5 comments about Man's Search for Meaning.

1. Today's society needs positive books, that value life not by it's usefulness but by it's meaning. This is one of those books.
   The testimony part is awesome, leaves little chance to argue that a life full of suffering shouldn't be lived. The logotherapy introduction part is very interesting and enlightening, although I had some bumps with the technical stuff, but that's nothing that google can't handle :)
   Buy it, read it and share it.



2. The last 10 years has been a real struggle, and as I go through life trying to find ways to cope and stay happy, I ran across this book. Heard about it many years ago and always wanted to read it. I HIGHLY recommend that everyone read this. It's a very interesting psychological look at the people who survived the Nazi death camps in particular, but in general, is a good resource for anyone going through a hard time. It looks at the coping mechanisms of those who survived, and the mindset of those who gave up, and reminds us all that even when everything including our very identity is taken away, we still have something that NO ONE can take unless we let them - how we will deal with our challenges. Will we give up and give in, defeated; or will we choose to look past the bad stuff at the sunset, the puppy's eyes, the pretty flowers and see that there is still good stuff in the world.
   
   This book, along with Awakening Joy: 10 Steps That Will Put You on the Road to Real Happiness and How We Choose to Be Happy: The 9 Choices of Extremely Happy People--Their Secrets, Their Stories are excellent textbooks on how to bring more joy back into your life.
   
   Do yourself a favor and buy all three.



3. Part essay about his time in the concentrations camps, part psychiatric tract based on those experiences, Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning is one of the most important books I've read. It is not surprising that there are more than 12M copies in print and that it's been named one of the ten most influential books.
   
   In the first 100 pages, Frankl recounts the time he spent in the camps from 1942-1945. Anyone who has read other accounts of the camps or seen movies of them knows the depravities there. But Frankl's account is somewhat unique in that he approaches the experience as a psychiatrist, in a very clinical fashion, only using emotion here and there to spice his writing. His writing is perceptive, showing a keen empathy for not only those who were heroic in such places, but also those who were not. This goes for both the prisoners as well as the German guards. He explains the psychology of lowered expectations, how a simple de-lousing, for example, could be the source of so much happiness for the prisoners. And given the title, it's not surprising he spends much time talking about meaning. The whole premise of his book is that humans are driven by their search for meaning. And in these pages, he demonstrates how meaning in a prisoner's life, whether it be a family to get back home to or work still left to be done, literally was the difference between life and death in many cases.
   
   This leads to the second part of the book, called Logotherapy in a Nutshell. Logotherapy is a therapy Frankl pioneered after his experiences in the camps. In it, a patient is `actually confronted with and reoriented toward the meaning of his life'. He talks of the existential vacuum, in which so many people now languish due to the complexity of having so many choices and a lack of traditions to fall back on. Logotherapy simplifies this for us. According to it, meaning can come from three places: creating work or doing deeds, experiencing something or encountering someone (love), 3) or by our attitude to unavoidable suffering.
   
   To me, this puts logotherapy in the realm of religion, especially eastern religion. It's about human transcendence. Frankl says here that we derive meaning by helping others (through deeds or work), putting another above ourselves (loving someone), or by seeing unavoidable suffering as something of meaning in its own right. These ideas seem Buddhist to me, and in this case I applaud the convergence of science and spirituality in a space that needs it.
   
   I found this book inspirational. The experiences of the concentration camps by themselves are enough to put matters in harsh perspective for anyone living in freedom. But Frankl's expanding of this information into a book that can help so many others is a fine example of his own theories. We are lucky to have such a work available to us.



4. I am in no position to comment on this book, except to suggest others read it. What an incredible man and what a book! I will keep this book in my home forever, just in case I ever feel that life is difficult. Wow - this book will stop you complaining and help anyone focus on what really is important in life. I am honored to have read Viktor Frankl's words in this book.



5. I love this book. The writer really gives you something to think about in your own life. This book touches you mind, heart, and soul. If you every though about a meaning about/for life, please read this book. It would give you more insight then you can imagine!!!!!!!!

5 comments about Night (Oprah's Book Club).

1. Elie Wiesel has not forgotten and through this text he ensures that the rest of us knows what happened - and do not dare to forget. Written in simple prose within a thin volume, "Night" speaks as loudly now for the murdered millions as it did when first published more than 50 years ago. It's a memoir but so much more than a recounting of a single life. The writer is subtle and economic in this tight history of the largest documented mass murder. By limiting full graphic depictions and allowing the imagination to fill in the gaps of conditions in the concentration camps, the reader counts and mourns Wiesel's family and neighbors as if they were our own. So well does he draw us into the scenes that while reading "Night" we smell the crematorium's smoke and feel its heat. Weisel's Noble Peace Prize acceptance speech is at the end of this new translation of "Night." Delivered in 1986, it is the perfect anchor to book. The speech addresses the injustices worldwide that followed the Holocaust and warns against allowing the holocausts that inevitably have come to pass between 1986 and now. "Night" is being read in many colleges. It should be required reading in high schools. Generations across the world should not be allowed to forget.



