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The Auschwitz Violin
An international sensation now available in English for the first time, The Violin of Auschwitz is the unforgettable story of one man’s refusal to surrender his dignity in the face of history’s greatest atrocity.
In the winter of 1991, at a concert in Krakow, an older woman with a marvelously pitched violin meets a fellow musician who is instantly captivated by her instrument. When he asks her how she obtained it, she reveals the remarkable story behind its origin...
Imprisoned at Auschwitz, the notorious concentration camp, Daniel feels his humanity slipping away. Treasured memories of the young woman he loved and the prayers that once lingered on his lips become hazier with each passing day. Then a visit from a mysterious stranger changes everything, as Daniel’s former identity as a crafter of fine violins is revealed to all. The camp’s two most dangerous men use this information to make a cruel wager: If Daniel can build a successful violin within a certain number of days, the Kommandant wins a case of the finest burgundy. If not, the camp doctor, a torturer, gets hold of Daniel. And so, battling exhaustion, Daniel tries to recapture his lost art, knowing all too well the likely cost of failure.
Written with lyrical simplicity and haunting beauty—and interspersed with chilling, actual Nazi documentation�The Violin of Auschwitz is more than just a novel: It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of beauty, art, and hope to triumph over the darkest adversity.
In the winter of 1991, at a concert in Krakow, an older woman with a marvelously pitched violin meets a fellow musician who is instantly captivated by her instrument. When he asks her how she obtained it, she reveals the remarkable story behind its origin...
Imprisoned at Auschwitz, the notorious concentration camp, Daniel feels his humanity slipping away. Treasured memories of the young woman he loved and the prayers that once lingered on his lips become hazier with each passing day. Then a visit from a mysterious stranger changes everything, as Daniel’s former identity as a crafter of fine violins is revealed to all. The camp’s two most dangerous men use this information to make a cruel wager: If Daniel can build a successful violin within a certain number of days, the Kommandant wins a case of the finest burgundy. If not, the camp doctor, a torturer, gets hold of Daniel. And so, battling exhaustion, Daniel tries to recapture his lost art, knowing all too well the likely cost of failure.
Written with lyrical simplicity and haunting beauty—and interspersed with chilling, actual Nazi documentation�The Violin of Auschwitz is more than just a novel: It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of beauty, art, and hope to triumph over the darkest adversity.
131 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
115 people are currently reading
4051 people want to read
About the author
Maria Àngels Anglada
45books22followersMaria Àngels Anglada was a Catalan poet and novelist. She was born in Vic, Catalonia, in 1930. She received a degree in Classical Philology at the University of Barcelona. Her first novel, Les closes, won the Josep Pla Prize. Her 1985 novel Sandàlies d'escuma (Sandals of foam) won the Lletra d'Or prize. She died in 1999.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 644 reviews
April 5, 2017
Maria Angels Anglada was an award winning Catalans author. Her worked garnered her many prizes during her life, including the highest writing award bestowed in Catalan. Her novella The Violin of Auschwitz details the true story of how a violin maker named Daniel used his skill as a luthier to escape the clutches of the death camps.
Daniel came from a religious family in Cracow that before the war had been violin makers. When the Germans took over Poland and forced all Jews into ghettos, Daniel's mother and sister succumbed to heartbreak. His father survived the ghetto but not the war, and the only family he had left were his fiancé Eva and a niece Regina, who was fortunate enough to be taken in by gentiles for the duration of the war. Knowledge that both were still alive gave Daniel the strength to survive each horrid day in Auschwitz.
Upon finding out that Daniel the carpenter is really a violin maker, an SS officer places a bet with a doctor that Daniel could not construct a violin rivaling one of Stradivarius. Working around the clock with assistance from his friend Bronislaw the violinist, Daniel overcomes hunger and weakness to build a masterpiece. His craft and a little luck allows him to live past the date set by the bet.
As in the majority of Holocaust narratives I have read, the imagery here is difficult to digest. Anglada's use of prose to describe music contrasts with the bleak outlook of life in Auschwitz. Told in flashback by a contemporary violinist who is a friend of Daniel's niece, Daniel's story is meant to provide hope amid the brutalities of the Holocaust.
This is the first novella of Anglada's that I have read. Some of the prose may have been lost in translation from the Catalan, but it is still a beautiful story. I would read her other novels if they are available in English and rate The Violin of Auschwitz 4 bright stars.
Daniel came from a religious family in Cracow that before the war had been violin makers. When the Germans took over Poland and forced all Jews into ghettos, Daniel's mother and sister succumbed to heartbreak. His father survived the ghetto but not the war, and the only family he had left were his fiancé Eva and a niece Regina, who was fortunate enough to be taken in by gentiles for the duration of the war. Knowledge that both were still alive gave Daniel the strength to survive each horrid day in Auschwitz.
Upon finding out that Daniel the carpenter is really a violin maker, an SS officer places a bet with a doctor that Daniel could not construct a violin rivaling one of Stradivarius. Working around the clock with assistance from his friend Bronislaw the violinist, Daniel overcomes hunger and weakness to build a masterpiece. His craft and a little luck allows him to live past the date set by the bet.
As in the majority of Holocaust narratives I have read, the imagery here is difficult to digest. Anglada's use of prose to describe music contrasts with the bleak outlook of life in Auschwitz. Told in flashback by a contemporary violinist who is a friend of Daniel's niece, Daniel's story is meant to provide hope amid the brutalities of the Holocaust.
This is the first novella of Anglada's that I have read. Some of the prose may have been lost in translation from the Catalan, but it is still a beautiful story. I would read her other novels if they are available in English and rate The Violin of Auschwitz 4 bright stars.
February 11, 2020
“Ah, our musicians� hands have been severed, our singers� mouths barred with iron. The sweet-voiced violin lies on the ground�.
—Yannis Ritsos
Daniel Krakowensis was a luthier by profession. An SS officer was going punish Daniel if he wasn’t able to fix a violin that was cracked. He was given one night to fix it in a carpenter shop. If the violin wasn’t to the officers liking, it would be confinement with horrifying circumstances- plus whippings.
At the present moment... while ‘fixing� the violin, Daniel thought of nothing other than his job at hand. He took pride in his own skill. Even his hunger disappeared. ( for a short time)...
However, Daniel had been naïve to think that the commander would be satisfied with the newly repaired violin.
Nothing was logical in the camps.... but it seem completely unheard of that Daniel was ordered to make a new violin, as well crafted as if it were a Stradivarius.
Gnawing hunger returned in Daniel’s stomach... but when he labored over the violin- he was ‘almost� happy.
This is a beautiful - ( yet always with heart wrenching brutal history- as the Holocaust was), novella- only around 100 pages -
We follow Daniel - all he goes through-in 1941 in Auschwitz
We visit life - once again - in the camps - those horrors... horrors ... horrors.
Then.....
we are reminded - as in other stories written about victims of the Holocaust- that there were many Jews whose spirits were bigger than their horrific conditions....
