Sophies Choice (original 1979; edition 1980)

A co-worker handed this to me, told me I had to read it, then proceeded to tell me what Sophie's choice actually was. Spoilers, anyone? I did not want to read it after that. I gave it a try, got frustrated with the very first scene (I'm pretty sure it was that early) and gave it back to my co-worker. This was not the book for me. ( )

One of those books everyone else loved and I loathed. I thought the book was pointless and overwrought, rather like Meryl Streep's acting in the film of the same name. ( )

“Someday I will write about Sophie’s life and death, and thereby help demonstrate how absolute evil is never extinguished from the world.” Scribbled on tear-stained paper in the bathroom closet of a train, Stingo encapsulates the desire and purpose of his book. The thought was accompanied by another, “Let your love flow out on all living things.” By the time Stingo reads these nascent thoughts, journaled while traveling back to New York to learn the fate of his friends Sophie and Nathan, he has the experience of years and life, but the conundrum of the two thoughts quickens his soul.

Young Stingo meets Sophie and Nathan in the Brooklyn boarding house where he has come to write his first novel in the years after World War II. Sophie, a Polish survivor of Auschwitz, and her lover, Nathan, befriend the green Southerner. Over the course of a summer, whenever the love affair between his new friends grows tempestuous, Sophie slowly confides the story of her life before the concentration camp and the events that led to her survival. As Sophie reveals more of her truth, Stingo learns more of the truth of the world and the human capacity for evil.

Published in 1979, William Styron’s [Sophie’s Choice] was one of the first major and successful literary works to examine the evil of Nazi Germany’s plan to exterminate a race of people. With a young Southern man as the narrator, Styron parallels the Jewish tragedy with the Southern slave culture. In doing so, he is able to examine the grand failure of humanity along with individual choice. The result is a view into the hearts and minds of characters in the midst of base immoral behavior. The tortured souls Styron portrays are leagues beyond any simple judgment – a Nazi doctor who chooses which new arrivals at Aushcwitz will be sent to their immediate death in the gas chambers and which will be sent to a longer death in forced labor; or the young Jewish man who hunts down collaborators and strangles them with piano wire. Nothing is easy.

Though it might be hard for a person of faith to swallow, Styron’s message is completely rooted in humanism. During Stingo’s reflection on his journal thoughts about absolute evi.e, Styron recounts the old adage, “’At Auschwitz, tell me, where was God?’ And the answer, ‘Where was man?’” While a fair point, for those who would cling to their faith in the face of such evil, I would suggest Victor Frankl’s [Man’s Search for Meaning]. Frankl, himself a survivor of Auschwitz, posits that faith is the reason many retained their hope and survived the camps, that small acts of compassion and mercy were a reflection of God, even in a place so base.

Styron’s appeal, outside of superb story-telling, is his word craft. Each page is densely jammed with long, smart sentences. Styron’s mellifluous and intelligent prose is the polar opposite of Hemingway or Steinbeck – more in the style of James, only imminently more readable, or Stegner. I can’t write this way, nor do I aspire to, but I enjoy the immersion that is required and necessarily results from reading this kind of book.

The only criticism is a personal one. Styron’s humanist point of view is supported in the book by evidence of all of the things that lift the human to the next level of adoration. There are scads of literary and musical references, and the value of the characters is colored by their appearance. So, it is no surprise that sex plays a large role in the story. Indeed, [Sophie’s Choice] is one of the rare recent works of literature that still stirs the soul of book-banners – the book was pulled from school shelves in Florida as recently as 10 years ago. The book shouldn’t be banned, unless you want to ban it from your house. But I found the volume of sex and coarse descriptions of sex tiring and unnecessary.

Bottom Line: Beautifully crafted examination of evil in the world.
4 1/2 bones!!!!! ( )

ספר שממש לא אהבתי, ארוך, טרחני, נצלני מעורר דחיה​ ( )

dark, depressing, tragic . . . typically all adjectives that i would be drawn to in a book, but not this one.

the story is interesting enough, yet i found myself despising the main character. i think that if the story would have been told through sophie's eyes instead of stingo's (an immature, insecure, friendless chap focused solely on sex) i would have a more favorable review.

the characters are deep, their inner struggles so real. at the same time i had no connection or care for them (maybe because i was seeing them through Stingo's eyes?). so when the end did come i found myself not really caring about the tragedy or those so drastically affected by it.

perhaps the only redeeming quality in the six-hundred pages is found in the rich themes of love, death, self-hatred, depression, and suffering. i especially love the concept that was repeated concerning time. as you hear some story about suffering, you think back to what you were doing on that specific day. the main character could barely fathom the depth of this idea, that while sophie was starving to death he was guzzling down beers.