Schindler's List (by Thomas Keneally)

This book is a compelling read; obviously the story of Oskar Schindler is an important and riveting one. And it's pretty well-written. But I wouldn't say it's a literary masterpiece, for two main reasons. The first is that I think it could have delved a little deeper. Maybe this is because I am reading the incredibly meticulous Alexander Hamilton right now, but with so many characters and stories to unravel, I would have liked a thicker book.

The second reason is somewhat related, because I would have liked an epilogue. There are people whose fates the reader never learns. Sure, you assume "well, then they were killed by Nazis." But it's frustrating not to know how or when, when the author certainly had that information. I am sure there are plenty of Holocaust stories of people where nobody ever know what became of them. I don't think that needs to be manufactured by sloppy reportage.

It makes me feel like a terrible person to be hard on a Holocaust book. Let me be clear that it's absolutely worth reading, and compelling, and vivid, and overall well done. It's just that I expected more, that's all.

Also, after eleven years of procrastinating, finishing the book finally gave me the guts to watch the movie. (I have rented that movie so many times, and then been unable to bring myself to watch it.) I liked the film better than the book because it moved me more, and because there were fewer loose ends. For instance, the book dropped the ball on one person who I assumed was dead, and there she was at the end of the movie, putting stones on Schindler's grave. (Oh Spielberg, you do know how to bring on the tears.)

"Even the graffiti on the walls--'KEEP THE JEWS OUT OF BRINNLITZ'--looked strangely prewar to them. They had been living in a world where their very breath was begrudged. It seemed almost endearingly naive for the people of Zwittau to begrudge them a mere location." (Page 302)