{"id":1911,"date":"2022-02-27T10:57:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-27T10:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1911"},"modified":"2022-03-11T07:51:20","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T07:51:20","slug":"honest-book-review-for-the-tattooist-of-auschwitz-by-heather-morris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1911","title":{"rendered":"Honest Book Review for The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hi Readers! We are at the end of February! For a change, I felt every single day of February & did not feel as if where the month passed me by. This is mainly because I read 10 books<\/mark><\/strong> this month! When I think of the first book I read this month, \u2018The Forty Rules of Love<\/a>\u2019, I feel like I read it a year ago. I think reading as many books as possible in a month somehow makes me feel like it has been a long & productive month. In fact, lately I remember the events in my own life corresponding to the books I was reading at the time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018An Elderly Lady is Up To No Good\u2019? Oh yes, I was unwell when I read that book. \u2018Dark Matter<\/a>\u2019? Of course! I started it on a Wednesday when it was a particularly busy week at work. Do you do this too? Or am I the only one? Anyway, I remember finishing The Tattooist of Auschwitz in one day \u2013 Saturday. I also remember I finished it in a day because we had guests coming the next day. Okay, I will stop before it gets creepy. Jump into the review!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a T\u00e4towierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism\u2014but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~THOUGHTS~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before I share my thoughts, which are mostly negative, I wanted to put my guilt out there. Reviewing a book critically which is based on a true story from the holocaust period was difficult for me. I have great respect for the survivors from the concentration camps, and towards Lale & Gita. In the hands of another author, this book would have made wonders. But, with Heather Morris\u2019 writing, it did not work for me at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~INSPIRED FROM THE REAL STORY OF LALE SOKOLOV~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is inspired from the real life of Lale Sokolov, who was given the job of a tattooist at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in 1942.<\/strong><\/mark> But, in combination of his life story, the author has also drawn up fictional characters making this book a work of fiction. When I read the author\u2019s note before starting the book, I had high expectations. So far whichever wartime historical fiction books I had read were completely fictional but they still destroyed me. So, to read a book inspired from a real-life story was something I was intrigued by, but it led to disappointment. The author could have combined them in a better way so as the readers could get the best of both worlds, but I suppose while keeping Lale\u2019s story as real as possible, the fiction part of the book did not touch the surface. If it had been a biography, then it may have worked quite better, in my opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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~~MOSTLY UNTOUCHED BY ATROCITIES OF WAR~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Needless to say that during World War II, so many lives were lost. Some had easy deaths, but others had tortured deaths. All the fictional books I read around this genre, were ones where the protagonists had suffered a great ordeal. But then, in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, we see Lale whose life is quite straight forward. Yes, he is in a concentration camp. But, he luckily gets the job of a tattooist which helps him survive. Because of this job, he is relatively safer than other prisoners, he gets more food than other prisoners & he can even overrule some officers because of his position. He does not have freedom, but he has everything else that almost no other prisoners are lucky enough to have. He also gets food from outside by trading jewels & cash which a few female prisoners acquire for him. He shares all these extra privileges with other prisoners. He gets chocolate & jewellery for his prison girlfriend. None of this stash which he keeps under his bed ever gets checked until one time it does. His life is spared when this stash is discovered too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not want to say that a prisoner of war had an easy life, but I wonder why was he chosen as the protagonist of an entire novel when he clearly had an easier life than mostly all other prisoners at that time in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps.<\/mark> <\/strong>I did not like reading this even a little bit because of how Lale was portrayed, how the writing was structured, how Lale & Gita\u2019s relationship was written & how it made me feel nothing.<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was the point of this book to share a survivor\u2019s story?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we to ignore that there was no mention of the tattoos which were unwillingly stamped on prisoners for the entirety of their lives?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why weave a romantic story between two prisoners during WWII?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why didn\u2019t this supposedly impossible love story touch my heart?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why was the writing so flat that it did not make me connect or empathize with any of the characters?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~ROMANTIC TALE OF LALE & GITA~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If not core historical fiction, I read it to give the romantic story line a chance, but alas. Lale & Gita are both satisfactory characters individually. But, together, I never felt any chemistry between them. It could be because of an earlier era. But, given the whole \u2018we will die any moment\u2019 doom attached to the story, the romance never truly reached its potential.<\/strong><\/mark> I kept waiting for it to bloom till the end. I also felt that their ending was miraculous & also a bit exaggerated. They found each other so easily after the war ended that I simply couldn\u2019t entirely believe it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

