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Праця відомого французького критика та есеїста – глибокий аналіз подій ХХ сторіччя. Автор наголошує на тоталітарних злочинах і намагається пояснити зло, яке стало ознакою сторіччя, що минуло. Насамперед це радянські чи німецькі табори, тоталітарні режими, Друга світова війна. Із осмислення історії Европи та історії власного життя автор виводить моральні висновки, зосереджуючись на дихотомії "мораль" і "сучасність". Уроки минулого, що їх подано у цій книзі, – зростання зла, банальність добра, людські цінності, рідкість праведників – будуть цікаві кожному, хто розгорне і прочитає цю книгу.
Для істориків, політологів, усіх, кого цікавить минуле сторіччя.
Для істориків, політологів, усіх, кого цікавить минуле сторіччя.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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811 people want to read
About the author
Tzvetan Todorov
198 books361 followersIn Bulgarian Цветан Тодоров. Todorov was a Franco-Bulgarian historian, philosopher and literary theoretician. Among his most influential works is his theory on the fantastic, the uncanny and marvellous.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 1, 2022
In a recent discussion thread I had on this site, the subject came up of how people react in extreme circumstances, and that led me to this 1991 book. I hadn’t known anything about the author so wasn’t sure what I would make of it, but it turned to be an excellent choice for me. Todorov considers the moral life of individuals within the context of an extreme environment such as a concentration camp. He examines evidence from both the Nazi camps and the Stalinist Gulag, quoting extensively from memoirs of those who were there. There are probably 2 or 3 books I will read as a result of reading this one.
I don’t read a lot of moral philosophy so I don’t have much to compare this book to, but I was deeply impressed by the author’s clarity of expression and argument. You don’t always encounter that in an academic work. In the English version I read, credit must also go to the translator.
It has commonly been suggested that in the concentration camps, all moral life disappeared as the inmates became locked in a struggle for survival, a view promoted by many of the victims themselves. Primo Levi is quoted as describing “a Hobbesian life… a continuous war of everyone against everyone”. Two prisoners within the Gulag, Varlam Shalamov and Yevgenia Ginzburg, both also suggested that moral life was impossible for prisoners. Whilst agreeing that prisoners’ behaviour was often dominated by the survival instinct, Todorov argues there were also many examples of moral behaviour. He examines the very rare cases of genuinely heroic behaviour amongst prisoners, but then moves onto what he terms “the ordinary virtues”, which he regards as having been more important in the camps. He quotes numerous examples and considers the reasons for such actions. Perhaps the best quote came from Charlotte Delbo,
“Everyone who returned knows that, without the others, she would not have come back. By the others, we meant those members of our group who hold you up, or carry you when you can no longer walk, those who help you hold fast when you are at the end of your rope.”
Todorov goes on to examine the behaviour of the guards and others in charge. He explains that his primary interest is in explaining goodness rather than evil, but that he could not ignore the latter. He looks at various aspects such as depersonalization and the enjoyment of power, as well as that of “fragmentation”, through which those in charge of the camps separated their personal and work lives, to convince themselves that they remained decent people.
In the last section, “Facing Evil”, Todorov considers how best to react to evil. He considers nonviolence, fatalism, resistance, vengeance and justice. One particular aspect to this section is the role of the “onlooker”, the ordinary citizens who were neither fully victims nor fully perpetrators. Any state is sustained by its population, but in a totalitarian state, citizens are also subject to coercion from those in power. Todorov draws here on his own experience as a teenager and young man in Communist ruled Bulgaria, where he lived until he was 24. Somehow or other he made it to France, where he seems to have lived until his death in 2017 at the age of 77.
The above is a really feeble summary of what I thought was an excellent book. Todorov himself mentions Gitta Sereny’s book Into That Darkness, which he rates very highly. He comments that “one can no more summarize Sereny’s book than one can a work of art. One must read it to know what it contains.” Personally I think the comment also applies to this book.
