"Powerful story of survival" | The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw,...

A powerful testimony | The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-45 | Wladyslaw Szpilman, Wilm Hosenfeld, ...

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	• The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-45 Wladyslaw Szpilman, Wilm Hosenfeld, ... Thorndike Pr, 2000 - 241 pages average customer review:based on 102 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Intriguing Holocaust Memoir

Although this memoir of the Holocaust isn?t as well-known as ?The Diary of Anne Frank?, Wladyslaw Szpilman?s ?The Pianist? deserves to be recognized as a vital record of Nazi atrocities during WWII. Written immediately after that conflict, the style is surreal, and not always completely chronological ? it is very much a ?stream of consciousness? narrative of what Szpilman remembers about the horrors that took place in his home city of Warsaw: the uncertainty in September of 1939, when the Germans invaded Poland; the Warsaw Ghetto, and the strange sense of normalcy that its inhabitants created for over two years; Szpilman mysteriously pulled out of line while the rest of his family boarded a train to certain death; and his survival outside of the Ghetto to the end of the war. It?s hard to convey the emotions of the book, both from the author and from the reader: as in other literature of this topic, the savagery and transcendence of individuals boggles the mind. For every Wilm Hosenfeld, the German officer who probably saved Szpilman?s life as he hid out in abandoned buildings, there?s a collaborator, a Nazi, or Ukrainian who seems to delight in making others suffer. This edition of the book contains a foreward by Szpilman?s son, extracts from Hosenfeld?s diary (fascinating and poignant, considering his eventual fate in the Soviet Union), and an afterward by Wolf Biermann (with the startling fact that Szpilman had to say Hosenfeld was Austrian in the original edition, as apparently Germans in Cold War Poland couldn?t have done anything good during the war!). I think, that in this day and age, with the resources available, more historical information could have been included: what exactly did happen to Szpilman?s family? What about his later family life? What did he think about the post-war world? Minor quibbles, and they certainly did not impact my appreciation of the book.

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"Powerful story of survival"

This novel is a sad account of how human life was not valued by people in this time period. The Pianist is a survival story of a Jewish man living in Poland with his family during World War II. This true story is an easy and knowledgeable book to read. People, when they read this book can follow and understand the main character, Wladyslaw Szpilman. This man goes through so much you find yourself sitting and reading the book thinking how can he be surviving through all of this pain and drama and still be alive and willing to fight. I read this book after I saw the film that was made last year. My advice to people is to read the novel first then see the movie because the book has so much more emotion involved within it. Even though the movie to my belief does the book justice.
Even if the story is not to your liking there are other interesting facts inside the book such as exerts of Captain Wilm Hosenfield's diary and an introduction from Wladyslaw Szpilman's son talking about his father. This book is a must read by any person who is interested in the holocaust.

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A powerful testimony

I was not aware of "The Pianist" (the book) until I saw the movie, which won Oscars for best director, best actor, and best adapted screenplay. After seeing the movie, I wanted to know more, so I read this book. Wladyslaw Szpilman provides an amazing accounting of his ordeal during Nazi's invasion & occupation of Poland. This book is for those who think they know everything about the Holocaust. Most coverage has focused on Germany or the death camps, but this book has a unique point of view: a Jew who, against all odds, survived the Nazi occupation of Poland. Humanity's capacity for evil and capacity for hope & survival are all displayed here in Szpilman's book. It is heartwrenching to read, but I think absolutely necessary and vital so history does not repeat itself.

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Horror in Warsaw

I have never come across such strikingly true, disturbing book. It describes shockingly, in a brutal and impartial way, immensely diabolic character of human beings, how deeply it exists in all of us, ready to surface anytime given appropriate conditions.
How very depressing and opening eyes masterpiece! Too bad it has not been published and known in North America long time ago, that it has become popular only thanks to the great movie by Roman Polanski!
It should be a mandatory reading in every high school around the world, teaching young students how to condemn bestiality and avoid being turned into the murderer and sadist! Basic message is: do not get involved in any radical political movement, stay away from military. These organizations are to manipulate and use people for their own ugly agendas: "those who were given uniforms, police caps and clubs become animals" (quote from the text).
Book contains many indirect questions about us humans, that for obvious reasons do not have answers. However it forces a sensitive and intelligent reader to rethink God's and our role, role we play in this cruel world.
Where one story ends (survival of the author) another very dramatic and interesting begins - life of captain Hosenfeld who saved Wladyslaw Szpilman.
Hundreds of his letters and war diary survived - they will be available as a biography, next year in Germany. I hope very soon after, in North America as well.
I cannot wait to read it.

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poignant, yet spiritually uplifting

i cried while reading this book. i watched the movie as well and i could not stop crying. the poignancy just doesnt wear off, and the warmth of human love is so compelling and heart wrenching. It is spiritually uplifting to know that, no matter how tough the times and brutal the people, there will always be an angel somewhere who is blessed with compassion and love, as well as moral courage.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, page 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

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