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The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45 By Władysław Szpilman Anthea Bell,

  • Title: The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45
  • Author: Władysław Szpilman Anthea Bell
  • ISBN: 9780575067080
  • Page: 199
  • Format: Hardcover
  • The last live broadcast on Polish Radio, on September 23, 1939, was Chopin s Nocturne in C Minor, played by a young pianist named Wladyslaw Szpilman, until his playing was interrupted by German shelling It was the same piece and the same pianist, when broadcasting resumed six years later The Pianist is Szpilman s account of the years inbetween, of the death and crueltyThe last live broadcast on Polish Radio, on September 23, 1939, was Chopin s Nocturne in C Minor, played by a young pianist named Wladyslaw Szpilman, until his playing was interrupted by German shelling It was the same piece and the same pianist, when broadcasting resumed six years later The Pianist is Szpilman s account of the years inbetween, of the death and cruelty inflicted on the Jews of Warsaw and on Warsaw itself, related with a dispassionate restraint borne of shock Szpilman, now 88, has not looked at his description since he wrote it in 1946 the same time as Primo Levi s If This Is A Man it is too personally painful The rest of us have no such excuse Szpilman s family were deported to Treblinka, where they were exterminated he survived only because a music loving policeman recognised him This was only the first in a series of fatefully lucky escapes that littered his life as he hid among the rubble and corpses of the Warsaw Ghetto, growing thinner and hungrier, yet condemned to live Ironically it was a German officer, Wilm Hosenfeld, who saved Szpilman s life by bringing food and an eiderdown to the derelict ruin where he discovered him Hosenfeld died seven years later in a Stalingrad labour camp, but portions of his diary, reprinted here, tell of his outraged incomprehension of the madness and evil he witnessed, thereby establishing an effective counterpoint to ground the nightmarish vision of the pianist in a desperate reality Szpilman originally published his account in Poland in 1946, but it was almost immediately withdrawn by Stalin s Polish minions as it unashamedly described collaborations by Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Poles and Jews with the Nazis In 1997 it was published in Germany after Szpilman s son found it on his father s bookcase This admirably robust translation by Anthea Bell is the first in the English language There were 3,500,000 Jews in Poland before the Nazi occupation after it there were 240,000 Wladyslaw Szpilman s extraordinary account of his own miraculous survival offers a voice across the years for the faceless millions who lost their lives David Vincent
    The Pianist The Extraordinary Story of One Man s Survival in Warsaw The last live broadcast on Polish Radio on September was Chopin s Nocturne in C Minor played by a young pianist named Wladyslaw Szpilman until his playing was interrupted by German shelli

    One thought on “The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45”

    1. The triumph of the human spirit, the strength of the human soul to find its way out of the darkness, the injustice, the never ending nightmare, the ordeal of living in a world where absolute fear and beastly behaviour dictate everyone s life This is the life of a man, an artist, who experienced persecution, confinement, famine, disease A man whose strength and faith defeated monsters A pianist whose talent touched the heart of the enemy, except this enemy was different from the others, a kind so [...]

    2. This is the first time I am reviewing a book that I have tried and failed to rate.How do I decide on a rating anyway Should I judge the prose the content the author s style of presentation his narrative voice the quality of the translation Do I even have the right to Awarding a star rating to this man s unbelievably harrowing and miraculous tale of surviving a war which claimed the lives of 6 million of his fellow brethren for no reason at all, seems a sacrilegious act than calling Infinite Jes [...]

    3. I loved The Pianist for a number of reasons but the supreme reason goes to W adys aw Szpilman s storytelling Szpilman writes down the struggles which he endured in order to survive in Warsaw under the occupation of the Nazis W adys aw voice never grows bitter, neither do his emotions twist to constant abhorrence and it s why, I find myself respecting him so admirably His story was in no means told to invoke hatred or disgust towards Germans His intention was not to spit out political statements [...]

    4. As always these books are so incredibly hard to read, not just to read but to understand how these cruelties could have ever happened This book was different in that it was not only written by someone in Poland who survived the Holocaust, but someone who probably only survived because of the help of a German officer Excerpts from this officer s diary are included in the back of the book as are explanatory notes tying everything together The tome of the book is rather matter of fact, since it is [...]