This is one of ‘those� type of stories.
The author begins the story with a remembrance in 1991.
In 1991...
A recital was held in Krakow.... a city of wonderful musicians. The concert was dedicated to Mozart.
Regina was playing the violin. She was extremely accomplished.....(velvety and full).
Practically her entire family were victims of the Holocaust. Her mother, and grandmother died in the Krakow ghetto. Her father and older brother at Auschwitz. All killed by Nazis.
Regina was Daniel’s daughter.
The violin 🎻 and music 🎶 that Regina played - was especially moving - learning from whose hands made her instrument.
...A contribution to Holocaust literature -
...Moving-
.. Short-
...Memorable power lingers in our hearts & minds!
***a special thank you to my friend Marji who brought this book to my attention 💕
—Yannis Ritsos
Daniel Krakowensis was a luthier by profession. An SS officer was going punish Daniel if he wasn’t able to fix a violin that was cracked. He was given one night to fix it in a carpenter shop. If the violin wasn’t to the officers liking, it would be confinement with horrifying circumstances- plus whippings.
At the present moment... while ‘fixing� the violin, Daniel thought of nothing other than his job at hand. He took pride in his own skill. Even his hunger disappeared. ( for a short time)...
However, Daniel had been naïve to think that the commander would be satisfied with the newly repaired violin.
Nothing was logical in the camps.... but it seem completely unheard of that Daniel was ordered to make a new violin, as well crafted as if it were a Stradivarius.
Gnawing hunger returned in Daniel’s stomach... but when he labored over the violin- he was ‘almost� happy.
This is a beautiful - ( yet always with heart wrenching brutal history- as the Holocaust was), novella- only around 100 pages -
We follow Daniel - all he goes through-in 1941 in Auschwitz
We visit life - once again - in the camps - those horrors... horrors ... horrors.
Then.....
we are reminded - as in other stories written about victims of the Holocaust- that there were many Jews whose spirits were bigger than their horrific conditions....
This is one of ‘those� type of stories.
The author begins the story with a remembrance in 1991.
In 1991...
A recital was held in Krakow.... a city of wonderful musicians. The concert was dedicated to Mozart.
Regina was playing the violin. She was extremely accomplished.....(velvety and full).
Practically her entire family were victims of the Holocaust. Her mother, and grandmother died in the Krakow ghetto. Her father and older brother at Auschwitz. All killed by Nazis.
Regina was Daniel’s daughter.
The violin 🎻 and music 🎶 that Regina played - was especially moving - learning from whose hands made her instrument.
...A contribution to Holocaust literature -
...Moving-
.. Short-
...Memorable power lingers in our hearts & minds!
***a special thank you to my friend Marji who brought this book to my attention 💕
August 5, 2017
I have read many Holocaust stories and they have all touched me profoundly.... this book (a novella actually), , , was not an exception. This is a sort of 'story within a story.' It begins in 1991, with a woman performing a concert with a 'perfectly pitched' violin. A fellow musician is enthralled with the beauty and the way this instrument sings and approaches the woman to find out its story. Regina, the woman, tells the history of the violin. It was crafted by her father, Daniel, while imprisoned in Auschwitz. The crafting of this violin turns out to be the result of a bet between the Kommandant of the camp and a sadistic camp doctor. If Daniel can craft the instrument within a particular amount of time, the Kommandant wins a case of Burgundy wine; if not, the doctor will then be permitted to use Daniel in his cruel, torturous experiments.
This, and every other Holocaust story, never fails to astonish me with the bravery exhibited and the resilience of the human spirit. These stories move me and leave me filled with hope, that even facing the most unimaginable horror and evil, human beings (and these human beings in particular), can manage to retain that essential goodness and hopefulness that makes us uniquely human. Even though this was barely more than a short story, I was captivated by Daniel's story and I realized when I approached the end of the book, that I had been holding my breath in anticipation of discovering Daniel's fate.
There is a passage which I think sums up perfectly the resilience and inner goodness and hope which was demonstrated by Daniel and all the prisoners of Auschwitz..... "hearing in the distance shouts directed at the newly arrived prisoners, he marveled that his heart had not completely died, that he could feel for others, that compassion for others now could spring from him like a tiny blade of grass emerging not from some wasteland but from the rich earth...... despite the months of cold, hunger and threats, his body bruised by beatings, the tremendous effort to stifle the cries when he was whipped, learning not to long for anything, not to think of anything beyond the immediate; despite it all, his heart was alive."
Beautiful. I am just sorry that this story was so short.
This, and every other Holocaust story, never fails to astonish me with the bravery exhibited and the resilience of the human spirit. These stories move me and leave me filled with hope, that even facing the most unimaginable horror and evil, human beings (and these human beings in particular), can manage to retain that essential goodness and hopefulness that makes us uniquely human. Even though this was barely more than a short story, I was captivated by Daniel's story and I realized when I approached the end of the book, that I had been holding my breath in anticipation of discovering Daniel's fate.
There is a passage which I think sums up perfectly the resilience and inner goodness and hope which was demonstrated by Daniel and all the prisoners of Auschwitz..... "hearing in the distance shouts directed at the newly arrived prisoners, he marveled that his heart had not completely died, that he could feel for others, that compassion for others now could spring from him like a tiny blade of grass emerging not from some wasteland but from the rich earth...... despite the months of cold, hunger and threats, his body bruised by beatings, the tremendous effort to stifle the cries when he was whipped, learning not to long for anything, not to think of anything beyond the immediate; despite it all, his heart was alive."
Beautiful. I am just sorry that this story was so short.
July 21, 2013
Emily Dickson defined so well the element of pain when she wrote:
“Pain has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there was
A time when it was not.
It has no future but itself,
Its infinite realms contain
Its past, enlightened to perceive
New periods of pain.�
And pain, both mental and physical, make up the fabric of this beautifully poignant but also somewhat brilliantly-depressing novella.
I don’t normally read books about the Holocaust as although I empathise with what happened to the Jewish people in the camps, I find literature of this period in history generally very depressing. I only found out today through research that it is in fact a genre, which somewhat surprised me:
Gerald Levin states:
“Little is known about how traditional literary genres came into existence. More is known about recent genres; but most discussions of genre treat them synchronically, without consideration of their historical development...The literature of the Holocaust is usually discussed as a class of literature defined by its subject � the destruction of European Jewry by Germany, chiefly in the years between 1942 and 1945, and not by its form. Thus the statement of Elie Wiesel,'A novel about Auschwitz is not a novel or else it is not about Auschwitz.� �
Mr Levin added: “The pattern of the literature was established after the Second World War by diaries and journals that survived the Holocaust, notably those of Anne Frank and Emmanuel Ringelbaum, and later those of Chaim Kaplan, Moshe Flinker, Janusz Korczak and Primo Levi. These writers not only witnessed the Holocaust but sometimes confessed helplessness or incomprehension of events.�
I cannot even begin to imagine how these survivors felt after the event, knowing what they had seen and lived through would be eternally retained in their memories. It’s horrifying to even contemplate. That’s the main reason why I never read “Sophy’s Choice�; I saw purely the film but even with the brilliant interpretation by Meryl Streep, it was “painful� to watch. Sophy did indeed have a rather brutal choice to make. The poignancy and the desperation in the minds of these Jewish prisoners and the sheer brutality of life in the concentration camps, and also knowing that there was only one way out.
