Rating: 
Summary: an unflinching, angry, and moving collection of stories
Review: If there is a "best" narrative of what "non-life" in Auschwitz was like, this is it. Borowski's writing contains an ironic rage which is at all times razor sharp and unflinchingly insightful. No one emerges as a hero in Borowski, and his refusal to sentimentalize or to heroize marks this work as itself a deeply important.and courageous act of bearing witness. The book's ability to aggravate and upset readers by asking awful, crucial questions is unparalleled and the author's connection of fascism with money is brilliant."Auschwitz our Home" contains an exchange of letters between incarcerated lovers and in this sea of horrifying, beautiful stories, this one is both the most horrifying and the most poignant.
Rating: 
Summary: Among the greats of Shoah literature.
Review: If you want another aspect of the Shoah, this is the book to read. Somehow, Borowski manages to write about the unthinkable in a totally everyday way. What is it to have your concious being, your limits defined in a concentration camp? How is it to live day to day without hope amongst the unthinkable? Along with David Watt's "Stoker",and Martin Gilbert's amazing academic work this is a must read for student's of the Halocaust. But be warned, no wonder Borowki committed suicide. A brilliant piece of writing,
Rating:
Summary: The simple story, nothing more, nothing less
Review: One of the first things you notice about this book is Borowski's writing style. He portrays life in concentration camp. Period. His language, while sometimes beautifully subtle and poetic, and other times sharp and to the quick, only seeks to enhance exactly what he is saying. There is no underlying tone, no message, nothing which colours and, in some way, distorts the prose. He leaves the conclusions, the thoughts, entirely for the reader to draw or to make. He does not seek to influence or to guide, only to tell.
And that's the second thing you notice about Borowski: his subjects. He writes about everything in the concentration camp, yet still focusing on relatively trivial events. The short stories don't appear as such, with beginnings and endings, like novels in miniature. Rather, it seems like there is a running narrative, stretching throughout the concentration camp period, from which Borowski has cut out certain pieces, almost at random, that rather than being those episodes which can best fit into the short story form of writing, will give the reader the best overall picture of the concentration camp life. Once again, his aim is not to create tension or excitement, in fact emotions of any kind, but to tell, just tell. Perhaps his subjects, his form of writing, does give you an idea about why he took his life a few years after the war: his heart, just like his prose, had had to be devoid of every emotion, because one who has seen things like he did, and survived them, cannot feel, lest he go insane.
This is a good book, and it's definitely a book that should be read. No book is perfect, and this doesn't recieve the fifth star because of some technical details. The prose, the subject, are all artfully done, but you sometimes do get lost. You lose yourself slightly in the prose towards the end. But it's not a long book, so it's not a big deal. And again, these are just minor technical problems. The artistic side is masterly.
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE
Review: Tadeusz Borowski was a teenager when the Nazis invaded Poland. He was eventually arrested by the Nazis for particpating in the underground press (he had a copy of BRAVE NEW WORLD in his pocket at the time he was searched), and sent to Auschwitz. His girlfriend was also sent to Auschwitz. Borowski wrote a cycle of stories that spanned Poland under Nazi occupation, the experience of Auschwitz, and his travels after the war, to France, where he felt like a "walking ghost" amongst the exiles, and finally his return to Poland. He wrote a cycle of stories about these experiences published in two volumes in Polish, FAREWELL TO MARIA and WORLD OF STONE. His girlfriend had also survived Auschwitz and went to Sweden after the war. Borowski persuaded her to return to Poland and marry him. But life did not go well for Borowski. After he wrote his two volumes of stories, he, like many other young Poles, decided that communism might be the best thing for Poland, and subjugated his brilliant writing talent to churning out reams of "socialist realism" for the communists. But he was depressed and he was drinking heavily. When a close friend of his was tortured by the communists, he became completely disillusioned with the communists. One night in 1951, after visiting his young wife in the hospital, who was soon to give birth to their first child, he went home and killed himself. What lives on, however, are the two marvelous books of stories, among the finest ever written, detailing in a quiet, subdued way (much like the other mastepiece of man's inhumanity to man in the communist GULAG, Shalamov's KOLYMA TALES) the world he'd experienced. Unfortunately, currently only a portion of Borowski's stories are available in English translation, the ones dealing with Auschwitz, under the title, THIS WAY FOR THE GAS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. These are fine, fine stories. Once read, they are unforgettable. I only hope that the complete FAREWELL TO MARIA and WORLD OF STONE will be issued in English translation soon.
