Customer Reviews

I Am Fifteen--and I Don't Want To Die

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Christine Arnothy was fifteen when her family hid in the basement of their apartment building with the other tenants during the bombings. Mainly Christian, there was only one Jewish man hiding amongst them; this makes "I Am Fifteen--And I Don't Want to Die" different from a lot of the books that take place in World War II -ravaged Europe.

There is the numbness after seeing so many dead bodies; there is the horror when they finally receive flour; there is the lack of water and the trek to get it.

The book jumps around a bit; after they escape the city, there is a three year gap which is immediately followed by an escape to the frontier. The ending is very inconclusive, leaving the reader hanging.

This is a good book, because it gives a glimpse of a Christian teenager during the Second World War. Perhaps the most moving part of the book is Christine's time in the confessional, and the priest's touching response to her words.

However, the book lacks a lot of detail. I'd like to read a more fleshed-out version, because the story is incredible. This is a great reference book for a teenager writing about World War II; I may also lend it to a friend, whose father escaped Hungary much like Christine!

The original French book has the full story. In English the story was divided into two books. Book two is titled "It is not so easy to live". Book two is out of print but it is still available as a used book. I read the first book and I was unhappy with its unconclusive ending. I was left wondering what happened next. It seemed to me that there must be a second book that brings her odyssey to a conclusion. Hopefully a happy conclusion. The second part tells the story of how after many challenging adventures the story ends in France. That is the reason why the book was published in French. You could find the french book with the full story at www.amazon.fr (ISBN : 2213010307 or ISBN : 2253003220)

Bang! Bombs went off just feet from the cellar. Cold, dark, and destroyed, families huddled together in the basement of their bombed-out apartment building.
I Am Fifteen - And Don't Want To Die is an extraordinary autobiography by Christine Arnothy. Christine is fiftee, living in Budapest, Hungary duriny World War II. She's growing up,, living in the middle of a war-torn city. her family is struggling to help others and to stay alive themselves. Really the only place to get water is across the road. Christine is horrified of getting bombed, while getting the water they desperately need. Throughout the many days Christine, her family and other families spent in the cellar, their world overhead was, being ddestroyed by raging bombs. They could only come out at desperate times. Her family needs to get out of the middle of this war, but when will they go, and how will they get out? Most of all where will they go?
I liked this particular autobiography because it is about Christine's hard times in life. Some books I've read about difficulties in life didn't seem real to me, but because this is a true story I could really get into it. I felt sorry for her because compared to her life, my life is perfect. The way Christine wrote this book was very interesting, she wrote this book from old diaries she kept when she went through all of these struggles. I likes the description, it is another reason why I liked this book so much. she describes the scenes she sees with great enthusiam. Like the day when she finds a wounded enemy soilder, I felt as if I was sanding right next to her looking over him.
Christine is a quiet girl, who tends to keep to herself. She also needs her parents and friends to comfort her, expecially now, living in the cellar.
Her story was a heart pumping adventure. She learned mant lessons about life and death. She lived to tell about her experience, the horror of living in the middle of a war-torn city.

When I read this book, I feel I was in a world of terror. It is a true story of a fifteen-year old girl, Christine who living in Budapest. Although she is young, she forced to face the World War II. What she could only do is to keep her and her family alive. They stay in a cold, dark cellar of their apartment to avoid bomb attacks. They are living with different kind of people in the cellar. However they start to hate each other. Christine and her family try their best to get out of the city and to make themselves stay away from tragedy.

The life of Christine is really hard to imagine, we always have enough food and drink. But for Christine, even flour and water cannot be obtained easily. We have comfortable shelters, but she can only stay in a cold, dark cellar. Most of us can receive good medical care, but those people can¡¦t get medicine easily. Just like Christine¡¦s father, although he suffers from high blood pressure, he needs to keep going on his journey. I think the hardest thing is to leave their own, loving home. They need to give up everything which has built up for many years.

I try to imagine if I was in that situation, I use to give up my books, piano and dolls. I separate from friends. I always afraid bomb attacks and loosing my family. I don¡¦t know how long I can stay alive. It is really difficult and painful!