So you’re probably thinking why did I decide to read “The Violin of Auschwitz�? Well, firstly it was the word “violin� (one of my two favourite musical instruments; the other being the cello) in the title and secondly, the write-up which clearly demonstrated the author’s thinking process and it certainly appealed to me, called to me in fact:
“Written with lyrical simplicity and haunting beauty—and interspersed with chilling, actual Nazi documentation—The Violin of Auschwitz is more than just a novel: It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of beauty, art, and hope to triumph over the darkest adversity.�
And finally, I knew for sure that I would be enthralled by this book. And that was certainly the case.
“In the winter of 1991, at a concert in Krakow, an older woman with a marvellously pitched violin meets a fellow musician who is instantly captivated by her instrument. When he asks her how she obtained it, she reveals the remarkable story behind its origin...�
And so through Regina, we hear the incredible life of her uncle Daniel, which is a mixture of poignant, haunting beauty and yet in parallel with unbelievable horror, but the catalyst is the self-effacing but determined survivor, Daniel, a Jewish luthier. He’s at Gehenna, in the Three Rivers Camp, one of the relatively small Auschwitz sub-camps but he was fortunate in that he had been placed to work for Commander Saucel, “a refined but sadistic giant of a man�.
This man was inherently evil and it was interesting to read about what finally happened to him and in tandem with the other villain, Dr Rascher, the camp’s doctor, whose main thrill and reason for being was experimenting on the human body.
The days are long and hard though, with very little food (basically turnips) and Daniel finds himself becoming weaker and weaker. He’s constantly tired and wonders how much longer he can stay alive. His luck turns though when he’s asked about his occupation and he automatically answered with the half-lie of “carpenter, cabinetmaker�. He felt that it sounded better than “luthier�. It’s strange that his thought process would have gone in that direction as he was finally asked to make a violin.
Well one day, the Commander decides that Daniel would indeed make him a violin. I wondered why until I read that Sauckel “collects� musical instruments and there’s the inference that they may have been “stolen� which certainly appears likely.
So thanks to making the violin, life was slightly better now; no beatings, no whippings, a little more food but what he hadn’t realized was that Saucel had entered into a bet with Dr Rascher regarding the “tonal� quality of the violin. If the violin is up to the Commander’s satisfaction, he’ll receive a case of Burgundy wine from Dr Rascher but if it isn’t, well Daniel will go to the experimenting doctor. It transpires that Rascher prefers beer to wine, the inference being that he’s more interested in acquiring people, i.e. bodies, for his experiments as opposed to “things� such as wine.
But it’s Daniel’s determination to finish the violin that gives him that tiny effort to stay alive regardless and the author so exquisitely describes his struggles, his thoughts of Eva and his pre-camp life.
There’s even mention of Oskar Schindler which seemed fitting:
“the kind-eyed guest, a friend of Tisch’s, a man by the name of Schindler, a benevolent ‘goy�.
It is Bronislaw, Daniel’s friend in the camp, who finally plays the violin for the commander and what a wonderful outcome.
And what finally happened to Daniel? And as for the violin itself? What happened to that? Well the only way to find that out is to read this spellbinding book.
“Pain has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there was
A time when it was not.
It has no future but itself,
Its infinite realms contain
Its past, enlightened to perceive
New periods of pain.�
And pain, both mental and physical, make up the fabric of this beautifully poignant but also somewhat brilliantly-depressing novella.
I don’t normally read books about the Holocaust as although I empathise with what happened to the Jewish people in the camps, I find literature of this period in history generally very depressing. I only found out today through research that it is in fact a genre, which somewhat surprised me:
Gerald Levin states:
“Little is known about how traditional literary genres came into existence. More is known about recent genres; but most discussions of genre treat them synchronically, without consideration of their historical development...The literature of the Holocaust is usually discussed as a class of literature defined by its subject � the destruction of European Jewry by Germany, chiefly in the years between 1942 and 1945, and not by its form. Thus the statement of Elie Wiesel,'A novel about Auschwitz is not a novel or else it is not about Auschwitz.� �
Mr Levin added: “The pattern of the literature was established after the Second World War by diaries and journals that survived the Holocaust, notably those of Anne Frank and Emmanuel Ringelbaum, and later those of Chaim Kaplan, Moshe Flinker, Janusz Korczak and Primo Levi. These writers not only witnessed the Holocaust but sometimes confessed helplessness or incomprehension of events.�
I cannot even begin to imagine how these survivors felt after the event, knowing what they had seen and lived through would be eternally retained in their memories. It’s horrifying to even contemplate. That’s the main reason why I never read “Sophy’s Choice�; I saw purely the film but even with the brilliant interpretation by Meryl Streep, it was “painful� to watch. Sophy did indeed have a rather brutal choice to make. The poignancy and the desperation in the minds of these Jewish prisoners and the sheer brutality of life in the concentration camps, and also knowing that there was only one way out.
So you’re probably thinking why did I decide to read “The Violin of Auschwitz�? Well, firstly it was the word “violin� (one of my two favourite musical instruments; the other being the cello) in the title and secondly, the write-up which clearly demonstrated the author’s thinking process and it certainly appealed to me, called to me in fact:
“Written with lyrical simplicity and haunting beauty—and interspersed with chilling, actual Nazi documentation—The Violin of Auschwitz is more than just a novel: It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of beauty, art, and hope to triumph over the darkest adversity.�
And finally, I knew for sure that I would be enthralled by this book. And that was certainly the case.
“In the winter of 1991, at a concert in Krakow, an older woman with a marvellously pitched violin meets a fellow musician who is instantly captivated by her instrument. When he asks her how she obtained it, she reveals the remarkable story behind its origin...�
And so through Regina, we hear the incredible life of her uncle Daniel, which is a mixture of poignant, haunting beauty and yet in parallel with unbelievable horror, but the catalyst is the self-effacing but determined survivor, Daniel, a Jewish luthier. He’s at Gehenna, in the Three Rivers Camp, one of the relatively small Auschwitz sub-camps but he was fortunate in that he had been placed to work for Commander Saucel, “a refined but sadistic giant of a man�.
This man was inherently evil and it was interesting to read about what finally happened to him and in tandem with the other villain, Dr Rascher, the camp’s doctor, whose main thrill and reason for being was experimenting on the human body.
The days are long and hard though, with very little food (basically turnips) and Daniel finds himself becoming weaker and weaker. He’s constantly tired and wonders how much longer he can stay alive. His luck turns though when he’s asked about his occupation and he automatically answered with the half-lie of “carpenter, cabinetmaker�. He felt that it sounded better than “luthier�. It’s strange that his thought process would have gone in that direction as he was finally asked to make a violin.
