The Story of a Life
by Aharon Appelfeld
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The award-winning novelist recounts his miraculous survival of the Holocaust, from a forced march across the Ukraine to a labor camp at the age of seven, his escape from the camp, his life in hiding in the Ukranian forests, his negotiation of several displaced persons' camps, his 1946 arrival in Palestine and his struggle to build a new life on the fragments of his past.Tags
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לא באמת אוטוביוגרפיה, גם לא באמת ספר, יותר אוסף לא סדור של פרקי יומן מורחבים ומקושרים בקשר רופף. ולמרות זאת, יציאת מופת. זאת בזכות השפה, בזכות הכנות, בזכות התמצות ובזכות האמת. ספר קטן, בקושי 200 עמוד והוא מכסה נושאים כה רבים. ספור חייו של המחבר, ספור קהילות גליציה בשואה ובארץ, בדידות, קשיי הקליטה בארץ, שתיקתם של ניצולי השואה, איך כותבים על השואה, תרבות הצבר מול תרבות הגולה, מצב הספרות בארץ, מהות הזיכרון של ילדים, ארון show more הספרים היהודי. ולמרות הקיצור הטיפול הוא תמיד אמיתי וכנה ולא מתקרב לסיסמאות ולפרזות. show less
Applefield's book is a strange mix: part autobiography/memoir and partly a book about language, art, culture, and the struggles of a writer to find his authentic voice. The first part, chronicling the author's war years as a child who escaped from a camp and survived by hiding in the woods and passing himself of as a non-Jewish orphan, appealed to me most. However, Applefields subsequent musings about his difficult adaptation to Palestine: socially, linguistically, vocationally, and spiritually are engaging as well. Ultimately, you applaud the fact that in the end the author overcame such steep obstacles, matured as a person and a writer, and was able to finally become the WRITER that he always believed himself to be.
La memoria custodisce ciò che sceglie di custodire. Come il sogno, anche la memoria cerca di attribuire agli eventi un qualche significato. Aharon Appelfeld in questo libro autobiografico accetta infine il confronto con la propria memoria. Impresa dolorosa che scortica l'anima perché la sua memoria nasconde l'esperienza di un'infanzia spezzata dall'orrore della storia, nasconde la solitudine di un bambino costretto a vagare da solo per mesi nei boschi con l'incubo di essere riconosciuto, nasconde il suo peregrinare per mezza Europa fino all'arrivo in Israele e il suo difficile inserimento in una nuova realtà. Appelfeld sfida il dolore e disseppelisce quei ricordi che per poter continuare a vivere aveva spinto nelle zone buie e cieche show more della propria memoria, ci racconta la lotta di un ragazzo che ricostruisce la propria identità a partire dallo sradicamento degli affetti, della cultura, della lingua. (fonte: retro di copertina) show less
Nov 10, 2022Italian
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Author Information

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Aharon Appelfeld was born in a town near Czernowitz, Romania on February 16, 1932. When he was 8 years old, he and his father endured a forced march to a labor camp in Ukraine. He escaped the camp and spent the next three years as a shepherd working for various peasants and always concealing his Jewish identity. He then joined the Soviet Army as a show more cook's helper. After World War II, he spent months in a refugee camp in Italy before going to Palestine in 1946. He worked on a kibbutz, fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and studied philosophy at Hebrew University. The Holocaust was the main subject of his books. His first novel, The Skin and the Gown, was published in 1971. His other works include Badenheim 1939, The Age of Wonders, To the Land of the Cattails, The Healer, The Immortal Bartfuss, For Every Sin, and Writing and the Holocaust. He received the Israel Prize for literature, The Prime Minister's Prize for Creative Writing, and two Anne Frank Literary Prizes. He taught Hebrew literature for many years at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beersheba. He died on January 4, 2018 at the age of 85. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
The Guardian Book of the Day (2024-08-12)
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
rororo (24247)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Geschichte eines Lebens
- Original title
- The story of a life
- Original publication date
- 1999
- People/Characters*
- Aharon Appelfeld
- Important places*
- Ukraine; Israel
- Important events*
- Holocaust
- First words*
- Seit wann sich meine Erinnerung erinnert?
- Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Der Duft des Kaffees und der Rauch der Zigaretten umgaben uns all die Jahre und haben uns bis hierher gebracht.
- Original language*
- Hebräisch
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 24
- ASINs
- 4






























