2. Elie Wiesel was a victim of the attempted extermination of the "Jewish Race" by the Nazi German State under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.
   
   Adolf Hitler actually had a bigger plan than the extinction of the "Jewish Race." His larger goal was to eventually rid the world of all inferior breeds and types of people - weather they were members of races or not. He was going to purify humankind of all of its miscreants. The Jews were simply first. He explains these goals in his book Mein Kampf.
   
   It always amazes me that here in the United States there has only been one political party that has ever been outlawed - the Communist Party. As far as I know even today, you can be a member of the Nazi Party but not a member of a Communist Party.
   
   In principle and theory the Nazi Party advocates the extermination of all inferior peoples for the eventual goal of the purification of the species.
   
   The Communist Party in principle and theory (despite the leadership of many misguided brutes and dictators and murderers) has advocated fair treatment for the poor and working class.
   
   In the United States we have outlawed the Communist Party but not the Nazi Party.
   
   Harry Truman in one of his memoirs states that in his opinion Communism was a worse philosophy than Nazism.
   
   To say the least I'm confused.
   
   But "Night" by Elie Wiesel is not a book about Nazism or Communism. It is a book about people and the human race.
   
   The copy of "Night" that I have was previously owned. And the original owner has written several of his comments or questions in the margins.
   
   On page four he writes; Why would you allow yourself to be shipped off? On page seven he writes: Total denial of worsening conditions by the Jews. On page 27 he writes; So many Jews and so few SS. Why don't the Jews just take over? On page 37 he writes: A psychological feeling of depression controlled the Jews. He has other comments but they get fewer and fewer as the book goes on.
   
   What do you think about these questions?
   
   I wonder why this last reader is questioning the behavior of the Jews and not the behavior of the Germans.
   
   There is not one question written in the margins of this little book asking how the German people could do such a thing to any group of people.
   
   Like the battered housewife, everyone asks; Why did you stay with him? Why did you allow him to treat you so?
   
   No one asks: What was wrong with this man?
   
   Is it because we as human beings are so conditioned to abuse and torture and mistreatment in this life that we see nothing unusual about the abuser?
   
   And this brings us to Mr. Elie Wiesel's constant refrain throughout this book; `Where is God? Where is He? Where can He be now?'
   
   As a philosophical student of the classical problem of the existence or non-existence of God, I find this argument basic. This is the moral argument against the existence of God - How can a moral God create an immoral world?
   
   Leibniz said that because God is good and moral - this is the best of all possible worlds. It must be. God can not make mistakes.
   
   Voltaire wrote Candide as the disbelievers' response to Leibniz.
   
   The believer will say that the evil of the Holocaust was not God's evil but the evil of man - it was created by the German people. This was human evil not Divine evil - as if human nature could somehow be separated from a Divine creation.
   
   Once again we see the victim getting the blame while the abuser is exonerated.
   This seems to be the human condition.
   
   To continue with this philosophy of "beating up on the victim," I suppose that the non-believer could say to the believer: Why my friend do you chose to believe in an abusive God?
   
   Books written by Richard Noble - The Hobo Philosopher:
   "Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.."
   "A Summer with Charlie" Salisbury Beach, Lawrence YMCA
   "A Little Something: Poetry and Prose
   "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother" Novel - Lawrence, Ma.
   "The Eastpointer" Selections from award winning column.
   "Noble Notes on Famous Folks" Humor - satire - facts.
   "America on Strike" American Labor - History



3. Some books, it seems, are almost beyond mere review. NIGHT is about Elie Wiesel's time in Nazi concentration camps. Really, what can one add? The description alone says an awful lot. So let us not focus on subject and instead focus on readability.
   
   NIGHT is very readable. It is not, however, a scholarly study. Many other books provide much better detail and history of the Nazi camps designed either to exterminate undesirables outright or, alternatively, work them to death. NIGHT, rather than being scholarly, is personal. It does not bring the concentration camps to life. It brings Elie Wiesel to life as he lived it in those camps and, more ominously, the life he led before them.
   