    5. The Pianist by Written immediately after the war by survivor Wladyslaw Szpilman This book was suppressed for decades The Pianist is a stunning testament to human endurance and tells the story of the horrendous events that took place in Nazi occupied Warsaw and the Jewish ghetto.This is quite a short book but it certainly packs a punch You can almost feel the urgency of the writer to get his story down on paper and yet the story is told in such a way that you feel a confidence and a clarity that [...]

    6. S mierc miasta The Pianist The Extraordinary Story of One Man s Survival in Warsaw, 1939 45, W adys aw SzpilmanThe Pianist is a memoir by the Polish Jewish pianist and composer W adys aw Szpilman in which he describes his life in Warsaw in occupied Poland during World War II After being forced with his family to live in the Warsaw ghetto, Szpilman manages to avoid deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp, and from his hiding places around the city witnesses the Warsaw ghetto uprising in 1 [...]

    7. I ve read a lot about World War II, but I d never fully grasped the complete destruction, the utter devastation of the city of Warsaw Hitler was like a bratty child with a toy he d rather destroy than share with anyone else When he knew he was going to lose the war, he ordered that Warsaw be reduced to rubble Among the ruins there was a Jewish musician named Wladyslaw Szpilman who had managed to survive for six years, and a German named Wilm Hosenfeld who saved Szpilman s life one last time I re [...]

    8. Monument of the Umschlagplatz in Warsaw today.I don t know how to write a review for such a horrifying account of what Wladyslaw Szpilman experienced as a Jew in Warsaw during the Holocaust His writing is very dispassionate and precise, yet he really brought forth the horrors of the war and his daily life struggles with losing his family, hunger, stress, uncertainty and fear at that time I was also very much inspired by how strong his instincts were in certain situations It s incredible how duri [...]

    9. I became interested in reading The Pianist after seeing the excellent movie, directed by Roman Polanski, that was based on the book After thoroughly enjoying the movie, I had very high hopes for this tome, and I was not disappointed This book is a stunner, bringing to life the horrific conditions and brutality that Wladyslaw Szpilman endured to survive six years of Nazi brutality in Warsaw, Poland.What s truly amazing about this book is how Szpilman tells the story with a sense of detachment the [...]

    10. Um relato incr vel Por mais livros que leia sobre o assunto, fico sempre sem palavras quando leio mais uma hist ria, mais um relato de algu m que viveu na primeira pessoa tudo isto

    11. Este o testemunho de Vladyslaw Szpilman cidad o polaco, m sico de profiss o e judeu Era tamb m filho, irm o e amigo Quando acabou a guerra j n o tinha irm os nem pais, e a maioria dos amigos tinha morrido s m os dos nazis Sofreu na pele desde os primeiros dias da invas o, foi perseguido e resistiu at aos ltimos dias de aniquila o total Assistiu destrui o da sua cidade, Vars via, viu os judeus confinados a um gueto imundo, sujeitos a uma imensa carnificina, desapossados dos seus bens e da sua dig [...]

    12. Wladyslaw Szpilman was a trained pianist, a Pole, and a Jew, and in The Pianist, he explains how he survived World War II in the Warsaw Ghetto It sounds like the sort of book you d want your kids to read in high school, so I was surprised to learn that The Pianist was a banned book.You can believe the subtitle this memoir of one man s survival is indeed extraordinary The Jews within the ghetto were killed by the German police, they died of hunger, and they were gathered into cattle cars and take [...]

    13. This book is an amazing memoir of a Jew s survival in Nazi occupied Warsaw Szpilman does not sound at all bitter or angry His writing is in fact rather detached and dispassionate The reason may be is that he wrote it shortly after the war and was still suffering all the terrible after effects and shock The German officer s diary was fascinating What an incredible angel of a man That s all I have to say The kindness of strangers so often brings me to tears In fact, retelling his part of the story [...]

    14. First, I need to mention that I have seen the movie before reading the book, and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that it changed my life, hopefully turning me into a better person I m at a loss of words in expressing what a masterpiece the movie is, and how Roman Polanski a Holocaust survivor himself is the God Almighty of directing With that out of the way, I m adding that I was perfectly aware that the book couldn t possibly be as good as this majestic movie, whereas it is a Holocaust [...]

