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Searching For Schindler: A Memoir (2007)

by Thomas Keneally(Favorite Author)

3.69 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0385526172 (ISBN13: 9780385526173)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Nan A. Talese

review 1: The title was a bit of a misnomer as there isn't a great deal about Schindler in the text. What the book is really about is how the novel Schindler's Ark came to be written and the subsequent film Schindler's List produced. It was an engaging read, largely due to the presence of the irrepressible Poldek Pfefferberg for most of the journey, a holocaust survivor who spent many years attempting to publicise the Schindler story. The phrase 'larger than life' is insufficient to capture the presence of this entertaining, though no doubt occasionally exasperating man.There were a few issues with the book, however. For one thing I felt that Keneally came across as somewhat of a fabulist. I imagine that it is an occupational hazard for an imaginative writer to be so convinced ... moreby what they consider to be emotionally true that they end up presenting it as fact. Unfortunately, this happened here with the author recounting how Camp Commandant Amon Goeth used a sniper rifle to shoot prisoners from the balcony of his villa. There is no clear evidence that this occurred. The photograph captioned 'Goeth on the balcony of his residence' shows no such thing; comparison with other photos of the villa reveal this was not taken on the balcony, which covers a much smaller area. In addition the gun he holds in the picture is not a sniper rifle as it lacks a scope. There was another bizarre moment when Keneally declared a seemingly innocuous comment Pfefferberg made to Steven Spielberg to be how 'old Jews always put successful younger Jews in their place.' This seemed borderline racist.Another problem is that the account was written long after the events described which seemed to affect the accuracy of information. Podgorze ghetto area is said to be to the east of Schindler's factory when it is to the west. There is also reference made to three synagogues of Kazimierz when there are in fact seven. The Forum Hotel is said to be by the Planty which is incorrect. I was surprised that an editor hadn't noticed these mistakes.On the whole though an entertaining read, I was particularly interested to find out Spielberg's early ideas on how the film should be scripted which sounded terrible. Fortunately a few years passed before production by which time he had moved away from this conception.
review 2: I found this quite an interesting story of how Australian author Thomas Keneally met, quite by chance (in Beverly Hills, of all places), a Holocaust survivor named Leopold Pfefferberg, who'd been on "Schindler's List". He was persuaded by Pfefferberg to write the book that Steven Spielberg turned into a movie. The tale got off track in places here and there, but was overall an enjoyable read. Now I kind of want to watch the movie again, though the first time was so painful, I'm not sure I really should. less

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