Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lies and Hope during the Holocaust, 11 Nov 1998
By A Customer
The role of "fiction" in the midst of horror so stark it cannot be endured: this is the central premise of Jurek Becker's holocaust novel Jacob the Liar. Jacob Haym, a prisoner in a Jewish ghetto toward the end of World War Two, is mistakenly caught out after curfew, and ordered to the camp office. While there, he overhears a radio report that the Russian army is nearby; amazingly, the camp officials allow him to return to the ghetto. When he tells the others what he has heard -- that salvation is perhaps 300 miles away -- no one believes him until he makes up the lie that he has a secret radio (Possession of a radio by ghetto inhabitants was a serious infraction, punishable by death). This single ray of hope, though, is not enough for his neighbors and co-workers; since Jacob has a radio, surely he can give them more frequent updates. Hence, Jacob becomes a "liar", inventing radio reports of the war coming ever closer to the camp, and with its approach the promise of salvation. The role of hope in the midst of seeming hopelessness is central to Becker's stark novel. Jacob tries to "give up" his lies several times, but discovers that the community has come to depend on him. With the advent of his radio reports, suicides in the ghetto have stopped. A different "spirit" is in the community. If Jacob stops his wholly fictionalized "radio" reports, the former hopelessness would return. What is better: a pleasant lie or unblinking verity? Becker's novel does not make for happy reading. Hope, in the end, was a chimera. Nonetheless, this is a magnificent book, and worthy of wide readership. Becker's characters -- every one of them -- is fully drawn, and believable. One truly feels Jacob's dilemma, and his absolute frustration with the role of "sage" he has unwittingly thrust upon himself. The book jacket indicates the book has been made into a movie -- I will be looking for the film at our local video store.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Everyone should read this book!, 1 May 2001
By A Customer
It has been argued that the events of the Shoah were too horrific to ever be portrayed in literature or the arts, yet Jurek Becker's first novel manages to acheive just that. Based on a true story Becker was told by his father, 'Jakob the Liar' is the tale of Jew living in a ghetto who risks his own life to inspire others with hope and the will to live. By pretending he owns a radio - an offence punishable by death in the ghetto - Jakob supplies his fellow prisoners with 'news' from around the world, encouraging them to believe that the Russian army is advancing and that they will be liberated. A major attraction of the novel is Becker's inimitable style, characterised by irony and gentle humour, making the story all the more poignant. Importantly, Becker neither demonises his German characters nor glorifies the Jews, creating a colourful, realistic cast with which the reader can easily identify. And as the novel moves towards its inevitable end, the Jews meeting the fate Jakob hoped to save them from, the reader is left with mixed emotions of rage and mourning for the characters and all that they represent.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly amazing read., 20 Jul 1999
By A Customer
This has to be one of the best books I have read. I just couldn't put it down. The story of an ordinary man living the typical ghetto life is interesting enough but when you add that he becomes burdened with keeping up the hopes of the people, while risking his own life, it makes the whole thing more worthwhile.
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