About this title: Mendelsohn grew up in a family haunted by the disappearance of six relatives during the Holocaust--an unmentionable subject during his childhood. Decades later, spurred by the discovery of a cache of desperate letters written to his grandfather in 1939, he embarked on a hunt for the remaining eyewitnesses of his relatives' fates. This is their ...
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780060542979ISBN:0060542977
Description: Good. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dustcover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "from the library of" labels. ******PLEASE NOTE****** Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas unless you select EXPEDITED shipping! Thank you & Happy Holidays! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780060542979ISBN:0060542977
Description: Good. Standard used condition. May have light reading or storage wear. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. 0060542993 23279 PB: spine smooth, text clean, cover has slight shelf wear-allow up to 21 business days for standard USPS media m ai l. wt1lbpf. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date Published: 2006-09-19
ISBN-13:9780060542979ISBN:0060542977
Description: Good. Paperback! Clean unmarked pages, some normal wear, no remainder marks, tight binding, sealed in plastic, exact artwork as listed, expertly packed, fast shipping. read more
"My best book of 2008 ! It begins with a survey about Daniel Mendelsohn own family story, which is part of the humanity History because it takes place during the Second World War in Eastern Europe, and this surveys leads him to meet old Jews all around the world, and meeting them enlarges the circle of his initial interest. So it begins with a little circle, then we reach a larger circle, and then another one, and then still a larger one... and it seems infinite ! He makes such exquisite portraits of the old Jews he meets in Canada, Sweden, Israel... also of the non Jews he meets in Urkraine. In fact he tries (and manages !) to reach the core humanity of each person he meets, that's one of the things that moved me profoundly and made me feel like the book would never end ! The other thing is : his style, such a great style ! I read it in French and Daniel Mendelsohn himself reckoned the French translation was so subtle he couldn't have dreamt for a better uderstanding of his... not only of his work but also of his sensitivity. Such a fine sensitivity. I will always have this book by me, except the lapses of time when I've offered it and I have to find a new print for me !"
"I would have given this 5 stars if only the author had used quotation marks!
Did the author think he's above quote marks, or did his editors talk him into this fiasco because it's the latest "cool" trend? This stupid trend leads to complete reader confusion.
The author is searching for information about his six relatives who were killed in the Holocaust. He travels to Poland, Australia, and Sweden to interview elderly Holocaust survivors. It's utterly engrossing...until he begins relating the interviews he conducted. Did he say that aloud? No, wait, that was in his head. Did he actually say the next thing? Oops, no, he's providing background information. Aaargh, I'm completely out of the story now! I've lost my way in the book! Here are two examples from the book:
1. But what were people expecting from the Germans? I asked. How much did they know at that point?
My brain absorbs "But what were people expecting from the Germans" before realizing that he spoke it aloud; I don't find that out until the end of the sentence. So what I thought he said in his head, I have to reconfigure and picture him saying out loud. But what about the next sentence? That could go either way. Did he ask that aloud too? We don't know.
2. Klara said, I do not know much about him, just that he wanted to save her. And he died because of it. So why doesn't she want to talk about it? She paused for a moment, and then said, Meg is very careful with every word.
My first pass through, I thought the author was asking in his head, about Klara, Why doesn't she want to talk about it? My second pass through, I thought the author said this out loud to Klara, about Meg. Finally, I realized Klara actually said that out loud to the author. But did she also say, "She paused for a moment," speaking of Meg? No, wait, that's the author saying that Klara paused.
What is the point of this??
If you spend years researching and writing and spending money completing a book, and then undergo the extreme stress of finding a publisher and dealing with the publishing process, wouldn't you want the finished product to be as clear and problem-free as possible? Don't you want people to understand your book as easily as possible? Stop the nonsense! Replace the quote marks!"
"A young boy who becomes a man persists in his quest for knowledge as to what exactly happened to six Jewish members of his family, (out of the six million holocaust victims during World War II). He travels the world to talk to any person who knew of or personally knew those six members. Through pictures, letters, and "oral history" at its best, Daniel Mendelsohn learns as much as he can about his six family members - what they were like, who their friends were, why they stayed in Europe when all hell was breaking loose, and what events occurred near the end and at the end of their lives. Daniel Mendelsohn pieces all of the stories together to come to terms with his lost family history. I have read many novels about World War II as well as non-fiction texts. I have been to Israel and to the War Memorial. The Lost is a must read in order to fully understand the nature of man; Daniel Mendelsohn brilliantly depicts the historical events of the bible, comparing them with the historical events of recent history. When one reads this book, one "faces history and ourselves.""
"I was amazed by the concept of The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million. When Daniel Mendelsohn was a boy, his elderly relatives would weep over his resemblance to his great-uncle Schmiel. The great-uncle, his wife and their four daughters were all killed by the Nazis. Almost sixty years after the end of the Holocaust, Mendelsohn travels the globe, searching for answers about Schmiel and his family. It's both a resurrection of the past and a race against time, because many of the people he speaks with are nearing the ends of their lives. It's a book with details that stay with you. An elderly woman who lived in the same town speaks of the earth above a mass grave moving for two days, because not all the victims were dead when the grave was filled. The book isn't perfect--I found Mendelsohn's digressions into Jewish philosophy annoying and it distracted me from the story I wanted to be reading, but it a fascinating book."
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