I finished listening to Schindler’s List. I’m glad I listened to this book. For me, though, the narrative method of telling this story combined with the actual narrator made it hard for me to follow. Some of the trouble was also my unfamiliarity with all the German and Jewish names, which is to be expected. So I stopped struggling to sort everything out as if I would be tested on it, and just listened. That helped a lot, and I was able to get what I would call the gist of it. And I think a second listen in the not too distant future will help me get all that I missed. The author specifically chose this method of telling the story to keep to the facts of his research material, which I fully understand and respect.

As for my opinion, it’s a powerful piece of writing that captures some interesting, horrible and sometimes heroic accounts of what happened during and around the Holocaust. The facts are out there for anyone who wants them. What really intrigued me is trying to understand human nature. I think a lot of us writers have the drive. And there was so much packed into this book about humanity in all it’s variations. How easily will people sink into the black pit of hatred of a race deemed a common enemy? How far will a single person go to save those target as the enemy? That last one is an age old question, and one that Oscar Schindler answered for himself and history. One very flawed, and yet, beautiful human saved many, many lives. He was amazing in those moments.

The book also looked at his flaws. I don’t care. When evil took over, Schindler rose up to fight it with his charm and canniness, his money, his willingness to gamble and take huge, dangerous risks. He loved the people others hated and scapegoated for their problems. Schindler was as human as any of us, but in the heat of fear and war when characters are reveal, he showed his heroism.

I may watch the movie someday. We’ll see.

What are you reading?