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The Lampshade: A Holocaust Detective Story From Buchenwald To New Orleans (2010)

by Mark Jacobson(Favorite Author)

3.47 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1416566279 (ISBN13: 9781416566274)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Simon & Schuster

review 1: This book was difficult to read in the way that only those stories that address the worst of human history can be. The book, as much a personal and introspective journey as an investigation into the history of the lampshade, is well worth reading. Jacobson explores what it means to be human, to be Jewish, and how to react to the knowledge of atrocities in our world, to denial in the face of evidence. These were the personal questions he faced and struggled with as he sought to learn the history behind the lampshade and do right by the person it had once been. Like Jacobson, the reader of this book will be faced with similar questions, and will have to consider the role that darkest parts of humanity play in our world - in the past as well as in the present. The book i... mores written in a very journalistic style, with a great number of tangential stories linked into the main narrative; some quite relevant, and some that I found mostly distracting. Regardless of my minor quibbles with Jacobson's writing style, I must thank him for the work he did and the respect he showed in doing that work, and I must thank him for writing this book and addressing the role of the Nazi Lampshade in the world's collective memory and understanding of the Holocaust.
review 2: This was a well written and thought provoking book on many levels. Enjoyed the way in which the author followed tangential aspects of the story, realizing that in a matter such as this, where there are more questions than answers, there are no meaningless tangents. That being said, the only thing which prevented me from ranking this even higher was the author's unfiltered tendency to interject political commentary and attribution related to Katrina which truly did not add to the story. This has certainly inspired me to become better educated on the subject matter overall. less

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