This book motivates me to think what we need in our basic life. We should entreasure our food, friends and family instead of aspiring luxury things. As we are still alive, we should try our best to light up our life and to love other. Once we are in adversity, we should as brave as Christine.

I am a 25 year old male. I studied English in college, and had to read a lot, so I didn't find this to be that confusing, but I understand how it would confuse a younger reader. The book was painfully vivid and blunt. It helped me understand what war is like for civilians. Arnothy was forced to live with people she barely knew, like if you suddenly had to live with your neighbours that you greet when you see one another, but that is the extent of the relationship. But Arnothy was in a cellar during a relentless bombing. I imagine one would keep at an emotional distance because the possibility of sudden mortality. She mercifully keeps the reader somewhat distanced from people who met tragic fates. I found the post-bombing part to be very interesting. The novel ended a bit abruptly, but I interpreted that as thematic. Three years after the worst of the war and the battles continued, long after the bombing ceased, and Arnothy probably never fully escaped the War. The one thing I disliked was the title because it was a bit cheesey.

I think that this book is great because it shows fears that many of us will hopefully never know and shows how lucky we are to be living in a world like we are. This book has suspense and dangerous parts in the book that never lets the book get old.

When I read this book, I feel I was in a world of terror. It is a true story of a fifteen-year old girl, Christine who living in Budapest. Although she is young, she forced to face the World War II. What she could only do is to keep her and her family alive. They stay in a cold, dark cellar of their apartment to avoid bomb attacks. They are living with different kind of people in the cellar. However they start to hate each other. Christine and her family try their best to get out of the city and to make themselves stay away from tragedy.

The life of Christine is really hard to imagine, we always have enough food and drink. But for Christine, even flour and water cannot be obtained easily. We have comfortable shelters, but she can only stay in a cold, dark cellar. Most of us can receive good medical care, but those people can't get medicine easily. Just like Christine's father, although he suffers from high blood pressure, he needs to keep going on his journey. I think the hardest thing is to leave their own, loving home. They need to give up everything which has built up for many years.

I try to imagine if I was in that situation, I use to give up my books, piano and dolls. I separate from friends. I always afraid bomb attacks and loosing my family. I don't know how long I can stay alive. It is really difficult and painful!

This book motivates me to think what we need in our basic life. We should entreasure our food, friends and family instead of aspiring luxury things. As we are still alive, we should try our best to light up our life and to love other. Once we are in adversity, we should as brave as Christine.

I am fifteen and I don't want to die, written by Christine Arnothy, was an interesting yet very hard book to understand. The author did not give enough detail most of the time about the events that were happening in her life. It was very hard to follow. I found myself putting off reading this novel because my interest just wasn't there. I really would not recommend reading this novel in less you are into difficult reading.

The new version of Christine Arnothy's book is not currently available in the United States, but is available to purchase on UK Amazon. It has been translated to English from French. I was sent a new copy.
The frist half of the book is well written and very good. Christine describes where whe was living during the seige of Budapest. She is living in the cellar of their apartment house with several other tenants. They are starving and scared of the Russians who threaten to invade at any moment. She is desdcrives her plight in great detail with wonderful imaging.
Her family escapes to the country and lives in their country home for 3 years. At this time she is 18. For some unknown reason they must leave in a hurry taking practically nothing with them.
As the book goes on, the story becomes bland. She constantly complains about her employment and her first husband. The story ends with her giving birth to their daughter. In the afterword, she only talks about her second husband and son. Also, in the afterword, it becomes very confusing as she describes more about the things she wrote about in the main part of the book, but they are completely different. I am not sure if something was lost in translation or if it is purposely written this way. This is more of a refugee story than a story of wartime survival. The story starts at the end of the war and 60% of the book is about after the war and how irritated she is with her husband and employment and how she longs to be a writer.
I would have rather had a bit more pre-war background on the family, why they had to leave Budapest, and what her parents ended up doing. She goes into no detail about how she and her first husband part ways or how she meets her 2nd husband. Not even in the dedication in the front of the book does she mention her daughter, only her son. Very odd indeed.

Ms. Arnothy's story of a part of her youth during WWII is a well written account, giving the readers a first hand taste of what it was like to wait out air raids and wonder where your next meal is coming from.

At the end, I wanted this book to keep going, to see how she finished out the war.