Life with a Star tell the tale of a young Jewish man in Nazi occupied Prague. His inner life and thoughts about himself, his former romance, and his daily tribulations are detailed. One day he has a revelation and his outlook is changed.

This is not a plot driven story. It is a character study where Joseph changes from a pitiable and spineless broken man into a stubborn, confident, and unbreakable man as he decides to defy orders and not show up for "transport" to a camp. It is not an enjoyable read (unsurprisingly given the content), but it kept my attention and interest. I didn't quite feel enough for Joseph to make the novel deeply meaningful to me though. I did appreciate the glimpse of the ability of humanity to endure and survive. ( )

Hallucinante beschrijving van de jodenvervolging ( )

This is an unusual Holocaust novel, written by a Czech Jew who survived by faking his own death in 1942 and living in hiding for the rest of the war. It doesn't mention the words Jews, Nazi or Germans, but adopts an other-worldly anonymous atmosphere that gets the message of oppression across very effectively (a literary device also employed by Arthur Koestler in Darkness at Noon and Arrival and Departure). The central character Josef Roubicek's life becomes more and more limited as restrictions on Jews' work, life, and movement become ever stricter, contrasted with the lives of plenty and (relative) luxury being enjoyed by the non-Jewish population. Roubicek survives when around him fellow Jews are being rounded up and sent away to the "fortress town" or transported to the East. This is a depressing and sombre novel, not only because of the intrinsic subject matter, but also because of the writing style, including Roubicek's internal dilemma about whether to bother continuing the struggle to survive or rather to surrender himself to his fate, and the ending is rather ambiguous - though one assumes Roubicek will survive in the same way as did the real author, as this has been hinted at earlier in conversations with the only named non-Jewish character, Josef Materna. ( )

Originele holocaustroman die met momenten kafkaïaans aandoet. Voormalige bankbediende Josef Roubicek probeert in buitengewoon armoedige omstandigheden te overleven in bezet Praag. Hij leidt een buitengewoon eenzaam leven dat hij deelt met een aanloopkater en de herinnering aan een ex-minnares met wie hij lange gesprekken voert. Hij werkt op een joodse begraafplaats en houdt zich stipt aan de Duitse verordeningen. Schuldgevoel belet hem de mogelijkheid van onderduiken te overwegen. Maar gaandeweg gooit hij zijn oude identiteit van zich af. De nazi's worden niet met naam genoemd ('die lui') en ook over de plaats van de handeling krijgt de lezer weinig of geen informatie. ( )

Czech author Jiri Weil is mostly known for two excellent Holocaust novels, Life with a Star and Mendelssohn is on the Roof. While the latter is a pastiche of narratives taken from various perspectives, Jew and non Jew, Life with a Star has a single Jewish narrator, Josef Roubicek, and thus is more of a conventional novel. They both approach the Holocaust from a close distance - near to the death camps and ghettos, not directly from within them. But this indirect approach captures the evil and darkness extremely effectively, like a horror movie that scares you more with shadows, creepy music, and suspense than with action and gore. And both novels, despite their sad and death obsessed themes, also ultimately play tribute to survival and life which is the more powerful force. Roubicek, is a man who is more complex, intelligent, and strong than you are initially led to believe. The war, while destroying his life, also frees and humanizes him. ( )