   That life before heading to the extermination camps is of equal importance to the life in the camps itself. A basic yet terrifying rule of totalitarian ideologies and the political movements that bring them to fruition is that they do not advertise the barbaric methods that will ultimately be employed in order to achieve their ideological goals. Concentration camps were such extreme institutions that, even given the generations of anti-semitism, they seemed beyond belief until it was much too late. Wiesel and his family (and others in his village) were indeed warned as to what was awaiting them. Yet the stories were so far out there, so incomprehensible, that they were scoffed at. That is perhaps the most important lesson of the book.
   
   At a little over 100 pages, NIGHT is actually a bit skimpy in its descriptions. Yet it provides enough. It provides the big pictures - endless work, ravenous hunger, brutality of the guards and other prisoners and, most distressing, the slipping away of one's own humanity as survival becomes so precarious that one's concerns even for loved ones slips away in the face of self-preservation.
   
   Part memorial, part warning, NIGHT was Wiesel's first book. It could have been his last and his reputation would still be significant. It is a dark but worthwhile read about a very dark time.



4. When a teenager, Elie Wiesel was taken from his home, and he and his family were put in a series of concentration camps over several years. Night is the haunting record of that experience, as bleakly unflinching a memoir as has ever been written. Few can know the horrors of not only spending teenage years in such a place but also seeing family members and many others die and countless others suffer. Needless to say, Wiesel's own plight was also tragically great, and he unsurprisingly lost both innocence and faith. The experience touched him so deeply that he was unable to write of it for over a decade. When he finally did, he had great difficulty getting published; the events were still very close, and the world wanted to forget rather than being reminded. However, when published in 1960, Night was an international sensation, reawakening interest in the Holocaust and all it stands for. It was not only a literary triumph but the first step in Wiesel's core belief that we must always remember the Holocaust so nothing like it ever happens again.
   
   The book remains undeniably compelling, a masterpiece on many levels. Perhaps most immediately, it is a stark depiction of evil's height, showing humanity at its worst. This is valuable in every sense from philosophical to sociological but above all in destroying hollow optimism epitomized in the belief that things will take care of themselves and all will work out for the best. Night leaves no doubt that, left unchecked, human evil grows exponentially; it is our duty to curb it, and the awareness raised by such works is a very important part of this. Second, it is an invaluable historical document, one of the best - most thorough and readable - primary sources of the Holocaust's unparalleled miseries. As such, it is one of the darkest works ever - all the more so in being true; even the blackest imagination could not conceive such atrocities, which says all that need be said about this aspect of Night and the events it records.
   
   Yet there are several strong senses in which the book is not bleak. First, it is an artistic masterpiece; unwavering honesty and vivid description raise it above mere memoir, putting it with the most harrowing and unforgettable first-person accounts ever. Its biggest strength in this way is unadorned yet highly effective prose. Wiesel has no time for dizzying metaphors, lush descriptions, or other fancy writing; he has a bitter story to tell and tells it as plainly and - in the best way - as simply as possible. This makes it clearer and more memorable than it could ever have been otherwise, forcing us to focus on the events rather than the writing. The story speaks for itself as few can. Though barely one hundred pages, it has more of substance and significance than nearly any other book. The words are few but the implications endless.
   
   Perhaps more fundamentally, though Night is a savage condemnation of human evil, it is also a tribute to human endurance. Like a surprising number of others, Wiesel survived the Holocaust despite everything, showing just how far human beings can be pushed and live. Such determination and perseverance is truly incredible, a testament to the indomitable human spirit that is at least as astonishing in its way as the evil that confronted it and far more awe-inspiring. Wiesel not only lived but, in a long career starting with Night, has admirably devoted his life to exposing the Holocaust's monstrosities to guard future ages against recurring evil.
   
   Night is a profoundly important document in this and many other ways, a must for anyone even remotely interested in the Holocaust, World War II, Judaism, or the depths to which humanity can sink - as well as, in one sense at least, all that it can rise above. It is nothing less than one of the most important and valuable books of all-time. Though a very painful read, everyone should read it if only to see just how painful life can be - and hopefully to avoid passing the pain on to those lucky enough to have been born after the nightmares it faithfully records.



5. Book was sent quickly and was in great condition. Would do bussiness with this business/person again.

5 comments about Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History.

1. The book was in very good condition and it came in very fast, within one week.



2. Maus is one of the captivating page turners I've every laid eyes upon. The story is Art Spiegelman the author writing his fathers tale and what exactly was involved in surviving the holocaust.



