Bring Us the Old People [Hardcover]

Marisa Kantor Stark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1998

Maimie hid from Hitler during the Holocaust, and from her guilt ever since. A brilliant debut!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Twenty-five-year-old first-time author Stark uncannily evokes the resilient voice of her 92-year-old narrator, strong, stubborn, endearing Maime Lieber Schata, a Holocaust survivor widowed and wrestling alone with the nightmare of her past in a Newark, N.J., nursing home. When the Nazis invaded her Polish village and issued the order, "Bring us the old people," she and her husband, Saul, complied, knowing that they themselves would be shot if they refused. As a result, both Maime's and Saul's parents were deported to Auschwitz while the childless couple survived by hiding for three years in the cellar of a sympathetic Polish farmer. The narrative risk Stark runs?and doesn't entirely overcome?is the immersion of her nonagenarian protagonist in the trivia of everyday life. Also, because Maime doesn't really face her guilty memories until the novel is nearly over, the story has an awkward dramatic shape. Yet these quotidian details anchor the story and make the Polish village as familiar as Maime's Newark apartment and the old people's home. And Maime's flashes of insight into the power of love, the certainty of death, the challenges of aging and the capacity of human beings for moral choice enliven her matter-of-fact, yet eloquent meditation (given added verisimilitude through Old World and Yiddish inflections and nongrammatical vernacular). Finally, Stark's lonely heroine becomes an unforgettable figure as she sums up a life endured with stoic dignity.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Stark may be a 25-year-old Princeton grad, but her heroine is an anguished 92-year-old Holocaust survivor who recalls delivering up her parents to the Nazis (they ordered everyone in the village to "bring us the old people so that we may kill them") and then hiding with her husband for three years. Observed the publicist, "The book has received glowing reviews and has exceeded our sales expectations." (LJ 7/98) n
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Coffee House Press; 1st edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566890748
• ISBN-13: 978-1566890748
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,891,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a GREAT performance piece, Unbelieveable, July 10, 2003

By 

Jana (Music City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bring Us the Old People (Hardcover)

From the moment I read the opening sentances of this book I was hooked in. Maime pulled me into her reality in a way that very few characters ever have. I had been looking for a piece to do for Dramatic Interpretation in speech/debate when I came across it.

Marisa Kantor Stark did a wonderful job on this novel. And with this performance peice I won the position of 1st Alternate to the National Tournament from my state.

Truly, I have come to love Maime. I especially like the parts where she would flashback to a time in her past. There were so many themes in this book it was hard to cut some of them to make the 10 minute time limit.

Now, as a person who has memorized pieces of this novel by heart, I reccomend to the book not just as an award winning performance piece, but as a wonderful read.

Pick it up! Stark will not disappoint you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Morality and History, July 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bring Us the Old People (Hardcover)

An excellent novel that represents the reality of moral questions that faced so many during the Holocaust. Maimie's actions seem so easy to condemn at times and yet so disturbing to the reader who is forced to asked themselves about their own actions during such circumstances. Stark's use of flashbacks to tell the story is first rate. A thought provoking read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and wonderful, June 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bring Us the Old People (Hardcover)

As the grandson of Jewish, Polish Holocaust survivors who has spent countless hours listening to tales of fear and sorrow relating to both war-time and post-war life, I related very well to the themes and main character in Stark's book. I found the book to be very well-written and enjoyed it immensely. I look forward to Stark's next work - regardless of the subject matter. Congratulations on an excellent debut novel!