I’ve mentioned in one or two other reviews that I tend towards a Hobbesian view of human nature. Todorov in contrast, is really a devotee of Rousseau. It’s been educational for me to read his arguments.
I don’t read a lot of moral philosophy so I don’t have much to compare this book to, but I was deeply impressed by the author’s clarity of expression and argument. You don’t always encounter that in an academic work. In the English version I read, credit must also go to the translator.
It has commonly been suggested that in the concentration camps, all moral life disappeared as the inmates became locked in a struggle for survival, a view promoted by many of the victims themselves. Primo Levi is quoted as describing “a Hobbesian life… a continuous war of everyone against everyone”. Two prisoners within the Gulag, Varlam Shalamov and Yevgenia Ginzburg, both also suggested that moral life was impossible for prisoners. Whilst agreeing that prisoners’ behaviour was often dominated by the survival instinct, Todorov argues there were also many examples of moral behaviour. He examines the very rare cases of genuinely heroic behaviour amongst prisoners, but then moves onto what he terms “the ordinary virtues”, which he regards as having been more important in the camps. He quotes numerous examples and considers the reasons for such actions. Perhaps the best quote came from Charlotte Delbo,
“Everyone who returned knows that, without the others, she would not have come back. By the others, we meant those members of our group who hold you up, or carry you when you can no longer walk, those who help you hold fast when you are at the end of your rope.”
Todorov goes on to examine the behaviour of the guards and others in charge. He explains that his primary interest is in explaining goodness rather than evil, but that he could not ignore the latter. He looks at various aspects such as depersonalization and the enjoyment of power, as well as that of “fragmentation”, through which those in charge of the camps separated their personal and work lives, to convince themselves that they remained decent people.
In the last section, “Facing Evil”, Todorov considers how best to react to evil. He considers nonviolence, fatalism, resistance, vengeance and justice. One particular aspect to this section is the role of the “onlooker”, the ordinary citizens who were neither fully victims nor fully perpetrators. Any state is sustained by its population, but in a totalitarian state, citizens are also subject to coercion from those in power. Todorov draws here on his own experience as a teenager and young man in Communist ruled Bulgaria, where he lived until he was 24. Somehow or other he made it to France, where he seems to have lived until his death in 2017 at the age of 77.
The above is a really feeble summary of what I thought was an excellent book. Todorov himself mentions Gitta Sereny’s book Into That Darkness, which he rates very highly. He comments that “one can no more summarize Sereny’s book than one can a work of art. One must read it to know what it contains.” Personally I think the comment also applies to this book.
I’ve mentioned in one or two other reviews that I tend towards a Hobbesian view of human nature. Todorov in contrast, is really a devotee of Rousseau. It’s been educational for me to read his arguments.
November 30, 2010
I've collected and read most English language books regarding the Holocaust and various views, and have a number of German and Russian language exclusives as well. This volume is outstanding in presenting in clear, concise terms and voice both through the author's observations and excerpts from other works and memoirs from survivors or inmates, the reality of what not just being in a concentration camp was about, but life for those on the outside. Another thing I appreciated about this book was the fact scholars and even the average reader who are not regular readers of Holocaust works can understand the material presented. Of course it is touching, brutal and heartbreaking, but a must-read.
What was particularly outstanding to me were the parallels I inadvertently gleaned comparing not the leader or direct government of the current USA but the prevailing attitudes that are growing towards "certain" foreigners, and the protection of "certain" rights of the majority who believe somehow their country is being taken away, changed, downgraded because of certain groups of people. It is striking and alarming. An excellent book.
What was particularly outstanding to me were the parallels I inadvertently gleaned comparing not the leader or direct government of the current USA but the prevailing attitudes that are growing towards "certain" foreigners, and the protection of "certain" rights of the majority who believe somehow their country is being taken away, changed, downgraded because of certain groups of people. It is striking and alarming. An excellent book.
Read
August 5, 2011"I thank you, rusty prison grating, And thank you, sharp bayonet blades, For you have given me more wisdom Than learning over long decades."
