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The Emperor Of Lies (2000)

by Steve Sem-Sandberg(Favorite Author)

3.62 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

review 1: Translated from the Swedish, this is a harrowing depiction of Chaim Rumkowski and his control of the Lodz ghetto and attempt to turn it into a Jewish 'state'....think of words such as 'harrowing', 'cruel', 'evil' and times them by 10.....the characters are almost Dickensian in their portrayal and the story leaves you bereft....Rumkowski the monstrous dictator, and yet, if the war has ended a few months / a year later...how would he have been perceived then.....?
review 2: Pretty amazing book. The research for this must have been gruelling work, and the translator has done a very, very good job. The effect is cumulative, as I imagine the experience must have been for those who went through it, and though we all think we know what happened (as did I), this fict... moreionalised account really brings home the nightmare--cold, hunger, cruelty, greed, selfishness--this list goes on and on, just like the experience. I'm not sure it's possible to write any kind of proper review of this book, at least, not so soon after finishing reading it. The language is often highly poetic and beautiful, despite (or perhaps because of) the terrible subject matter, and there is a whole cast of real people with real interior lives. Highly recommended. less

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