3. Art Spiegelman's critically-acclaimed graphic novel chronicles both his father Vladek's misadventures in Hitler's Europe and a rocky relationship between father and son. Depicting the Nazis as cats and the Jews as mice (and the Polish as pigs, a hot-button topic in an already controversial piece), Spiegelman's illustrations actually gives "Maus" the type of appeal that couldn't be achieved in any other medium except this one, as well as lure readers who wouldn't have picked up the comic otherwise. The story itself reels you in but "Prisoner on the Hell Planet," Spiegelman's comic-within-a-comic about his late mother, offers even more insight on Spiegelman and his family history despite its contrast with the main story. This is truly the stuff survival stories are made of.
   
   This comic is unrated: Violence, Adult Language, Adult Situations.



4. I really thought that in this point in my life I had learned all there was to know about the Holocaust. I've been to the museums, seen the movies, seen survivors speak, and studied the awful events in school. I didn't expect to gain a new sense of understanding from this survivors tale.
   
   Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History was a shocking, at times truly disturbing account of a family trying to survive day to day during the Holocaust. This is not a cut and dry tale, it is artfully told through a graphic novel.
   
   I went into this novel wondering "why mice?". As you can see from the cover, the center of the swastika is a cat face. Art Spiegelman has used symbolism to portray a cat and mouse game. The jews are all mice, forever foraging for food and shelter, trying to outsmart the cats that want noting more than to destroy them. The use of this idea in his artwork makes the novel that much more interesting.
   
   I imagine that I could learn something new each time I read this book. There is so much depth, and raw descriptions of what occurred to the authors father and his family. It goes one step deeper in showing how it has affected their lives beyond their time struggling to survive the Holocaust.
   
   A powerful and deeply affecting graphic novel that is an absolute must read.



5. When I was eight years old, this book was included in a Scholastic book order through my school. I was fascinated by WWII at the time, and had every kids book on it, so of course I wanted this one. I had no idea I was ordering a comic book, and when I finally held it in my hands I was mad that it was - up until that point, to me comic books were all shoot 'em ups and superheroes. This book proved me wrong, and started a lifelong love of comics. I'm now in college studying sequential art and plan on going to the field, so you can appreciate how much of a difference this book made to me.
   
   The overall Maus story is a back and forth between the present events of a young Jewish man and his difficult elderly father, and the father's life in WWII as a Jew. This first book - My Father Bleeds History - focuses on the family's relatively normal upscale life diminishing into their eventual going into hiding at the end of the book. It's a side that isn't as commonly told: the diminishing rights, the daily strain, the rumours of the horrible things that were going on, and even his life as a prisoner of war. These stories aren't as well-told in the media, and I really liked seeing them. As someone who was already well-versed in WWII history reading this, it helped me understand better how people could not realise what was actually going on, and that daily life still must continue in horrible situations.
   
   The art is stark, with thick black lines and a very sketchy feeling to it - this is very fitting for the dark story being told. Visually it's a little busy, and during my first reads I remember being occasionally confused and having to reread pages. Nothing too unforgivable or difficult, however!
   
   Like most graphic novels - it's a fairly quick read, it took me about two days to read it as a child, but now I can zip through them back to back in an hour or two. Yet they reread very well; I pick it up several times a year and my copy is quite well-worn.
   
   I would also recommend this to anyone with an appreciation for historical fiction, biographies, memoirs, or those interested in WWII. History is my favourite genre, and I fully believe this book stands strong right against some of the other classics illustrating the picture of that period. This is not only a great graphic novel, this is a great book.

5 comments about Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began.

1. This was an excellent book. I received the first one for Christmas, and completed it within a day.



2. It doesn't get any better than this.}
   It's almost beyond giving it a "review"....Both I and II are so important and so good. An honor to the six million and more.



3. Maus II is a great depiction of the Holocaust. It tells the second half of the story of Vladek Spiegelman and his journeys from Auschwitz to liberation through the Holocaust. The sequel gives more of an insight into the mind of Art Spiegelman as he records his father's stories. But part of what makes the Maus series so different from the rest of the books on the Holocaust is that these are not only the story but a comic book. In the graphic novel it's easy to pick up on the differences between father and son. It tells how the Holocaust and events surrounding the concentration camp shaped those that had to suffer through it all. Art realized the importance of his father, and learned to look through his father's seemingly selfish actions to understand that he was just trying to teach Art all he had to learn through his experiences. Vladek loves Art because through the Holocaust he came to realize that family is really the only thing a person has. He lost his money, he lost his job, and all he had that got him through the days was the thought of seeing Anja again. The thoughts of survival and perseverance were his only thoughts because of the truly horrific experiences he had to go through. In this tale of Art Spiegelman's survival, it gives readers an inside look at the Auschwitz death camp, the death marches, and life after liberation. Through this novel it is also shown the lasting effects the Holocaust had on the men and women who survived, the continual trouble it caused them. It was something they would never recover from, it affected their future children even. It is a tale of triumph, self discovery, and family.