Well one day, the Commander decides that Daniel would indeed make him a violin. I wondered why until I read that Sauckel “collects� musical instruments and there’s the inference that they may have been “stolen� which certainly appears likely.
So thanks to making the violin, life was slightly better now; no beatings, no whippings, a little more food but what he hadn’t realized was that Saucel had entered into a bet with Dr Rascher regarding the “tonal� quality of the violin. If the violin is up to the Commander’s satisfaction, he’ll receive a case of Burgundy wine from Dr Rascher but if it isn’t, well Daniel will go to the experimenting doctor. It transpires that Rascher prefers beer to wine, the inference being that he’s more interested in acquiring people, i.e. bodies, for his experiments as opposed to “things� such as wine.
But it’s Daniel’s determination to finish the violin that gives him that tiny effort to stay alive regardless and the author so exquisitely describes his struggles, his thoughts of Eva and his pre-camp life.
There’s even mention of Oskar Schindler which seemed fitting:
“the kind-eyed guest, a friend of Tisch’s, a man by the name of Schindler, a benevolent ‘goy�.
It is Bronislaw, Daniel’s friend in the camp, who finally plays the violin for the commander and what a wonderful outcome.
And what finally happened to Daniel? And as for the violin itself? What happened to that? Well the only way to find that out is to read this spellbinding book.
December 14, 2011
Read this short novel over breakfast this morning which involved my failing to start any other work until 930 but it was worth the need for any catch up. It is the story of Daniel a young jewish violin maker, technical term Luthier, who is taken from Warsaw and imprisoned in the horror of a concentration camp. Here he struggles with the bestial cruelty and unpredictability of the Nazi guards and along with the other men he is caught up just in the need to survive but for him his great gift, his great talent gives him a strange lifeline.
The commandant, a brutal and vicious sadist, makes a pact with the equally appalling camp doctor and Daniel is ordered to make a violin to rank with a Stradivarius and, unbeknownst to him, they lay a bet on the success of the creation. If it is acknowledgably wonderful, the Commandant wins a case of Burgundy Wine, if it is not, Daniel will be condemned to be used in the Doctor's experiments.
The power of this little work is the way the disgusting nature of this cruelty sits so bizarrely alongside the beautiful descriptive passages of his lovingly creating, in the midst of the horror, a wooden miracle which can sing out and above the evil. I do not know where Anglada learned her knowledge or love of wood and its properties but it is very emotive.
She writes astoundingly powerful sentences which echo and resound and as always the beauty of the work of the translator, here a woman called Martha Tennent, has to be acknowledged too.
'The sun began shamelessly to unravel the fog, banishing it from the sky and the name of the murdered were swept away by the wind, removed to nothingness '
or again
'he marveled that his heart had not completely died, that he could still feel for others, that compassion for other men could spring from him like a tiny blade of grass emerging not from some wasteland but from the rich earth '.
These are two little examples of her prose which hasn't the slightest shade of purple and yet is truly lovely
The commandant, a brutal and vicious sadist, makes a pact with the equally appalling camp doctor and Daniel is ordered to make a violin to rank with a Stradivarius and, unbeknownst to him, they lay a bet on the success of the creation. If it is acknowledgably wonderful, the Commandant wins a case of Burgundy Wine, if it is not, Daniel will be condemned to be used in the Doctor's experiments.
The power of this little work is the way the disgusting nature of this cruelty sits so bizarrely alongside the beautiful descriptive passages of his lovingly creating, in the midst of the horror, a wooden miracle which can sing out and above the evil. I do not know where Anglada learned her knowledge or love of wood and its properties but it is very emotive.
She writes astoundingly powerful sentences which echo and resound and as always the beauty of the work of the translator, here a woman called Martha Tennent, has to be acknowledged too.
'The sun began shamelessly to unravel the fog, banishing it from the sky and the name of the murdered were swept away by the wind, removed to nothingness '
or again
'he marveled that his heart had not completely died, that he could still feel for others, that compassion for other men could spring from him like a tiny blade of grass emerging not from some wasteland but from the rich earth '.
These are two little examples of her prose which hasn't the slightest shade of purple and yet is truly lovely
August 18, 2016
Barren, sterile, lifeless prose.
The premise is inspiring: many years later, an old violin becomes a point of departure for the reconstruction of the travails of its Jewish maker, once a prisoner at Auschwitz, who had attempted to rescue his life and dignity through his craft.
This story would have turned out well in the hands of a better writer, but this time round, the promise is lost.
Abandoned 43%
The premise is inspiring: many years later, an old violin becomes a point of departure for the reconstruction of the travails of its Jewish maker, once a prisoner at Auschwitz, who had attempted to rescue his life and dignity through his craft.
This story would have turned out well in the hands of a better writer, but this time round, the promise is lost.
Abandoned 43%
December 11, 2017
Sve priče takvih događaja su tužne, teške.. Samo su neke ispričane bolje, a neke lošije. Kada izostane emocija, već imaš dojam da netko "samo" priča priču, znaš da ćeš ju vrlo brzo zaboraviti.
March 1, 2018
Ne mogu reći da je ovo loša knjiga, ali mislim da joj nedostaje još malo razrade. Na svojih 172 stranice govori o jednoj zaista teškoj temi, jednom od odvratnijih razdoblja povijesti i spaja to sa čarolijom glazbe i ljudskim duhom koji je sposoban svašta preživjeti, no nekako nije me previše dotakla. Lijepo je pisana zaista je, samo mi je sve to nekako djelovalo hladno.
Solidna, ali ne pretjerano pamtljiva knjiga.
Solidna, ali ne pretjerano pamtljiva knjiga.
February 3, 2019
It is always delicate to evaluate a story about the Holocaust, because documentary and literary value sometimes can vary a lot. For this story my judgment is really mixed. It may be useful for new generations to be introduced to the greatest horror of the Second World War in a somewhat softer, elegant way than through a raw confrontation with reality, but you have every right to think that only a direct confrontation with that horrible reality is appropriate.
Maria Angels Anglada in this book has chosen the middle way: she offers us the story of the Jewish violin maker, Daniel, who has ended up in a concentration camp and undergoes the inhuman regime there; but by a combination of coincidence and boldness he gets the assignment to build a new violin in the camp, which of course also succeeds. Never mind the frivolous origin of the order (a bet between SS officers for a case of whine), for a while Daniel mentally escapes the abhorrence of camp life. That's it, nothing more to it, I'm afraid.
The story is well balanced and is actually brought as a story within a story. But it's a bit mangling in credibility, and in a certain sense it's too obviously focused on emotional effect. But at the beginning of each chapter, Angels Anglada has placed real SS-documents which, due to their official sobriety, give a slap in the face, and in that sense this booklet does convey something of the incomprehensible insanity that was the holocaust. To me Primo Levi's still is the holocaust book that touched my soul the deepest.
