Fateless
15 journalers for this copy...
From Publishers Weekly
Kertesz ( Kaddish for an Unborn Child ), who, as a youth, spent a year as a prisoner in Auschwitz, has crafted a superb, haunting novel that follows Gyorgy Koves, a 14-year old Hungarian Jew, during the year he is imprisoned in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Fighting to retain his equilibrium when his world turns upside down, Gyorgy rationalizes that certain events are "probably natural" or "probably a mistake." Gradual starvation and what he experiences as grinding boredom become a way of life for him, yet Gyorgy describes both Buchenwald and its guards as "beautiful"; as he asks "who can judge what is possible or believable in a concentration camp?" Gyorgy also comes to a sense of himself as a Jew. At first, he experiences a strong distaste for the Jewish-looking prisoners; he doesn't know Hebrew (for talking to God) or Yiddish (for talking to other Jews). Fellow inmates even claim Gyorgy is "no Jew," and make him feel he isn't "entirely okay." Kertesz's spare, understated prose and the almost ironic perspective of Gyorgy, limited both by his youth and his inability to perceive the enormity of what he is caught up in, give the novel an intensity that will make it difficult to forget. One learns something of concentration camp life here, even while becoming convinced that one cannot understand that life at all--not the way Kertesz does.
This is also No. 329 on the 1001 books you must read before you die list.
Kertesz ( Kaddish for an Unborn Child ), who, as a youth, spent a year as a prisoner in Auschwitz, has crafted a superb, haunting novel that follows Gyorgy Koves, a 14-year old Hungarian Jew, during the year he is imprisoned in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Fighting to retain his equilibrium when his world turns upside down, Gyorgy rationalizes that certain events are "probably natural" or "probably a mistake." Gradual starvation and what he experiences as grinding boredom become a way of life for him, yet Gyorgy describes both Buchenwald and its guards as "beautiful"; as he asks "who can judge what is possible or believable in a concentration camp?" Gyorgy also comes to a sense of himself as a Jew. At first, he experiences a strong distaste for the Jewish-looking prisoners; he doesn't know Hebrew (for talking to God) or Yiddish (for talking to other Jews). Fellow inmates even claim Gyorgy is "no Jew," and make him feel he isn't "entirely okay." Kertesz's spare, understated prose and the almost ironic perspective of Gyorgy, limited both by his youth and his inability to perceive the enormity of what he is caught up in, give the novel an intensity that will make it difficult to forget. One learns something of concentration camp life here, even while becoming convinced that one cannot understand that life at all--not the way Kertesz does.
This is also No. 329 on the 1001 books you must read before you die list.
Journal Entry 3 by 
perryfran
at Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, January 23, 2010
perryfran at Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, January 23, 2010
Released 14 yrs ago (1/23/2010 UTC) at Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
On its way to Ciloma in Idaho to start this ring.. Enjoy!
USPS DC# 0309 1830 0000 8454 9561
On its way to Ciloma in Idaho to start this ring.. Enjoy!
USPS DC# 0309 1830 0000 8454 9561
This arrived in the mail today. A couple of days to finish the one I'm in and I'll get this one started. Thanx for sponsoring the ring!
Wow. I am not sure what to say about this one. It definitely kept me entranced more than the last book I read. Such a narrative. I don't think I've ever read one quite like this. I really liked the presentation and the elegance of the writing. One review used subtlety - that is a good description.
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
On its way to debnance.
On its way to debnance.
This book arrived today. I have fifty pages left in The Spare Room and then I'll be on to this book.
Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you for sharing it!
My online bookgroup read this book a few weeks back, but I couldn’t put my hands on a copy in time. Then I received the offer to join a bookring for it at BookCrossing.
The setting, a concentration camp during World War II, and the main character, a Jewish boy, have been done many times, but never quite this way. Our main character, George Koves, has a strangely detached point of view during the time he spent in the camp. Though he almost starves to death at times and is beaten and sees others put to death, Koves finds solace in the experience. His experiences are related philosophically, as if he is trying to get to the deepest truths.
The setting, a concentration camp during World War II, and the main character, a Jewish boy, have been done many times, but never quite this way. Our main character, George Koves, has a strangely detached point of view during the time he spent in the camp. Though he almost starves to death at times and is beaten and sees others put to death, Koves finds solace in the experience. His experiences are related philosophically, as if he is trying to get to the deepest truths.
Journal Entry 9 by debnance at Postal Release in -- Mail, by hand, rings, RABCks etc, Texas USA on Saturday, February 27, 2010
Released 14 yrs ago (2/27/2010 UTC) at Postal Release in -- Mail, by hand, rings, RABCks etc, Texas USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Off to the next reader in the ring!
Off to the next reader in the ring!
Received today in the mail, will post back with my review when finished.
This story is told by a 14 year old boy in such a detached manner deviod of emotion that it draws you into the story unlike others covering the same material. I had never heard to this book or author before but enjoyed the book.
