Jacob the Liar - Softcover

Jurek Becker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452279038 ISBN 13: 9780452279032

Publisher: Plume, 1997

Synopsis

During the Holocaust, one man's "small" lie gives false hope to his ghetto community. Originally published in 1969, and the basis of an Academy-Award-nominated film, this classic work comes now in a new translation by acclaimed translator Leila Vennewitz. Author Jurek Becker is a Holocaust survivor and one of few novelists of Jewish heritage living in Germany today.

About this title

Review:

This fable of a Jewish ghetto during World War II is one of the great literary masterworks of the Holocaust. Published in Germany in 1969, it is only now appearing in an authorized English translation. Concerning a former cafe owner who fabricates the story of the Russian army's inexorable advance on the ghetto, and the liberation that will follow their arrival, the tale has the simple power of myths or dreams. A comic tale of unimaginable tragedy, the novel brings vividly to life the doomed inhabitants of the ghetto: Schmidt, the obtuse assimilationist; the child, Lina, who hunts for Jacob's imaginary radio; Frankfurte,r the formerly obese burgher. And Jacob himself, a storyteller whose inventions become like bread to the others, who finds himself trapped in his growing mesh of lies until he is driven to tell the truth. At the end there are two final passages: one in which the Russians arrive to save the ghetto; and one in which they don't. Who is to distinguish between fact and myth?

About the Author:

Jurek Becker is one of Germany?s most renowned living writers. A Holocaust survivor, he is one of the few novelists of Jewish heritage living in Germany today. He is also the author of the novels Sleepless Days and Bronstein?s Children.

About this edition

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0452279038
• ISBN 13: 9780452279032
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 256