Maria Angels Anglada in this book has chosen the middle way: she offers us the story of the Jewish violin maker, Daniel, who has ended up in a concentration camp and undergoes the inhuman regime there; but by a combination of coincidence and boldness he gets the assignment to build a new violin in the camp, which of course also succeeds. Never mind the frivolous origin of the order (a bet between SS officers for a case of whine), for a while Daniel mentally escapes the abhorrence of camp life. That's it, nothing more to it, I'm afraid.
The story is well balanced and is actually brought as a story within a story. But it's a bit mangling in credibility, and in a certain sense it's too obviously focused on emotional effect. But at the beginning of each chapter, Angels Anglada has placed real SS-documents which, due to their official sobriety, give a slap in the face, and in that sense this booklet does convey something of the incomprehensible insanity that was the holocaust. To me Primo Levi's still is the holocaust book that touched my soul the deepest.
June 12, 2023
This is a very short book and a quick read I pushed forward between to larger reads. I have to say I am a bit disappointed as it really didn't seem well written. I know it is translated but it just felt a bit light on the horrors surrounding the prisoners of war. Some will say that it is good to get a more upbeat read about the terrible days in Nazi concentration camps, and as this is fictional, it would be the perfect place for such.
I guess I come from the other side. Of course, we all know the history so I like that reflected in my read to make it feel more realistic and therefore it holds more interest for me.
The story is about a Jewish man in a concentration camp during WWII who is given the job of making a violin for the camp's Commander. The prisoner comes from a family of Violin Makers and puts himself on the spot when he tries to save a fellow prisoner from a beating. The other poor man is a violinist who is to perform in front of the Commander but when his performance falls flat Daniel steps in to explain it is the fault of the instrument, not the player.
As you can imagine a Jewish prisoner stepping in is not recommended in a Nazi concentration camp and it is this interaction that sets the plot for The Auschwitz Violin
I guess I come from the other side. Of course, we all know the history so I like that reflected in my read to make it feel more realistic and therefore it holds more interest for me.
The story is about a Jewish man in a concentration camp during WWII who is given the job of making a violin for the camp's Commander. The prisoner comes from a family of Violin Makers and puts himself on the spot when he tries to save a fellow prisoner from a beating. The other poor man is a violinist who is to perform in front of the Commander but when his performance falls flat Daniel steps in to explain it is the fault of the instrument, not the player.
As you can imagine a Jewish prisoner stepping in is not recommended in a Nazi concentration camp and it is this interaction that sets the plot for The Auschwitz Violin
July 23, 2022
This is the fifth book on Auschwitz I have read this year, and I am also halfway through watching the film "Persian Lessons", so I feel immersed in the camp at the moment, and even had a horrible nightmare about it last night (though of course am immensely privileged to live a free live in a free country and to be clear of the indescribable torments and horrors of it). This is probably my least favourite of the books about the camp I have read this year, including "The Photographer of Auschwitz", "The Twins of Auschwitz" and "The Librarian of Auschwitz" not because it isn't good in itself, which it is, but because it doesn't go into quite as much detail as those other books and is only just over 100 pages long and so doesn't take you quite so deep into the rabbit-hole of insanity and venal and evil criminality that was the industrial murder of millions of people for no reason or purpose whatsoever. It centres on a man who was a luthier and was charged with making a violin which he achieved, a slight lacuna of beauty in an ocean of depravity and darkness. I have read so much on this topic this year, and subscribe at Twitter to the Auschwitz Memorial which tweets out daily pictures and short biographical details of people who were murdered there, because I cannot cope mentally and emotionally with the fact that the concentration camp archipelago existed and all that evil was perpetrated on people who were entirely innocent and had done nothing to hurt anyone. I am glad that my grandfather's generation fought the war and eventually, after so much struggle, defeated Nazism and I hope that this lamentable and distressing episode in history never ever recurs. I will never be able to cope with it or understand how it can have happened and my meagre efforts to educate myself on it by reading about it feel like the bare minimum that one can do, as well as combating the hatred and ideas that led to it in the contemporary world, to prevent such madness ever happening again.
June 16, 2022
This novella opens and ends with musicians, and one tells the story of her violin: It was made by her uncle, a luthier named Daniel, at a camp near Auschwitz. The bulk of the story is about Daniel’s making of the violin. There’s not much to it. He felt like a very generic character with no emotion surrounding him. It was just all telling, and I always felt far removed from the story.
The novella’s biggest strength is the real documents featured at the beginning of each chapter. These documents are instructions for punishments, reports of items taken from Jews, and letters between Nazi members. The plot (small as it is) is built around these documents.
The details of the violin making were very detailed and accurate as far as I could tell. I thought I knew all the parts of a violin, but there were terms listed I had never heard of. I think the story will appeal to musicians more than nonmusicians. Even so, I will probably forget all about the book before long.
I have mixed feelings about Holocaust fiction. The lived experience is well documented and so full of emotion and horrors that fictionalizing any aspect has the potential to cheapen it, to sensationalize it for profit. But WWII historical fiction is still popular, and successful stories are able to touch on concentration camps even if they don’t spend a lot of time there.
Language: Clean
Sexual Content: None
Violence: Mass murder of Jews and other prisoners
Harm to Animals:
Harm to Children:
Other (Triggers):
The novella’s biggest strength is the real documents featured at the beginning of each chapter. These documents are instructions for punishments, reports of items taken from Jews, and letters between Nazi members. The plot (small as it is) is built around these documents.
The details of the violin making were very detailed and accurate as far as I could tell. I thought I knew all the parts of a violin, but there were terms listed I had never heard of. I think the story will appeal to musicians more than nonmusicians. Even so, I will probably forget all about the book before long.
I have mixed feelings about Holocaust fiction. The lived experience is well documented and so full of emotion and horrors that fictionalizing any aspect has the potential to cheapen it, to sensationalize it for profit. But WWII historical fiction is still popular, and successful stories are able to touch on concentration camps even if they don’t spend a lot of time there.
Language: Clean
Sexual Content: None
Violence: Mass murder of Jews and other prisoners
Harm to Animals:
Harm to Children:
Other (Triggers):
June 17, 2012
On the back of this slender volume, is quoted as having said, "Read this little book and it will haunt you for ever." Having read it, I doubt that it will.
Everything that is described in this brief, concisely written novel might have possibly happened in the peculiar atmosphere that reigned in Auschwitz. Yet for me, the narrative voice did not ring true.
Daniel was a maker of stringed musical instruments before he entered the Nazi concentration camp system in Auschwitz. When, quite by chance, the commandant of the particular camp in which Daniel was interned discovers that he had a skilled instrument-maker amongst his inmates, he orders Daniel to make a violin, which has the quality of a Stradivarius. Daniel begins this task, and eventually learns that his life depends on him producing the instrument. He discovers that his life is part of a wager made between the commandant and the camp's doctor. If he is unable to make the violin, he learns that will be handed over to the doctor who is keen to use him in one of his inhumane, usually lethal, experiments.
