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Task 19: A Book That Was Originally Published in Another Language
By Book Riot · 123 posts · 812 views
By Book Riot · 123 posts · 812 views
last updated Dec 31, 2015 12:04PM
Task 8: Read a book in translation from a country you’ve never visited
By Mary Beth · 36 posts · 629 views
By Mary Beth · 36 posts · 629 views
last updated Sep 20, 2024 09:31PM
What Members Thought
Including the appendix, this might be 4.5 stars. I enjoyed this story tremendously. It captured the immediacy of the 1940 German invasion of France, the panic of the Parisians, and the subsequent strange relationship of the French with the German army (some were collaborators, some did everything they could to interfere with them). Interestingly, the story does not indicate any particular threat to Jews.
The appendix contains both Nemirovsky's outline of how she planned the rest of the novel to t ...more
The appendix contains both Nemirovsky's outline of how she planned the rest of the novel to t ...more
Even unfinished, this is wonderful. Such beautiful writing and characterization. It's a tragedy in every sense of the word that only 2 of the 5 parts were completed.
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Irene Nemirovsky, a French jewish woman who died at Auschwitz, wrote two beautiful interlacing novels about the German occupation of France during World War II, before she was taken to a concentration camp herself. He style is effortlessly descriptive and irreverent, yet cheeky in that way that only the French can be. Take my favorite line in the book:
"A cat held a little piece of bony fish tentatively between its sharp teeth. He was afraid to swallow it, but he couldn't bring himself to spit i ...more
"A cat held a little piece of bony fish tentatively between its sharp teeth. He was afraid to swallow it, but he couldn't bring himself to spit i ...more
I have read only the first half of this book. I know some people love it, but I was forcing myself to finish that first part.
I'm sure part of why it's compelling is because it was written by someone who ended up dying in a concentration camp and it's a firsthand look at WWII. But to me it just seemed like more depressing war stuff & a look at the depravity of humanity. OK, a few characters might have had some redeeming qualities, but for the most part, I didn't connect with any of the characters ...more
I'm sure part of why it's compelling is because it was written by someone who ended up dying in a concentration camp and it's a firsthand look at WWII. But to me it just seemed like more depressing war stuff & a look at the depravity of humanity. OK, a few characters might have had some redeeming qualities, but for the most part, I didn't connect with any of the characters ...more
I FINALLY finished this book. I think the timing of me reading it was just off b/c since I own it, I often put it down to read a library book. But. Now that I'm done with it, I have to say I did enjoy it. It's about France during World War II and the people who live there and the soldiers who come to inhabit the country during the war. Really, this is a story about war, humanity, relationships b/t countries and persons, and how people live day to day during wartime.
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Nemirovsky is one of my new favorite authors. She writes with such force about what it is to be human during a very tense and uncertain moment in history. Beautifully done!
I wasn't too impressed with this one. I don't even think I finished it. It just didn't seem to go anywhere.
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A stinker...a slooowwww stinker.
Oct 31, 2007
Rebecca
marked it as to-read
Feb 25, 2008
Melissa Wiebe
rated it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction
Apr 02, 2008
Lucinda
marked it as to-read
Oct 26, 2009
Carly Thompson
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2010
Elizabeth
marked it as to-read
Jun 21, 2010
Steph
marked it as to-read
Jan 05, 2012
Nicole
marked it as to-read
Oct 24, 2012
Melissa
marked it as to-read