4. The sequel to Maus I by Art Spiegelman definitely sustains the originality and ingeniousness present in the first portion of the series. Everything within Maus, from the images to the dialogue is profound. The anthropomorphic figures are present in the sequel as well and give the reader the opportunity to absorb the incomprehensible and gruesome events. The novel picks up with both Anja and Vladek Spiegelman standing at the gates of Auschwitz, unsure of the significance of their location. The struggle to avoid the crematorium, death by starvation, the bitter Nazi guards, and other horrific factors of concentration camps begins. Art chooses to emphasize the vitality of luck, resourcefulness, and will power in the survival of his father. The presence of these attributes in Vladek brings a hopeful light to the account, amidst the depressing reality of the situation. However, the present day account of Vladek that is given is much less flattering. He has become a racist, pragmatic, and bitter man, and people who can stand to be in the same vicinity as him come few and far between. Vladek may have physically survived the war, but the notable man he once was died in Auschwitz, according to Art. The bickering and disagreements between Art and Vladek persist throughout Maus II. Likewise, Vladek and Mala, the woman who he married after the death of his first wife, are constantly at odds and certainly go through their fair share of problems in the novel. It becomes clear that the coalition of Vladek's experiences and his demeanor in the last years of his life are directly related. For instance, Vladek's rule for Art to complete every part of his meal is a result of his experience with starvation and lack of food. Vladek remembers what it is to be starving and he does not believe in wasting food, at the expense of his son's emotions or not. Art begins to see this relation as he spends more time with his father. Just as Art would begin to sympathize with Vladek because of his experiences, Vladek would typically demolish Art's sympathy by his racist actions or combative moods. However, Art still retains feelings of pressure to properly convey his father's story. Both Art and Vladek struggle through coming to terms with the past in Maus II. Art realizes the extreme significance in retelling his father's account of survival, and he tries to make sense of the events. Yet, Art Spiegelman realizes that making sense of the Holocaust is impossible because it made no sense at all, there was no justification in it. Therefore, Art does not attempt to tell a moral in the end, he simply tells the story. Wisely, Spiegelman let history speak for itself once he had presented the facts.



5. This is a very good comic book regarding the Holocaust.
   
   It sounds like it would be weird but it is a very good series.
   
   Easy to read and well worth the short time.

5 comments about The Hiding Place.

1. Corrie's experiences and how God carried her through will remind Christians that no matter what we ever face, God will be with us and give us strength to endure. I have many times told people about Corrie and how her story gives comfort that we can trust God through every storm, no matter how horrendous. I highly recommend everyone read her story.



2. This is one of the most amazing true-life world war II stories ever written. Shocking and inspirational at the same time. If you liked The Diary of Anne Frank, you will love this book!



3. After teaching history for three years in a Christian school,
   finding an affordable gift for the end of the year became so
   very easy on Amazon. Books were in perfect giving condition,
   and in good time. We all enjoyed reading this over the summer
   and discussing it upon our return in the fall.
   I will probably give books from Amazon again at the close
   of the school year.



4. It's hard to imagine being a christian in Nazi europe. This along with 'Trapped in Hitler's Hell' really helps show what it was like.
   
   Trapped in Hitler's Hell



5. Recently at a dinner party, a friend asked what is the one book that has had the most influence in your life. I immediately thought of "The Hiding Place".
   
   Corrie's story is so moving partly because of the events that took place, but more by Corrie's humility. Her mannerism is almost matter of fact as she describes the remarkable things that happened to her and her family. She never once shows any attempt to be anything than other herself as she works to save the lives of others. She takes no recognition on herself but shines it on everyone else, most especially on her saintly sister.
   
   This is simply a great book about an amazing person!

5 comments about Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.

1. Received item in a very timely manner...would certainly recommend this seller to others...keep up the good work! God's blessings and prosperity to you!



2. While any edition of Anne Frank's diary is worth reading, I prefer the definitive edition. Most of you know that it includes previously removed material about her strained, complicated relationship with her mom, her more saucy comments that convey her frustration with many of the adults in the secret annex, and her developing sexuality. All these things make her more well rounded than in the regular version. Her progression from a silly school girl to a more mature, introspective young woman is even more striking and heartbreaking. Heartbreaking because her life was cut short not too long after her last entry, the most deep one she'd written. Of course it includes the constantly misconstrued "In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart" line, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Sometimes sassy, bratty, and sharp tongued, but always caring, kind, and reflective, it's a crime that her talents were never given a chance to shine in adulthood. Anne dreamed of being a writer and a journalist, but never knew her wish to "go on living even after [her] death" would come true in a literal sense. We must never forget this girl and the many other innocent victims who perished in the Holocaust. Never.



