Cheap THE LONG VOYAGE (Witnesses to War) (Book) (JORGE SEMPRUN) Price

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Customer Reviews of THE LONG VOYAGE (Witnesses to War)

Journey to the unknown
Jorge Semprun was born in Spain but has lived most of his life in France. At a young age he joined the communist party and while active at the French resistance was captured by the Nazis. "The Long Voyage" is an autobiographical narrative, concentrating on the author's experience while being transported in a train to Buchenwald. Contrary to most Holocaust literature, this book is not a compilation of horrors and atrocities, but a stream-of consciousness description of a journey to the unknown, when time has ceased to exist, when "past," "present," and "future" all have lost meaning. This is what makes Semprun's narrative so interesting. It is not the logical sequence of events that dictates the narrative, but the mind's attempt to understand and, at the same time, escape reality.

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long narrative
I read this book because I was, and still am, interested in what happened during the Holocaust. I was hoping that I would find a lot of new and interesting things in this book, but I was disappointed. The book focuses on the tiresome journey to the camp, instead of what happens at the camp. The plot is also panoramic, and not episodic, so it is hard to understand which happens first, later, or at the present. The author uses really long sentences that is hard to understand, and extremely repetitive. However, the repetition functions wonderfully as an emphasis to what the author is feeling, or trying to express. Overall, not a bad read. Just takes a lot of time and patience to really absorb the novel.

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A wonderful and moving novel
This is a wonderful and moving novel about a French Resistance fighter of Spanish origin who is captured by the Nazis and sent to Buchenwald. It is brilliantly written, and I would recommend it to anyone intested in good writing, the Holocaust or the human spirit.