The novel is vivid, written in not-so-lengthy but powerful words. It is sad but not melodramatic. Arnost Lustig – I’m happy I discovered him – is a fine voice in literature, particularly Holocaust literature, that needs to be heard (or read).
Description from the back cover:
On the outskirts of Terezin, the concentration camp created by the Nazis in northern Bohemia as a staging post for the transport of Jews to Poland, a 17 year old boy encounters Vili Feld, a pre-war acquaintance and the seducer of the teenager's former girlfriend. It is September 1944; the war is going badly for the Germans, and they are in a hurry to complete their "final solution". Compromises are being made on all sides, conditions are unspeakable, rumours are rife, but nothing definite is known of the Nazis' intentions. Or perhaps what is known is deliberately not being believed.
{02 December 2009}
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