The plot is good as far as it goes, but I did not like the way that the book was written. It seemed to me that the authoress had done a great deal of reading about the Holocaust ('Shoah'), and that it affected her deeply enough to want to express her reactions to it by writing a novel. I have also read much about this tragic episode of 20th century history, but did not feel that was able to evoke the gloomy, hopeless atmosphere of the camps with as well as writers such as and (who were, it must be said, survivors of the concentration camps).
In brief, this book added little or nothing to my appreciation of the horrific nature of the Nazi's crimes against humanity during the 1930s and 1940s, and I cannot recommend it as being worth reading, even though it takes little time to read.
Everything that is described in this brief, concisely written novel might have possibly happened in the peculiar atmosphere that reigned in Auschwitz. Yet for me, the narrative voice did not ring true.
Daniel was a maker of stringed musical instruments before he entered the Nazi concentration camp system in Auschwitz. When, quite by chance, the commandant of the particular camp in which Daniel was interned discovers that he had a skilled instrument-maker amongst his inmates, he orders Daniel to make a violin, which has the quality of a Stradivarius. Daniel begins this task, and eventually learns that his life depends on him producing the instrument. He discovers that his life is part of a wager made between the commandant and the camp's doctor. If he is unable to make the violin, he learns that will be handed over to the doctor who is keen to use him in one of his inhumane, usually lethal, experiments.
The plot is good as far as it goes, but I did not like the way that the book was written. It seemed to me that the authoress had done a great deal of reading about the Holocaust ('Shoah'), and that it affected her deeply enough to want to express her reactions to it by writing a novel. I have also read much about this tragic episode of 20th century history, but did not feel that was able to evoke the gloomy, hopeless atmosphere of the camps with as well as writers such as and (who were, it must be said, survivors of the concentration camps).
In brief, this book added little or nothing to my appreciation of the horrific nature of the Nazi's crimes against humanity during the 1930s and 1940s, and I cannot recommend it as being worth reading, even though it takes little time to read.
December 28, 2011
Maria Àngels Anglada brings the history of the violin made by Daniel, the Jewish luthier, during his internment in the Auschwitz concentration camp, to vibrant life.
The story opens with the playing of the violin by Regina in the present time. Her relationship to the craftsman becomes apparent about half way through the book, but is not fully revealed until nearr the end.
The brutality of the Nazis in the WWII camps is vividly described in such a way that the reader can feel the day-to-day tension. The prisoners live on a knife-edge between survival and horrific punishment, or even death. Their fortune always hangs on the balance and depends on the moods of their captors as much as on their own actions. Should one stand to attention and salute when a German officer enters the room, or continue with one's work until spoken to? The answer to that question varies, as do the consequences of the answer. Every day is filled with gambles of life for every prisoner.
Amidst all of the stress and anxiety, Daniel is awarded the opportunity to create a perfect musical instrument for the Camp Commandant. His chance comes when he observes a fellow prisoner, a violinst called Bronislaw, being berated by the Commandant for playing bad notes. Daniel can hear the fault in Bronislaw's violin, and knows exactly what it is. Risking his life, he steps forward to point out a split in the shoulder of the instrument. He is allowed to make the necessary repair, demonstrating his expertise.
Suitably impressed, the commandant orders Daniel to make the perfect violin and allows him to choose his tools and materials.
Daniel knows that failure could put his life on the line.
The translation from Catalan to English by Martha Tennent must be good, as the strength of feeling, which must have been in the original, comes shining through.
There is some tiny thing, which I can't quite identify, which is lacking in this book, for me, but it is well worth four to four-and-a-half stars. I would thoroughly recommend it to any of my friends.
The story opens with the playing of the violin by Regina in the present time. Her relationship to the craftsman becomes apparent about half way through the book, but is not fully revealed until nearr the end.
The brutality of the Nazis in the WWII camps is vividly described in such a way that the reader can feel the day-to-day tension. The prisoners live on a knife-edge between survival and horrific punishment, or even death. Their fortune always hangs on the balance and depends on the moods of their captors as much as on their own actions. Should one stand to attention and salute when a German officer enters the room, or continue with one's work until spoken to? The answer to that question varies, as do the consequences of the answer. Every day is filled with gambles of life for every prisoner.
Amidst all of the stress and anxiety, Daniel is awarded the opportunity to create a perfect musical instrument for the Camp Commandant. His chance comes when he observes a fellow prisoner, a violinst called Bronislaw, being berated by the Commandant for playing bad notes. Daniel can hear the fault in Bronislaw's violin, and knows exactly what it is. Risking his life, he steps forward to point out a split in the shoulder of the instrument. He is allowed to make the necessary repair, demonstrating his expertise.
Suitably impressed, the commandant orders Daniel to make the perfect violin and allows him to choose his tools and materials.
Daniel knows that failure could put his life on the line.
The translation from Catalan to English by Martha Tennent must be good, as the strength of feeling, which must have been in the original, comes shining through.
There is some tiny thing, which I can't quite identify, which is lacking in this book, for me, but it is well worth four to four-and-a-half stars. I would thoroughly recommend it to any of my friends.
July 29, 2017
Luthier: A maker of stringed instruments; a violin-maker. This was a new word for me and I'll be looking to use it in word games.
There are plenty of holocaust stories. As difficult as they are to read, as horrible as the real life they reflect, somehow most of the stories that come to us are stories of perseverance, a will to live, in the face of such hell. This little novella is one of them. Though I might have wanted more, it does what it set out to do. I may look for more by this author, but I will also look for more by this translator. Only because of its brevity am I giving it 4 stars.
There are plenty of holocaust stories. As difficult as they are to read, as horrible as the real life they reflect, somehow most of the stories that come to us are stories of perseverance, a will to live, in the face of such hell. This little novella is one of them. Though I might have wanted more, it does what it set out to do. I may look for more by this author, but I will also look for more by this translator. Only because of its brevity am I giving it 4 stars.
May 23, 2019
I absolutely loved this book, I found it very moving and touching, the amount of passion that the author puts in to this book you can feel in every sentence. The story grabbed my attention straight away as I love reading this type of novel, the story behind the violin nearly brought me to tears.
This book is one that really captured my attention and I found that it was very quick to read, but it was very detailed and would have loved to have more of the story, I definitely didn't want it to end.
This book is one that really captured my attention and I found that it was very quick to read, but it was very detailed and would have loved to have more of the story, I definitely didn't want it to end.
December 12, 2016
A minha opinião em vídeo:
Este livro desiludiu-me bastante. Esperava muito mais...
Gostei dos documentos reais de Auschwitz no inicio de cada capítulo.
Este livro desiludiu-me bastante. Esperava muito mais...
Gostei dos documentos reais de Auschwitz no inicio de cada capítulo.