~~NOT FOR HARDCORE FANS OF WARTIME HISTORICAL FICTION~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I suppose when you start a wartime historical fiction book completely prepared to get emotionally destroyed, and then everything happens easily with minimal trauma to the characters, it becomes a disappointment, which is just so ironic. I guess that\u2019s why I was in that weird phase before, during & after reading this book. And, because I was the same when the book ended as I was when I started it, it was not an emotionally rewarding book for me. I want all the emotions in me stirred up while reading books of such kind. I want to feel plain old hatred towards bullies. I want to feel hope for my main characters so that they see the war through. I want to feel misery & despair & loss & tragedy, but also love & hope & joy through words so masterfully & sentimentally written that I get something from the novel not only in terms of knowledge, but also in terms of emotional intelligence. Unfortunately, The Tattooist of Auschwitz was not it for me. I have rated it at 3\/5 stars<\/mark><\/strong>, because I couldn\u2019t rate below it because after all, it is inspired from a real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s my February round up<\/a>. Stay tuned for more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Readers! We are at the end of February! For a change, I felt every single day of February & did not feel as if where the month passed me by. This is mainly because I read 10 books this month! When I think of the first book I read this month, \u2018The Forty Rules […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,23,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-books","category-book-reviews","category-mindscape-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/PSX_20220227_153903-01__01-1.jpg?fit=2500%2C2500&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2624,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2624","url_meta":{"origin":1911,"position":0},"title":"Books Read in February 2023!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"February 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Another month gone way too quickly. I read FIVE BOOKS across 1876 PAGES! I was quite happy with my reading this month. I read one big book, two mid-sized books and two shorter books. They were all wildly different from each other so I wasn\u2019t bored at all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/SI_20230227_131503-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/SI_20230227_131503-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/SI_20230227_131503-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/SI_20230227_131503-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/SI_20230227_131503-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1918,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1918","url_meta":{"origin":1911,"position":1},"title":"Books Read in February\u00a02022!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"February 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! How was your month? Did you get a lot done or not much at all? For me, I read 10 books across 2668 pages in February! Isn\u2019t that amazing to achieve in the shortest month of the year? I think this month I wanted to read more books,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/SI_20220227_143935.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/SI_20220227_143935.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/SI_20220227_143935.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/SI_20220227_143935.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/SI_20220227_143935.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2567,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2567","url_meta":{"origin":1911,"position":2},"title":"Books Read in January 2023!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"January 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Just like that one month is down already. How was January for you? Did you stick to your New Year resolutions and making progress? Or is February the month you actually start working on them? Haha, either way, I am way behind on my 23 Goals of 2023.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2897,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2897","url_meta":{"origin":1911,"position":3},"title":"Books Read in July 2023!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"July 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! You all know that July was not my best reading month. It was not a good month in any way, for that matter. But, it somehow redeemed itself towards the end. I read THREE books across 1036 PAGES in July. For the longest time, I thought it would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/PSX_20230729_211004-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/PSX_20230729_211004-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/PSX_20230729_211004-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/PSX_20230729_211004-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/PSX_20230729_211004-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3333,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3333","url_meta":{"origin":1911,"position":4},"title":"February 2024 Wrap-Up!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"February 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! How are we already at the end of February? This month went by as quickly as January went by slowly. Despite literally being a shorter month, I got to do a lot of things aside from working like a slog during the week days. 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Half a year has passed us by. As usual, it feels like time has moved slowly but passed quickly. I have had a hell of a year so far, with way too many ups and downs than are expected in a mere six months. 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