2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally.

Pages: 429 pages

Length: 1 month (July)

Participants: Beth, TerryJane

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

I'm glad you suggested this one, Beth. It's been on my TBR for a while.

Same! I don't even know for how long I've owned the book. When do you think you'll start? With other books I'm reading, I'll probably be late next week getting into it.

I can read it any time. Late next week is fine with me.

I'm starting, Beth,

Starting tonight.

Actually, I didn't start last night. I started tonight.

Wow! What an amazing story of an unlikely hero. Proof positive that one shouldn't judge others based on labels.

(view spoiler)[Strange that he went from a life of chasing money and women to spending all his wealth on saving his Jews who, in turn, later took care of him.

I was not fond of Keneally's writing style. It is categorized as fiction, but for me, it read more like a textbook. It took some extra time for me to complete it, partly because of the writing, and partly because of my detours to the internet to look up stuff along the way.

I need to go back and re-watch the movie now. It's been ages since I saw it. This may be a rare case where the movie is better than the book. 🤔 (hide spoiler)]

Goal is to finish today. Really enjoying the book.

As you say, TerryJane, what I'm enjoying most is that we do not have a falsely polished hero here... Schindler is flawed, and yet he still maintains his humanity in the midst of evil and horror.

And I agree I will likely go in for a movie rewatch. It has been a minute since I've seen it. Ralph Fiennes as Amon Göth was incredible.

Good point, too about the writing style. In the edition I have, the author includes an introduction in which he says, "The relationship between fiction and reality is fascinating. But in no other book of mine is there such a stress on reality, and on the reality of what is in the text. And so we have a sort of documentary novel here, a writing using something of the tone of a novel to tell a researched story." That called to mind Capote's writing of In Cold Blood, often classified as a "non fiction novel."

Beth wrote: "Schindler is flawed, and yet he still maintains his humanity in the midst of evil and horror."

Well said, Beth.

Finished. Very happy I finally read this book. Thanks for reading with me, TerryJane!

Just finished the film. I am a sobbing mess and exhausted. What a movie.

Beth wrote: "Just finished the film. I am a sobbing mess and exhausted. What a movie."

Oh, my! I haven't searched for it yet, but here you go. *passes the tissue box to Beth*