Sophie's Choice

In the library, I just decided to pick up one more book. I didn't know what the maximum number was (now I know it's 20 volumes). I took a book from the shelf. Styron, that was the author's name. I thought I wouldn't read it either, but at least I'd take a look, at least get some impressions of an author named Styron, know where to put it if his name came up.

I started reading. A southern boy goes up to New York, the cultural war between the north and the south, the special language. The translator, Bartos Tibor, used a collection of rarely used Hungarian words intensively, creating a Hungarian language and style that was never and nowhere used before – that's why I don't dare to look into the Hungarian Moby Dick...

But this really appealed to me. Or maybe S. is looking back on 1947 twenty-five years later, and he sees it the way we all look back on every period in hindsight, the era of great changes. He brings what a southerner brings, a past of slavery because the whites also wear shoes – and at the same time we are in a Holocaust story...

I was surprised. I didn't know. "It hit me like lightning." If I had known, I wouldn't have taken it off the dusty shelf, none of my little shelves wanted it... But S. writes "so well"....

Then there's this. I'm thinking about why the accounts of books are the way they are. The evaluator/critic, etc., following an established custom, talks about the subject, the book, practical otherwise, usually only giving a hint of the personality. I followed this custom very little, and now I didn't even know it. My reading completely overshadowed everything that was going on around us.

In Styron's case, the death camps are universal, he tries to explain evil. That is, this is an exaggeration, he describes. Evil is there in slavery, in the death camps, in the police state, anti-Semitism has permeated Poland. It's everywhere, it's in us. That's how I read it, and at the same time I read about everything that was just being liberated around us. "Evil as culture" – that's what I come up with for it. Theses that have been described so many times. Of course, I would have read this book differently fifteen or thirty years ago. And I envied Styron, the pretentious, intelligent voice, the self-reflections. I envied the style and the personality. (Then, I read that he couldn't work for a long time because of his depression.)

If I believed that books improve the world – morally –, I would call this a so-called important book. Maybe, of course, they do improve it, then it's an important book. But now I feel such a wave in which I can't believe in this, so this is how my reading and my evaluation turned out. (Forgiveness from those who were expecting a proper evaluation.)

One day, I will understand Auschwitz. This sentence was profound yet empty. No one will truly understand Auschwitz. It would have been more accurate to write: One day, I will write about the life and death of Sophie and show how absolute evil will never be wiped from the earth.

Sophie's Choice is one of the books that I will never forget. From the very first pages when I started reading, the author's writing style captivated me. And despite the large volume of the book (806 pages), putting it down was really difficult for me.

The narrator is a twenty-two-year-old boy who has a passion for writing. Stingo is from Virginia. During one of his travels, he meets Sophie and Nathan. Sophie tells Stingo about her bitter past and how she met Nathan, and with each passing moment, Stingo falls more in love with Sophie. But there are facts about Sophie's life that make their being together impossible, one of the most important of which is Sophie's bitter experience in the Auschwitz concentration camps and Nathan's presence in her life. The novel tells about historical and social events from the end of the war and what happened to the Jews and even non-Jews, with a fluent, engaging, and poignant pen. In the story of the book, we encounter more than what we can understand about the Holocaust; we face the question of what happened to non-Jews.

For several years, not a decade yet, I had not picked up this wonderful novel and felt compelled to read it season after season, day after day, one after another, realizing the significance it held.

Not only is the translation of the book excellent, but also the writing style of the author and the subject matter are very engaging. You might think it's a cliché, but it's actually not.

I bought this book years ago on the recommendation of Abdullah al-Quthami for Nowruz. The cover is really nice, the type of paper in the first and second printings, and the quality of the book itself are all great.

I'm both disappointed and happy that I didn't read this book all those years ago because there are only a few Persian reviews written about it, and I hope it will be read more.

In fact, the evil and the origin of evil are more palpable and deeper here.

There is also a movie of it, and despite Meryl Streep being in it, I don't think it can compare to the book.

Exceptional!!

This word truly captures the essence of something remarkable and outstanding. It implies a level of quality, performance, or achievement that is far beyond the ordinary.

When we encounter something exceptional, it leaves a lasting impression on us. It could be a work of art that takes our breath away, a scientific discovery that revolutionizes an entire field, or a person who demonstrates extraordinary skills and talents.

Exceptional things have the power to inspire us, to push us to strive for more, and to believe that anything is possible. They remind us that there is always room for improvement and that we should never settle for mediocrity.

In a world where so much seems ordinary and unremarkable, it is the exceptional that stands out and makes a difference. It is what gives us hope and makes us believe that there is still beauty, innovation, and greatness to be found.

So, let us celebrate the exceptional in all its forms and be inspired by it to reach for the stars.

It seems that a significant number of people have an issue with the prose being pretentious and overly written. However, for me, the unfolding of the plot was a major problem. This was a strange book indeed. I truly wanted to like it and even thought I did after finishing it. But it took me about a week of reflection to realize, "Wait! That was a crappy book."

Problem number 1: Personally, I found Sophie to be an unbelievable character. She just didn't seem fascinating and was full of contradictions, not in the way real people are. I'll spare you the boredom of elaborating further. You can believe me or not, but the worst is yet to come.

On a personal note, I found Nathan to be a very realistic and frightening character. I know people like him in real life.

