With bravery and chutzpah, a husband and wife demonstrate that there’s no moral compromise with history.
In a joint memoir, a pair of notable Nazi hunters review their half-century of disputing acceptance of mass murderers in decent society.
The authors, husband and wife, tell their story by turns. Serge was hidden in a cupboard in the south of France as his father was taken by the Germans to be killed in Auschwitz. He was 8. Beate was a German Christian child living in the ruins of the Third Reich. They met as adults, and their reciprocal affection complemented their innate passion for justice. Aware of the importance of press coverage of the atrocities around them, they publicized the histories of the perpetrators who carried out the Nazi regime’s killing of France’s Jews. In one wonderful photo-op, Beate contrived to publicly slap the face of German Chancellor—and quondam Nazi—Kiesinger. They created commotions, brandished placards, held press conferences, broke windows, and traveled the world. In acts of civil disobedience, Beate chained herself at appropriate venues and arranged to get arrested in diverse jurisdictions; some courts, anxious to avoid publicity, were not ready to prosecute. Serge researched, produced irrefutable documentation, and provided exhaustive dossiers to reporters and prosecutors. He became a lawyer and, with his son, took part in many trials and legal proceedings, several of which were provoked by the Klarsfelds. They were active in the exposures of Klaus Barbie, “the Butcher of Lyon,” and of Kurt Waldheim, the former secretary-general of the U.N. The Klarsfelds believed there were no closed cases. There were always more war criminals, anti-Semites, and Holocaust deniers in more places—more than enough for the independent anti-fascists to continue their lifelong mission despite bomb threats and attempted murder. Avenging the memories of the millions who lost their lives was, and remains, an important vocation. As their story unfolds, readers may note a faint, unavoidable touch of vainglory; never mind, what they have accomplished is worthy of high praise.
With bravery and chutzpah, a husband and wife demonstrate that there’s no moral compromise with history.Pub Date: March 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-374-27982-0
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
PERSPECTIVES
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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