Searching for Schindler [Audio CD]

Thomas Keneally (Author), Humprey Bower (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2008

In 1980 Tom Keneally was in Beverley Hills returning from the Sorrento film festival where The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith had been showing. Looking for a new briefcase, Tom meets the Polish-Jewish Leopold Pfefferberg Page aka Poldek and his life for the next few years is taken over by this charismatic and driven man and the story he wants shared. "It's a story for you, I swear," he says to Tom. The story is of course that of 'The all-drinking, all-screwing, all black-marketeering Nazi. But to me he was Jesus Christ, Oskar Schindler". And Poldek shared with Tom the story of SCHINDLER'S ARK which went on to win the Booker Prize and ultimately to become the Oscar award-winning film SCHINDLER'S LIST.Schindler, the ruined Catholic hedonist, had something ambiguous about him that appealled to the ex-seminarian Tom Keneally who still struggled with his own Catholicism and his humanist view of the world. Oskar showed that virtue, regardless of race, creed or religion, emerged where it would. Tom was a small child during WWII and these memories, along with the appeal of Schindler and Poldek's insistence, influenced him to write the book SCHINDLER'S ARK. Oskar and his Jews reduced the Holocaust - an almost untellable story in its scope and devastation - to an understandable human scale. SEARCHING FOR SCHINDLER is very much Tom's journey, he reflects on his early days as a writer with quite a bit of success - but no confidence - and how this book, the people he met, and the film it became, changed his life. From his Sydney home, he tracked down the main player's in Poldek and Schindler's story. Tom and Poldek travelled across the US, Germany, Israel, Austria and Poland interviewing survivors and discovering extraordinary stories. SCHINDLER'S ARK took a huge toll on Tom, and his family, he had never been so overwhelmed by the writing of a story. It forced him to think about Australians and their attitudes to the Holocaust, to think about the Israel / Palestine situation and about families. Not ready to give up the story of Schindler and his Jews after the enormous success of the book, Tom is there for the film adaptation and on set for the filming. Filled with stories of Steven Spielberg, Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes and many other well-known and strong characters SEARCHING FOR SCHINDLER gives Tom Keneally scope to show the wonderful, warm, thinking, compassionate and very funny man that he is.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Had I read SEARCHING FOR SCHINDLER before making the film, I may have made it an hour longer. I owe you so much. The world owes you more.' -- Steven Spielberg on SEARCHING FOR SCHINDLER 'Keneally is incapable of writing a dull book. This memoir, listed as his 38th publication, is no exception' -- Andrew Riemer, Sydney Morning Herald 'Australia is lucky to have Keneally. Few writers have a public voice that one wants to follow into the bedroom. He combines Tom Wolfe's expansiveness with the uncorkable energy of Anthony Burgess.' -- Nicholas Shakespeare, Daily Telegraph on THE COMMONWEALTH OF THIEVES --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Thomas Keneally has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize four times and won it with SCHINDLER'S ARK in 1982. His novels have been filmed - SCHINDLER'S LIST and THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH - and dramatised - THE PLAYMAKER. He has also written several works of non-fiction. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Bolinda Publishing (June 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1921415126
• ISBN-13: 978-1921415128
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,240,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars AUDIOBOOK - A great story, brilliantly narrated, October 28, 2010

By 

Mark Loughridge (Letterkenny, Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Searching for Schindler (Audio CD)

For those who loved the film Schindler's list this is a must read/hear. It is Keneally's own story of how he came across the story of Schindler. It fills in much of the background, and not having read Schindler's List/Ark, I really enjoyed this. The book also covers the story of the film being made - another fascinating drama in itself.

I listened to the audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed the brilliant narration - the reader does many of the accents of the characters from different nationalities. I listened to it on holiday and found it hard to put down - often wandering around the cottage with my iPod - stopping and replaying bits for my wife to listen to. The 9 hours certainly didn't seem like it.

The story of Schindler itself is fascinating, but Keneally lost this listeners interest for a while when he digressed into his own life as an English Professor in the gap between the book coming out and the film being made. In some ways the book seems to forget if it is the story of the search for Schindler, or the story of Thomas Keneally.

But in the overall context of such a great and fascinating story, this is a minor gripe (although it costs him a star)

I would almost recommend the audio version (bar the price) above the written version for the narrator's ability.