3. An overwrought bit of propaganda that has been worth well over $300 billion in aid to Israel over the last several decades.



4. I was shocked at how insightful this young girl was in her entries. I tended to forget that Anne was a girl who was only 13-15 years old. The way she discussed such issues as love, religion, politics, a life of anonymity, her relationship with her parents, the war, etc. were a joy to read.
   
   The progression of the diary entries truly showed how Anne matured into a young women. Although Anne was in a situation very few have been in, I believe her diary entries reflect the general mind of teenage girls. Her longing to be loved by Peter (her housemate), her sarcasm and quick wit, and the relationship with her parents are not unique only to Anne. Her feelings can be shared by millions of women and men.
   
   I recommend the book highly. It gives the reader a perspective to the war that is rarely seen.



5. My mistake ordering this. It is a teacher's packet regarding Anne Frank. Although not what I thought I was ordering it arrived in good shape - shipped quickly.

5 comments about The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, Day.

1. Just what I was looking for. Quick transaction and shipping was great.



2. I love Eli Wiesel's story. The first book of his I read was Night, I think it was actually a required reading back when I was in middle school. It was this book which sparked my interest in reading survival stories from the Holocaust and other like literature from that era. A few years back I came across Eli Wiesel's trilogy: Night, Dawn, and Day. I was not aware that he had published any other books of this type until then. I thought Night was such a moving story I bought the trilogy. The parts Dawn and Day are not as brutal and dark as Night but are equally as moving. They tell more about his life after Auschwitz and Buchenwald and how he coped and adjusted to society after the atrocities of the Holocaust. If you enjoyed Night I would definitely recommend reading his next two books.



3. "Night" is without a doubt, the best of the three works in the trilogy. Wiesel's experiences are heart-breaking, yet he retells his story with a degree of frankness that illustrates the complete emotional breakdown that victims of the concentration camps experienced. "Night" is an horrifying account of the Holocaust, and it ought to be read for years to come as a reminder to what can happen when mankind loses its humanity. Although Wiesel prefaces "Dawn" and "Day" as being works of fiction, the two stories are much less fictional narratives then they are brief insights into the mind of a man who has been emotionally broken by the horrors he experienced. To read "Dawn" and "Day" without associating them with Wiesel as their author would be a mistake, as Wiesel's questioning of God's existence and the goodness of humanity is inherent in both works.



4. This book is great. Obviously Night was the best portion as I thought Dawn and Day were a little slow, but I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in this genre.



5. A laborious trilogy. Everything is so black. I understand it was a horrible, horrible time in history and for the people who had to deal with it and are still dealing with it. How they kept their sanity under such conditions and live with such memories is amazing. The only light is in the last few pages and is worth the labor. God gets blamed for the acts of the devil, however.

5 comments about All But My Life.

1. Since I watched the movie "Anne Frank the Whole Story", I have been fascinated with the holocaust in an unusual way. I wanted to learn more. This book has to be one of the most touching and moving books that I have ever read. I could not put it down. I read it in about 6 days. It made me appreciate my life and have respect for it and others. It is an eye opener in realizing how strong the human spirit can be. As I read it I was amazed at what the human mind and body can endure. Please read this book and your life will be forever changed. You will never live and view life the same again.



2. There are a few books that everyone in this world needs to read. This is one of them. Also Charlotte's Web. But please read this book. If you can't afford to buy it, I'll send you my copy. peacerun@gmail.com



3. Highly Recommend! There are so many lessons to be learned from this book I hope everyone who reads it can benefit.



4. ALL BUT MY LIFE recounts the story of Gerda Weissmann, a young woman forced into slave labor for the Nazis during the Holocaust. Stripped from her father, mother, and brother, Gerda must endure cruel working conditions, little to no food, and harsh weather as she fights for survival during Nazi Germany in the 1940s. Gerda promised her father that she wouldn't give up and with her mother's last words of "Be Strong", young Gerda keeps going, even when there is no hope left.
   
   The book is divided into three parts. In Part One, we learn of Gerda and her immediate family before the war and during the beginning of the war. They are a family of pure strength and love. I was struck by the intense closeness of her family and cried when they were ripped apart.
   
