Customer Reviews

Reading the Holocaust

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

 

 

Scholarship and criticism simply doesn't get more gutsy than this! Think about it: An obviously brilliant and sensitive Anthropologist takes on virtually the entire field of Holocaust studies (ostensibly not her field of expertise), reads fearlessly through a massive and established literature, and dares to take on a scholarly establishment that she argues has clouded and mystified an area of study that -- while perplexing -- should not defy explanation.

The only problem I had is that, by the end of the book, her self-proclaimed stance as a naive and fresh reader is more than overwhelmed by what is obviously genuine expertise. But it is expertise fearlessly put to the task of re-reading an entire field and arguing that we should never convince ourselves that some events are too horrible to read, engage with, and understand.

You gotta read it to believe it. And Ill tell you something else. Not an ounce of post-modern jargon seeps into this complex and brilliant analysis.

Most excitingly, it makes clear that one of the most studied episodes in human history -- The Holocaust -- can and should productively be the subject of many more years of fruitful inquiry.

You think I liked it? Criticism gets no better. Period. (I would be afraid that you would think I am the author or related to her, but another aspect of her critical stance is a humility that at least I have never seen in similar work. I guess I am saying: She would never write this about herself.)

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This book assumes that the reader has prior experience with holocaust literature. It is not necessarily an overview of the holocaust, but rather a moral and historiographical exploration of the way the Holocaust can and has been reported. The writer has a deft touch on obviously sensitive materials, and addresses one of the modern historian's most troubling issues: how does one critically analyze the veracity and moral actions of those who have been deliberately tormented out of their humanity? From what perspective can one objectively judge monsters and their victims?
This is a thoughtful addition to a reading list of holocaust literature, and a profound text on the calling of the historian.

This is a small book in size only. The author has taken it upon herself to review the field of literature on the topic and try and take a new look at the perceptions for why it happened and why it happened to the Jews. This is a interesting and gutsy look at the topic, some would say it is the "third rail" in many circles to look at this topic, but the author does it and does not do a bad job of it. I think she correctly provides and overview that the holocaust was not a unique event in world history and that it is possible to understand the motivations of the people who committed these crimes, just like it is to understand common criminals.

The author is taking on a big issue and one that could easily bog the reader down in a large amount of complicated theories and terms, but she does not. The book is well written and straightforward. If you are interested in topic this should be one of the books you start out reading.

Clendinnen's small book is a good antidote to mystifers of the Holocaust like Saul Friedlander and Elie Wiesel. Her "just the facts" attitude is refreshing and paradoxically leads to more comprehension of larger issues (although I think she is too easy on Hannah Arendt and too tough on Viktor Frankl.) This is a good supplement to Ron Rosenbaum's masterful "Explaining Hitler."

Although I think the review below overstates the case a bit, this is one individual's interesting and serious attempt to digest and understand the Holocaust through some of its seminal texts. Although I had a problem with some particular aspects of Clendinnen's analysis (such as beginning her argument with a polemic on the lack of parity given the Roma in Holocaust inquiries---especially interesting since she later notes that the Roma were indeedy viewed differently by the Germans, or her strange decision to single out as dubious, for no apparent reason, and with no evidence, details of Filip Muller's book on Auschwitz), I did enjoy reading the book as a partial synthesis of some Holocaust literature. It is a decent starting point for anyone interested in the literature, although for a short text that outlines the massive issues emenating from this event I would recommend Gerald Markle's Meditations of a Holocaust Traveler. Like Clendinnen, Markle takes the lay reader through the fascinating and disturbing moral, philosophical and historical abyss that the event engenders, but in a more engrossing way.