May 15, 2018
Negdje sam vidjela da Violini iz Auschwitza zamjeraju nedostatak emocija. Nikako se ne bi složila s tim, emocije su vrlo snažne, ali zadržane, prikrivene, sputane strahom za vlastiti život, užasom gladi, batina, mrcvarenja. Emocija pravog majstora, istinski zaljubljenog u svoj rad, je toliko snažna da mu je omogućila da izdrži pakao logora na tri rijeke. Glazbeno obrazovani čitatelj mogao bi pronaći još i više ljepote u ovom djelu. Knjiga vrijeda čitanja, svakako.
April 9, 2023
Una novela más del Holocausto, una historia cortita ( no por ellos menos dura), que se lee muy rápido, para aquellos que hayan leído poco sobre este tema es perfecto.
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En este caso nuestro protagonista trabajará como carpintero en Auschwitz, con una condiciones de vida infrahumanas, pero por ciertas circunstancias el comandante descubre su verdadero oficio y le pondrá a prueba; tendrá que construir el mejor violín , con el mejor sonido, que sea perfecto.
.
Y a partir de aquí iremos conociendo al personaje principal, como con su ingenio logra sobrevivir�
.
Me ha gustado la trama pero creo que está narrada de una forma un poco caótica, diferentes tiempos de repente, cambiando la forma de escribir y cambiando los personajes sin que te enteres.
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Asique es una lectura, ágil, para saber más (que nunca es suficiente) sobre esta época, y sabiendo que no profundiza en muchas cosas.
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En este caso nuestro protagonista trabajará como carpintero en Auschwitz, con una condiciones de vida infrahumanas, pero por ciertas circunstancias el comandante descubre su verdadero oficio y le pondrá a prueba; tendrá que construir el mejor violín , con el mejor sonido, que sea perfecto.
.
Y a partir de aquí iremos conociendo al personaje principal, como con su ingenio logra sobrevivir�
.
Me ha gustado la trama pero creo que está narrada de una forma un poco caótica, diferentes tiempos de repente, cambiando la forma de escribir y cambiando los personajes sin que te enteres.
.
Asique es una lectura, ágil, para saber más (que nunca es suficiente) sobre esta época, y sabiendo que no profundiza en muchas cosas.
November 2, 2018
Terminado. Libro corto que la verdad, no me ha aportado nada. Los personajes no me han llegado y se me ha hecho un poco aburrido. No sé si será por haber leído muchos libros de esta temática pero no lo recomiendo. Por momentos olvidaba que el protagonista se encontraba en Auschwitz. Eso sí, he aprendido las partes de un violín y los pasos para crearlo.
October 3, 2021
Una breve obra llena de dolor y belleza, la música siempre puede ser un escape tanto la construcción del instrumento como el ejecutar la melodía
December 22, 2010
I’ll admit that I’m of two minds about The Violin of Auschwitz. Like many who have already reviewed it here, it didn’t affect me as powerfully as have other novels or biographical accounts of the Jewish holocaust and the Nazi concentration camps. I think, for example, of the dark power of Elie Wiesel’s Night, or the tremendous wisdom to be found in Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, and this one simply doesn’t compare. However, not all books can be Pulitzer prize winners, and that this one is not does not mean it has no value.
For me, its value lies in the symbolism I found in it, which may or may not have been intended by the author (or fully brought to life by the translator). The violin itself was symbolic of things that bring beauty and light into life. Such things allow us to transcend the difficulties, challenges, and even evils that come upon us sometimes, and our immersion in them, bringing all of our talents and energies to bear upon them, can take us out of ourselves and to a different, better place. Friends such as Bronislaw also prove to be lifelines (and we to them) in those dark times, and also in times of goodness and hope. Even the prison commander and the evil doctor are symbols, of that which is most evil and destructive, but that still has not the power to destroy us (not our shell that we call our body, but us), and can only take our soul if we allow it. Death may remove us temporarily from this world, but never from the memories of those we have loved, and who loved us, and never permanently from the eternal world.
Like others I have read of this genre, this book led me to pause from time to time, to think and ponder, and to appreciate the ease and joys and blessings of my life. That made it worthwhile.
For me, its value lies in the symbolism I found in it, which may or may not have been intended by the author (or fully brought to life by the translator). The violin itself was symbolic of things that bring beauty and light into life. Such things allow us to transcend the difficulties, challenges, and even evils that come upon us sometimes, and our immersion in them, bringing all of our talents and energies to bear upon them, can take us out of ourselves and to a different, better place. Friends such as Bronislaw also prove to be lifelines (and we to them) in those dark times, and also in times of goodness and hope. Even the prison commander and the evil doctor are symbols, of that which is most evil and destructive, but that still has not the power to destroy us (not our shell that we call our body, but us), and can only take our soul if we allow it. Death may remove us temporarily from this world, but never from the memories of those we have loved, and who loved us, and never permanently from the eternal world.
Like others I have read of this genre, this book led me to pause from time to time, to think and ponder, and to appreciate the ease and joys and blessings of my life. That made it worthwhile.
January 27, 2021
Crudo, inspirador y esperanzador. Una historia sobre cómo un luthier gracias a su ingenio y maestría, logra sobrevivir a uno de los períodos más Oscuros de la historia de la humanidad.
September 21, 2022
Dirljiva priča o preživljavanju u najzloglasnijem logoru Aušvicu.
January 25, 2020
Tema Holokausta je važna, o tome treba u pisati i čitati. No. Ovaj kratki roman se brzo čita, no nije mu to mana- mana je beživotnost. Fali mi tu puno toga. Ni blizu divnom Primu Leviju ili maestralnom Imri Kerteszu.
January 13, 2023
Translated from original Catalan by Martha Tennent
2.5**
From the book jacket: In the winter of 1991, at a concert in Krakow, an older woman with a marvelously pitched violin meets a fellow musician who is instantly captivated by her instrument. When he asks her how she obtained it, she reveals the remarkable story behind its origin�
My Reactions
I really wanted to like this book � no � I wanted to love this book. But it missed the mark for me. I think that is because it felt unfinished.
The basic story line is engaging and what kept me reading, but there were huge gaps that left me hungry for more detail. Anglada began with a date in 1991, so we know where we are at when the violin first makes an appearance. And the next chapter begins Daniel’s story (the luthier who crafted the violin) as he struggles to survive in the concentration camp. In bits and pieces we learn of the conditions, the sadistic doctor, the capricious whims of the commandant, the deprivations, the dreams and nightmares, and the fragile friendships formed. But suddenly Daniel is crafting a violin and we don’t know why. Or how he got the tools and materials. I actually went back to the previous chapter and re-read, thinking I must have dozed off and accidently skipped ahead. But I hadn’t.
Eventually we are able to piece together the story, but not until there are a few more abrupt changes in time frame that not only were disorienting, but made me feel that parts of the story were left out. In summary, while the story line played the reader’s heartstrings like a violin virtuoso, I felt that the book was unfinished.
2.5**
From the book jacket: In the winter of 1991, at a concert in Krakow, an older woman with a marvelously pitched violin meets a fellow musician who is instantly captivated by her instrument. When he asks her how she obtained it, she reveals the remarkable story behind its origin�
My Reactions
I really wanted to like this book � no � I wanted to love this book. But it missed the mark for me. I think that is because it felt unfinished.