   In Part Two, we relive Gerda's experiences during her time in the Nazi labor camps, being shuttled from one camp to the next, some better than others. The friendships Gerda is able to make with other girls at camp are heartwarming, yet heart wrenching. How hard it must be to become close to someone who may not be there the next minute, hour, or day? The decisions Gerda makes throughout this period are, at times, unbelievable, yet she survived. I have no doubt that she was meant to live to tell her story and that of her family and friends. What if Gerda had made a different decision at a crucial crossroads?
   
   Finally, in Part Three, we are told of Gerda's life after she was liberated by Lt. Kurt Klein, who becomes her husband. What an incredible love story.
   
   This is a book of inspiration, faith, and hope. It will definitely make one think of problems in a new light. If the human spirit can endure what Gerda did, then we all can survive what is thrown at us, even when it seems like we cannot.
   
   I whole-heartedly recommend this book to everyone. It's phenomenal. I cannot praise it enough. Although it is not an easy book to read, the message it sends is one of hope and strength. We can all survive, we can all make it. Thank you for telling us your story, Mrs. Klein. It is not one I will ever forget. 5+ stars!
   
   Jennifer
   [...]



5. I found this treasure, a battered former school library book, at a used book sale. I have read many Holocaust books and thought I'd give this one a try. I had no idea what I was in for.
   
   It is a page-turner, beautifully written, compelling and heartbreaking right up to the end.

5 comments about The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale (No 1).

1. I have never read a graphic novel and I was very surprised that I liked it as much as I did. This one in particular was about the Holocaust and how one couple managed to survive the incredibly hard times. I thought it did a goof job describing what people had to go through and what they had to do to make it in that crazy time. By the end of the book you get to understand why the father is the way he is and you even start to sympathize with him. I read through this rather quickly and it has made me want to look into other graphic novels.



2. This two volume set is one of the best works of art of our time. It shows the Holocaust in an unprecedented way later followed by Steven Spielber's famous movie "An American Tail". The idea of portraying Jews as mice, Nazis as cats and so on, the comic book format, and the memoir way in which the story is told is the perfect combination to introduce all kinds of readers to such a significant and complex subject.
   
   An American Tail
   Animal Farm



3. Browsing through the reviews and comments about Maus, I saw that there was some question as to whether the hardcover edition comprised Parts I and II. This is understandable because the product is listed in Amazon as "The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale (No 1)," which seems contradictory.
   
   When I was considering purchasing it, I looked at the number of pages that were listed for the edition and guessed that it included both parts of the story. So I bought it, it arrived fine, and I am now writing to confirm that yes, this edition includes I and II.
   
   Amazon should look into this and remove the "(No 1)" from the listing's title.



4. I first read Maus when I was in the fourth grade and though I believe the age of 10 is early for a story so graphic and difficult to comprehend even for adults my early memories of the book have allowed me to grow to possess a greater appreciation of the many layers here which have become apparent each time I have read it as i have gotten older. Many reviewers here comment on the racist tendencies of the book, that the illustration of different races as different animals enforces stereotypes and forgets the sufferings of others under the Nazi regime. These readers have obviously missed the entire point of this book. It is not a story of the Holocaust but instead a son's attempt to understand a father he has never gotten along with and to come to terms with his own mother's suicide. The Holocaust story is secondary, a tale told by Spiegelman's very racist father and the illustrations are the author's attempt to see through the man's eyes rather than his own. This book does only tell the story of Jews in Poland but that is all it is meant to tell: it would make no sense for Spiegelman to go off on tangents about all the other horrors of the Holocaust when the story he is telling is that of his parents. This is not an attempt to define the Holocaust itself but instead one person's story within it.



5. I would have mistaken this book for brand new! I am very pleased with the seller, and I will definitely look to them to buy again!

5 comments about Survival In Auschwitz.

