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casparb's review against another edition
This seems built to work with Adorno's famous comment about poetry after Auschwitz. The desolation of the form - no punctuation, semi-poetic form on the page - seems to drive this home.
It seems both a strength and a weakness that it is presented as a play. Hopefully that is clear enough. A deeply effective use of silence.
It seems both a strength and a weakness that it is presented as a play. Hopefully that is clear enough. A deeply effective use of silence.
livywiley's review
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
haunting and hard read but necessary one
gggiulia's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
pino_sabatelli's review against another edition
5.0
Fra la fine del 1963 e l’agosto del 1965, a Francoforte si svolse un processo contro un gruppo di SS e di funzionari del lager di Auschwitz. Peter Weiss assistette a molte sedute, a quel “tentativo di fare rientrare negli schemi della giustizia umana crimini non solo senza precedenti, ma inconcepibili”. Dai materiali raccolti direttamente o da altre fonti trasse questo testo teatrale, di un’attualità sconcertante. Con “versi liberi, brevi e brevissimi” non racconta solo l’inferno del campo si sterminio, ma, in una sorta di agghiacciante controcanto, mette in rilievo la “reticenza, malafede, viltà, cinismo, ottusità dei despoti, dei boia, dei carcerieri di un tempo” e l’indulgenza, “quando non l’appoggio attivo della società” tedesca del dopoguerra. Oggi, che quei crimini sono “il” precedente che li rende concepibili, siamo testimoni di come la storia, anche quando si ripete, possa rimanere una tragedia.
#fallabreve: La storia si ripete sempre due volte: la prima volta come tragedia, la seconda pure (semicit.).
#fallabreve: La storia si ripete sempre due volte: la prima volta come tragedia, la seconda pure (semicit.).
yourmainjoe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Genocide
milesjmoran's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Gore, War, Genocide, Medical content, Antisemitism, Torture, Suicide, and Sexual violence
chromiumboron's review against another edition
4.0
First off, I didn't realize this was the same guy who wrote Marat/Sade. Kind of cool.
This book made me think. A lot. It was horrible and graphic, and it was very hard to read at times, but it also provoked a lot of introspection. Over and over again, the Accused would say "I had to do this" or "It was my duty." All I could think was "If I was told to do that, I would say no. No matter what, I would say no." But then I read where Witnesses who worked in administration thought that Boger or some of the other Accused were nice to them and treated them well. These people who tortured many treated their employees well and were kind people. Does the fact that they tortured others make them bad people? If they believed that they were going to be killed or that their family would be endangered unless they did their "duty", does it make them bad people for what they did? My first instinct was to say yes, but if people of the race that they tortured said that these Accused were capable of being kind, then I'm inclined to think about it more. I can think to myself all I want that I would never treat other people the way that the Accused did, but when it comes down to it, I will never know the answer to that because I've never been in that situation. So can we really blame them? And if we can't, who do we blame? Where does the problem begin?
I don't know the answers, but any book this thought provoking deserves a good review.
This book made me think. A lot. It was horrible and graphic, and it was very hard to read at times, but it also provoked a lot of introspection. Over and over again, the Accused would say "I had to do this" or "It was my duty." All I could think was "If I was told to do that, I would say no. No matter what, I would say no." But then I read where Witnesses who worked in administration thought that Boger or some of the other Accused were nice to them and treated them well. These people who tortured many treated their employees well and were kind people. Does the fact that they tortured others make them bad people? If they believed that they were going to be killed or that their family would be endangered unless they did their "duty", does it make them bad people for what they did? My first instinct was to say yes, but if people of the race that they tortured said that these Accused were capable of being kind, then I'm inclined to think about it more. I can think to myself all I want that I would never treat other people the way that the Accused did, but when it comes down to it, I will never know the answer to that because I've never been in that situation. So can we really blame them? And if we can't, who do we blame? Where does the problem begin?
I don't know the answers, but any book this thought provoking deserves a good review.
cielllo's review against another edition
managed to avoid reading this for 13 years because the reviews terrified me (reading this was still a horror trip after 'practicing' learning about Nazi Germany for 13 years- spoiler, this can't actually be practiced), can recommend to read on a busy train if you know you can't really want to completely get swallowed by this.
it's not merely horrifying by content; the detailed descriptions of the concentration camp and closeness to historical trial evidence are amplified by the lack of punctuation and widening the cantos range/ claim by stripping the roles of particular names, alluding to the millions who died under/ were active in the Nazi regime instead of limiting the play/ the nightmare scenes described to specific characters.
Most hated stage instruction ever seen is the defence laughing; might be smart to read this in German as a German but we'll see.
it's not merely horrifying by content; the detailed descriptions of the concentration camp and closeness to historical trial evidence are amplified by the lack of punctuation and widening the cantos range/ claim by stripping the roles of particular names, alluding to the millions who died under/ were active in the Nazi regime instead of limiting the play/ the nightmare scenes described to specific characters.
Most hated stage instruction ever seen is the defence laughing; might be smart to read this in German as a German but we'll see.
diegor's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
terrenay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0