Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Schocken (1989), Edition: New edition, 226 pages
Description
Gregor--a teenaged boy, the lone survivor of his family--is hiding from the Germans in the forest. He hides innbsp;a cave, where he meets a mysterious stranger who saves his life. He hides in the village, posing as a deaf-mute peasant boy. He hides among the partisans of the Jewish resistance. But where, he asks, is God hiding? And where can one find redemption in a world that God has abandoned? In a story punctuated by friendship and fear, sacrifice and betrayal, Gregor's wartime wanderings take us deep into the ghost-filled inner world of the survivor.
User reviews
LibraryThing member rocketjk
This is one of Wiesel's relatively early works, published in 1966. It is the story of the life of a teenage Jewish boy, surviving during World War 2 in hiding in a forest in Hungary. As the book opens, the boy is living in a cave where his father has left him, promising to return shortly but then
The story of Gregor, the protagonist, is a story both of the world of men and of the spirit. As is common for Wiesel, the story is as much about his characters' relationship with God as with other men and the events of the world. Or rather, perhaps we can say that Wiesel tells the story of Jews' relationship with God as it has been shaped and driven by the events of the world, and especially by the Holocaust.
At any rate, the story of Gregor is a gripping one. We share outward and inward struggles to survive and make sense of the world around him, in a tale told partly in real time and in the real world of people and events, and partly in allegory, with more than a touch of Jewish mysticism blended in.
The wonders of human nature, of human perseverance and capitulation in the face of horrors, are explored with a gentle touch, despite the grim realities being portrayed. And in the end, against all odds, this is a love story.
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never reappearing. Soon a mysterious stranger appears, and the journey begins. The story of Gregor, the protagonist, is a story both of the world of men and of the spirit. As is common for Wiesel, the story is as much about his characters' relationship with God as with other men and the events of the world. Or rather, perhaps we can say that Wiesel tells the story of Jews' relationship with God as it has been shaped and driven by the events of the world, and especially by the Holocaust.
At any rate, the story of Gregor is a gripping one. We share outward and inward struggles to survive and make sense of the world around him, in a tale told partly in real time and in the real world of people and events, and partly in allegory, with more than a touch of Jewish mysticism blended in.
The wonders of human nature, of human perseverance and capitulation in the face of horrors, are explored with a gentle touch, despite the grim realities being portrayed. And in the end, against all odds, this is a love story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member raizel
The story about the Baal Shem Tov and successive generations of rabbinic leaders praying in a special place in the forest to save their followers, but each generation forgetting some of the ritual until all that is left is the story is in big letters before the beginning of the story.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1964
ISBN
0805208968 / 9780805208962