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Literature & Fiction |
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Those Who Save Us
written by Jenna Blum
Studio : Harvest Books
by Harvest Books
Publisher : Harvest Books
Released : 2005-05-02
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780156031660
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 93 reviews)
List Price : $14.00
Our Price : $6.00
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Product Description |
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For fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier and went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence of the past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna, Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmfuhrer of Buchenwald.
Driven by the guilt of her heritage, Trudy, now a professor of German history, begins investigating the past and finally unearths the dramatic and heartbreaking truth of her mother's life.
Combining a passionate, doomed love story, a vivid evocation of life during the war, and a poignant mother/daughter drama, Those Who Save Us is a profound exploration of what we endure to survive and the legacy of shame.
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This author has never lived in Minnesota! |
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This book was heartily recommended to me by a fellow traveler on an airplane to Minneapolis, of all places!! I eagerly anticipated its arrival and read it in an afternoon--stretched into late evening. Once I'd read the part describing the funeral in Minnesota, I really couldn't believe much about the rest of the book. I know it's a work of fiction, but if the facts with which I am familiar are so far out in left field, why should I think the rest of the book is based on the fact that it purports to be based on the Holocaust? Minnesota people are, to a fault, polite. The book did have a lot of promise and was well written, but the writer has an over-active imagination...or neglected to do even the most basic of research. I could probably write an equally good Holocaust novel, and I'm a baby boomer from Canada!! |
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This may be the best book I have ever read........ |
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There are many reviews above mine to tell you what this book is about. Eloquent, thoughtful. I read several books every week. This is one of the best I have ever read. I would like to recommend it to all. To women especially, may empathize with the powerlessness and struggle to survive in such a repugnant way, to live as a villian because of what you have done to survive and even help others (even though you may do so anonymously). Even heroes can be misinterpreted. I will think of this book with much emotion for a very long time. Read it. You will be glad you did. |
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VERY Good Writing, yet some things I missed within it |
I enjoyed the writing in this book, and I do feel that Jenna Blum did a very good job on it. The truth of the holocaust is heavier then even the word Horrible could ever even cover. I think it does well in the truth that though the camps and killings were past horrific, that the German's themselves suffered to survive it.
(SPOILER WARNING)
Now back to what I felt lacked... I TOTALLY fell in love with everything about Max's character. I felt that the scenes between Max and Anna were amazing, heart-filled and beautiful. I cried when he was taken, and cheered when Anna finds herself carrying Trudie. In the whole story the only happiness EVER given to Anna is Max... the rest of her life is just horrific down to her in the "future" being placed in a home. I was saddened that she just left Germany with out looking for Max in the story, did she not even care what happened to him? Just assumed he died? She looked for him in the quarry it said but then never goes on later with the idea that she really cared of his ending.
I wasnt surprised that Max was killed in the end, as I expected that but I would have loved more from his side (even though I know that wasnt the point of the story.)
I really do think it was a nice touch that he was killed by the Obersturmfuhrer. Just goes to show what a monster he was, and in another way that he ruined Anna's Life.
I have to wonder what happened to him other then running away? I know the intent wasn't really to give us insight on them but more on how it effected Anna as a whole.
Anyway I did enjoy the book (as depressing as it was.) but I felt such a strong need for more information on the characters she left behind.
-Maddy :)
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An intriguing look at the other side |
I have always been drawn to literature and fiction that takes place or is about WW2 and the Holocaust. I just can't image what it was like for the millions of Jews who suffered under the hand of Hitler and the SS. However, despite this odd attraction, I must really be in the mood to read one of these many books. Last week, when searching the shelves for something new to read, I stumbled upon this book, lost in the back of my book shelf. I really think I bought the book based mainly on my impression of the cover, and then for what the blurb said. It sounded different to me then many of the other books I had read about this time and I was in the mood for something a bit *different.*
This novel starts out by introducing us to both Anna and Trudy at the funeral of Jack - Anna's late husband and Trudy's step father. After only a few pages, we are quickly transported back in time to a young Anna, and her father Gerhard. It is in these few pages that we are introduced to Max, a Jewish Doctor who will forever change Anna's life. The story continues to jump back and forth between past and present, but its not confusing because of the wonderful way the author and publishers have set up the text.
We learn that Trudy knows nothing of her true father, Max - all along thinking she is a product of her mother's love for an SS Officer. As the story continues, Trudy, desperate to find something out about her past, begins a historical documentary project in which she interviews Germans who survived the war and what they went through during this time period. Trudy hopes that by doing so she will learn not only something about her past, but something about her mother, who is tight lipped and refuses to talk about the past. At the same time, through flashbacks, we learn the true story of Anna and Trudy during the years of WW2.
I absolutely adored this book, and think that it will be the top novel of 2008 for me. The one thing that I personally did not enjoy about the novel was the fact that it was written in third person. This took a few minutes to get used to, but once I was the time flew with this novel. I would recommend this to anyone who loves strong, even character development. This novel pulls you into the story and you soon forget where you are. I felt so much for Anna throughout the whole thing, that at times I was close to tears with her struggles. This book is definitely a keeper for me, and I will be passing it on to my mom and friends to read also.
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Wonderful story |
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I read ths book along with about 4 co-workers; we had formed a small reading group. This was my pick for the month. We all thought it was a terrific book and had a lot to discuss about it at the end. I'm looking forward to another book by this author. |
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