But, problem number 2: Styron tells this story from the first-person perspective of someone who has already gathered all the information, heard everyone's side of the story, and studied World War Two. In other words, he seems to have chosen the wrong form to tell the story. There are numerous flashbacks, and "Sophie's Choice" isn't revealed to us until the rest of the present-time turmoil is also underway. As a reader, I've never felt more manipulated. The narrator, Stingo, reveals things little by little, but only in a way that is bound to make everything more melodramatic and painful. It seems to be done not to prove a point but to give the book a tragic effect, though it comes across as extremely contrived.

Not only did I feel manipulated, but it also didn't seem realistic how much information Stingo knew about Sophie, no matter how close they were. I'm not just talking about personal information, as we all have friends who share personal things with us. But he tells parts of Sophie's story as if he were inside her head. It just felt like a huge narrative mistake... more something to be expected from a book with an unreliable narrator, although we're supposed to put our full trust and faith in this narrator.

Problem 3: It feels as if Styron was attempting to create a book that studied too many subjects simultaneously. It's fine to tackle multiple subjects, but he doesn't handle any of them well. He's trying to study psychosis and addiction, death, life, war, peace, prison camps, Nazi mentality, anti-Semitism, growing up, sexuality, and more sexuality wrapped into every other subject until it no longer makes any coherent sense.

I only decided to read this after "Lie Down in Darkness," which is infinitely better. I'm surprised that this is regarded as a great American novel and would never recommend it.

I love this novel with a passion that is truly profound.

It stands as one of the rare literary gems that have the power to transport the reader to a different time and place with such completeness that one loses all sense of self.

The narrator, Stingo, poignantly remarks, "I was aware of the large hollowness I carried within me. It was true that I had traveled great distances for one so young, but my spirit had remained land-locked, unacquainted with love and all but a stranger to death."

He refers to his journey to Brooklyn as a "voyage of discovery," but I am living proof that the discovery is not solely his but ours as well.

The novel delves deep into the fundamental questions of life. What is love? I believe the answer is found within these pages. What is guilt? What is evil? What is joy? All these inquiries are answered, and answered in the most beautiful and lyrical way, to the music of words.

I can never listen to "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" without being instantly reminded of Sophie and Stingo, and the powerful emotions and experiences they shared.

This novel has truly left an indelible mark on my heart and soul.

If ever there was a novel that would firmly grip a reader and refuse to release, it would undeniably be Sophie’s Choice. It is a disturbingly uncomfortable narrative that artfully blends together some extremely weighty themes and topics, along with unusual settings, and somehow manages to make it all work. To claim that the story Styron crafted moved me beyond words is a vast understatement. I was completely ensnared in the narrator Stingo’s self-absorbed passions and carnal thoughts, which made me feel rather uneasy. This southern girl was raised in a certain way, and I just had to figure out how this would fit into a tragic story of the Holocaust. It truly seemed impossible.

This is not a book where one reviews the plot and delves into the minutiae. Instead, it is one where a reader will be content with understanding the basic outline and then allowing all the pieces to fall into place on their own. This story revolves around three individuals in a Brooklyn boarding house and their chaotic and complex relationships with each other. Stingo, an aspiring writer, driven by his desires to pen a successful novel and lose his virginity, becomes obsessed with his fellow boarders. Polish Catholic immigrant Sophie Zawistowska, who survived imprisonment at Auschwitz and is now living in New York, has her story intertwined with her ongoing love affair with the volatile Jewish American scientist Nathan Landau. The southerner, Stingo, develops a close bond with Sophie, who begins to share with him the story of her past from the war, including her deportation, imprisonment, and survival. Her story is a gradual revelation of secrets or untruths that gradually become truths.

This novel raises numerous questions regarding guilt. It examines the differences in how people cope with it: those who feel a personal sense of responsibility and those who do not. The guilt of being a survivor is also explored. The novel endeavors to shed light on how guilt can horribly lead to self-destruction. Be prepared to be emotionally devastated, confused, and drained by the intense situations these characters find themselves in.

The most profound statement yet made about Auschwitz was not a statement at all, but a response. The query: ‘At Auschwitz, tell me, where was God?’ And the answer: ‘Where was man?’”

Styron presents us with a chilling account of the after-effects of the Holocaust rather than of the atrocities of war. There are indeed instances that depict the reality of concentration camps here, but the focus is on the consequences of the experiences. He delicately weaves historical events and people into Sophie’s story as well as into Stingo’s southern heritage. Interestingly, Styron assumes an autobiographical role through Stingo’s character.

The prose is both philosophical and intimate. There are lengthy passages, but they are by no means a chore to read. We are privy to an abundance of details - and I mean an enormous amount of details. You might find yourself wondering when the story will come together, but the meandering style works here, considering there are so many facets to weave together, and there is even some humor.

What can be said about the sex? There is a significant amount of it here, as well as thinking about it, talking about it, and dreaming about it.

As I stated at the beginning, this is a book that simply would not let go, regardless of how it made me feel while reading it. I experienced a wide range of emotions. This is a novel that will prompt many hours of reflection on the evils of humanity and precisely how much pain a person can endure.

Alright, I must admit that I am extremely late in joining the party of reading this classic. It is truly a pity that I have not discovered this gem earlier.

Sophie’s Choice is, without a doubt, a literary masterpiece. Styron’s proficiency in prose is simply unsurpassed. There are quite literally hundreds of lines within this book that are perfectly crafted and beautifully rendered. Each sentence seems to be a work of art in itself, captivating the reader and drawing them deeper into the story.

I have now added Sophie’s Choice to my six-star fiction bookshelf, as a tribute and homage to this great work of literature. It is a book that will stay with me for a long time and one that I will surely recommend to others.