Landscapes of Memory [Hardcover]

Ruth Kluger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2003

Ruth Kluger is one of the child-survivors of the Holocaust. In 1942, at the age of eleven, she was deported to the Nazi 'family camp' Theresienstadt with her mother. They would move to two other camps (including Auschwitz-Birkenau) before the war ended. "Landscapes of Memory" is the story of Ruth's life. Of a childhood spent in the Nazi camps and her refusal to forget the past as an adult in America. 'It is not in our power to forgive: memory does that for us,' says Kluger. Not erasing a single detail, not even the inconvenient ones, she writes frankly about the troubled relationship with her mother even through their years of internment, and of her determination not to forgive and absolve the past. It is this memory, pure and harsh, this anger, savage and profound, that makes Kluger's memoir so unforgettable. A gripping narrative and a superb meditation on the relationship between private memory and history, on forgiveness and redemption, "Landscapes of Memory" will become a classic of our times.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'This is a work of shocking revelation ... This book is a fascinating study of the way one child's life was ripped into shreds by the Shoah. It is as important as The Diary of Anne Frank - and equally unforgettable' Independent 'Brilliant ... it is wise, witty, blunt, brutally honest and unsentimental, and as moving as only the naked personal truth, and its bold razor-sharp analysis, can be' Guardian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Born in 1931, Ruth Kluger emigrated to America in 1947 where she is a distinguished professor of German. The author of five volumes of German literary criticism, Ruth Kluger is currently professor emerita at the University of California, Irvine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing (February 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747560056
• ISBN-13: 978-0747560050
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,974,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding personal account!, December 21, 2010

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Savy Shopper (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Landscapes of Memory (Hardcover)

These books are all the same, except that one is written in German. (These were purchased as gifts for friends) It is a beautiful written and insightful account of her experiences after Hitler took over Austria in 1936. I have read a great many accounts of that time written by those who lived through it, and this is one of the best ! I was lucky enough to escape from Germany in 1938.
a few weeks after Kristallnacht .I was 12 at the time.