At the beginning of this book, the author dedicates the book to 'To the memory of Lale Sokolov. Thank you for trusting me to tell your and Gita's story.' at the end of the book, she talks with Lale about how she came about writing his story. She seems grateful if you ignore the entire story in between. You see, on the cover of this book was a sticker that said: 'Based on an incredible true story.' which means that some of this book isn't true. It's made up to help the story, and now, we the reader cannot be sure which bits are true and which bits are not. As many people are aware of concentration camps during the second world war, we can easily deduce which bits seem realistic and which bits do not.
For instance, if you were to read how Lale stood up to the nazi's that had complete and utter control over if he lives or dies you might think this is made up, as I do, and the way it is done just seems so unrealistic and uneducated that the only thing stopping me from putting this book down was the fact that it would be another book read for my 2018 reading challenge.
Now, I'm aware that many people stood up to the Nazi's but the way the author wrote this and the nazi that guarded Lale was highly unrealistic. You see, on his first night at Auschwitz, Lale witnesses three innocent people get murdered by Nazis, this automatically leads him to distrust the Nazis (duh!) Then, later on in the story, his guard murders three other prisoners who were just sitting on the ground. I'd think if one guard was capable of murdering innocent, I'd suspect they all are. Yet he talks back to his guard like he's not a bad guy. Like he wouldn't kill him. As if he doesn't have the capability, yet we learn for definite that he does later on in the story. He spews out "Just because she likes your uniform doesn't mean to say she likes you," in what world would you say that to someone who could kill you? It just doesn't seem realistic, but I could be wrong and that this happened to Lale.
Just, the overall vibe from this book was that the author didn't understand the magnitude of the concentration camps, it came off as some joke to her. I was purely disgusted when I came across this: "You know something, Tätowierer? I bet you're the only Jew who ever walked into an oven and then walked back out of it.' I'm praying that she didn't make this 'joke' up, but obviously, she can claim that she didn't as Lale is dead and I'm going out on a limb and saying that the guard is also. I just feel like she shouldn't have included it. I was disgusting, and in no way helped move the story along. I honestly wish I'd never read the joke or this book, to be honest.
Just a side note: Not even the people who run the Auschwitz museum recommend this book. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq9iiPXBzP8/
For instance, if you were to read how Lale stood up to the nazi's that had complete and utter control over if he lives or dies you might think this is made up, as I do, and the way it is done just seems so unrealistic and uneducated that the only thing stopping me from putting this book down was the fact that it would be another book read for my 2018 reading challenge.
Now, I'm aware that many people stood up to the Nazi's but the way the author wrote this and the nazi that guarded Lale was highly unrealistic. You see, on his first night at Auschwitz, Lale witnesses three innocent people get murdered by Nazis, this automatically leads him to distrust the Nazis (duh!) Then, later on in the story, his guard murders three other prisoners who were just sitting on the ground. I'd think if one guard was capable of murdering innocent, I'd suspect they all are. Yet he talks back to his guard like he's not a bad guy. Like he wouldn't kill him. As if he doesn't have the capability, yet we learn for definite that he does later on in the story. He spews out "Just because she likes your uniform doesn't mean to say she likes you," in what world would you say that to someone who could kill you? It just doesn't seem realistic, but I could be wrong and that this happened to Lale.
Just, the overall vibe from this book was that the author didn't understand the magnitude of the concentration camps, it came off as some joke to her. I was purely disgusted when I came across this: "You know something, Tätowierer? I bet you're the only Jew who ever walked into an oven and then walked back out of it.' I'm praying that she didn't make this 'joke' up, but obviously, she can claim that she didn't as Lale is dead and I'm going out on a limb and saying that the guard is also. I just feel like she shouldn't have included it. I was disgusting, and in no way helped move the story along. I honestly wish I'd never read the joke or this book, to be honest.
Just a side note: Not even the people who run the Auschwitz museum recommend this book. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq9iiPXBzP8/