In 1947 Brooklyn, a young aspiring writer named Stingo moves into a boarding house and becomes entangled in the volatile relationship between Sophie Zawistowska, a Polish Catholic survivor of Auschwitz, and Nathan Landau, her brilliant but mentally unstable Jewish lover. Through a series of detailed confessions, Sophie reveals her history in occupied Poland, specifically her time as a prisoner under the Commandant at the concentration camp. The narrative focuses on the impossible moral compromise forced upon her by a Nazi doctor, an event that dictates her psychological collapse and current inability to escape her past guilt.
This book provides a specific perspective for readers interested in the long-term psychological aftermath of the Holocaust and the nature of absolute evil. Those who study history or psychology read it to observe how trauma degrades the human will and complicates the possibility of survival. A reader exits the text with a concrete understanding of how historical atrocities manifest as personal pathologies. It offers a grim examination of the limits of human endurance and the reality that some scars remain incurable despite a change in geography or circumstance.
Deep, inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1979
- Language
- EN
