The Wall

Rating:
Summary: Very Magnetic
Review: This book is definitely a powerful book regarding the life during the Holocaust. To be more specific, the novel is written in a journalistic manner, where it's author is Noach Levinson. He describes the occurences of all those of whom are close to him.
It is very interesting to how detailed John Hersey has went in describing the happenings of a city in Germany named Warsaw.
Definitely a must read for all those interested in learning about the ghettos during the holocaust. It truley keeps your eyes glued to the book.

Rating:
Summary: A powerful historical drama, meticulously detailed.
Review: This is a fictitious drama, but most of the characters and incidents are based on historical facts surrounding the 1943 Jewish uprising in the Warsaw ghetto. It is truly an epic, divided into four parts and surround several families' experiences and comraderie during the Nazi occupation of their hometown. Hersey makes a painstaking chronicle of their everyday lives, their hardships and underground networking, leading to the eventual revolt. It is a sad, yet ultimately triumphant story.
A quick, personal rebuttal regarding the teen commenting on this book being boring (and for other youngsters considering reading this book):
1. Just because you're in high school does NOT mean your opinions are not important; they are. If you really feel this book is endless, you can and should say so. But what parts of it do you find objectionable? Are the sentences long-winded (you might find this to be true since Mr. Hersey was trained in journalism, hence he chronicles a great deal of detail into the story)?
2. You might think this is crazy, but try reading this book again! But this time, focus your interest on perhaps just one or two main characters (ie: Dolek Berson, Noach Levinson, Rachel Apt, etc.) By doing this, you'll probably find that your interest level in the material goes up since you'll be more attentive to the goings-on of just the people you want to follow within the story. The remaining details will indirectly fall into place as you continue in the book.
3. Don't let the length of this or any other book intimidate you. I agree with you that "The Wall" is a long piece of work, but the contents makes it worth reading. In contrast, you may have encountered books that are only 100 pages long, but they are so dry and uninteresting that you cannot wait to get to the end of them (I had assigned reading like this in high school, so if you too feel this way, I can empathize!).
In any case, I hope you (and others) are not discouraged from studying this very important era of World War II. All the best!

Rating:
Summary: A powerful historical drama, meticulously detailed.
Review: This is a fictitious drama, but most of the characters and incidents are based on historical facts surrounding the 1943 Jewish uprising in the Warsaw ghetto. It is truly an epic, divided into four parts and surround several families' experiences and comraderie during the Nazi occupation of their hometown. Hersey makes a painstaking chronicle of their everyday lives, their hardships and underground networking, leading to the eventual revolt. It is a sad, yet ultimately triumphant story.
A quick, personal rebuttal regarding the teen commenting on this book being boring (and for other youngsters considering reading this book):
1. Just because you're in high school does NOT mean your opinions are not important; they are. If you really feel this book is endless, you can and should say so. But what parts of it do you find objectionable? Are the sentences long-winded (you might find this to be true since Mr. Hersey was trained in journalism, hence he chronicles a great deal of detail into the story)?
2. You might think this is crazy, but try reading this book again! But this time, focus your interest on perhaps just one or two main characters (ie: Dolek Berson, Noach Levinson, Rachel Apt, etc.) By doing this, you'll probably find that your interest level in the material goes up since you'll be more attentive to the goings-on of just the people you want to follow within the story. The remaining details will indirectly fall into place as you continue in the book.
3. Don't let the length of this or any other book intimidate you. I agree with you that "The Wall" is a long piece of work, but the contents makes it worth reading. In contrast, you may have encountered books that are only 100 pages long, but they are so dry and uninteresting that you cannot wait to get to the end of them (I had assigned reading like this in high school, so if you too feel this way, I can empathize!).
In any case, I hope you (and others) are not discouraged from studying this very important era of World War II. All the best!

Rating:
Summary: THE POWER OF THE TRAGEDY.
Review: This is a very deep and powerful historical novel involving Poland, Jews and the Germans. I think it was published even before the Schindler's list became widely known. This is the story of the condammed Jews in the Polish ghetto trying to fight back without any help from the outside and not for the survival (it was impossible and they knew it) but for the remains of dignity and for the right to die standing tall. Mila 18 by Leon Uris comes to mind when you read "The Wall".

Rating:
Summary: THE POWER OF THE TRAGEDY.
Review: This is a very deep and powerful historical novel involving Poland, Jews and the Germans. I think it was published even before the Schindler's list became widely known. This is the story of the condammed Jews in the Polish ghetto trying to fight back without any help from the outside and not for the survival (it was impossible and they knew it) but for the remains of dignity and for the right to die standing tall. Mila 18 by Leon Uris comes to mind when you read "The Wall".

Rating:
Summary: This story sticks to your bones
Review: You can read the other reviews to get an idea as to what the story covers, but I want to share with you my experience as to the impact of its delivery and tale. I read a lot. And it's rare for a book to make me laugh out loud or cry tears. At first, I neither liked nor cared for any of the characters. At the end, I cried; hard. I've never had a story affect me this way.