Customer Reviews

In the Memory of the Forest

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3 star:		(1)
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I picked up this book at the library several years ago (having read nor heard anything about it) and immediately found myself absolutely captivated, entranced, spell-bound by the author's riviting story of a post-WWII Polish village and the shameful secrets shared by its inhabitants. I didn't put it down until I finished it - then returned it to the library and couldn't remember the title! (One of he drawbacks of advancing age) I was beside myself - and no one could help - until just this past month when a total stranger and I were discussing favorite reads, and he popped out with the title of this stunning work. I cannot express what an impact this book has had upon me, and I was devastated to learn that the author (and this was his only novel) had died. What a loss. Evocative descriptions of the Polish countryside, memorable characters, old-world values coming up against the modern age, evil and redemption, and an engrosing story line - this book has it all. I know that I will never forget the title again! - and I am making it part of my permanent fiction collection. Charles T. Powers had a true gift, and we readers are the less for his loss.

This book is a methodical telling of a village's
struggle with redemption and its attempts to
come to terms with only part of its sordid past.
Poland's communist history starts out as the primary backdrop of this murder mystery. However,
the murder of one slowly becomes secondary to the
old system's silent murder of spirit and morale
in the community. Finally, the old system, now replaced, becomes an inconsequential source of
reconciliation compared to the disappearance of 80% of the village's population at the start of WWII.

This is a hopeful story, for a broader community
than the fictional Poles of the village. Mr. Powers clearly understands that there are victims
at every level of societal horror, and that no
amount of guilt or ingorance can move a community
into salvation. Purposeful recongition of the roles of community attitudes and actions are at
the heart of the redemption of individuals.

The story-telling is marvelous and rich. The characters are real and human -- none of them
pure evil, but all taking part in the history of
a village, and its country. Furthermore, all of
the characters are Polish. There is a distinct lack of Americans in the novel, and a distinct
lack of Americanisms in the book as a whole, in
characters, the plot, the atmosphere, or the
pacing. Settling into this novel is a joy, reminiscent of the pace of life, not the thrilling
romantic life of an American dream world.

This is a story worth reading for the next several
decades.

The story of a young man coming of age, discovering love and lies, ambition and murder in a town that cannot admit its past or face its present. Set in Poland as communism collapses, the rupture of old foundations reveal the townspeople to be what they would forget.While one of the book's larger themes is what the Nazis, and by complicity, the Polish people, did to the Jewish population during the Second World War, it is not "a Holocaust book." Rather it is an absorbing murder and love story; a murder that begins the novel and whose investigation provides its framework, a love story that will leave the reader in tears, reminded what the world should be but is not. It is a rare book, one that impells its reader onward with a gripping narrative but repeatedly brings the reader to a halt to reflect on the beauty and lyricism of its prose.

Superbly written, _In the Memory of the Forest_ is a powerfully haunting exploration of the dangerous consequences of suppressing painful memories, both individual and collective. I especially appreciated how Powers takes time to build his story carefully. The novel takes on the deliberate pace of history itself: each character is convincingly layered, just as the identity of a village, or a person, or a family, is also constructed over time, an accretion of interwoven layers of secrets, fears, loves, evils. A richly engrossing work that deserves to be widely read and discussed.

Those who like to read books about Poland (there must be a few of us out there) will find that Charles Powers' "In the Memory of the Forest" is a pleasant surprise. This book is a real dark horse. It doesn't appear to be widely known (I found it for sale on the used-book cart at my local library) and it's the only novel that Powers ever wrote. But the lesser known works are sometimes the most satisfying reads.

"In the Memory of the Forest" is a murder-mystery set in the small farming village of Jadowia, somewhere to the northeast of Warsaw. The book is skillfully written, with an interesting plot, a few twists here and there, and an ending that's both disturbing and reassuring. Poland's role in the Holocaust is the dark and provocative background for the novel. What I liked most about the book is that Powers (a former journalist who lived in Warsaw for five years) captures the personality of Poland better than other authors who have attempted this same task, e.g., James Michener, Lily Brett. My only complaint is that many of the characters are too clearly cast as "good guys" or "bad guys," without a chance for them to surprise you with the other sides of their personalities. A Polish murder-mystery is a narrow genre, which most people wouldn't be inclined to read. But if you're daring enough to tackle those tricky Polish pronunciations, you'll probably be glad that you read this book.

It's very atmospheric from the start but initially quite slow. Although that might be a good thing, because the Poland that Powers introduces us to is quite different from where we live (at least in my case - I'm from Australia) and takes some time getting used to. There's also a large cast and they're all well fleshed out, warts and all.

The second half of the book is gripping and profoundly moving. Kept me going all day, couldn't put it down.

What a brilliant overlooked gem. I am so glad a friend recommended this book. It is a deeply nuanced, intelligent exploration of historical and personal accountability. In the form of a mystery novel, it gets to the heart of questions of the historical self, collective responsibility and collective guilt, the ways in which lies are perpetuated among generations and truth can be used as a bludgeon. It will be of great interest to anyone interested in the tribunals going on about Bosnia, central Africa, South Africa, etc.; or in WW II history; Jewish history; the uneasy transitions from communism to capitalism; or questions about how we are formed by our parents moral choices, and whether we can or should escape the consequences.

I found this book quite by accident and finished it with a powerful mixture of hope and sadness.

The book is a multi-layered account of a vanished people but also works as a detective story, as a documentary of modern Poland (the writing is so authentic I felt he must be a local) and as a history novel too. The day to day gritty realism of a country obsessed with its past and refusing to move forward is quite compelling; the soup, the run down villages, the opportunistic city criminals, the old remnants of Communism, the crowded buses and most importantly, the secrets of the forest and the memories they hold. The 'blurb' in my copy refers to the Schama text 'Landscape and Memory' and there are connections as this novel explores the heart of darkness at the centre of this ancient place in modern Europe. Importantly, for me anyway, the novel becomes a powerful postive evocation of the past and a glimmer of hope for a better future.

Highly recommended!

One of those rare occasions when my both my partner and I read this book one after the other - she is a PD James fan, Charles Dickens fan - whereas I tend to read those books less dependent on plot and more on philosophical meanderings, or rich in atmosphere, or completely character driven - Fateless or Old Masters say. In The Memory of the Forest has all the elements and so it appeals equally to us both. One of the great moral questions in the novel of course concerns the old dictum "evil thrives when good men do nothing". As such things as racism will always be latent wherever humans gather, it depends on the rule of law and the vigilance of citizens, to maintain civil life. And the life of a Polish village is at the centre of the story - if the village can survive, maybe humanity will too, but at what cost?

A very well written novel.

I love this book. Period. Fully realized characters, gripping plotline, historically significant and cathartic. Definitely a keeper for life.