The Bus

by Adam Pottle, Suzanne Elise Freeman (Narrator), Aaron Shedlock (Narrator)

*Running Time => 3hrs. and 32mins.*

Detailing a six-hour window on April 21, 1941, The Bus features eight different narrators: six mental patients, the doctor who will kill them, and the man who will burn their corpses. Crammed into a bus with thirty-five others and unable to see out the painted windows, the patients are transferred from the Scheuern institution to the Nazi euthanasia clinic in Hadamar, Germany.

*CONTAINS MATURE THEMES.*

©2016 Adam Pottle (P)2021 Tantor

Genres: Fiction

4 pages, Audible Audio

First published November 21, 2016

About the author

Adam Pottle's work spans multiple genres, from fiction and poetry to drama and creative nonfiction. His books include the novel Mantis Dreams, the novella The Bus, the memoir Voice, and the poetry collection Beautiful Mutants.

Reviews

[Jim Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Third Reich had a policy of mercy killing those deemed "incurables" such as the mental patients Nadja, Frederich, Sebastian, Leopold, Emmerich and Judith, all passengers unknowingly on their way to be gassed in a "shower room", then cremated. The other two narrators are Michael the doctor and Ewald, the crematorium attendant.
The Bus was awarded the 2016 Ken Klonsky Novella award and with good reason. Mr Pottle has captured the individual torments of each character so impressively that, within a mere 150 pages, they are all quite distinct and we have come not only to understand their mental state but sympathise with them. Michael laments that instead of killing these patients, they could be studied, observed in the name of medical science. This is not why he became a doctor for the Reich. Deftly captured too is the overwhelming claustrophobic environment of the bus itself: windows all painted over, no washroom facilities, no food or water for the patients and the smells begin to mount, layer upon layer of sweat, urine, even the pools of blood from a patient who accidentally dies on the trip, the guards refusing to remove his corpse. Sebastian complains to one of the nurses on board the bus:
"We're not prisoners. You can't treat us like this. This bus is an abomination. We haven't been given water or food. We can hardly breathe in here. It's like a coffin."
Stark, shocking and succinctly written, The Bus will leave you questioning once again man's incomprehensible inhumanity to man.

[Danielle (Danni) Vinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway held by the author, and I'm so happy that I did because I may not have found it on my own. The story is set in Germany, and is told from the perspective of "six mental patients" on a bus headed to a euthanasia clinic, "the doctor who will kill them, and the man who will burn their corpses". It is devastating, heart-wrenching, maddening, shocking, and so very real. When I was finished reading, I sat very still and raged against the ugliness so vividly, and personally portrayed in this short, but powerful book. The atrocities committed against mankind, by mankind itself, are incomprehensible. Very highly recommended.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pottle's story of a bus-load of "patients" bound for the gas chamber is filled with arresting turns of phrase and beautiful language.This novel is innovative, yet accessible. It's harrowing, yet humanizing.
Not an easy read, but absolutely worthwhile.

After reading this, I realized that quite a few of my extended family members would have been candidates for the gas chamber under the Nazi regime. Probably every family.

[Jared Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a disturbing read this was. It was difficult to put down, even though it was horrific. The depictions of mental illness are so real and make you truly feel pity for the 6 protagonists that are patients. The depictions of death and that bus make your skin crawl. It is beautifully written- but I don’t think I’ll read this one again for awhile. I loved this book but man will it haunt me.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times a difficult read for its honest depictions of Nazi-era eugenics practices. Difficult to read in part because of the contemporary echoes. Not for the faint of heart, but worth the read. Beautifully captured. Pottle is a gifted writer.

[Carla Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a historical novel with a story that’s long needed to be told of eugenics buried in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. What makes the book so outstanding is the varying perspectives and that gradually become more clear.

[Patrick Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy smokes. This is bleak as hell but rarely has a writer done so much in such a short block of text.

[David Morin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. It really opened my eyes to more of the atrocities performed during the Second World War. The author did an excellent job of putting the reader into the minds of eight very different people, sharing their experiences and their lives.