This book has been floating around the library a lot lately. It was on the summer reading list for the high schools this passed summer and it was also the subject of a book club a few weeks ago and I thought it might be worth taking a look at. It was a very short read, I think it only took me a few hours, but wow... Intense.
Usually, when I read something about WWII, it is from a military standpoint; where the tropps are headed, men fighting in the trenches, troops marching on towns in France and Germany, but this is the first time (other than Anne Frank) that I have read something from the Jewish side.
The view on religion near the beginning of the book spoke to me greatly. I think that if I were the type of person to believe in a religion (I, myself, am not really decided on the front. I wouldn't consider myself an atheist, not entirely anyway. I just don't think that any particular religion is the RIGHT one that has all the answers that I look for when focusing on life and what, if anything, comes after it.) I think that this passage spoke to me the most:
"There are a thousand and one gates
allowing entry into the orchard of mystical truth. Every human
being has his own gate. He must not err and wish to enter the orchard
through a gate other than his own." (pg 5)
As the book progresses, the views on religion turn. The journey through the camps is so emotionally draining and utterly devastating and at the same time, you are going on this ride with the main characters as he slowly but surely begins to lose his own religion and has to deal with the fact that God basically abandoned him and those around him in the camps. It is very difficult to keep faith in a situation like that (I can only imagine).
Short as this book was, it was also a very good read and I am glad that I was able to pick this up and read it.
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