It's weird to be critical of a book based on such an incredible story of love and survival.
It's weird to be critical of a book that moves so quickly, you finish it on a single Phoenix to Spokane flight.
I'm about to do both.
Let's get weird.
I've seen this book for awhile now and never picked it up. I read and studied a lot about the Holocaust in college - fiction writing and historical - and something has to really stand out now to get me back to it. But, I was about to board a plane without a book and needed something to pass the time. This looked compelling enough and it was in paperback, so what did I have to lose?
The novel is based on the true story of a man imprisoned at Birkeneau who takes a job as the man who tattoos numbers on new prisoners at nearby Auschwitz. The job feels like cooperation with the SS, but it's a way to survive and even be given some "perks" in a truly horrific place. While carrying out his job, he meets and falls in love with a fellow prisoner. The rest of the book is their story of survival and a story of how they found love in the midst of human tragedy.
Is it powerful? In story, yes. But, for me, the pages simply flew by. It's not that I'm insensitive or even immune to the horrors that took place. But, the writing simply lacked the depth a story like this deserves. I can't explain why, but it left me wanting more. More lessons. More insight. More... depth.
A Holocaust novel should not be a quick read. But, I was uplifted (spoiler alert - but, it's written on the back cover, too) by the fact that their love did survive the camps.
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