October 26, 2017
В книгата си "На предела" (българското издание е на "Народна култура" от 1994 г., а преводът е на Виктория Кьосовска и Мария Георгиева; френското издание е от 1991 г.) Цветан Тодоров изследва и анализира етическия аспект на това, което той определя като най-ярък пример за разгръщането на злото през XX век, а именно - концентрационните лагери, плод на тоталитарните идеологии (нацистки и съветски). Тодоров извършва анализа си на база източници от първа ръка, т.е. спомени и творби на оцелели от лагерите или на хората, отговорни за създаването и развитието им. По този начин съвсем умело обхваща "всички гледни точки", както е модерно да се казва, но без, разбира се, да оправдава виновните (единственият му стремеж е да ги разбере).
Цветан Тодоров не абсолютизира, в писането му си личи колко се пази от нещо подобно. В един момент си признава, че този подход му е чужд, защото е невъзможно да знае a priori как би постъпил самият той в описаните от него ситуации и дали би бил на висотата на добродетелите в лагерния живот, за които разказва. Намирам това и за достойната позиция - едно е да съшиеш битието си с високия морал, а съвсем друго е да играеш на морализъм от безопасната дистанция на историята и Цветан Тодоров не се подлъгва да го стори.
В книгата си Тодоров подробно описва различни мрежи от отношения, които се зараждат в лагерите и около тях: власт-подчинение; добродетели-зло; съпротива-примирение; прошка-жажда за мъст; жертвоготовност-егоизъм и много други. Любопитни са препратките, които прави към своята младост на безгрижен студент в тоталитарна България - именно чрез годините си в България Тодоров се опитва да се свърже с разказите в книгата, без да твърди ни най-малко, че е бил жертва на репресия, а напротив - сам заявява, че е бил ням свидетел без реална представа за механизмите на комунистическия апарат.
Мога много да пиша за книгата, но тъй като в мое ляво има бутилка скоч, то просто ще приложа един от многото стойностни пасажи от творбата и насърчавам всеки с интерес към етиката и историята на тоталитарните идеологии (които винаги са опасно близо) да я прочете, а и защото "линията между доброто и злото пресича сърцето на всеки човек" (по Солженицин), то обективният поглед върху тях е твърде важен:
"В края на това преминаване през кръговете на съучастие със злото като че се налага едно малко мрачно заключение: свидетелите – близки и далечни – като цяло не са оказали съпротива (въпреки че могат да бъдат посочени изключения). Те са знаели, можели са да помогнат, но не са го сторили. Винаги е имало и навсякъде са се намирали хора, които са проявявали грижовност към жертвите, но няма съмнение, че по-голямата част от населението е показала безразличие. Малките отклонения, които се проявяват между отделните страни, не са от решаващо значение, въпреки че изглеждат тъкмо такива в очите на онези, които са потърпевши вследствие отхвърлянето от страна на определено население. От тази гледна точка германци и руснаци, поляци и французи, американци и англичани си приличат: всички са допуснали това да се случи. Нещастието на другия ни оставя равнодушни, щом за да го предотвратим, трябва да нарушим спокойствието си.
Всъщност нямаше нужда да стигаме чак до лагерите, за да научим това. Всеки ден около нас се извършват несправедливости и ние не се намесваме, за да ги предотвратим.
Изселването на население от Румъния и България продължава чак до 1989 г. Потомците на преследваните през Втората световна война евреи приемат в страната им да съществуват две категории граждани и едните търпят безнаказаното насилие над другите. Ние се примиряваме с настоящите и бъдещите войни. Свикваме да виждаме около себе си постоянната нищета и да я отминаваме. Привежданите доводи са все същите: не знаех, но дори и да знаех, какво можех да направя. На самите нас също не са ни чужди доброволната слепота и фатализмът. В този смисъл (но единствено в него) тоталитаризмът ни разкрива онова, което при демокрацията остава в сянка: в края на пътя на безразличието и конформизма стоят концентрационните лагери.
