Soundless Roar: Stories, Poems, and Drawings [Hardcover]

Ava Kadishson Schieber (Author), Phyllis Lassner (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2002

Poignant art, poetry, and writings giving voice to the Holocaust ordeal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Soundless Roar: Stories, Poems, and Drawings, Ava Kadishson Schieber, who spent her adolescence on a Serbian farm hiding from the Nazis, gathers poignant recollections and spare, expressive pictures that give voice to her many losses. The writing, though not beautiful, is powerful and detailed: in one moment, the young Ava finds comfort in carrying a dog through a sniper-filled Belgrade street, because, "if someone took aim at me, it would be less lonely to die this way." In the minimalist line drawings, a figure shares space with another, less distinct figure; these are the "friendly ghosts" of her sister, her father and all the others who perished with them.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Not since Primo Levi has so much light been cast on the darkest recesses of the human heart. This astonishing book is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit."
--Barbara Rogan, author of Rowing in Eden

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 145 pages
• Publisher: Northwestern University Press; 1 edition (May 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810119145
• ISBN-13: 978-0810119147
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,228,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, April 21, 2007

By 

Danny Maurice (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soundless Roar: Stories, Poems, and Drawings (Hardcover)

Quite simply, you will find it difficult to find another Holocaust text quite like Soundless Roar.

Ava Kadishson Schieber, born in Novi Sad near Belgrade, was a teenager when her parents decided that the best chance of survival was for each family member to go his or her own way. In telling her memories of being forced into solitary hiding, Schieber unpacks her lost adolescence in a way that reveals both unimaginable loss and extraordinary acceptance.

By inviting you to "construct your own image" from her collection of drawings, poems, and short stories, Schieber does not allow you to settle on simple interpretations or superficial lessons. Instead, readers will be taken on a frightening yet gentle journey - encountering Schieber's "friendly ghosts" along the way - that will leave them mystified, refreshed, and inspired.

Somehow, Schieber takes her readers through the world of the Holocaust, including a brief glimpse into the Nazi death camps. It is as if she is leading each reader by the hand, as we discover with her the strength of the human spirit and her own personal tragedies.

Schieber's astounding honesty challenges her readers' preconceptions of what being a survivor means. In a way, she also forces her readers to confront their understandings of oppression in society today. Importantly, her ability to write both simply and abstractly makes Soundless Roar a piece of art that is accessible to teenagers and scholars alike.