Auschwitz and After

This is the second edition so I don't know what, if any, changes there will be. If it's as astonishing as the original then it will be brilliant beyond words of my inadequate prose. Delbo was transported with a group of French resisters, their journey ably covered en-masse in Caroline Moorehead's book A Train in Winter: A Story of Resistance, Friendship and Survival in Auschwitz . Delbo's is a cut above, which would be surprising since it's a cut above almost every other account I have read. Treat yourself to something rare, clear-eyed, unsentimental and amazing; "It's like there's another skin beneath this skin and that skin's called Auschwitz, and you cannot shed it you know...We carry this. I am not like you. You have one vision of life and I have two. I -you know -I lived on two planets...it's like the planet was chopped up into a [normal] part -so-called-normal lives: our lives are not really normal -and this other planet, and we we're herded onto that planet from this one and herded back again, having nothing, virtually nothing in common with the inhabitants of this planet. And we have...we have these double lives and it's too much".

This book in many ways differs from so many autobiographical works about concentration camps in that it is not narrative. Many of the pieces are more in the nature of vignettes. There is also poetry. But it is poetry which only carries its full meaning if you read the prose. Otherwise it might seem a bit spare and not seem to relate to anything. It is not cheerful, then you wouldn't expect it to be, but it is important. I think some short extracts should be required reading for secondary school students. Just to read her account of extreme thirst alone would be something you could carry forward for the rest of your life. I can't help thinking that it would have some impact on people's actions and their understanding of such regimes, from whatever politics they originate.

Read this before a trip to the concentration camps to give me further insight into the history. Very interesting read.

I felt this book as I read it. If you only ever read one book about what happened, make it this one. I wish I could have met her, and I wish this had never happened.

This is a fantastic book In every way. Beautifully written . Anybody interested in the Holocaust must read this book !!!!!

great product, great seller

In the top five Holocaust memoirs, at the very least. It is for this, experiences as extreme and at the level of intensity that Charlotte’s were, that prose exists. No fact, map or statistic can take you into another’s heart and mind like the illogical and natural process of prose. If you aren’t ready to feel what the Holocaust really was to all those millions of people then don’t read this book. It wasn’t translated into english until ‘95 and I know why. America may not be ready for this kind of deep and real either. To say you’ll have to put it down to ponder or cry a few times seems lame. This book will make your soul ache.

Delhi is an outstanding writer. At the conclusion of a year-long adult study group all agreed that Delbo's account of concentration camp life was the most moving we had read. That is a recommendation and a warning. She takes the writer on a tour of hell complete with sights, sounds, smells and emotions.

This book was one of the most powerful holocaust stories I have read ( of many), and the author breathed life into each character.