- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Viking; First Edition edition (24 Feb 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670887935
- ISBN-13: 978-0670887934
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.4 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 794,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in Chasing Shadows for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Rabbi Hugo Gryn "came clean" in January 1978 by speaking publicly for the first time about his experience of the Holocaust and subsequently spent a year publicly speaking on the subject as though he were a witness on a stand. He was prompted to do so by the whisperings of revisionists who denied the Holocaust--regrettably as prescient a reason still to read this affecting account and those of its ilk. Where the first section is charmingly self-conscious at times, reading as a fascinating insight into pre-war life in Berehovo, a Carpathian town, towards its close the shadow of war has started to fall relentlessly, preparing us for the middle movement of this unfinished symphony. The trainee rabbi's 1951 descriptions of life at the old brick factory, Auschwitz and Lieberose display the scrupulous matter-of-factness of one compelled by catharsis to write but unable to engage: shock, in other words. This is reminiscent of Primo Levi's If This Is A Man, and the recently republished The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman and the effect is all the greater for the literalism. There are moments of dark humour, such as the new arrivals at Auschwitz (including the Gryns) laughing at the "lunatics" they find with shaven heads and grotesquely mismatched clothes, only to realise that these broken people had arrived only a week earlier. And in a moment that chills the reader's blood, who guesses what the unwitting Gryn doesn't, he walks into an extermination chamber building thinking it's a bakery and only survives a mass gassing because a guard points out that he is too old for a "shower". These are survivalist anecdotes, for that quickly became the main activity of those who returned from the camps, who grappled with awful, and often mortal, guilt over their fateful existence. That as a life Chasing Shadows is incomplete matters little; rather, the specific focus of testimonies such as Gryn's retains a relevance and imperative that brooks no indulgence or sentimentality, and thus renders the unbearable readable. This is a moving and worthy testament to an extraordinary man who taught and spoke of beauty and civilisation even after staring hard in the face of evil. --David Vincent
Product Description
The death of Rabbi Hugo Gryn in 1996 was an occasion of great sadness for millions who had enjoyed his contributions to radio 4's "The Moral Maze". Few though knew of the extraordinary life he led before becoming a highly-respected London rabbi. This autobiographical work, written at two different points in his life, separated by four decades, offers a portrait of one of Britain's best-loved spiritual figures and broadcasters.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Hugo Gryn was a simply extraordinary man. After surviving the Holocaust and leaving Gunskirchen weighing just 30kilos as a 14-year old, he went on to lead a life of love and morality and of teaching, without ever preaching the rights or wrongs of man. What comes across as terribly moving is that Hugo suffered some of the greatest wrongs inflicted on man by man and yet rather than lose faith in man, he somehow found it, as he said, crying in a corner, between some boxes in Auschwitz.
This book is eminently more absorbing than that, however. We start in Berehovo, a small town in the Carpathian mountains with a thriving Jewish population. Hugo grows up with his younger brother and his parents and family all around and his story immerses us in his daily life, the Jewish practices that filled it and the community that surrounded it. But the daily life deteriorates as the Hungarians move in and join the Germans on the Eastern front. Hugo's life moves from one of discovery to one without simple freedoms or a simple carefree attitude. In time Hugo comes to Auschwitz, learns of the gas chambers and his brother's fate, sees his mother taken from him and ultimately survives the war by about 2 weeks, only to have his father die in his arms days after liberation. This is, surprisingly, one of the least detailed depictions of the atrocities the Germans inflicted and not less powerful for that. Rather, i believe it was the author's intention to show how his own spirit survived despite these things and that the focus should be on tomorrow and what we have learned and how we can use it, rather than reflecting forever on the past. Which is odd, because the book is entitled 'Chasing Shadows' which is not at all what Hugo's life or this book seem to have been about. Not chasing the shadows but remembering them in detail and preserving them for the next generation and countless ones going forwards to prevent future repetitions of the same. I hope the now deceased Hugo Gryn will feel that his life achieved the aim of teaching and leaving lasting lessons about humanity and morality. I believe anyone that reads this book will feel that it did.
An interesting part of this book is that it includes sections written at various times by the author, the early parts written in reflection and the middle section on the holocaust itself written fairly soon after the event. And various parts are the work of the author's daughter, compiled from his lectures, interviews and thoughts. This lends a certain inconsistency to the book, but also gives it a somewhat intriguing angle. I found some sections of this book so overwhelming that i could not always turn the page, but i am extremely thankful that i did and i suspect most other readers would feel the same. I consider this a very important work.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After reading this book I felt guilty for not knowing and understanding more of the Holocaust.I could not comprehend that human beings could do that to their own neighbours just because of their religious beliefs. It made me feel ashamed for not being of the Jewish faith myself...Despite the heart rendering content I felt compelled to finish it. Not a book for the light hearted bedtime reader!.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
See Beregszasz and weep. My wife's once-beautiful Hungarian Jewish town has been squabbled over by six rulers in a single tragic century. Hugo and Naomi Gryn fill out the details of their 90s film with love and an eye for detail. In May 1944, opposite the cigarette factory where my mother-in-law worked, 14-year old Hugo's family was told that trains would take them to Kecskemet, in Hungary. He found a routing slip. "It was German and it was nailed to the wagon. On it I read:'Auschwitz, Cracow, Presov, Kassa, Csap.'" Buy extra copies of this book for your loved ones.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Understated yet vivid
I have met the author twice and heard him on radio and TV on numerous occasions but felt that I knew him better after reading this. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. D. P. Jay
amazing grace
Its a stirring piece of writing, an important and profoundly moving history, full of a daughters' love but restrained, elegant and skillful to boot . Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. Rowan Somerville
Wonderful book, wonderful man.
This book is a treasure - it brings back to life the voice of the sorely-missed Hugo Gryn, but it is his voice as a young man, and it tells his story as he remembered it all back... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2000
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Europe
- Books > Biography > Historical > Social & Urban History
- Books > Biography > Holocaust
- Books > Biography > Political
- Books > History > Europe > Holocaust
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Multicultural Studies > Jewish Studies
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
