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Summary: Solitude and Diversity in World War II
Review: This book is a book about diversity, and the solitude it brings on. Trudi Montag is a dwarf -a Zwerg- and this condition isolates her from other people, who are not able to see the likeness that lies under physical diversity. But it is from her diversity that she can observe and understand life of other people better than themselves... the same as you understand happiness better when you are missing it... and in this continuous understanding, through the hurting consciousness of her diversity, Trudi becomes a woman with deep feelings and a particular wisdom... someone you really would like to meet.
Diversity. The book is also about the World War II and the vicissitudes of the Jews under the Nazism. Somehow this book makes understandable something that is really not understandable. It shows how such a thing could happen: because of prejudgements of some, the fear of others, the indifference and the too weak opposition of people who didn't agree. Since I live in a little village, like Burgdorf, I could easily tell which one of the inhabitants would behave like Herr Blau, which one like Herr Immers or Frau Weiler or Leo Montag... Things have not changed as much as we think. Crualty diminished so much in this years, but indifference grew the same rate...
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Summary: It's not easy being Zwerg
Review: This is the story of an extraordinary person growing up in an extraordinary time. Trudi Montag is a Zwerg- dwarf- living in Germany during the Holocaust. Being different helps shape who she is and how she reacts to the horror around her, where differences have become the justification for persecution. This is a wonderful story that combines history and fiction and would be particularly appropriate for high school students who need an compelling storyline and characters in order to get interested in learning about one of the most horrible times in history.
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Summary: One of my favorite books ever
Review: Stones From the River easily makes my all-time top ten list. I've never read another book like it. Hegi tells a very compassionate tale of life during Nazi Germany from the point of view of Christians who oppose the regime. The character development is outstanding (how can she know so well the exerience of such varied characters?), and the story unfolds flawlessly. Hegi writes writes so well that it is easy to find yourself sucked right into the story and wishing that it wouldn't end.
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Summary: a story about everything
Review: I've read Stones From the River three or four times, the first when I was in seventh grade, the last when I was finishing ninth. It was the most interesting, honest, and helpfull book I have ever read, and I doubt I will ever find anything like it again.
An honest book is not about science (forgive spelling) fiction, and is not reshaped and adjusted to fit in to our conscience (again, forgive spelling)- like the characters. No one is a saint, and no one is a demon condemned during conception. There is no 'half full OR half empty' glass, it is both. It simply 'is'.
The theme- the time and place of the story- was the reason I read the book the first time, when I was thirteen or twelve and completely alone, a cast-out. I believed I was different, that everyone else were together and that I would never fit in. And I am different. Wherever I live I'm always different, and I can't help it. But Stone From the River has proven to me that we all feel that way, we all ARE that way. What you do with that is up to you.
I reccomened this book to anyone who is alone, or wants to know more about the Holocaust (PLEASE forgive spelling, this isn't my mother tungue), or just wants a good book to read. I advise to read it more than once- three times at least, to understand everything and really see it as what it is- a great book written amazingly well.
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Summary: Very concerned about the multible star readership!
Review: This book is a German language course disguised as a lenghty but dwafted story leading up to WWII. In it, little-village women drive cars, bath in their own indoor tubs, but also swim in mighty rivers, and keep food cold in refrigerators. Give me a break!
This is not how women lived and behaved in a small village back then, or even a big town for that matter. If people bathed at all they had to use public bath houses which weren't free and at home they took sponge baths over the kitchen sink. In summer milk and butter was kept cold in basements and in winter the food was placed between two windows to keep it from freezing. Women back then didn't learn to swim and driving a car was out of the question since most people couldn't afford a vehicle.
Judging from the obvious errors I still remeber, after laboring through 500+ rather boring pages, proper research for what could have been an important story was sadly ignored.
You'll be the judge!
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Summary: Profound
Review: I have just read this book for the third time and I have a new experience every time I read it. The book has many interwoven themes and one reading of this novel isn't really enough. The overall theme has to do with how everyone feels like an "outsider" whether they actually are or not. The passage where Trudi explains this to an SS officer is one of the most telling sections in the novel. Trudi uses the fable of a man who is born with his heart on the outside of his body. Every one has at one time or another felt like this man. The community grudgingly accepts this person in their midst on the condition that. The community accepts him as he is but only on condition that he acts in the ways they expect him to act. He can do as he likes in his mind. This is how life is for Trudi - and for all of us. Using the Holocaust as a backdrop shows what happens when this community goes berserk and suddenly no one is accepted. After finishing the (rather long) Holocaust section of this novel, I feel like I need Prozac.