1. For historians who represent the past, and for authors such as Mr. Levi, the greatest fear about history is society forgetting integral parts of its existence. I won't forget it. His story is significant so please read this book.
   First, my words bow to the author with the deepest respect. "Survival in Auschwitz," an autobiography, discusses the life of the author, a young prisoner in a Nazi death camp. Mr. Levi transports the reader into an incredible time, and places the reader- into his head- his thoughts and feelings and into the action of a death camp as one can feel, see, and smell every detail of what is occurring. His illustrations are vivid, scary, saddening, and most of all extremely detailed. He draws the sense of "stagnant time", the absurdity of unnecessary work for the sake of evilness, and how common morality wouldn't survive this camp. `Survival logic'- a practical and methodical thinking means to survival is one lesson taken away from reading this book. One chapter, for example, discusses a person named Kraus, a hard worker, who on the `outside' would be encouraged and praised by his ethic. But on the `inside', there is a dark understanding through Levi's logic, that `one can die from exhaustion but not from being beat.' It struck me as to how survival rested upon the ability to see the problem clearly and adjust oneself based on- not what was socially `right,' but what was needed for survival.
   Additionally, there is an interview of Mr. Levi by an author named Mr. Roth. At first, I have to say, I wasn't going to read it, and my exact thought was: "Why does some fictional writer feel the need to ride the coattails of this author? It's like taking a Monet painting and framing it with mascara smear. Let the masterpiece stand alone." I'm not trying to be mean when I state this, but I am trying to illustrate my frustration with a mixing of fiction and nonfiction. But I read it anyway because my hunger for what Mr. Levi stated overpowered any `fictional intolerance'. To be fair, while I found Mr. Roth a bright observer and most likely a good note taker, I did not like the interview questions. They are not questions I would have posed. Almost every interview question begins with the promotion of another book Primo Levi wrote, (which I liked to promote further reading,) but at the same time, I found the questions too systematic instead of visceral. It wasn't "how did you feel when.." His questions stood very `bookish' to me, reverting back to other literature, like comparing Robinson Crusoe to Mr. Levi, which bothered me.
   Masterpieces are rare. This book stands above all literature on my shelf. If ever there was an autobiography to get your hands on, this one is definitely IT!



2. When humans are placed in environments similar to those of the concentration camps created by Germany in World War II, the currency becomes calories, clothing and shelter in that order. Survival is based on getting enough food, oftentimes by having others die or be denied. Every crumb becomes important; over time saving and consuming them is literally the difference between life and death.
   Primo Levi was in his mid twenties, a chemist and an Italian Jew when the war broke out. At first, Italian Jews were relatively safe, that changed as the war dragged on and Germany and the Nazi philosophy grew to dominate the European continent. Captured and deported in 1943, Levi was transported to Auschwitz, where he struggled to survive until the German guards fled and the Russians arrived. This is his story and like all others, his survival was based almost totally on luck and skill. Those skills were due to his ability to quickly shift from a normal, rational world to one of harsh and brutal reality. His luck held as at any time, a whim of a guard could have sent him on the journey that ended with his exiting up a chimney.
   Levi describes his life in hell in great detail, yet with a surprising detachment, almost as if he was engaged in an open and candid conversation about something more normal. It is a stark reminder to everyone that it was a time of great brutality and demonstrates how far away from history and reality the Holocaust deniers really are.



3. In the book Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi paints a detailed picture about living as a Jew in fascist Northern Italy and then being transferred to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. By 1943, the Nazis had moved south and set up holding camps around Italy to detain political prisoners and those of the Jewish nationality until they could be transported to established concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau. This book depicts what happened to Levi after his arrest in 1943. Along with 650 others, he was loaded into a freight train for a four-day journey without food or water and without the liberty to leave the train at anytime. Upon their arrival at the camp of Auschwitz, Poland, the first of a precession of selections took place. The German SS Soldiers separated those they deemed capable of work from those they deemed incapable, such as women, children and elderly. Only 135 of the 650 from Levi's train were admitted into Auschwitz, the other 515 went immediately to the gas chambers. Levi recalled with remarkable accuracy the humiliation and confusion felt as he was forced to assimilate into his new surroundings. The food rations were too insufficient to stave off the hunger. Thousands of others around him were suffering and unavoidably dying as a result of this insufficient food supply. Although he was new to the camp, his experiences with others and his own observations told him that the Germans militant nature was at its worst. In order to outlive the war and survive, he found ways to maintain the illusion of usefulness with the least possible exertion. Any protest or disobedience from prisoners ended swiftly with beatings and death.
   
   Levi described how many of the prisoners, after long hours of manual labor, would gather in a corner of the camp for a market. They would trade rations and stolen goods. Such goods as a spoon or buttons were as valuable as gold. The market followed all the classical economic laws. This seemed to show the ability of people to live and think and work in the most adverse of conditions. Inside the barbed wire, the prisoners had created their own social and economical world in order to endure. Primo Levi seems to write as a means in which he could express the physical trauma that he experienced as a survivor of Auschwitz and its emotional consequences. He recalls for the reader the challenges that he faced on a daily and hourly basis to meet the basic needs necessary to remain alive. Levi depicts his time as a prisoner with a straightforward and narrative approach and with an almost unemotional tone that often disguises the horror of what he is describing.
   
   Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr.
   Freelance Writer
   Author of For the Fatherland



4. this is about the most vivid description of the camps. the only problem i had was the very poor editorial work with frequent misspellings and/or wrong words or spaces in words where they do not belong. this became distracting at times despite the intensity of the story.



5. Received book on time and it was in perfect condition. Excellent book! A must read.