The Persephone book that nearly turned into a DNF, I struggled to engage with Etty Hillesum's An interrupted life. A collection of diaries and letters, the subject matter intrigued me - Hillesum was a Jew living in Amsterdam in the 1940s, and thus well-placed to observe the impact of German occupation and the policies against the Jews. She worked for the Jewish Council from 1942, and went to Westerbrok, a concentration camp for Jews, which was the "last stop" before Auschwitz, to work with those who were about to be transported.
But the diary which she began in 1941, aged 27, annoyed me from the start. It seemed to involve a lot of pontification about her own thoughts and feelings; rather than the historical account that I had anticipated, it was more an exploration of her heart and soul. She had a rather weird relationship with Julius Spier, the founder of psychochirology, and much of the journal reflects on that.
I was on the point of giving up on the book when things started to get more interesting. The balance in the diary moved away from the focus on her personal life and feelings and more historical detail was included as Hilesum began to fear for the Jews and their situation. Suddenly politics and the wider world became much more important to her.
The second part of the book comprises the letters that Hillesum wrote whilst at Westerbrok - whilst the conditions at this camp were in no sense like those at Auschwitz, it was still somewhat horrific. I found these letters to be hugely interesting - I did not know about the existence of Westerbrok and it was fascinating to read about life on the inside, although it was not a "feel good" read. Hillesum was lucky in that she was able to make a couple of trips back to Amsterdam, but she could not escape transportation and was sent to Auschwitz in September 1943 and died two months later.
Hillesum was only a year older than me when she started writing these diaries; ultimately I was impressed by the maturity that she exhibits in the diaries and letters, and the way in which she rarely displays fear about the situation. I am not sure that I would have remained so self-possessed nor able to acknowledge and write with such composed detail about the state of affairs that she and the other Jews faced in 1940s Holland.
It is sometimes more heartbreaking when someone is being brave about a situation isn't it? This book sounds very upsetting but undeniably interesting.
ReplyDeleteSurely the point of a diary is that it IS personal and very much about thoughts and feelings? The motive for writing it would not be for it to be published and become historical record...
ReplyDeleteI agree Claire. This is one of my top persephones. And it was because the diary expressed her thoughts and feelings on an ordinary life of a 27 year old woman at the time who was placed in extraordinary circumstances.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird - I like diaries, but this just seemed so self-interested in the first part and I have enough of my own self-interest not to want to read about other peoples!
ReplyDeleteFunny: I am reading this now and find that the very reason it almost became a DNF for you is what has made it such a treasure for me. I'm aiming for posts about it on Friday and Saturday, if all goes well.
ReplyDeleteSorry the book wasn't quite what you were expecting, Verity. I have yet to read a Persephone title that has left me disappointed or wanting but I'm quite specific in my choices. You read a broader range of books than I do which is admirable.
ReplyDeleteI have this book, though I have a different edition of it and am looking forward to reading it at some point. Readers now look back on the event from such a vastly different viewpoint--knowing all the horrors and the outcome, so her diary would be interesting from the perspective of someone living it and dealing with the uncertainty of life at that time.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that the first part wasn't quite what you expected! I have a fondness for letters and diaries, both real and fictional, so this one definitely interests me.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I struggled with this at first because at the outset she isn't a very sympathetic character and I was bored by her and also rather repelled by her relationship with Spier who seems to have been nothing more than a dirty old man. But it's well worth persevering because the end of the book is shattering and truly humbling.
ReplyDeleteThe second half of the book does intrigue me... enough, I think, for me to attempt reading this book. Yet, it does annoy me somewhat, if the second half of the book seems to be redeeming for the first half, if you know what I mean?
ReplyDeleteOne for when I feel strong I think! I admire the breadth of your reading Verity.
ReplyDeleteI believe this was my first Persephone read. I really liked it but it took me a while to warm up to it. Which is not at all what I expected. I think I imagined that it would be an emotional read all the way through.
ReplyDeleteHello Verity, I am reading The World That Was Ours by Hilda Berstein. This is the first challenge I have participated in; so far I love the book I'm reading. It is a gripping account of a political activist in apartheid South Africa. Bernstein's memoir opens with her realization that her activist husband has been arrested. I will be posting about the challenge at http://bibliophiliac-bibliophiliac.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments on this - it's interesting to hear your opinions about my reactions to it!
ReplyDeleteEtty is a voice that is very precious to me so sorry that you didn't like her on your first meeting. The thing that I find so touching and compelling about her is that she is naive, self-obsessed (and weren't we all at that age), thinking she's found gurus who are actually highly dodgy blokes, thinks she's in love with her creepy landlord; in other words just like any other young woman starting out in the world. In our lucky lives we can or will, hopefully, be able to look back at the diaries we wrote with fondness & think "I can't *believe* I fancied *him*" or "Blimey, I was selfish". Etty had to take another, horrific path & her bravery & calm self-possession as she took it humbles me every time I read her. Could I have done what she did? I doubt it. Try reading "An interrupted life : the diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941- 1943" which gives a very detailed background to Etty, her friends & family & the events in Amsterdam at the time.
ReplyDeleteHmm.. sounds like a love-hate book but an interesting nonetheless. Thanks for the review Verity.
ReplyDeleteI am actually finding this a very interesting book to read. While I agree with Paperback reader that the point of a diary is Personal, however, she was a writer who clearly had it in her mind that what she wrote was intended to be read by others. Etty writes about what she feels which is very much what most diaries are about and which is why other people's diaries prove interesting to those of us who have never met the person. Would we be interested if she had simply recounted the events of the day? Surely the newspapers and periodicals of the time were recording the factual events. What is intriguing about the beginning of An Interrupted Life is that the diarist writes just like you or I would think...about her feelings, her questioning and justifications of those feelings, and, oh yes, an occasional blurb about the situation in the world around her. How many of us in our personal diaries (or blogs as they are known today) write about the situation of the world around us today...the economic recession, the various wars impacting us all (don't we actually ignore the impact on us of the wars we are fighting unless we have a loved one serving?), etc. It isn't unusual for someone writing a diary to ignore the world around them until they truly feel the impact of it on their every day lives and I do mean EVERY day. An occasional infraction of the world does not cause any of us to become journalists of its impact.
ReplyDeleteI like the beginning of this book because it is so human and not so journalistic.