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Summary: A must read
Review: I loved this book. Could not put it down. I disagree with the other reviewers who thought it started slowly. I was "into" this book from the beginning. I will agree, however, that the ending left something to be desired. Neverless, it is well worth reading. It gives insight into life in Germany both before and during the Nazi era, much of the German culture she writes about it still very evident today. For anyone who knows about the hollocaust but wonders how it could have happened, read this. The history and the characters combine to make a fabulous book.
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Summary: Almost
Review: "Stones from the River" is almost perfect. The opening is too slow (it took me over 100 pages to really get "into" this novel) but it was well worth the effort. Based in the history of post WWI and steeped in the reign of Hitler, the novel reveals a facet of life within Germany at this time; told from the German viewpoint. As with Thomas More, the "silence means consent" postion led to disastrous consequences for Germany, and underscores the Jewish position of never being silent again. It speaks to "How could this happen?" and reminds all of us that the value of free speech need never be underestimated. All of this is portrayed via the characters in one small German town. Who they were before, how Hitler influenced them, who they became, and how they ended, all unfold here. A study in human nature, in the politics of economics, in individual resilience...all studies played out before the perpetual Rhine.
The opening is too slow, the ending too long, but the message too important. READ THIS BOOK! It's almost perfect.
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Summary: Fueled both my conscience and my imagination! Wonderful!
Review: This tale follows the life of Trudi Montag, a Zwerg (dwarf) who we know spent at least the first 33 years of her life in pre- and post- WWII Germany. The changes in her town resulting from the horrors inflicted by war and time are all viewed through Trudi's eyes and the stories seem to be told from the perspective of a young woman whose differences set her apart from the other townsfolk from the moment of her birth.As we are reminded of the atrocities committed in Nazi Germany to Jews and anyone who was not the Aryan ideal,Trudi's personal growth is explored as she spends her life coming to grips with her differences. By the time one reaches the end of this beautifully told saga, one realizes that while, on the outside, Trudi does indeed look different, she is not that different from most other people who have "stones" hidden beneath the "river" of their own lives. Trudi is a remarkable character who used her gift of storytelling first for personal vengeance and later for the preservation of truth and soul redemption. And when it came right down to it, Ursula Hegi told the story of humankind's "longing for peace" and for the desire for that moment when "all the differences between people to matter no more... differences in size and race and belief ... differences that had become justification for destruction." This wonderful book ends as fuel for my imagination. Since Trudi is still a young woman when the book ends, I can't help wondering what happens to her as she grows old. Her fate will occupy my consciousness for a very long time! I found that Ms. Hegi's writing engrossing in both the flow of its prose as well as its content. I am looking forward to reading "The Vision of Emma Blau", especially since my appetite was whetted with references to Stefan Blau (who ran away to America at age 13) in "Stones from the River" - perhaps some of my questions about Trudi will be answered then!
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Summary: A Different View of World War II: From the Eyes of a Midget
Review: At first, the author's liberal use of commas to make extremely long sentences annoyed me. However, I soon forgave the author my pet-peeve since this is a common trait of Ursula Hegi's first language, German. As I read on, I realized that these long sentences created a beautiful poetic cadence in the book that made the book almost melodic. The main character in the story is a German "zwerg" woman (a midget) named Trudi. The reader gets to see the inner and hidden thoughts of the "zwerg" woman as well as her longings to have a lover and a child of her own. When she finally does experience a beautiful romance, she keeps it a secret because it seems like something from a dream. To shift people's thoughts from her differences, Trudi spreads stories about all the townspeople through her gossip at the pay library that she and her father owns. STONES FROM THE RIVER takes place before and during World War II in a small German town. Through Trudi's acquaintances with the townspeople, the author introduces the reader to the characters in the town. Thus, the reader gets a sense of how people reacted as Hitler spread his propoganda throughout Germany. Some people, like Trudi and her father, hid Jews in their homes or were punished for showing kindess to them. Others spouted hate and turned against their neighbors to hopefully save their own lives. People felt pressure to join clubs and wear the colors of the party even when they did not agree with what the party was doing (although some actually did agree). The children were fed with so much propaganda in their schools that they often turned their own parents in for not being loyal to the party without understanding what they were doing. This was definitely an insightful book and not soon to be forgotten. The author fills the book with so many characters and small stories about each of them that I did sometimes find myself confused when a character would suddenly resurface and I couldn't remembering what happened to that character 200 pages back when they were 10 years younger. I should have written downs the characters' names and something about them as I went along. There were times when I couldn't put the book down, times that I laughed, and times that I wanted to cry. All in all, it was a great find and highly recommended to others.
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