Publication Date:September 2, 2000 Availability:Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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ISBN13: 9780312263768
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Condition: New
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Amazon.com Review Written immediately after the end of World War II, this morally complex Holocaust memoir is notable for its exact depiction of the grim details of life in Warsaw under the Nazi occupation. "Things you hardly noticed before took on enormous significance: a comfortable, solid armchair, the soothing look of a white-tiled stove," writes Wladyslaw Szpilman, a pianist for Polish radio when the Germans invaded. His mother's insistence on laying the table with clean linen for their midday meal, even as conditions for Jews worsened daily, makes palpable the Holocaust's abstract horror. Arbitrarily removed from the transport that took his family to certain death, Szpilman does not deny the "animal fear" that led him to seize this chance for escape, nor does he cheapen his emotions by belaboring them. Yet his cool prose contains plenty of biting rage, mostly buried in scathing asides (a Jewish doctor spared consignment to "the most wonderful of all gas chambers," for example). Szpilman found compassion in unlikely people, including a German officer who brought food and warm clothing to his hiding place during the war's last days. Extracts from the officer's wartime diary (added to this new edition), with their expressions of outrage at his fellow soldiers' behavior, remind us to be wary of general condemnation of any group. --Wendy Smith
Product Description Named one of the Best Books of 1999 by the Los Angeles Times, The Pianist is now a major motion picture directed by Roman Polanski and starring Adrien Brody (Son of Sam). The Pianist won the Cannes Film Festival’s most prestigious prize—the Palme d’Or.
On September 23, 1939, Wladyslaw Szpilman played Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor live on the radio as shells exploded outside—so loudly that he couldn’t hear his piano. It was the last live music broadcast from Warsaw: That day, a German bomb hit the station, and Polish Radio went off the air.
Though he lost his entire family, Szpilman survived in hiding. In the end, his life was saved by a German officer who heard him play the same Chopin Nocturne on a piano found among the rubble. Written immediately after the war and suppressed for decades, The Pianist is a stunning testament to human endurance and the redemptive power of fellow feeling.
SpeechlessMay 27, 2010 EM 0 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's hard to know what to write about this book as it is a story of survival that leaves one speechless. Like many I read the book after seeing the movie twice. It is an amazing testament to man's will to survive.
AP World History Review: An incredible story of survivalMay 16, 2010 I was very impressed with this book. I hadn't read many other books about the Holocaust, and did not know what to expect. I was definitely not expecting this. Szpilman spares no detail when giving account of his survival through Nazi-occupied Warsaw. He tells of terrible "human hunting", starvation, and the hardships of life in a Jewish ghetto, and comes close to death several times throughout the five years Warsaw was occupied by the Germans.
This book is unique in that Szpilman showed there was good and evil on both sides, the Jews and the Germans. Typically when we think of the Holocaust, we view the Germans as evil, and the Jews as the good guys. However, this book challenged traditional thinking. It showed that there was evil on the Jewish side: to save their own lives, many Jews joined the "Jewish Council" and the "Jewish Police" - both groups assisted the Germans in rounding up Jews for concentration camps, and both joined the Germans in abusing and killing other Jews.
On the other hand, this book also showed that there were good people in the German army. Hosenfeld, a German officer, discovered Szpilman hiding in an abandoned building. Rather than turn him in, Hosenfeld hid Szpilman in the attic, and smuggled him food, water, newspapers, and a coat. Hosenfeld says, in his dairy, that "these brutes (the Germans) think we shall win the war. But we have lost the war with this appalling mass murder of the Jews." It is later discovered that Hosenfeld saved not only Szpilman, but a handful of others.
If you enjoy history or adventure, this book is a must-read. I would definitely recommend this book to everybody.
A Remarkable BookFebruary 26, 2010 John Knox The story of this man's life is truly remarkable. He makes history come alive. His word pictures are so realistic you will almost live it yourself.
Angst and Redemption of a Pianist in Nazi PolandJanuary 30, 2010 Ophthalmologist Pianist(Honolulu, HI, US) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the unbelievable true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, who lived in Poland during the Nazi occupation and subsequent annihilation of its Jewish population. His survival amidst incredible brutality and cruelty is an astounding story, told with the objectivity and impassiveness of one determined to survive. I could not put this book down, and was very moved by this story of one man's determination to live amidst Nazi murder and mayhem. It illustrates the horrors of war, hatred and racism vividly, and has an uplifting ending. This is a book not to be missed, a classic for all time.
Incredible!!!!!!!!!!December 29, 2009 Eyes For Change(Seattle, WA) I loved this book and will keep it forever. If you have not read The Pianist, I highly recommend it. Great read for people of all ages.
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