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE
Review: Tadeusz Borowski was a teenager when the Nazis invaded Poland. He was eventually arrested by the Nazis for particpating in the underground press (he had a copy of BRAVE NEW WORLD in his pocket at the time he was searched), and sent to Auschwitz. His girlfriend was also sent to Auschwitz. Borowski wrote a cycle of stories that spanned Poland under Nazi occupation, the experience of Auschwitz, and his travels after the war, to France, where he felt like a "walking ghost" amongst the exiles, and finally his return to Poland. He wrote a cycle of stories about these experiences published in two volumes in Polish, FAREWELL TO MARIA and WORLD OF STONE. His girlfriend had also survived Auschwitz and went to Sweden after the war. Borowski persuaded her to return to Poland and marry him. But life did not go well for Borowski. After he wrote his two volumes of stories, he, like many other young Poles, decided that communism might be the best thing for Poland, and subjugated his brilliant writing talent to churning out reams of "socialist realism" for the communists. But he was depressed and he was drinking heavily. When a close friend of his was tortured by the communists, he became completely disillusioned with the communists. One night in 1951, after visiting his young wife in the hospital, who was soon to give birth to their first child, he went home and killed himself. What lives on, however, are the two marvelous books of stories, among the finest ever written, detailing in a quiet, subdued way (much like the other mastepiece of man's inhumanity to man in the communist GULAG, Shalamov's KOLYMA TALES) the world he'd experienced. Unfortunately, currently only a portion of Borowski's stories are available in English translation, the ones dealing with Auschwitz, under the title, THIS WAY FOR THE GAS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. These are fine, fine stories. Once read, they are unforgettable. I only hope that the complete FAREWELL TO MARIA and WORLD OF STONE will be issued in English translation soon.
Rating:
Summary: Borowski was there and it shows
Review: This book has the truth on its side, and it shows. Nothing is dramatized or sentimentalized. These tales do not even have an undercurrent of rage. With a matter-of-fact style that says more than a diatribe, these horrific - utterly horrific - accounts of life in a death camp imprint themselves on your psyche and refuse to go away. But, that is a good thing.
Rating:
Summary: you will never be the same again
Review: This is an account of a life lived in the shadows of the crematoria. It is based on the author's experience as a non-Jew, in a German concentration camp. As a non-Jew, Borowski was entitled to certain privileges. He maintained his position in the hierarchy by following the orders of the S.S. guards: by ordering the Jews to line up on their way to the gas chambers, and by sorting through the luggage of the dead. This book is dark, dark realism, and Borowski doesn't shy away from the details (descriptions of the pit where corpses were burned are especially difficult to forget). Borowski lived at a time when, as Jan Kott writes in the introduction: "individual human destiny seems as if shaped directly by history, becoming only a chapter in it." Borowski provided us with this, his chapter. His destiny was suicide, and this direct, raw account of a terrible ordeal helps us to understand why.
Rating:
Summary: you will never be the same again
Review: This is an account of a life lived in the shadows of the crematoria. It is based on the author's experience as a non-Jew, in a German concentration camp. As a non-Jew, Borowski was entitled to certain privileges. He maintained his position in the hierarchy by following the orders of the S.S. guards: by ordering the Jews to line up on their way to the gas chambers, and by sorting through the luggage of the dead. This book is dark, dark realism, and Borowski doesn't shy away from the details (descriptions of the pit where corpses were burned are especially difficult to forget). Borowski lived at a time when, as Jan Kott writes in the introduction: "individual human destiny seems as if shaped directly by history, becoming only a chapter in it." Borowski provided us with this, his chapter. His destiny was suicide, and this direct, raw account of a terrible ordeal helps us to understand why.
Rating:
Summary: This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
Review: Trying to critique any book of Borowski is an enormous task. Borowski's character by itseelf is complex (specally his clueless suicide etc.) and the books are even denser so it is sometimes difficult to understand who is the main target especially when you read the post war writings. "This way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentleman" is a fantastic recreation of the truth - Borowski must have been extremely powerful character that is why he found the language to describe the horrors of Auschwitz - most people will not even find the language do describe this macabre specter even years after getting freedom. The horror is at such a level that death is no more a part of the horror rather its is a means of escaping further pain. This is one of the first hand descriptions of Nazi atrocities and there are very few better examples. It can be safely assumed that the first person narrator of all the short stories in this book is the author himself. The real wonder is the satire he has incorporated even within such situations. The story called "The man with the package " is not only touching but probably one of the best I have ever read from any author. Gogol also dealt with similar topics of atrocities but of a different regime but Gogol always kept a sense of suspense where the end could not be predicted easily. For Tadeusz Borowski the twist in the end, which may be easily guessed, is not at all important rather the way he arrives to this end is far more effective and magnetic. You may think this is strange but at no point you feel like crying or sorry rather you sense the shivers down the spine and then you feel the disgust for the Nazi regime - probably this is the biggest punishment an author can give to his oppressors. The post war stories are not so hypnotic. I will recommend everybody to buy this book and give it to their next generation.
Just one question bothers me all the time - how did Borowski survive Auschwitz - was it just luck and coincidence or a little helping hand from his side to the Nazis. I see him trying to vindicate his position all the time but could he really do so? Please read the book and find for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: A lesson to learn
Review: Will you enjoy reading this book? The answer is no. But if you were to ask me if you should read this book then I would have to say absolutely. Borowski wrote with an honesty that I found amazing. He gave me a small window to look through and see what my grandparents might have gone through. This book while often shocking and always disturbing allows a little understanding into what life was like inside the death camps. Not for enjoyment but education.
|
