Street of Lost Brothers [Hardcover]

Arnost Lustig (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The seven new stories by a master chronicler of the Holocaust ( Indecent Dreams, LJ 6/15/88) examine the minds of both the Nazis and their victims. In "Infinity," three young men at Auschwitz lie awake anticipating the rebellious nightly singing of women waiting for the gas chambers. Another story depicts a growing awareness by the camp Commandant's retarded son of what is going on and his identification with the Jewish children gassed in a van disguised as an ambulance. In another story, set in Prague on the eve of the Nazi's defeat, thoughts of a simple Czech woman concerned about the survival of her grandson are effectively juxtaposed with those of an aristocratic captain of the Wehrmacht , who for the sake of German glory brings a cruel death to both. Gripping tales of diverse encounters with Nazism, beautifully crafted and movingly told.
- Marie Bednar, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Station
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Czech

Product Details

• Hardcover: 207 pages
• Publisher: Northwestern University Press; 1 edition (January 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081010959X
• ISBN-13: 978-0810109599
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,127,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Highly disturbing, November 27, 2001

By 

Pamela (Dubuque, IA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Street of Lost Brothers (Paperback)

This is a disturbing book that should not be read by pregnant women or anyone with a soft heart or weak stomach. The author explores the sick mentalities and daily realities behind the NAZI atrocities of WWII.

For intance, just paging through, I came across a scene where two men are driving a vanload of Jewish people, who are slowly being asphyxiated. The men chitchat and drive, occasionally daring to check the progress of their work through window behind them. They have to drive for a period of time so that the carbon monoxide fills the van slowly, so that the people go to sleep before they die. If the people are asphyxiated rapidly, they tend to die in grotesque poses that disturb the soldiers who must unload the van afterwards.

Grisly, isn't? Perhaps this sort of story should be forgotten, not retold and refreshed for another generation of readers. This book is upsetting and you should consider wisely before opening it.

Also, it helps to be acquainted with the German language. The seven stories contained in this volume are in English, but are peppered with German names and phrases throughout.