Stones from the River

Rating:
Summary: Visionary!
Review: Definitely should be ranked as a notable book of the year! Heigi's vision, storytelling skills, and character development are dazzling. "Stones from the River" depicts a small town in Germany before, and during, World War II. At the onset, the novel seems to be a coming of age story about the protaganist, Trudi Montag. Trudi is a dwarf who feels isolated, from the community that surrounds her, due to her physical differences. She is stifled by her inability to grow. As the story progresses, however, Trudi realizes that other people have differences, such as the Jews, that can alienate them. Soon is becomes clear to all who have come to know her, that Trudi, although she has not grown an inch, is larger than life. Moreover, the author masterfully unveils an answer to the question, "How could the atrocities of World War II happen?" The answer: A series of small omissions by many rather that the overwhelming evil of one. This story, and the character of Trudi Montag, will stay with you long after you finish reading

Rating:
Summary: A very big story
Review: What begins as a story of one person growing up in a small town in war torn Germany, seamlessly becomes the compelling story of people everywhere throughout time. With incredibe poignancy, the author weaves a tale that encompasses the best and the worse in people. There are no black and whites here. Reality is many shades of gray. You may not find answers here, but you will certaintly hear the questions. You won't leave this work easily. Don't hesitate, start reading it now.

Rating:
Summary: I am alone and afraid in a world I never made.
Review: My favorite part of the book was when Trudi was able to lookpast the Nazi German Officer's uniform into the soul of the man whocould order her death, and discover that even he didn't believe in what he was doing. Then, with that knowledge, save her own life. What a rare gift to be an outsider, and an observer.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely mesmerizing--you won't be able to put it down.
Review: I first picked up this book because it was recommended to me.I've recommended this book to anybody who'll listen because it's absolutely one of the best I've ever read.

The plot deals with a dwarf (Zwergin) in Nazi Germany and her life within this tumultous climate. What really hooks the reader is how the author explores the madness of Nazi Germany through the observations made by the protagonist, who misses nothing in the lives of her fellow villagers.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling!
Review: I became interested with this period of time when I read "The Diary of Ann Frank". Then as an adult I was transformed with the novel "The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Bloom. "Stones from the River" will now be part of my remembered list of books. The people of this smalL German Town wanted to forget the past and pretend that nothing happened. Trudi knew this was not wise. This story tells us what can happen when people preceive someone is different. Trudi was right that the town should not forget what hapened. We learn from our mistakes. As a high school teacher I don't see my students as being different; but, I see the uniqueness in each student. After all, isn't that what makes life interesting? If we were all the same wouldn't it be boring? Trudi said there was a time to enhance, a time to embellish and a time to embrace. Embrace the differences of each other

Rating:
Summary: Book offers many insights into ordinary Germans during WW II.
Review: My first thought on reading this book: Is it only coincidental that the author has used a dwarf as a protagonist, as Guenter Grass did in "The Tin Drum"? I still puzzle over the choice of main character. Perhaps it is only to give the protagonist a sense of removal and perspective from the main action and the village of Burgdorf, where almost all the action takes place. It was a clever way to introject the perspective of one person, but to keep her separate and apart, even isolated--though no more so than the Jews and other outcasts on whom the Nazis frowned and wreaked their wrath. Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is the insights it gave into how ordinary Germans experienced Hitler's rise and fall, the Holocaust, World War II, and the early part of the "Economic Miracle" following the war. There is much here that is reminiscent of Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem," with its emphasis on the "banality of evil." I was impressed, however, at how well integrated the Jews were into the society of this small town in the Rhineland until the horrors of Krystallnacht began to fray the threads of German society. Indeed, the Catholics who were the majority in Burgdorf seemed to feel closer to the Jews than they did to the other Protestant minority. I would heartily recommend this book as an epic tale, rich in symbolism and filled with memorable characters. Unlike "Hitler's Willing Executioners," another recent book about "ordinary Germans" during the Hitler period, this volume presents a more hopeful, less stereotyped and simplistic view of common German citizens. I look forward, as a German-American with roots in the U.S. going back to the Revolution and the early 19th century, to the author's next work, which is to appear this summer, about what it means to be German in America.

Rating:
Summary: I am 5'9" and I am a Zwerg...
Review: ...My first instinct when I read a very popular book is want tohate it out of protest-out of a need to be different. As I beganreading about Trudi Montag, I began to see the humor in my conflicting desires to be different and to belong. (You have to laugh or you will cry.) I am 5'9" yet I know I am a "Zwerg." Ursula Hegi, in telling the story of a dwarf woman, emphasizes the smilarities and highlights the value of the differences in us all. In so doing, not only was I forced to look at myself and reevaluate my own motivations, but was also forced to view the actions of others through the lenses of those motivations. What would I do in the face of the same political climate that engulfed a nation and swallowed individuals? Now that I know Trudi, maybe I would have the courage to fight the Nazis and not look away.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant masterpiece
Review: This book was my first experience with Hegi's work. Her writing pulled me into the small town of Burgdorf and helped me to experience everything through the eyes of Trudi Montag. A self-realization that will remain with you far past the moment that you put the book down

Rating:
Summary: A brillantly crafted novel
Review: I read this novel a few months ago. I had never read any of the author's book before, but randomly picked this novel from the library shelves. This novel is so brillantly crafted - Sights, sensations and emotions of the main character are so brillantly evoked that one could be right there! I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in being mentally challenged by a novel. The thing that stays with me after reading the novel is the way that people behaved during that period in Germany history - I can understand how the much the people who saved Jews put their life at stake, how big heros were when comparing them to ordinary people who just went along with the propganda because it made their lives easier. What disturbed me was the way in which the liberators 'totured' these ordinary people for their connections with the propganda. The heros in my eyes are not the liberators who marched in to sort out the country, but the 'little people' who became big heros when they put their lives aside to make a stand for their beliefs

Rating:
Summary: Excellent insights to the events of those times.
Review: I have thoroughly enjoyed "Stones in the River" by Ursula Hegi. The most striking feature of this work, in my opinion, is the "universality" of the subject matter. Prejudice, jealousy always existed in human societies. These human characteristics were treated in great depth in literature, from Greek Classics to contemporary fiction. In the core of such feelings lies the human instinct of self preservation. In its extreme, such human behavior manifests itself as racism. To a varying degree, racism exists in every society. When racist acts start violating the human rights of the people to whom such acts are directed against, it becomes a problem. The events in Nazi Germany bewildered, and still continue to bewilder, many people because of the extent of such organized atrocities. Even more importantly, I believe, people find it difficult to comprehend how could such things happen in a society that was in the pinnacle of artistic, literary, scientific, and intellectual development. First explanation was that most people did not know what was happening, it was the doing of a handful of fanatics who happen to gain power. Then the expected backlash followed, claiming that most Germans were "Hitler's willing executioners". It is important that we understand what happened in Germany during those unfortunate years, for if it could happen in Germany then, it can happen anyplace; maybe not as drastic or as comprehensive, but equally damaging. Education of the public is suggested as the main panacea against prejudice and racism in societies. We should not confuse education with simple technical competence or the general literacy rate. (We are seeing nowadays how literate and technically competent people joining the cults in the fringes of society.) We should strive for genuine education and intellectual development of the public, if we want such holocausts not to happen again. (Trudi, in the book, for example, though without full formal education, was intellectually developed through independent reading and listening classical music.) Ursula Hegi by illuminating the events of those times, is providing us with true insights into this universal problem.