The Song and the Truth [Hardcover]

Helga Ruebsamen (Author), Paul Vincent (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2000

A glowing novel of a child's paradise lost, set against the encroaching darkness of World War II.

Lulu is five. She lives on Java with her father, a dedicated colonial doctor; her mother, a beautiful, narcissistic would-be artist; her aunt Margot; and, unexpectedly, her father's brother, Uncle Felix. By day, she plays outside. By night, when the grown-ups are asleep, she inhabits a mysterious world in which reality and fantasy merge, and human beings, animals, and plants are transformed by moonlight into gods and demons. On her nocturnal wanderings, Lulu witnesses puzzling scenes among the adults, and when she innocently describes them, commotion ensues. Suddenly, commanded by her grandfather, the family abandons the idyllic tropical base and returns to Holland. But the year is 1939, and Lulu's family is Jewish. Forced into hiding by the German invasion, Lulu leaves childhood and enters a hostile world, sustained only by her father's love (her mother has decamped for London) and her own fierce, increasingly tested courage.

A novel of purity and lyrical power--a major work of fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dutch writer Ruebsamen casts a Proustian spell in her third novel, a bestseller in the Netherlands, published here in Vincent's graceful translation. Written in the style of a youthful memoirAwith all of memory's distortions and defectionsAthe novel follows a Jewish family from their comfortable life in the exotic Dutch East Indies to their increasingly isolated existence in The Hague in 1939, and to their WWII hiding place in rural Holland. The story is narrated by Louise Benda, who is only 10 when the novel closes in 1945. In the Java and Bali of her earliest years, Louise (called Lulu by her affectionate family) lives in a magic-lantern world where trees and streams speak to her, "night people" tend her and "spirits slumbered in flowers." Her high-strung mother, Helene, is beautiful and needy; her father, Cees (short for Caesar), is a physician at a clinic for women, where her Aunt Margot also works; a visit from Uncle Felix, Cees's brother, adds a new dimension to their complex relationships, especially as Louise witnesses, and unwittingly reveals, the betrayals among them. Meanwhile, war looms, and fears about their relatives motivate the Bendas to return to Holland, where they live with various members of their complicated and colorful family. The perceptions of the adult Louise are interjected into the story only occasionally, and the child's perspective, which gives equal credence to dreams and reality and which can only hint at adult motives, can be confusing. New characters enter the plot roughly the way they enter a child's lifeAwith little or no explanation. Others leave as peremptorily, while characters who die remain alive for Louise. These complexities do not overwhelm the novel's charm and poignancy, however, especially since Ruebsamen treats all her wayward characters with great tenderness. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A best seller in Holland, this lyrical third novel is a fictionalized account of Ruebsamen's youth. Aged five when the novel commences, Lulu lives in the pre-World War II Dutch East Indies with her long-suffering father, a doctor serving the native residents, and her self-absorbed mother. Lulu, who has a vivid imagination, sees this locale as idyllic, even magical, but her father's increasing preoccupation with events in Europe eventually propels the Jewish family to the Hague. Lulu's loss of innocence begins before she leaves Indonesia, but the war's ravages complete the psychological destruction, as she and her father are compelled to hide from invading Germans. Though the transitions are occasionally ragged, the superior descriptive analysis outweigh any unevenness.DFaye A. Chadwell, Univ. of Oregon, Eugene
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1ST edition (September 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860468330
• ISBN-13: 978-1860468339
• ASIN: 0375402616
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,662,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected, Excellent, and Enjoyable!, May 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Song and the Truth (Paperback)

Because this book is about Jews during WWII I thought it would be depressing - it wasn't. Because this book is told from a child's point of view I thought it would be childish or stream of consciousness - it wasn't. This book is alternately a little funny and a little sad, alternately vague and brilliantly lucid, but always it was engaging and delightful!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A lovely book that helps the reader appreciate life, May 17, 2004

By 

Randy Farnsworth (Northern Utah, Near the Lake, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Song and the Truth (Paperback)

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Reviewed by Randy Farnsworth, author of "A Stand Yet Taken".

As soon as I started reading this book, I found myself absolutely intrigued by the story. Seeing the magical world of early-twentieth century Indonesia from the eyes of a five year old was truly enjoyable. Ruebsamen has a way of writing that puts the reader directly into the mind of the narrator, and I honestly felt little Louise's excitements and disappointments. It was a real let-down to leave Indonesia with Louise and her family and make the journey to Europe.

The middle part of the book, including the ocean voyage and the stay in Paris, was much slower, and I found it less interesting. Perhaps Ruebsamen intended that, because Louise disliked that as well. But in the latter third of the book, the pace increased somewhat and I found myself much more interested in the outcome.

As Louise mixes real events with imaginary ones, it becomes a little confusing, and I had to re-read several sections to figure out, for example, if someone had really died or did they survive after all. Again, it may be that the author intended this, because the child narrator has reinvented her vision of reality to alter certain horrific events.

I don't know what the author's intent was in writing this book, and I'm not one to try and put a meaning to everything an author produces. However, after reading this, I found myself sitting and watching my young children, trying to understand their view of the world and relate that to my own perceptions. With that, I'd say that Ruebsamen definitely succeeded in causing this reader to stop and think about life.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down, August 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Song and the Truth (Hardcover)

the book review that I read in the paper said that the first part of this book, which is set in Java is majical but that when the setting moves to Europe it becomes ordinary. I disagree. I ordered it because of the exotic early setting but I liked it even better as it went on. Description is important to me in a book and I thought that the writer actually lavished more of it on the European section, probably because this is an autobiographical novel and she remembers more clearly what she saw when she was older. I'll never forget the part about the wetlands of Holland because she made me see it so clearly. I highly recommend it.