CASTLES BURNING : A CHILDS LIFE IN WAR

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Summary: a childhood memoir of the WWII Hungary
Review: As a student I read the "Diary of Anne Frank" and indeed it was poignant and unforgettable. Magda Denes' book is the darker side, a memoir written almost 50 years after the war, and yet through the eyes of a young child. Her relationship with her beloved brother Ivan is central to the story, and their closeness makes you want to examine your own sibling relationships. Magda survives, but at a cost. I had a sense of immediacy and even awe, that she and her mother and elderly grandmother could be so resourceful, so brave, in the face of starvation and deprivation. I kept wondering, could any of us be so brave, and at 9 years old yet. This book is more than a holocaust memoir, it is an ultimately awe inspiring adventure tale, tinged with truth and sadness.

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Summary: I was there
Review: Dr.Denes accurately and vividly describes almost identical experiences that I had during the first half of the 1940s. Of course, I can not vouch for the accuracy of her conversations and interactions within her own family but as far as the historical events are concerned nobody should have doubts that if anything,due to her wonderful sense of humor, they were understated. I always wanted my children to know and understand what happened during those terrible times.Unfortunately, I do not have Dr.Denese's gift of writing so as a substitute I ordered five volumes of her book to give one to each of my children and my brother's children.Let nobody question the enormity and cruelty and the validity of the events described in this book.They all happened.

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Summary: A Holocaust book that saddens AND amuses. It was marvelous!
Review: I can't begin to say how much I enjoyed this book. Magda Denes
managed to write about the sadness, her Father's desertion, and
the loss of the brother she cherished very well. However the
reason this book is one of my 2 favorite books (about the Holocaust, and I have read many) is how she added humor. Using the eccentric personalities of her grandparents, aunt, and mother
I found her book amazing. I have read her book 5 or 6 times and
will read it again. I was in a doctors office, waiting for him
in the exam room. I was laughing when he entered the room. He asked me what I was reading, and I was embarrassed when I told him it was about a Holocaust survivor. There is no telling what went through his mind. This book should be read. I rate it a 10
star+

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Summary: This ain't a Jewel
Review: I write from Budapest, the scene of much of Castles Burning. The reviewer who thinks the book cannot be accurae is entirely wrong. I have researched the places and dates mentioned by Magda Denes and have organised a school tour around such places. You can even find a plaque with her brother's name, Ivan Denes, in Vadasz utca. This is an outstanding book! Tragic, gripping, moving, even humorous at times, and a true picture of an awful time. I'll write more. Meanwhile email me if you, too, are a fan of Castles Burning (and even if you are not).

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Summary: A true account of WWII through the eyes of a 12 year old.
Review: Magda Denes writes of her experiences in World War II, and how she and her Jewish family deal with deprivation, fear, tragedy, and ultimately, hope. Denes' words flow, and her abilty to comment on her environment and on her own personality lend levity and irony to what could be a very grim story. There are many sadnesses that Denes must overcome, but at the end of the book, one feels uplifted. This book is not only an excellent way for young people to learn about the way and the persecution of Jews, but will appeal to the natural wit of most young people. Mostly, Denes, who has gone on to carve out a successful life for herself, reminds her readers, without hammering them over the head, that this very important time in history must be remembered in order for it not to be repeated. I highly recommend this book for adults and teens alike. It is well-written, poignant, and quite funny at times. One needn't be Jewish to get something from reading it, because it is about the human experience, not just the Jewish experience.

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Summary: Unforgettable!
Review: Magda's story grips you from the start - full of horrifyingly vivid memories told in a straightforward fashion, it examines several years of a Hungarian child's life during and after WWII. Her relationship with her brother and cousin is so intense that your heart will ache for all three children. At the book's conclusion, although you know that Magda will be okay (obviously, if she wrote the autobiography later) but you itch to find out more about this incredibly resillient, intelligent young lady.

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Summary: A touching, funny, and inspirational book
Review: This is a must read for anyone who isn't convinced that war is a horror for everyone--especially children. Tis little girl and her family survive the most horrific events. It is important for those of us who have been lucky enough to live without war in our own country to try and understand what others have lived through.But having said that this book is such a treasure in its humor. The main character, the author, truly proves to her audience that human spirit triumphs. I recommend this book highly, I couldn't put it down!

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Summary: Filled with terror and despair, and best of all, humor.
Review: This is one of 8 books required for a college course I am currently taking on the Holocaust. After having read Livia Bitton-Jackson and Primo Levi's accounts of their year in Auschwitz, I read Madga's account of her family's hiding during the war and subsequent journey in search of peace and freedom in the ensuing years. I found the first 2 books to be sad and horrifying. They were well written and definitely eye-opening and heart-wrenching. Magda's book is all that plus some. At times she made me laugh so hard I almost cried. I love her sarcasm, her ornery-ness, and her passion for asking questions and defying authority. I think that there is something in her that I connect with - a similar streak of insolence <g>. I love the book and was very sad to find that Magda had passed. I would've loved to have met and spoken with her. I am sure she is currently exchanging verbal barbs with Ivan, who has waited so very long for her to join him.

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Summary: Moving & Humorous
Review: When I picked up "Castles Burning", I thought at the back of my mind, "OK another book on the war, another book on suffering, let's see how good this is". It is sad, but true, that coz of the proliferation of literature on the Second World War and the Holocaust, one gets "immune" to the immensity of depravity and suffering in that period of time, when paradoxically, it is meant to make one more aware and more empathetic to the experiences of that time. Magda's book was special. Not only is it written through the eyes of a little girl, it shows the suffering of ALL who have been involved in the war, and tells us that with immediate deprivation and starvation facing you, there just is no time or energy left to think of others' sufferings, though theirs is comparably more serious and threatening. It sounds bad, but that is the truth, that faced with personal suffering, it is often impossible to bother about what other are facing. Magda's growing maturity and her relationship with her brother is well-told. His growth into manhood and her feeling of being left behind is also something all of us would have felt at one point in our lives. Magda's voice is powerful, angry and poignant, esp. when she speaks of her father who abandoned the family before the war and fails to see the wrong in it. Her strength comes through in her desire to survive and her rejection of her father we wonder if we would have come out as well if we had been placed in the same situation. One of the best memoirs of the war years. Readable and touching, Magda's is a voice that will stay with us for a long time.