Трябва ли поради това всеки да поеме върху себе си нещастията на целия свят и да не го хваща сън, докато някъде съществува и най-малката следа от несправедливост? Естествено, не. Подобна задача е свръхчовешка и ще смаже онзи, който се нагърби с нея, още преди да е сторил и първата крачка. Забравата е нещо тежко, но същевременно и необходимо. Никой освен светецът не би могъл да живее сред пълната истина, отказвайки се от всякакво удобство и разтуха. Ето защо човек може да си постави по-скромна и по-достъпна цел: в мирно време – да се грижи за близките си; но все пак по време на бедствие да намери в себе си сили, за да разшири този кръг отвъд обичайните му граници и да припознае като близки дори онези, чиито лица не познава."
Цветан Тодоров не абсолютизира, в писането му си личи колко се пази от нещо подобно. В един момент си признава, че този подход му е чужд, защото е невъзможно да знае a priori как би постъпил самият той в описаните от него ситуации и дали би бил на висотата на добродетелите в лагерния живот, за които разказва. Намирам това и за достойната позиция - едно е да съшиеш битието си с високия морал, а съвсем друго е да играеш на морализъм от безопасната дистанция на историята и Цветан Тодоров не се подлъгва да го стори.
В книгата си Тодоров подробно описва различни мрежи от отношения, които се зараждат в лагерите и около тях: власт-подчинение; добродетели-зло; съпротива-примирение; прошка-жажда за мъст; жертвоготовност-егоизъм и много други. Любопитни са препратките, които прави към своята младост на безгрижен студент в тоталитарна България - именно чрез годините си в България Тодоров се опитва да се свърже с разказите в книгата, без да твърди ни най-малко, че е бил жертва на репресия, а напротив - сам заявява, че е бил ням свидетел без реална представа за механизмите на комунистическия апарат.
Мога много да пиша за книгата, но тъй като в мое ляво има бутилка скоч, то просто ще приложа един от многото стойностни пасажи от творбата и насърчавам всеки с интерес към етиката и историята на тоталитарните идеологии (които винаги са опасно близо) да я прочете, а и защото "линията между доброто и злото пресича сърцето на всеки човек" (по Солженицин), то обективният поглед върху тях е твърде важен:
"В края на това преминаване през кръговете на съучастие със злото като че се налага едно малко мрачно заключение: свидетелите – близки и далечни – като цяло не са оказали съпротива (въпреки че могат да бъдат посочени изключения). Те са знаели, можели са да помогнат, но не са го сторили. Винаги е имало и навсякъде са се намирали хора, които са проявявали грижовност към жертвите, но няма съмнение, че по-голямата част от населението е показала безразличие. Малките отклонения, които се проявяват между отделните страни, не са от решаващо значение, въпреки че изглеждат тъкмо такива в очите на онези, които са потърпевши вследствие отхвърлянето от страна на определено население. От тази гледна точка германци и руснаци, поляци и французи, американци и англичани си приличат: всички са допуснали това да се случи. Нещастието на другия ни оставя равнодушни, щом за да го предотвратим, трябва да нарушим спокойствието си.
Всъщност нямаше нужда да стигаме чак до лагерите, за да научим това. Всеки ден около нас се извършват несправедливости и ние не се намесваме, за да ги предотвратим.
Изселването на население от Румъния и България продължава чак до 1989 г. Потомците на преследваните през Втората световна война евреи приемат в страната им да съществуват две категории граждани и едните търпят безнаказаното насилие над другите. Ние се примиряваме с настоящите и бъдещите войни. Свикваме да виждаме около себе си постоянната нищета и да я отминаваме. Привежданите доводи са все същите: не знаех, но дори и да знаех, какво можех да направя. На самите нас също не са ни чужди доброволната слепота и фатализмът. В този смисъл (но единствено в него) тоталитаризмът ни разкрива онова, което при демокрацията остава в сянка: в края на пътя на безразличието и конформизма стоят концентрационните лагери.
