famille Joffo, principalement des deux plus jeunes frères Maurice et Joseph, qui doiven...more
There is many a holocaust tale out there, but Joffo's one has worthwhile uniqueness. For one, it is French. We are often caught up in the effects of the holocaust and Nazism in Germany, but its effects on France are significant. As a child, Joffo copes with separation, fear, and desperation in fasinating ways. I must admit, I am skeptical that he is completely honest at times, but I almost willing to accept that from this narrator. Another aspect it must be commended for is its ease of reading....more
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Strange experience with this book. I read it originally in the 1970s and though it quite excellent.
Then I decided to re-read this new edition and was very unhappy with the re-translation. It has been transformed into the past present, a tense I loath.
I managed to get hold of an original from the 70s and it's far more satisfactory and worth tracking down.
It's a shame that such a good and important book should be ruined in this way.
Then I decided to re-read this new edition and was very unhappy with the re-translation. It has been transformed into the past present, a tense I loath.
I managed to get hold of an original from the 70s and it's far more satisfactory and worth tracking down.
It's a shame that such a good and important book should be ruined in this way.
Joseph Joffo tells his own, true story of escaping from the Nazis with his brother--first, by traveling from Paris to the south of France; then, more dramatically, by finding a priest to swear they've been baptized (and produce certificates) after they're already in custody. In French, but a good way to practice, because it's fairly modern, everyday French (I didn't have to look up every other word).
Grade level: 6th +
Reading level: medium
Genre: historical fiction, WWII, holocaust, France
Read-alikes: Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Once
A touching biography about Joseph Joffo and his brother Maurice, who had to fend for themselves during World War 2 in France as they fled from the German Nazis, narrowly escaping deportation to the death camps.
Reading level: medium
Genre: historical fiction, WWII, holocaust, France
Read-alikes: Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Once
A touching biography about Joseph Joffo and his brother Maurice, who had to fend for themselves during World War 2 in France as they fled from the German Nazis, narrowly escaping deportation to the death camps.
Otra maravillosa historia escrita a través de recuerdos de un infante Judio quien vivió los terribles tiempos de Hitler, recordé a Anna Frank mientras lo leía pero en esta historia el final no es tan triste, montones de aventuras y hazañas que tienen que tomarse para no caer en manos alemanas. Fuerza y valor descritos en cada acción que un niño puede realizar demostrándonos que "Nunca" hay que dejar de pelear en la vida :)
Sep 07, 2012
Gabriel
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Gabriel by:
French course book.
This one has seen even more time pass since I read it, as it was a course book for French class at the Lycée Français. As such, I can no longer remember much of its content either. It was still, however, a poignant tale of occupied Paris during WW2.
Letto tutto d'un fiato in un'estate della mia adolescenza: un libro bellissimo!
Colonna sonora: A-ha - Hunting High And Low
Colonna sonora: A-ha - Hunting High And Low
Not too demanding for a novice French reader like myself, but also none too memorable either, which is surprising considering the subject matter.
Nov 17, 2012
Laia-Felicitat
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People interested in humanity affected by The Second World War
BUENÍSIMA obra de este judío francés que sobrevivió al nacismo de niño y pudo contárnoslo años más tarde.
Livre qui nous montre la cruauté de la guerre et son impact sur les enfants.
it's a really fantabulous book...... describes in details....
Aug 08, 2011
Rosslyn
added it
A remarkable account of courage
vedi "L'amico ritrovato".
Jan 19, 2012
Ben Pfeffer
added it
Q-2
Genre-Realistic Fic.
Genre-Realistic Fic.
Excellent. A true story of courage in the face of adversity, and at such a young age. Great insight into France during the 2nd World War - from a child's perspective.
I like it
Sad but really good
Although I didn't read this book constantly, kind of more on and off, I had moments where I couldn't stop reading it, and moments which bored me. I think it's an interesting tale, but perhaps I didn't enjoy it so much as I didn't understand copius amounts of it, as I think the language is testing for a native English student of French at A2 level. However, what I understood I generally enjoyed, and I was always intrigued to find out how the Joffo brothers finished their journey.
An interesting story about a boy's experience in escaping from danger in occupied France during the Holocaust, but I didn't think it brought anything particularly interesting to the canon of such texts, and the reflections were weak and seemed out-of-place.
good book
Tan detallado que te transporta a esa época.
J'ai lu le bd, première partie, et j'attend vivement la deuxième tome - toujours pas dispo à la bibliothèque.
This is not the usual type of books I read,nor the kind of stories I like, but in this case I liked it. This is a very well written book, that gets you soon after you've started it.
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“Preferisco raccontare il seguito al presente, il che renderà l'avventura più anodina, le toglierà quell'aura di sacro che conferiscono i tempi passati, dall'imperfetto al passato remoto: il presente è il tempo senza sorprese, un tempo ingenuo, il tempo in cui si vivono le cose come arrivano, ancora nuove e vive, è il tempo dell'infanzia, quello che mi si addiceva.”
—
1 person liked it
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