What's spectacular about this book is not the freakishly amazing research the author put in, or the dedication to inhabit the shoes of the dead, or the chiasmic way he tells the story - from both the beginning, middle, and end. No, what's spectacular is that he mostly likely - after a half century of the dead-in-the-water-ness of literally the coldest case ever, he actually, finally, at the end, most likely solves the case! He didn't know he'd do that going in! Then he re-paints the picture of what happened to put a final, super-convincing bow on it all, and the whole experience is rather satisfying - especially because he fools you, with some meandering, into thinking he won't get to the bottom of it all. There are few books out there with such a payoff, which is why this is such fantastic reading.
Stephen King recommended this book, and I do whatever the master says.
This book was SO New York, SO chaos, SO street, all of which I grew up with, and am super-familiar with, and can vouch for all the grit on display.
The author could not be more real, and the characters could not be more compelling and fully-fleshed, and the plot was geniously composed.
Highly satisfying and what-happens-next, from beginning to end. If this is not a movie within the next 5 years, then Hollywood isn't looking in the right corners. I'm first in line.
What a find this is for an author looking for a good story. I would have run with this had I come across it. As would you. The story calls attention to itself and begs to be told.
Elmhirst gets into the bones of all the human personalities, as a complete aside to the astonishing survival story she tells. It basically reads like Life of Pi, but Richard Parker is a human husband.
There is only one minor flaw, that can easily be corrected, with no editing staff necessary: maps, please!
Benzion Malik was on a path of discovery. He was keen to learn about everything in life through the teachings of his faith and only something cataclysmic could throw him off this course. In 1939, the 21-year-old Benzion was called up to the Romanian Army. Little did he know that he would not be a free man until 1945.
During six long years, Benzion served in three further armies. He was forced into hard labor and was constantly abused because of his Jewishness by the Hungarian army. He was then made to serve the German army which simply needed disposable bodies to be targets for Soviet bullets. Finally, the Soviet army needed young men like Benzion to help with the effort to fight the Nazis.
None of these acts of service and servitude were easy. Benzion was in a continuous dance with death but clung to life through the goodness of strangers. When WWII was over, Benzion had to make the 2,600-kilometer walk home and narrowly escaped being poisoned to death by mushroom soup. At home he was confronted with the ruins of his family, community, and people. Yet, he was not defeated.
Lovingly written by his grandson, this book provides an account of a man’s resilience to not give up on the world after extreme destruction, but instead to help rebuild a community and practice Tikkun Olam - Repairing of the World - by believing in cosmic justice and leaving an imprint on his family, friends, and strangers for generations.