Трябва ли поради това всеки да поеме върху себе си нещастията на целия свят и да не го хваща сън, докато някъде съществува и най-малката следа от несправедливост? Естествено, не. Подобна задача е свръхчовешка и ще смаже онзи, който се нагърби с нея, още преди да е сторил и първата крачка. Забравата е нещо тежко, но същевременно и необходимо. Никой освен светецът не би могъл да живее сред пълната истина, отказвайки се от всякакво удобство и разтуха. Ето защо човек може да си постави по-скромна и по-достъпна цел: в мирно време – да се грижи за близките си; но все пак по време на бедствие да намери в себе си сили, за да разшири този кръг отвъд обичайните му граници и да припознае като близки дори онези, чиито лица не познава."
July 14, 2021
Ένα πολύτιμο βιβλίο που εισάγει τον αναγνώστη στην ψυχολογία των παραγόντων των στρατοπέδων της ναζιστικής Γερμανίας και της Σοβιετικής Ένωσης. Πλούσιες μαρτυρίες και κειμενικές αναφορές για τους εγκλεί��τους των στρατοπέδων, για τους βασανιστές, για τους επικεφαλής των κατέργων στα οποία συντελέστηκε το χειρότερο έγκλημα κατά της ανθρωπότητας, το Ολοκαύτωμα εναντίον των Εβραίων.
Αρκετά λάθη στο ελληνικό κείμενο.
Αρκετά λάθη στο ελληνικό κείμενο.
September 7, 2018
Facing the Extreme: Moral Life in the Concentration Camps is a study in moral philosophy, primarily concerned with the ideas of good and evil as brought into sharp focus within the concentration camps of Nazi Germany and the gulags of Soviet Russia. It is extremely readable for a book on such a weighty subject.
In looking at the good side, the author considers two kinds of virtues – the heroic and the ordinary.
He notes that the heroic virtues are good, and in some cases necessary, but that they can be misplaced, or that sometimes they are not what is needed. The ordinary virtues are more common. Heroes are rare, but in extreme circumstances, ordinary virtues may be of more help.
The specific ordinary virtues he discusses are dignity, caring, and the life of the mind. He allows that there may be other virtues, but these are the ones he focuses on.
When talking about the evil side, he is hard pressed to find any analogy to the heroic virtues. Most of the concentration camp guards, even those responsible for the most deaths and suffering were just more extreme collections of the ordinary vices. He decides that the most significant factor in the creation of concentration camps is that they are the product of totalitarian governments – never mind what kind of totalitarianism they are.
The ordinary vices – analogous to the ordinary virtues, but not really their opposites – are fragmentation (the disconnection of conduct from conscience), depersonalization, and the enjoyment of power. Once again, this not necessarily an exhaustive list, just the ones the author talks about. The relation between the ordinary virtues and the ordinary vices seems to be that the virtues consider people to be an end in themselves, whereas the vices treat people as only a means.
Both these virtues and these vices are readily to be found in our ordinary lives as well as in concentration camps, and we really need to be more aware and careful to keep ourselves from being overrun by the vices.
He also discusses the idea of justice a little bit – what constitutes justice, and the difference between justice and revenge.
In looking at the good side, the author considers two kinds of virtues – the heroic and the ordinary.
He notes that the heroic virtues are good, and in some cases necessary, but that they can be misplaced, or that sometimes they are not what is needed. The ordinary virtues are more common. Heroes are rare, but in extreme circumstances, ordinary virtues may be of more help.
The specific ordinary virtues he discusses are dignity, caring, and the life of the mind. He allows that there may be other virtues, but these are the ones he focuses on.
When talking about the evil side, he is hard pressed to find any analogy to the heroic virtues. Most of the concentration camp guards, even those responsible for the most deaths and suffering were just more extreme collections of the ordinary vices. He decides that the most significant factor in the creation of concentration camps is that they are the product of totalitarian governments – never mind what kind of totalitarianism they are.