The basic story line is engaging and what kept me reading, but there were huge gaps that left me hungry for more detail. Anglada began with a date in 1991, so we know where we are at when the violin first makes an appearance. And the next chapter begins Daniel’s story (the luthier who crafted the violin) as he struggles to survive in the concentration camp. In bits and pieces we learn of the conditions, the sadistic doctor, the capricious whims of the commandant, the deprivations, the dreams and nightmares, and the fragile friendships formed. But suddenly Daniel is crafting a violin and we don’t know why. Or how he got the tools and materials. I actually went back to the previous chapter and re-read, thinking I must have dozed off and accidently skipped ahead. But I hadn’t.
Eventually we are able to piece together the story, but not until there are a few more abrupt changes in time frame that not only were disorienting, but made me feel that parts of the story were left out. In summary, while the story line played the reader’s heartstrings like a violin virtuoso, I felt that the book was unfinished.
July 31, 2022
Um livro pequeno mas com uma história emotiva, envolvida pela construção do violino num campo de concentração. Não é o tipo de livro que costume ler, porque é um género que geralmente me custa e não gosto. Mas posso dizer que me vai ficar na memória pela forma como as descrições são feitas e pela resiliência do Daniel e dos seus companheiros. Gostei de como tudo acabou, apesar de tudo o que passaram.
February 23, 2022
Am pornit convinsa ca imi va placea, pana la urma e vorba de Auschwitz si o vioara. Ultima experienta cu “Violonista de la Auschwitz� a fost minunata. Ei bine, trebuia sa vina si momentul cand voi intalni o carte din sfera Auschwitz care sa ma dezamageasca. Desi dimensiunea redusa a cartii am considerat-o un avantaj initial, am realizat pe parcurs ca lipsesc detalii si momente importante din viata intr-un lagar atat de atroce precum Auschwitz. Cartea s-a bazat mai mult pe dorinta de supravietuire a unui lutier, care isi doreste cu orice pret libertatea, asa ca in momentul in care i se ordona sa realizeze o vioara identica cu o Stradivarius, acesta vede un licar de speranta. In cele 109 pagini am simtit ca autoarea a descris in detaliu procesul de creare al viorii (un proces suficient de bine documentat, as zice) renuntand la detalii esentiale despre viata in lagar a lutierului nostru. Mi-a placut fina impletire a trecutului cu prezentul asa ca de la mine primeste 3,5🌟
July 20, 2017
uvijek ovekujem da knjiga ovakve tematike izazove duboke emocije ali ovdje se nije dogodilo nista.to je zapravo tuzno I strasno me razocaralo, mozda je tako zbog nacina pripovijedanja, mozda je nesto drugo po srijedi, ne znam...
May 14, 2017
Readability: Off the charts easy to read; I finished this in a spare hour while my father watched yet another repeat of Poirot. This isn't necessarily a good thing, though - this book is about the Holocaust, one of the most horrendous events ever to occur in our history, and a throwaway hour in front of the fire seems ... empty, unsatisfying, possibly even disrespectful. The very word 'Auschwitz' makes me shiver, feel a little nauseous, darkens everything around me, but this book evoked none of that feeling: it was quick and easy, and those are the two things I feel Holocaust fiction should not be. However, if I was to step off my soapbox for just a second or two, I suppose I would admit that the clear, precise language (I'm reading the English translation from the Catalan, so I'm not judging the original work at all, which perhaps is much more powerful linguistically than the translation) is quite refreshing, and allows the story space to breathe rather than clogging it up with any heavy over-description or artistic flourishes.
Impact: The problem is, though, that there isn't really enough story, or at least any real emotional impact to the story, that would make it strong enough to survive without some interesting language. The premise for the book is full of potential: a Jewish luthier imprisoned in Auchwitz III - Monowitz, the labour camp - is ordered by a mercurial, brutal Kommandant to make him a violin, or else he will be handed over to the camp Doctor. I'm aware of the debate on how the Holocaust has become a minefield of emotion and story for writers, but my view as it stands is that while there is a huge amount of Holocaust fiction out there that is added to every day, it is a subject that, when it is handled well, can be extremely, shockingly powerful. It is also one of those subjects that the literary world may feel a little saturated by, given the sheer amount of writing it produces, but the fact remains it is an historical event which should never be forgotten, which is hugely important to our psyche, and a wealth of writing - both the good and the bad - is an inevitable side-effect of that. This book, however, fails to rise to the levels of the really good, affecting fiction relating to the topic. The premise may be good, but in the execution there is no sense of urgency or danger; I never felt involved in the story or in Daniel's situation. The whole thing feels flat, from his character and the ultimatum he is presented with to the description of the camp and its horrors. The only moments that stirred some genuine interest and emotion in me were the real copies of documents rescued from Auschwitz with which Anglada has framed each of her chapters, and the descriptions of how the violin is made. The former are affecting because they are real, and need no description to convey the horror behind their existence, and the latter seem to spring Daniel's character to life; his passion for his craft is visceral and exciting whereas in the rest of the book, his feelings are vaguely drawn or feel skipped over by Anglada. Aside from these brief interludes, however, The Auschwitz Violin was a huge disappointment for me - although at least it is a short enough book that I didn't regret spending time with it too much.
Impact: The problem is, though, that there isn't really enough story, or at least any real emotional impact to the story, that would make it strong enough to survive without some interesting language. The premise for the book is full of potential: a Jewish luthier imprisoned in Auchwitz III - Monowitz, the labour camp - is ordered by a mercurial, brutal Kommandant to make him a violin, or else he will be handed over to the camp Doctor. I'm aware of the debate on how the Holocaust has become a minefield of emotion and story for writers, but my view as it stands is that while there is a huge amount of Holocaust fiction out there that is added to every day, it is a subject that, when it is handled well, can be extremely, shockingly powerful. It is also one of those subjects that the literary world may feel a little saturated by, given the sheer amount of writing it produces, but the fact remains it is an historical event which should never be forgotten, which is hugely important to our psyche, and a wealth of writing - both the good and the bad - is an inevitable side-effect of that. This book, however, fails to rise to the levels of the really good, affecting fiction relating to the topic. The premise may be good, but in the execution there is no sense of urgency or danger; I never felt involved in the story or in Daniel's situation. The whole thing feels flat, from his character and the ultimatum he is presented with to the description of the camp and its horrors. The only moments that stirred some genuine interest and emotion in me were the real copies of documents rescued from Auschwitz with which Anglada has framed each of her chapters, and the descriptions of how the violin is made. The former are affecting because they are real, and need no description to convey the horror behind their existence, and the latter seem to spring Daniel's character to life; his passion for his craft is visceral and exciting whereas in the rest of the book, his feelings are vaguely drawn or feel skipped over by Anglada. Aside from these brief interludes, however, The Auschwitz Violin was a huge disappointment for me - although at least it is a short enough book that I didn't regret spending time with it too much.
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