Waiting for address of the next person, will be off then.
Waiting for address of the next person, will be off then.
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Off to the next person in the ring!
Off to the next person in the ring!
It's here! I'm a bit backlogged on bookrings at the moment so I hope it's okay if I take about six weeks with it. By then I'll be back in Oz, which will be perfect for sending on to NZ afterwards.
Thanks, svoight, for sending on.
Thanks, svoight, for sending on.
It doesn't seem to matter how many books on the Holocaust I read- I still find them riveting and un-put-down-able. Fateless is one of these- a step-by-step reconstruction, from first principles, of the rationality and irrationality in the extremity of the human condition in a place of great suffering.
Sometimes I just want to thank the author for having written a work that adds to the sum total of humanity's wisdom. This is one of those occasions.
Sometimes I just want to thank the author for having written a work that adds to the sum total of humanity's wisdom. This is one of those occasions.
Received this book in the post a couple of weeks ago - just getting to read it now - looking forward to it. Thanks
Didn't enjoy this book as much as I expected to, I think it was because of the rather distant way in which events were described by the main character. However it is now ready to make its trip back to Australia
Arrived in today's mail - the first book in my mailbox at my new address! Thank you libragirl, and perryfran, as always, for sharing your books.
Finished this one in the early hours of the morning... then couldn't get back to sleep. Brilliant, tragic, haunting.
Heading off to bookowl1000 in Monday's mail.
Heading off to bookowl1000 in Monday's mail.
The book has arrived safely here in the Wye Valley. I am in the middle of a book, but as it is not a ring/ray I will start this one immediately.
George certainly do shave a pragmatic approach to what happens to him. At the start it is almost as if he does not consider himself to be a part of it. I was intrigued by how on his arrival at his first concentration he views those prisoners helping to unload the train to be criminals, having no idea that he is destined to be just like them; it does not even enter his head that they could be there for no other reason than who they are. What is amazing is that even though they are all being tortured in the same way, he is considered to not really be a Jew by many of the other prisoners.
This book gives a different view to life in a concentration camp than any other holocaust book that I have read. I have not come across such descriptions of ‘hospital’ treatment before. It also does reaffirm that Jews were not the only ones to be persecuted in this way.
Thanks for sharing. I have received the next address from kingfan30 so the book will be going into the post first thing in the morning.
This book gives a different view to life in a concentration camp than any other holocaust book that I have read. I have not come across such descriptions of ‘hospital’ treatment before. It also does reaffirm that Jews were not the only ones to be persecuted in this way.
Thanks for sharing. I have received the next address from kingfan30 so the book will be going into the post first thing in the morning.
Journal Entry 21 by 
AnonymousFinder
at Corby Glen, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Monday, September 6, 2010
AnonymousFinder at Corby Glen, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Monday, September 6, 2010
Book arrived safe and sound, will get to it as soon as I can x
Journal Entry 22 by kingfan30 at Corby Glen, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Monday, September 6, 2010
Sorry that last entry was me, for some reason the computer logged me out!
22 Oct 10 - thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book it jest kept on drawing me in. A friend if mine has recently been to visit Auschwitz and showed me her photos a couple of weeks ago and this really helped me picture the surroundings that were being described in the book. The conditions were really shocking although I found the way the writer told it very unusual. My next book is also going to shovelmonkey1 and is also quite small so will get that read and will post them together.
22 Oct 10 - thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book it jest kept on drawing me in. A friend if mine has recently been to visit Auschwitz and showed me her photos a couple of weeks ago and this really helped me picture the surroundings that were being described in the book. The conditions were really shocking although I found the way the writer told it very unusual. My next book is also going to shovelmonkey1 and is also quite small so will get that read and will post them together.
Released 13 yrs ago (10/27/2010 UTC) at Bourne, Lincolnshire United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
On its way to shovelmonkey1
Journal Entry 24 by AnonymousFinder at Liverpool, Merseyside United Kingdom on Friday, October 29, 2010
AnonymousFinder at Liverpool, Merseyside United Kingdom on Friday, October 29, 2010
Arrived safe and well today - looks good! Thanks to perryfran for starting this bookring and to kingfan30 for sending it on to me. It will be travelling again soon.
Journal Entry 25 by shovelmonkey1 at Liverpool, Merseyside United Kingdom on Friday, October 29, 2010
Oops - i forgot to log in before i journalled these - the Anonymous finder was me!Arrived safe and well today - looks good! Thanks to perryfran for starting this bookring and to kingfan30 for sending it on to me. It will be travelling again soon.