The ordinary vices – analogous to the ordinary virtues, but not really their opposites – are fragmentation (the disconnection of conduct from conscience), depersonalization, and the enjoyment of power. Once again, this not necessarily an exhaustive list, just the ones the author talks about. The relation between the ordinary virtues and the ordinary vices seems to be that the virtues consider people to be an end in themselves, whereas the vices treat people as only a means.
Both these virtues and these vices are readily to be found in our ordinary lives as well as in concentration camps, and we really need to be more aware and careful to keep ourselves from being overrun by the vices.
He also discusses the idea of justice a little bit – what constitutes justice, and the difference between justice and revenge.
April 7, 2018
Povinná literatúra namiesto ohraných báchoriek z biblických čias.
Špeciálne kapitola o rozparcelovaní života na súkromné a verejné, ktoré umožňuje človeku v jeden moment vykonať najkrutejšie zverstvo a v druhom sa dojímať pre maličkosť, cez deň poslať na smrť desiatky ľudí a večer písať láskyplné dopisy rodičom alebo rodine. Pozor, toto nie je zďaleka len o dozorcoch z 2.sv. ale o nás všetkých, o politikoch, ktorí veria, že veria, majú o sebe pekný sebaobraz, kradnú "pre rodinu" a v luxusných autách derú rozbité verejné cesty a nadávajú aká je to Slovensko len diera. Takto sa robí živá mikro-sociológia bežného a hraničného s univerzálnym a morálnym dosahom.
Špeciálne kapitola o rozparcelovaní života na súkromné a verejné, ktoré umožňuje človeku v jeden moment vykonať najkrutejšie zverstvo a v druhom sa dojímať pre maličkosť, cez deň poslať na smrť desiatky ľudí a večer písať láskyplné dopisy rodičom alebo rodine. Pozor, toto nie je zďaleka len o dozorcoch z 2.sv. ale o nás všetkých, o politikoch, ktorí veria, že veria, majú o sebe pekný sebaobraz, kradnú "pre rodinu" a v luxusných autách derú rozbité verejné cesty a nadávajú aká je to Slovensko len diera. Takto sa robí živá mikro-sociológia bežného a hraničného s univerzálnym a morálnym dosahom.
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October 8, 2021"In one of his major works, Facing the Extreme, Todorov asks whether it is true the Nazi concentration camps and the Soviet Gulags revealed that in extreme situations 'all traces of moral life evaporate as men become beasts locked in a merciless struggle for survival' (31–46). That opinion is commonplace of popularized accounts of the camps, and also appears in accounts of survivors themselves." (Wikipedia)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2022
Superb analysis and an interesting and relatively easy read. The breadth of his work and research makes it worthwhile. Sometimes I thought he got caught up in too much distinction and it was slightly repetitive at the end but well worth checking out.
November 15, 2018
"o que me interessa aqui não é o totalitarismo em si, mas sua ação sobre a conduta moral dos indivíduos".
July 8, 2025
Asi jsem čekala více než jen shrnutí prózy o holocaustu.
November 27, 2013
Les régimes totalitaires, l'extrême institutionnalisé, l'Homme face à l'extrême mais l'Homme face à lui même aussi. Todorov procède dans cette étude à une autopsie de l'expérience humaine de tous les acteurs des camps totalitaires. Il y invite nos sociétés à une reconsidération profonde de la conception et de la perception moderne de la morale à la lumière de cette mise à l'épreuve des valeurs humaines face à l'extrême quotidien et face à l'extrême exceptionnel.
