Customer Reviews

Gratitude: A Novel

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

 

 

Gratitude is a remarkable addition to the writing about the second world war and the holocaust. More than that, it is a piercing analysis of human psychology.

We all know who the enemy was and we all know how many suffered, but what we so rarely have seen in writing on this subject is the complexity of human emotion and motivation. In this novel, victims are not saints by virtue of their suffering - they are human beings who stay complicated as they are made to suffer.

The novel can be praised for its family story and its depiction of a place we know so little about - Hungary in the Second World War was a kind of sideshow for most Westerners - most important of all, though, is what it tells us about how people act under pressure, both for good and for ill.

This is a very worthy read.

Gratitude is one of the most moving books I have ever read. You would not think there could be another book that could say something entirely new about Jews and the Holocaust. Amazingly, Gratitude does. Dispensing with the stereotypes that too often pass for characters, Gratitude is one of the very best books about Jews during this period, which is saying a lot, given its stiff competition. Gratitude is also a spellbinding read. You cannot put it down! Of all the novels that have come out in the past year, this one is easily among the top five.

Gratitude is the best book about WWII and its horrific effects on the human condition that I have ever read. Bravo Joseph Kertes - and thank you for writing about a difficult subject with such honesty, clarity, and compassion.

Saying Gratitude is a story about the Holocaust is like saying Gone with the Wind is a story abut the Civil War. Yes, the Holocaust provides the backdrop, but the book is a sweeping saga of love, betrayal and redemption.
Joe Kertes explores the human soul and discovers that those one expects to be good are often evil, and those one expects to be evil, show uncommon kindness and compassion. Quite simply, once you begin, you can not put the book down.

Gratitude is a wonderful gift this season for anyone on your list who wants to be swept up in a story destined to become a modern classic.

Impossible not to compare this novel with 'The Invisible Bridge' which also deals with Hungarian Jews and their families during the war. There was much to be impressed about in 'Gratitude' - the shift in style from childhood to adult, the incorporation of well known figures, the graphic accounts of horrors and the pleasures of familiar places. Personally I was more gripped by 'The Invisible Bridge' which doesn't take us into Extermination Camps but gives us unfamiliar descriptions of Labor Camps, while relentlessly forcing us to turn pages and suffer and rejoice with the families. There is a sense of anxiety, warmth and rounding off in 'Bridge'. 'Gratitude' seems more serious in tone and less happy, but did not grab me even with its well described characters, except for a single old woman, I suspect almost fictitious, who lost her life in a brutal fashion having saved one of the protagonists. It would be interesting to read more profound reviews discussing why 'Gratitude' just misses the mark, because I cannot quite explain this phenomenon.

Excellent to get the feel of Hungary during the Holocaust. Covered several characters to give examples of different situations and types of people. Has a slight non-fiction feel which I liked. I then posted it on [...] and reviewed it. It was mooched within 3 minutes!

"Gratitude" is a powerful book, with some extraordinarily dramatic moments. I don`t think I will ever forget reading about what it is like to enter a gas chamber at a concentration camp or to be in one of the train cars carrying "deported" Jews to the camps. And the descriptions of atrocities committed against innocent families as observed by a character who is a photographer are absolutely devastating.

But unfortunately, "Gratitude" somehow falls flat. I am not sure if it is because the characters are sort of weakly developed; or because of the constant interjection of lengthy yet uninspiring descriptions of beautiful music and works of art; or because some of the plot twists and escapes border the ridiculous (e.g. a character who escapes from a camp conveniently finds a ride with a baloonist going the same way....); or just because some of the philosophical musings and the dialogue generally that are meant to be deep and dramatic are often just predictable and borderline pretentious.

The sense I am left with is that in the hands of a more talented writer (or, more fairly, of a truly outstanding literarty talent) "Gratitude" had the plot and the setting to become a classic. As it is, it makes for a "pretty good read".

I ordered 3 copies on Mar. 8th and paid for speedy delivery the first one cameon. 17th and tho other two Mar. 23rd..will not order again as these were for book club and came late as well as my being charged spe

d delivery and that did not happen

Regina Austin Barer