The Street Sweeper in Aussie Readers

Dec 13, 2013 Kathryn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-list-2014, 4-5-stars, australian-authors, recommended-by-people-on-gr

This is an intensely powerful and moving novel, rich with various themes. I'm not sure whether I can do this book justice with a review.

The story is set in two times. In the present day, we follow the stories of Adam Zignelik, an untenured historian academic at Columbia University who has produced no original research for years, meaning the university will be compelled to let him go, and young Lamont Williams, an ex-prisoner and a hospital janitor on probation. In the story of 60+ years previou This is an intensely powerful and moving novel, rich with various themes. I'm not sure whether I can do this book justice with a review.

The story is set in two times. In the present day, we follow the stories of Adam Zignelik, an untenured historian academic at Columbia University who has produced no original research for years, meaning the university will be compelled to let him go, and young Lamont Williams, an ex-prisoner and a hospital janitor on probation. In the story of 60+ years previously - before, during and after WWII - we follow the story of the Polish Jews as they're being swept up into ghettoes and then extermination camps, specifically Henryk Mandelbrot - a Holocaust survivor. As Adam, whose interests are in twentieth-century political history specialising in civil rights history, is looking for something he can take on as a project, he starts with investigating rumours that African-American soldiers liberated Dachau (something the military refused to confirm or deny) and he stumbles upon evidence of people who survived the extermination camps collected almost immediately after the war ended and left sitting unheeded for years because no one had wanted to hear their stories. We meet Henryk Mandelbrot in the present day through Lamont Williams, and we hear his story as the older man tells the younger man his story.

There is a large list of characters, skilfully woven into the story line, and Elliot Perlman's writing is just beautiful. Having said that, the size of the chapters is a little daunting - I like to be able to put a book down between chapters, but that wasn't always possible with this one.

However, the stories of the injustices committed against both African Americans on US soil and against the Jews on European and US soil are just horrendous and so powerful that I almost didn't notice the size of the chapters once I became immersed in the book. But beware - this is not a book for the faint-hearted. Some of the actions of "man's inhumanity to man" are described in quite graphic detail. Not that I would wish to deter people from reading this, but I think you do need to be in a good frame of mind when reading it. I read this as a buddy read with a friend (thanks, Elaine!) which was good because I had someone to discuss the terrible events with, as well as to present a different perspective which I may not have considered.

I was a little disappointed by the ending, as I felt it was slightly weak just at the last. However, this was still a great read - I was engrossed throughout most of the book. And I'm keen to read more of Elliot Perlman's other work. 4.5 stars for this one. ...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Tango rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I won't try to capture the story, as so many reviews here have already done. This is not a perfect novel but is deserving of five stars for the intensity of the writing. Perlman is able to keep the reader enthralled over 600 or so pages which is quite a feat. I felt a great fondness for each of the characters and cared about what would happen to them.

He includes some incredible coincidences when the lives of the characters intersect in unbelievable ways which did make me step outside the narrati ...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Dee-Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: five-star, australian-authors, historical-fiction, memoir, library-book-reading-session, goodreads-giveaway

I got to the point of no return last night ... I just had to finish the last 100 pages, and thus are feeling the effects today. Great book, which is a mirage of peoples lives and periods of time. Not too sure about the final paragraph and was expecting a little bit more Ver good though. It is a bit harrowing with the descriptions of the death camps and it is near impossble to imagine the savagery required to manage and work these areas.

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Jul 15, 2013 Jane rated it it was ok

I really liked this book at the beginning. I was impressed by the amount of research that was done in order to write it and I liked the way it was written set in different eras so that I had to think a lot about where I was in the narrative. I thought it was a very clever piece of writing, complex and multi-layered. The main characters are inextricably connected, so much so that about two thirds of the way through, I began to think there was a credibilty canyon going on, and by the end, I though ...more

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Jan 10, 2017 Kerry rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-all-time-favourite-novels

Took me a long time to get into this and after 50 pages I was struggling to find the direction. By page 150 I was hooked. This is a fantastic piece of writing and one of the best books I have read in a long time. The interwoven plot lines are terrific and the power of the narrative, and the research behind it, are really impressive. I will be teaching this to two classes of Year 12s this year and I will be interested to see how it works. Whatever happens, the fact that they have to read this pow ...more

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Aug 13, 2014 Scout rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Technically amazing and powerfully told story that makes you think again about the Holocaust and also civil rights in this country. There are some unforgettable characters in this novel. I recommend it.

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