Crimes of the Old-Right

The Prisoners of Breendonk by James M. Deem
Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2015]
xi, 340 p. : ill. (some col.), col. maps ; 24 cm.

Deem has done something that is difficult to do - written a fresh Holocaust book that brings something new to light (a nearly forgotten Nazi-run prison in occupied Belgium), reveals the mundane and depraved day to day sadism and savagery of the Nazis, and rescues from oblivion the humanity of the men who suffered and/or were murdered at this prison.

I couldn't read the book cover to cover. It was just too hard to revisit the beatings, starvation, humiliations, tortures, executions, and day-to-day cruelties committed against the prisoners in Breendonk. However, the book uses a great many photographs, and personal testimonies to bring to life the inmates of the prison - and to put faces and names on the perpetrators of this smaller, but still horrible Nazi concentration camp.

I would definitely recommend this book to students who know some of the basic facts about the Holocaust, but who want to really engage with the people who were involved.  With maps, diagrams, artistic sketches from an inmate, reproduced documents, and many stunning photographs, Prisoners of Breendonk is a powerful read.

Finally, the book is a stark reminder of the horrendous crimes of the original Nazis - and the dangers posed by the current neo-Nazis and so-called "alt-right" groups and leaders experiencing a resurgence of power and influence in the US and Europe.


   

Amazing Amazing

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
New York : Picador, c2000.
639 p. ; 21 cm.

Michael Chabon's novel won a 2001 Pulitzer Prize and I challenge a reader to not enjoy this  wonderful tale.  It's a gloriously written tale of the starting in the late 1930s and continuing into the 1950s and centers on the golden age of comic books in New York City, but also embraces the Holocaust, Harry Houdini, The Golem of Prague, Brooklyn, gay life, and of course love, friendship and family.

Though we have this book in the UHS library collection, I read it on my cell phone - accessing it through our library's eBook collection.  It's not the first book that I've read on my phone, but it was great to be able to carry it around in my pocket while traveling during the summer.

Fortunately, The Amazing Adventures seems to be doing quite well.  I looked for a copy at my local public libraries and all 6 copies were checked out.  It's a great book and I will definitely recommend it to any student looking for a rewarding literary fiction read from a contemporary author - especially a reader who has an interest in world of comic book writing and publishing back when vast majorities of young Americans regularly read comic books.