Cette enquête narrative comme la décrit son auteur, a su délicatement s'éloigner de la théorisation dépersonnalisante et éviter surtout toute conception manichéenne des différents épisodes de cet épineux chapitre de l'Histoire. Nous y rencontrons le fascisme, comme système politique totalitaire, s'exprimant à visage découvert dans les camps nazi et soviétiques mais aussi le fascisme comme conception non assumée des rapports avec l'Autre, le fascisme masqué, fleurissant sous d'autres formes, par d'autres moyens et par d'autres acteurs. Cela est vrai au temps immédiat de l'après-camps, aux dépends des fascistes eux même, mais aussi aux temps modernes.
"Face à l'extrême" est un livre qui a su être à l'hauteur de son titre.
Cette enquête narrative comme la décrit son auteur, a su délicatement s'éloigner de la théorisation dépersonnalisante et éviter surtout toute conception manichéenne des différents épisodes de cet épineux chapitre de l'Histoire. Nous y rencontrons le fascisme, comme système politique totalitaire, s'exprimant à visage découvert dans les camps nazi et soviétiques mais aussi le fascisme comme conception non assumée des rapports avec l'Autre, le fascisme masqué, fleurissant sous d'autres formes, par d'autres moyens et par d'autres acteurs. Cela est vrai au temps immédiat de l'après-camps, aux dépends des fascistes eux même, mais aussi aux temps modernes.
"Face à l'extrême" est un livre qui a su être à l'hauteur de son titre.
February 14, 2010
this book deserves a lengthy review but won't get one from me at this moment. Hence, I won't pick at it too harshly either. Suffice it to say that this book is written in the spirit of academic criticism, and is prone to all the pitfalls of the genre, including smugness and the privileging of certain categories of experience over others. The author uses Elie Wiesel as an authority!
On the flip side, the book is a worthwhile read because of the subject it tackles, moral life, and the skill and insight it brings to it. If anything, the blind spots in it can help illuminate one's position.
On the flip side, the book is a worthwhile read because of the subject it tackles, moral life, and the skill and insight it brings to it. If anything, the blind spots in it can help illuminate one's position.
June 1, 2007
Fantastic book. Todorov has a tremendously inquisitive mind, and he here inquires into how moral life was able to endure within the Nazi concentration camps. Moreover, what implications does the fact of the Holocaust have for morals writ large? Can they still exist after the horrors of the 20th century? If you're at all interested in any of these ideas, Todorov is a fascinating read.
August 3, 2015
Superb - and (like most of the book's I've reviewed here to date) one that I return to on a regular basis.
Tzvetan Todorov tackles the worst of human experiences with deceptive ease in a bid to explain why we as a species behave as we do. A very powerful book indeed.
Tzvetan Todorov tackles the worst of human experiences with deceptive ease in a bid to explain why we as a species behave as we do. A very powerful book indeed.
October 21, 2009
Todorov used accounts of people who were in Nazi concentration camps and Soviet Gulags to explore morality and the effects of totalitarianism upon people. He explores heros, dignity, caring upon people put into extreme situations. Its a worthwhile read.
March 31, 2011
AN intense read. I had to take a break from it for a few days. A massive work. I disagree on some definitions which are key, but I never found his arguments for those definitions uncompelling or unworthy of my consideration.
March 21, 2024
Una vista diferente sobre ese evento "histórico" del fenómeno nazi y sus "fábricas" para la guerra.
Y digo "histórico" porque en MUCHAS partes pareciera estar describiendo los sistemas que nos rigen aún hoy en día y de los cuales nos ufanamos.
Y digo "histórico" porque en MUCHAS partes pareciera estar describiendo los sistemas que nos rigen aún hoy en día y de los cuales nos ufanamos.
January 7, 2008
Todorov at his best! A clear, thoughtful investigation into what it means to act morally in the living hell of the concentration camps.
May 18, 2008
This is a great book that gives good and bad side of probably the most tragic event in our century. It helped me deal with knowledge of all the terrible things that happened during the holocaust
July 31, 2012
Academic
June 17, 2013
One of the most fascinating reads I've ever picked up. Probes the human psyche in a powerful way.
December 14, 2014
One of those life-altering books for me. EXCELLENT BOOK.
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