Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Nightfather



i read this book over yom tov.

it is a quick read. it is a captivating read. it is an insightful read.

i bought this book for one dollar from the discard book cart at the public library.

it is worth so much more.

i have read many holocaust books --fiction and non-fiction -- in my lifetime, but none like this one.

it is a novel made of up of short chapters. each chapter is a vignette. each chapter captures a father's memory from the war, and his children's reactions to that memory.

the reader is left wondering: is this a work of fiction or is this a biography?

with great simplicity, the author -- carl friedman being a woman actually -- captures a survivor's tale. the book, originally written in dutch and translated into english, does not lose anything in translation.

it is a powerful read.

i highly recommend it.

3 comments:

cruisin-mom said...

looks good Pearl. If I could stop watching t.v. I might read it.

rabbi neil fleischmann said...

Sounds fascinating. Thannk you for sharing/spreading the word. I am reading an amazing book right now and cant wait to finish so I ca post about it. But in a way I dont want to finish, dont want it to be over.

Anonymous said...

This sounds like a pretty interesting read - do you happen to know if the author has written any other books?

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