Journal Entry 26 by shovelmonkey1 at Liverpool, Merseyside United Kingdom on Monday, November 1, 2010
Finished this book on the train home from work and was gripped by the story for the entire time. What astonished me the most about this book is how little he mentions or appears to think of his parents or family. There is never really a tone of panic or of fear to his writing and he calmly accepts all that is happening to him in a stoic, detached manner. Perhaps the fear was overpowered by his daily amazement and happiness at still being alive. Even though I have read a lot about WWII and the Holocaust it still amazes me that it happened so few years ago, so close to the time that I was born ( 36 year passed between the end of the war and the year I was born). I recently read that during the height of the war 20,000 people a day were dying in Europe either in concentration camps or because of air raids or combat. How can we even begin to grapple with those numbers today?
Journal Entry 27 by shovelmonkey1 at Liverpool, Merseyside United Kingdom on Monday, November 1, 2010
Released 13 yrs ago (11/2/2010 UTC) at Liverpool, Merseyside United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
This book is now being released to the last person on the list and it's on its way to the USA.
Book arrived in today's post - thanks shovelmonkey1 for sending 'across the pond'.
I began reading a fairly lengthy book over the weekend and then today in the post I received 2 bookring books. SO - once I have finished my current novel these 2 will be read next...
I began reading a fairly lengthy book over the weekend and then today in the post I received 2 bookring books. SO - once I have finished my current novel these 2 will be read next...
Have just finished reading this amazing book. I have read many books about the holocast / concentration camp life, but this one was different. It painted a much more complete picture of life showing many different thoughts & perspectives, not only the horrors. This young 14 year old boy in the beginning seems totally unaware of what is happening to him and then slowly, very slowly he begins to learn .. this somtimes seemed strange to me the reader as thanks to hindsight we knew what what was about to happen. This also makes it somewhat difficult to read without becoming emotionally involved. I really found this a compelling read ....
Will send it on to Allsmiles hopefully tomorrow.
Will send it on to Allsmiles hopefully tomorrow.
Put into media mail & is now on the way to next reader. Hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.
Just pick this up in my mailbox. Thank you oppem; I'm looking forward to getting started...
A unique expression of the Holocaust experience. Perhaps the detached voice of the narrator is what enables him to write about it at all. Horrifying how badly we humans can treat one another whether spontaneously or systematically. Returning this book to perryfran tomorrow by mail to complete this bookring.
Book is now back with me after a trip around the world! Thanks everyone for participating in this ring. I haven't read this yet but from the comments it looks well worth reading. I will read soon and send it on its way again.
Very straight forward account of a young Hungarian Jew being incarcerated in Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Zietz concentration camps during the holocaust. At first, on the streets of Budapest, he is sent to work in an oil refinery and his father has been sent to a labor camp. Then one day, the bus he takes to work is stopped and all the young men who work at the refinery are detained and sent to Auschwitz. At first, he doesn't understand what is happening when he sees the "prisoners" at the camp until he too is made a prisoner and is forced to give up his possessions and wear the striped prison garb. He eventually finds out what is happening with the gas chambers and crematoriums but he just moves from one day to the next without wondering too much about what is happening. He eventually gets sent to Buchenwald and Zietz and winds up in the hospital at Buchenwald. His experiences are horrific but he takes it all in stride and is finally liberated by the Americans. When he returns home, he finds his family is gone (his father died in the labor camp) and his aunt and uncle cannot comprehend what he has been through. I would recommend this one as a good example of holocaust literature from a slightly different perspective.
Journal Entry 35 by perryfran at Virtual Bookbox, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, January 15, 2015
perryfran at Virtual Bookbox, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, January 15, 2015
Released 9 yrs ago (1/15/2015 UTC) at Virtual Bookbox, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
This one is heading to booklady331. A selection from the Lit VBB. Enjoy!
The book arrived today. Thank you for sharing with me. I picked the book because of all the journal entries and because it is a 1001 book. I certainly will pass it on after I read the book.
Imre Kertesz is a Holocaust survivor. In "Fateless" he has recreated the world of a young Hungarian boy who is taken from his family and comfortable existence and sent to Auschwitz. The first half of the narrative is a presented re-telling of these frightening events as a naive, unworldly teenager would have experienced them. The second half of the book is an accurate account of life in a concentration camp. The day to day sufferings and indignities are told in a matter of fact way, exactly as they must have been experienced. This is horrifying but gripping reading. For much of this time the narrator is seriously ill and probably delusional. Yet he survives, in part thanks to anonymous acts of kindness by others. The truth of the Holocaust is known, but is still appalling.
Enjoy! This book is off to another BCer for One Word Title Release Challenge 2015. Glad this book can continue its travels here within the bookcrossing family.
It has arrived safe with me! Thank you!!
Very enjoyable, fast paced and fresh look at holcaust life. I liked the character's emotional detachment, while enduring utter despair he was able to simply persevere through raw stregnth of human nature. It was far diffrent from your usual holocaust novel where the character usually draws on faith or love. It focused more on the social aspects of the concentration camps rather than just the horrors, on feeling outcast from even his own persecuted pepole. Glad to have read this book and will be finding it a new home soon.
