Hasen

by Reuben Bercovitch

The primitive life of two Jewish orphans, who survive in a forest bordering a concentration camp by trapping and shooting for the commandant's personal feasts, is jeopardized when they spot the younger boy's brother in the latest group of prisoners

Genres: Fiction

142 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Came across this in a remainder pile and finally got the chance to read it. Sorry to see so few reviews and hoping this one will bring it more attention. Anyone who reads literary fiction, WW II novels, will appreciate this little gem. It reminds me of Visitation. Bercovitch has his own writing style. At times I had to reread sentences. They are thick with alliteration and unique vocabulary. There were times I felt I did not need to know the names of each type of fauna, but still, I could not help but be entranced by his ability to create a wallow in the woods where his two main characters, two boys, hide from Nazis.

It's a brutal and beautiful coming of age story, and their friendship is at the core of their survival. Of course the relationship is tested. And it's up to the reader to decide if it survives intact. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it kept me from giving this a 5. I still feel this is a very special book and hope more Goodreads readers pick it up. There are many Holocaust novels, but this one adds something unique and important.

[Edward Champion · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Ruben Bercovitch gets big points for his disturbing juxtaposition of Nazism in a state of nature. The problem here is that Perchik and Ritter are just too banal to rise beyond the "high concept" premise here. Their dialogue essentially entails one-note meditations on forests and women who are ripe for the plucking. Yeah, anyone who has studied the Holocaust is aware that Germans and Jewish people alike often gravitated to banality in order to survive. But aside from the atmosphere, what new element does Bercovitch bring to the table? The answer is nicht so sehr.

[Godine Publisher & Black Sparrow Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A powerful, disturbing, unsettling piece of work. It holds one throughout."
— Irving Howe

"Hasen is the most original approach to aspects of the holocaust that I have seen... a grim, powerful fable. No one who reads it is likely to forget it soon."
— Edmund Fuller, The Wall Street Journal

"... this beautifully structured, exquisitely written little book is one of the most haunting and harrowing fictional experiences in many years—a Lord of the Flies concentration camp warfare that is both cynical and uplifting."
— The Chicago Daily News