About this title: Over the course of the summer of 1942, the Nazis exterminated the majority of Serbia's Jews. The speed of their deadly programme was due to a ruthlessly mechanical scheme using a hermetically sealed truck. Years later, by trying to find out what happened to his relatives, the narrator, a teacher, pieces together the horrific truth of this ...
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780099461739ISBN:0099461730
Description: Very Good. PAPERBACK BOOK-VERY GOOD OVERALL CONDITION-TRUSTED DEVON (UK) BASED SELLER-IN STOCK-SENT WITHIN 1 WORKING DAY-AVAILABLE BY EMAIL FOR QUERIES-NO QUIBBLE REFUND IF NOT COMPLETELY SATISFIED- read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Harvill Press
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9781843430933ISBN:1843430932
Description: Good. EX-LIBRARY WITH USUAL LIBRARY MARKINGS. USUAL SIGNS OF A WELL READ BOOK BUT GOOD OVERALL CONDITION SECURE DAILY POSTING FROM UK. 30 DAY GUARANTEE. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780099461739ISBN:0099461730
Description: New. Rapid dispatch with careful packaging. We're a friendly and helpful family company, please get in touch if you need any help. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780099461739ISBN:0099461730
Description: Good. EX-LIBRARY WITH USUAL LIBRARY MARKINGS. USUAL SIGNS OF A WELL READ BOOK BUT GOOD OVERALL CONDITION SECURE DAILY POSTING FROM UK. 30 DAY GUARANTEE. read more
Description: Good. Ships from the UK. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Your purchase also supports literacy charities. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Harcourt
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780151011414ISBN:0151011419
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: THE HARVILL PRESS
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781843430933ISBN:1843430932
Description: Published by THE HARVILL PRESS in 2003. Hardback with Dust jacket. Condition: New. New book unread, in print and in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. No defects. #8064367 Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"This is almost one of those books that you have to read in one sitting. The fact that it is just on big run on paragraph makes it a difficult book to put down and then have to find where you left off again.
The story itself is horrifying and tragic. The fact that these two officers were handing out candy to the children that they would be putting to death less than 5 minutes later was just heart wrenching."
"Brilliant in a disturbing and sometimes funny way.
Gotz and Meyer are two SS non-commissioned officers tasked with driving a hermetically sealed truck around Serbia during one of the Nazi's early attempts to rid the world of Jews. The story is narrated, however, by a nameless narrator, a professor in modern day Serbia obsessed by the eradication of his family members during WW2. At first, the story reminded me of Elie Wiesel's writing in that it asks the same questions of how such an atrocity could happen, why didn't the Jews fight back, why didn't God help them. But the book eventually transcends all that. Despite being a book about the war, it leaps through time in the same way that the narrator leaps from past, present and imagined, delving and studying our notions of death, life, responsibility and memory.
And it helps that Albahari writes excellently. As a writer myself (and I use that term very loosely), I cannot imagine how anyone can write such a book. There are no paragraphs, no page breaks, just one long stream-of-conscious type narrative. Reading it feels spontaneous, almost as if the narrator is right in front of you telling you his story, and yet the entire tale is so intricate that under the pen of another writer, the story could have easily crumbled into a hodge-podge of facts and figures. The beauty of the story is in the way Albahari deftly uses staid numbers and figures to re-imagine and understand the horror of Holocaust. I particularly liked the part where he talks about his family tree and how some branches will never grow. It echoes a little to Cain and Abel's story where Cain says that he does not know where his brother is. God responds by saying that he can hear them crying or something like that. The point is, killing a person does not just kills the individual, it wipes off families, entire branches of families. And that is the horror of Gotz and Meyer. At the end of it, all it took were 2 men to wipe off not only the present, but the future as well."
"This is a brilliantly written book by David Albahari, and it almost feels wrong to rave about the writing and the unique construction of this novel given the subject. This is the story of two SS officers entrusted with the task of transporting 5,000 Jewish people, one hundred at a time, from one concentration camp to what the prisoners believe is another. Instead, each truckload of victims are gassed along the way. The story is told through the voice of a teacher who becomes obsessed with these two men, what they did and how they could justify doing such a thing. The novel is unique in how Albahari uses the repetition of language throughout and how Gotz and Meyer carefully choose words to justify their actions. The structure feels claustrophobic in a way that makes you read all 16o-plus pages at one sitting. Actually, the whole book is one paragraph. Albarai succeeds in honoring the humanity of the victims."
"I read the first 50 pages and skimmed the rest. I think it has a story that needs to be told, I was just too challenged by the "stream of conscience" writing style and not drawn to the characters, which is usually what keeps me reading a book. I would recommend it to those who are really interested in the Holocaust, because it gives good insight to the minds of the SS soldiers and what it must have been like to ride in the gas trucks."
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