Customer Reviews

Not Me: A Novel

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have always been compelled to read about the Holocaust. There are so many stories, all important, all unforgettable, and most horrific. And I am completely amazed at the simplest lesson gleaned from these stories. . . life goes on. The human desire to live despite the atrocities of mankind constantly enlightens and inspires me. The human act of forgiveness in the face of these demeaning acts seems to be almost inhuman or perhaps otherworldly. And love; when our humanness is completely and utterly exposed to our world of those who love us most, there remains to ability to empathize, sympathize and forgive, and yes to go on. Les we forget. This book is a lovely story of love and forgiveness, fathers and sons, and guilt and redemption. I was immediately pulled into the story and I enjoyed my time among the pages and the sense of wonder that remained when the last page was read. Read the book and enjoy the ride.

This is a first novel. It suffers from cliche at times, and in the end gets terribly sentimental about being an American Jew in one's fifties without having understood what being Jewish means - having 'missed out' on the Holocaust and Zionism. But it reads fast. The first person narrator - a middle-aged son struggling to cope with his dying father - is a quirky, funny, sometimes maudlin soul trying to sort out his life. Separated from his wife and son in California, this middle-aged comic is alone in Florida and having a hard time. Failing at being a father himself, the narrator quickly learns that his ailing octogenarian Dad is not exactly who he says he is. But the ambiguity of Dad's identity is (too) quickly extinguished through the translation of the old man's German diaries. While not exactly a war criminal of high order, Dad, aka, SS officer Heinrich Muller, explains how he transformed himself from accountant to victim in a few short weeks before the Camps were overrun by Allied armies. Muller starves himself, adds the blue ink number tatoo to his arm, adopts the name of a corpse, and then gets swept up in the displaced persons program. Soon he is on his way to a kibbutz in Palestine. He ends up in the Palmach, fighting in Israel's war for independence. Romance and self-hatred take hold in equal measure. Perhaps he should simply run down to Gaza and tell the Egyptians who he really is and leave these Jews behind him?! These parts, set south of Jerusalem and along the northern end of the Negev (and his continuing dialogue regarding his self-hatred) are the best part of the book. In the end, however, the tension over Dad's identity doesn't bring resonance to the American son's personal issues so much as give us a look at the way in which people can get caught up in the crushing events of the 1940s, especially if they were European Jews, and German. The character of the 'Nazi' father is better imagined, I think, than that of the comic son, and the possiblity of "lying narrator" (the father's diaries and conversations with the son) might've been better exploited in order to leave the reader with greater puzzle and wonderment. It gets a bit sappy and repetitive - how many times will his mother's hat float across the pool as an expression of grief and deracination? The opportunity for a cross-generational discourse is sidelined for nebulous emotional effect. We do see, however, that one can make up a life; the fear of being tainted by our original sins can lead us to utterly transform the self. The searing experience of the camps and the death of a daughter reveals for the author an old testament God whose knowledge of our fundamental character is not forgiving.

I got this book for my husband, because I thought he would like the historcial journals, as well as the father/son angle. However, I, myself, couldn't put the book down. The author has a unique voice that is easy to read, insightful, and thoughtful. The twist in the beginning provides momentum, and the historical details that follow are both informative and entertaining. I have already recommended this book to others. Well done.

I read a lot of "Holocaust fiction," but this book escaped my notice until the author was named a runner-up for the new Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature last month. Now that I've read the novel, I can see why it's earning such accolades. Hopefully, now that the book is available in paperback it will reach a wider readership. I agree with all the other readers who found it a "page-turner" or "couldn't put it down." That was my experience, as well. I won't soon forget it.

This book is a tapestry of different themes on identity, alongside the age-old question of "when is one relieved of their sins?" I really enjoyed this completely different approach to the subject matter of WWII and the Concentration Camps, and became so engrossed in the novel that I just couldn't put it down. I thoroughly recommend it.

Excellent novel about a former Nazi SS accountant in the concentration camps, and his life after World War II disguised as a holocaust survivor. Perceptive ideas about fathers and sons (3 generations) also made the story very interesting. Well written, and a "quick read".

"Not Me" poses a horrifying concept, and is beautifully written. It raises so many moral questions, page by page, and is an exciting read that makes you think about the meaning of identity, purpose, redemption, family, truth, etc.

I am not an avid reader and rarely read fiction. I saw a review of this book in my local paper and ordered it. I read it in 2 days which is something of a miracle for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and being Jewish and having to deal with parents afflicted with Alzheimer's, I really "got into" the story. I think any who read it will like this book.

This book was my pick for book club. I enjoyed it, and the book club gave it a rating of 3.5 (out of 5) - mainly because they didn't find the main character to be very likable. I found the topic interesting, but felt like we really never got all the answers to questions that were asked in the book...who were all the people visiting his dad, who gave him the journals, where had they been all these years? However, the topic of the book did make for a lively discussion at our book club meeting - which is always a good sign.

The story is interesting but I just can't get through the poor writing. I agree with the critic who described the metaphors as "clunky". I also agree that the most interesting part of the story is in the journals. I'm abandoning the book reluctantly. I wanted to like it, especially after all of the 5 star reviews....