Jewish Book Club discussion

Here's the discussion for The Living and the Lost.
Hope it's as good as it sounds. What did you think?

This book was a different take on the Holocaust. Centering on characters that had survived the war, the story begins after the conclusion. Post war Germany was a place to come to heal, find answers and build a future. The scars that were left on a generation are shown here. Surviving is not always enough. Guilt for surviving is real. Learning how to go on living is not that easy.

The people that you meet here in the US Denazification office in Berlin, Americans, formerly from Berlin, are struggling to hide the hypocrisy of all members of society that say they were not Nazis really, hiding the truth from themselves and others.
Hatred did not die with the war, it fanned the flames. Revenge is sought for whole families wiped out, Berliners still believing the German way is superior to US or British ways. This simmers below the surface of all. Learning how to retain your humanity in hell is how you keep from getting lost.

Kszr wrote: "This book was a different take on the Holocaust. Centering on characters that had survived the war, the story begins after the conclusion. Post war Germany was a place to come to heal, find answers..."

Im glad you liked this one. Love your thoughts,.
The the last line you wrote strikes a completely different chord in my heart. Now I have to read this. Thank you for commenting on this book.

I read this one and I rated it 3 stars or C-.
I liked the setting of post war, Berlin. I liked the themes of survival guilt, revenge, and forgiveness. I thought the characters were okay but could have benefited from more interior development. I did not feel the sexual content added to the story and less is better than too much. It's the first book I've read by the author. I have to say I liked Pavel's Letters by Monika Maron better.

Kristel wrote: "I read this one and I rated it 3 stars or C-.
I liked the setting of post war, Berlin. I liked the themes of survival guilt, revenge, and forgiveness. I thought the characters were okay but could h..."

Thanks, Kristel. I hope I can get to this one, particularly because I read Ian Buruma's Year Zero, about the year 1945. Sorry it was not as much to your liking as it might have been. Forewarned is forearmed!