    15. The introduction to this book by W adys aw Szpilman s son Andrzej reminds the reader that his father was a musician, not a writer Despite this, The Pianist is a powerful memoir, perhaps all the so because it is written in this honest, guileless way It is a slim volume but includes all of the horrifying details of the Warsaw Ghetto that you may have seen in the film version of The Pianist, starring Adrien Brody I was quietly pleased that the director Roman Polanski himself a survivor of the Krak [...]

    16. Tai turb t pirmoji mano perskaityta knyga, kuri ka k i pagrind pakeit mano m stysenoje ir taip kaip a ma iau tam tikrus dalykus pasaulyje Tokios tikros, skausmingos ir atviros knygos niekada nebuvau skai ius.Tai istorija vyro, kuris vedamas mano nuomone savo apsukrumo ir beproto didel s s km s i gyveno tai kas atrod ne manoma Memuarai apima vis karo laikotarp nuo jo prad ios iki pat paskutin s dienos Karas truko 6 metus tai yra beproti kai ilgas laiko tarpas kur tau reikia i gyventi, e i metai, [...]

    17. It s hard to know what to write about this book as it is a story of survival that leaves one speechless Like many, I read the book after seeing the movie I saw it twice in the cinema it was adapted to cinema with no changes to the original book It is an amazing testament to man s will to survive.I remember at the time thinking, whatever so called problems or challenges I was facing, they were nothing I cannot imagine what it took for Mr Szpilman to go on with his life.

    18. A minha opini o em v deo youtube watch v yXWH Que relato emocionante de um dos pianista mais famosos de Vars via.Gostei mesmo muito deste livro Super fiel ao filme.

    19. This is the extraordinary survival story of Polish pianist W adys aw Szpilman during the second world war in occupied Warsaw, when the Nazis entered Poland and the beginning of the endless cycle of horror for the Jewish population half a million in the city Szpielman writes about the ghetto and how his family endured the harsh inhuman conditions in this crowded, barricaded part of the city, than the deportations of jews to concentration camps, how he was saved and separated from his family and s [...]

    20. This memoir may be compact in size, and simplistic in delivery, but it s colossal in historical and admonitory significance Szpilman s terrifying and miraculous five year experience during the Nazi s siege of Warsaw and annihilation of Jews beaten senseless, hunted down like an animal, fleeing for his life, hiding wherever he could, isolated, and starving is as horrific as it is cautionary and hopeful I ve read many books on WWII and the Holocaust fiction and non fiction Each presenting differen [...]

    21. I just finished the last page of this Holocaust memoir during a rare silence in my house, which matched the spirit of this book and the sob in my throat.But, let me back up for a moment.I watched the movie The Pianist when it originally premiered and basically went into the fetal position as it ended and again pronounced No Holocaust movies for me But, as our son is preparing to audition on piano for colleges in the fall, this movie came back to my mind, and I remembered that The Pianist had a [...]

    22. I can definitely tell why this was made into a movie It was full of sadness, betrayal, turmoil, frustration, and most of the book takes place with the protagonist in hiding in an attic One of the best Holocaust books I ve read because I truly expressed his emotions.

    23. Ap s finalmente ter tido uma aula de hist ria sobre a segunda guerra mundial, sinto me cada vez mais compelido a ler sobre a guerra, especialmente sobre o holocausto N o sei dizer oque me compele a tal ato, talvez seja a surrealidade dos atos cometidos contra seres humanos iguais, motivados grande parte por ideais,ou talvez seja pelos relatos serem uma sombria li o da hist ria O livro em si um relato do pianista Wladyslaw Szpilman de Vars via, na Pol nia, que sobrevive persegui o terr vel aos ju [...]

    24. While not impressively literary , this memoir of survival of the holocaust by a Warsaw Jew is well written and is an incredible account of this man s very unlikely survival The short and interesting appendix material should also be read.

    25. Ke som si predstavila, e v etko, o je tu nap san je skuto nos , pri lo mi nevo no Miestami som sa mala chu rozplaka Bola som prekvapen , oho v etk ho je udsk bytos schopn.

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