Il ragazzo che voleva dormire

As the story opens, World War II has just ended. Sixteen-year-old protagonist Erwin, a Ukrainian of Jewish heritage, is joining a group of refugees on the way to Palestine. He learns Hebrew and is asked to change his name. In the fighting in Palestine, prior to Israel’s independence, he is wounded. Leggi tutto

This novel is a beautifully rendered story of a young Holocaust survivor who tries to reconcile his painful past through the "subterranean" life he lives while sleeping. Hovering on the edge of allegory (yet not quite an allegory), this novel has two distinct strands: the young man's everyday life a Leggi tutto

I confess that initially I did not think I would like this book. Yet, I was spellbound by Appelfeld's simple, but vivid style of writing which soon captivated me. In my quest to determine whether this was autobiographical, I delved into his lifestory which I must relate here. He was born Ervin Appel Leggi tutto

3.5 ⭐ rounded up. It took a while for the introspective nature of this narrative to carve a channel within me, like a river cutting through mountains. On the surface, there's not much to tell. The main characters, Holocaust survivors, are trying to find a way to live, without completely severing thei Leggi tutto

I get the premise of this book. Somehow it felt flat. Two dimensional. Erwin annoyed me somehow. And the pacing was enough to put me to sleep. I felt for the other characters more and was silently cheering them on. Then there was the ending which felt so abrupt. This is just my opinion and I know ot Leggi tutto

Israeli author Appelfeld is a prolific writer who has drawn on his own extraordinary youth for material for his books. He was born Erwin Appelfeld in 1932 to a prosperous German-speaking Jewish family in Bukovina, a territory in current Ukraine. He was a 9-year-old boy when the Romanian Army retook

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book - I found it similar to "the buried giant" by Ishiguro I liked the way the story unfolded but found it a little slow in the middle

Interesting read, a bit long towards the end. It's probably in the writing style, but it kind of felt very flat and I had trouble to focus on it.

This beautifully poignant novel (loosely autobiographical, certainly) blew me away with its portrayal of the two conflicting worlds of teenaged Holocaust survivor, Erwin. The author presented with such sensitivity the inner world of Erwin's pain, his dreams, his guilt, and his urgent need to hold on Leggi tutto

Appelfeld died recently in his 90’s. He wrote about the Holocaust in all his novels. This book is about a young man after liberation and how he makes his way to Naples and then on to Israel. He is guided, in his mind, by his parents, predominately his mother, who encourages his every step.