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Summary: Worth reading - not just because Oprah chose it
Review: This is a life changing book often we complain about our lives but after looking at the world through trudi's eyes one will feel ashame they ever complained about anything again. Beautifully written by the same author who wrote floating in my mothers palm after being mesmerised by stones i'm compelled to check out the authors other novels
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Summary: The Infallible Zwerg
Review: In Stones from the River, Ursula Hegi writes brilliantly, bringing color and light to a dark period of German history. Hegi's portrayal of the horrors and inhumanity of Nazi Germany is realistic and honest, and runs parallel with the sadness of Trudi's life. From beginning to end, the novel is filled with sadness: the impact of short stature on a child's life, the shock of losing one's mother, the humiliation of personal violation, being witness to the pain of war, and then losing her only love to that war. This adds power to the novel, and strength to Trudi's character, but since the work is weighed down by constant despair, it is less believable and less enjoyable. Trudi is not only a repeated victim in the novel, but also an infallible person, praised even for the gossip she spreads, and placed on a superhuman pedestal by the author. She reads minds and knows what people feel, rescues Jews and aids everyone around her despite their exclusion of her in the past. This is, supposedly, the uplifting part of Hegi's work, but imparting angelic qualities to the main character also makes the novel less real. Overall a pleasant reading experience, but not original, and not as profound as The Tin Drum, the other Zwerg World War 2 German novel.
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Summary: One of my all time favorite books
Review: I did not want this book to end. I thought is was beautifully written and thought provoking. You felt yourself becomming a part of this time and place. I felt real empathy for the characters and the moral dilemmas they faced.
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Summary: STONES FROM THE RIVER
Review: I LISTENED TO STONES FROM THE RIVER ON AUDIO CASSETTE I ENJOYED THE TAPES THEIR WAS ONE PART I DISLIKED WHEN THIS MOTHER GAVE BIRTH TO A BABY GIRL THAT WAS A DWARF HER MOTHER ABANDONED THE GIRL AND THE GIRL WAS RAISED BY MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. GERTRUDE WAS IN AN ASYLUM HIDING HER SHAME FOR GIVING BIRTH TO A BABY GIRL THAT WAS THE ONLY PARTS I DISLIKED IN THE BOOK OTHERWISE THE TAPE RECORDED VERSION WAS EXCELLENT. SUPPOSE YOUR MOTHER ABONDANED YOU AS A CHILD FOR BEING DIFFERENT THIS TEACHES PEOPLE WRONG PRINCIPALS AND VALUES SINCE GOD CREATED EVERYONE DIFFERENT IN THIS WORLD TO LIVE IN HAPPINESS AND PEACE IN OUR SOCIETIES.
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Summary: One of the Best Books I've Ever Read
Review: A captivating story that helps to illustrate how Nazism was able to spread. Told from the point of view of the German people.
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Summary: On the banks of the Rhine
Review: Trudi, our protagonist, is a keen observer of the inhabitants of the town she lives in. As she watches and listens, stories flow by and are woven into the tapestry of life in a German town during the first and second world wars: birth, death, tenderness, brutality, love, betrayl and loss. I found myself marveling at the beauty of the writing in this book. The story was engrossing and rich and the characters in all their quirks and foibles were fascinating. Maybe it was just me, but the ending seemed to be a bit slowly paced, but that is my only complaint with this wonderful book.
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Summary: There are no girl Zwerge in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Review: Stones from the River is a multi-layered novel. However, what stands out are two very lucid themes. Dealing with the issue of the "Other" the deep sense of "silence. There are no girl Zwerges in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. We are treated to a series of Normal vs. Zwerge (Trudi) and Straight vs. Gay (Georg) and of course the Jews contra Nazis.On another level, the story, which is told in the space of Nazi Germany besides the in/out and included/excluded is the deep sense of silence and denial. A sense that the closing over of her skin over the stones as well as the stones in the river is a testament to the ever present human quality to deny, to hide the painful truth and to turn away - it remains hidden unless "you told." Then of course, there is the power relations of the haves and have nots and who gets to define the truth. All this philosophy aside, Hegi takes us back to a time and place in lyrical fashion. She never really deals with the "Why" - it just seems to be there and how we act around acts of irrationality. I guess you could say that remembering is a form of forgetting. Miguel Llora
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Summary: A book you can relate to
Review: The first few pages of this book was vague, dark, and depressing. We started off with Trudi's background, her family and her personal struggle in the community. You need patience when you are reading this book...in the end you will be glad that you read the whole thing. What I liked about this book is Trudi's constant struggle with her physical being as a dwarf.I think we all could relate to Trudi, being human and always constantly struggling with our own selves...always wishing to be something, someone..other than our own...battling our insecurities. The World War II background of this story also gives depth to this book, it offers us a point of view of Non Jewish people point of view regarding the war...the pain that they go through seeing their Jewish friends discriminated. If you love good love stories....this one has a series of different ones with different charaters... it is heart wrenching. You will cry, laugh, be horrified, feel triumphant,This book will evoke all sorts of emotions.
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Summary: Long Journey Worth Taking
Review: I purchased this book shortly after it was given Oprah's "blessing" and finally picked it up again (over a year's time I am sure) after a visit to Washington DC and the Holocaust Museum. The tale of a German "zwerg" (dwarf) during the Nazi Era was something that I finally found myself in the right reading mood for. This is a truly remarkable and epic novel from Ursela Hegi as we follow Trudi Montag from birth to womanhood -- and all of the rights of passage in life during this horrific time in history. This is a thick book in many ways -- its details, themes and subject matter. Like Trudi, readers will be haunted by the people who enter and disappear from her life. While this is a fictional work, Hegi gives readers a history lesson about the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. "Stones" is particularly effective in putting a face to this time with a large cast of character from a variety of political and religious beliefs. This is not a quick read but ultimately time well spent.
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Summary: Life in the eyes of a zwerg
Review: No taller than a kitchen counter, Trudi could see the world from a totally different view than those around her. In the midst of World War 2, Trudi manages to overcome indifference and help others at the same time. Trudi is a zwerg (dwarf), and if that's not bad enough, her mother is dead, and she lives in a time when any difference, physical, racial, or religion, is not accepted. As a little girl, Trudi realizes how different she is and wants more than anything else, to be equal. She hangs by her arms in a doorway for hours to try to stretch herself. At the age of 18, she receives her first kiss, and at the same time, Hitler is coming into power. As Hitler's reign intensifies, Trudi watches the people she loves and the town around her change. Trudi and her father house several Jews in their cellar for a few years. Their house worked as an underground railroad. Trudi is discriminated against her whole life and as the story progresses, we watch Trudi overcome hate and help those around her who are persecuted for being different. I picked up this book and I couldn't put it down. Trudi lives an amazing life through one of the most remembered times in history. Although Trudi wasn't a Jew, she was still persecuted. This book makes a person think about what still goes on today and how many people are apart of it. It is amazing how hard life can get but still be considered normal. The book is fairly long yet every page brings a new story and a new philosophy of how to live life.
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