I'm so conflicted by this book. On the one hand it is a beautifully written book but that quality to the writing jarred with me all the way through and is, equally, one of the reasons I didn't like the book. Confusing!
Mischling introduces us to identical twins, Pearl and Stasha, and we meet them as they are transported towards Auchswitz during the Second World War. Upon arrival their mother realises twins are given special treatment and points them out to the guards, whereupon they are taken to a special part of the camp 'the Zoo' where the children marked for the attention of the monstrous doctor Jozef Mengele live. Pearl and Stasha have an exceptional closeness which Mengele finds fascinating and they are quickly marked for his special attention. The chapters alternate between each girl's point of view and this is a useful technique to share a wider story and experience.
I was expecting to be deeply moved by this book. I've seen many reviews where readers sobbed their hearts out. I cry easily as a reader but I can honestly say that there wasn't a single moment where I felt slightly close to tears. I felt horrified and appalled frequently but the book just did not make an emotional connection with me. I think the issue with this is that the girls are 12 years old when we meet them but they very rarely act, or speak, at their actual age level. They either speak as adults do, with no hint of child, or like 5 or 6 year old children. At 12 they are slightly too young for the coming of age novel that I think is somehow intended to be, and they are not adults. I know some will say that they are forced to grow up because of what they have been through and, yes, this is undoubtedly the case, but it wouldn't create the language, vocabulary and maturity of expression that these 12 year olds demonstrate throughout the book. Having two narrators means that the girls seem to see every single horror that Auchswitz contained and, at times, there was a sense that the author was trying to shoehorn every experience into the story. The ending, in particular, felt like she had run out of experiences to recount and it ends quite abruptly. Oddly I wanted to know more about the girls' experiences after the war, they are hinted at but I would have liked a formal epilogue.
I'm starting to have some issues with fiction set against the backdrop of events like the Holocaust. There are so many horrifying, sickening and sometimes, miraculous stories written about these true events that an author deciding that they can somehow create a story out of that seems a little disrespectful to those survivors who have told their own stories. With that generation aging, the youngest of the Auchswitz survivors would be in their 70s now, I want people to read the real events and the true stories, instead of interpretation by writers without the immediate connection.
I think I'd actually like to read something else by Affinity Konar. She is clearly a talented writer, I simply didn't enjoy her use of the subject matter here.
Mischling introduces us to identical twins, Pearl and Stasha, and we meet them as they are transported towards Auchswitz during the Second World War. Upon arrival their mother realises twins are given special treatment and points them out to the guards, whereupon they are taken to a special part of the camp 'the Zoo' where the children marked for the attention of the monstrous doctor Jozef Mengele live. Pearl and Stasha have an exceptional closeness which Mengele finds fascinating and they are quickly marked for his special attention. The chapters alternate between each girl's point of view and this is a useful technique to share a wider story and experience.
I was expecting to be deeply moved by this book. I've seen many reviews where readers sobbed their hearts out. I cry easily as a reader but I can honestly say that there wasn't a single moment where I felt slightly close to tears. I felt horrified and appalled frequently but the book just did not make an emotional connection with me. I think the issue with this is that the girls are 12 years old when we meet them but they very rarely act, or speak, at their actual age level. They either speak as adults do, with no hint of child, or like 5 or 6 year old children. At 12 they are slightly too young for the coming of age novel that I think is somehow intended to be, and they are not adults. I know some will say that they are forced to grow up because of what they have been through and, yes, this is undoubtedly the case, but it wouldn't create the language, vocabulary and maturity of expression that these 12 year olds demonstrate throughout the book. Having two narrators means that the girls seem to see every single horror that Auchswitz contained and, at times, there was a sense that the author was trying to shoehorn every experience into the story. The ending, in particular, felt like she had run out of experiences to recount and it ends quite abruptly. Oddly I wanted to know more about the girls' experiences after the war, they are hinted at but I would have liked a formal epilogue.
I'm starting to have some issues with fiction set against the backdrop of events like the Holocaust. There are so many horrifying, sickening and sometimes, miraculous stories written about these true events that an author deciding that they can somehow create a story out of that seems a little disrespectful to those survivors who have told their own stories. With that generation aging, the youngest of the Auchswitz survivors would be in their 70s now, I want people to read the real events and the true stories, instead of interpretation by writers without the immediate connection.
I think I'd actually like to read something else by Affinity Konar. She is clearly a talented writer, I simply didn't enjoy her use of the subject matter here.