'Never have we been more free than under the German occupation.' -- Jean-Paul Sartre, 1944.

I vividly remember the moment when I reached the final pages of this book. I had to seek solace in a park alone, away from prying eyes, as I struggled to hold back my emotions. Years later, on a flight from Frankfurt to New York, I revisited this book. By the time I landed at JFK, my eyes were misty. And let me tell you, I'm not the type who easily succumbs to the power of books to bring tears. I don't think I have the courage to endure reading this book again, even though it holds a special place as one of my all-time favorites.

The writing in this book is so exquisitely descriptive and astonishingly real that it sends shivers down your spine. The characters are developed with such precision and depth that you feel an intimate connection with them. Page by page, mysteries unfold, lies are revealed, and truths come to light, all in sync with Sophie's journey.

The central theme of this book, which for me elevates it to the status of an American classic, is the concept of living with the choices we make in life. Despite facing various forms of oppression, the characters in the novel are always, without fail, free to make their choices. And so are we. The question that lingers is: What kind of choices will we encounter in our lives? And more significantly, will we have the strength and courage to live with those choices?

Nobody can put a sentence together the way Styron can.

It is truly remarkable how he weaves words and phrases into a tapestry of literary art.

His sentences have a power and a grace that is almost palpable, as if he is lifting a locomotive with his pen.

Each word is carefully chosen, each phrase is meticulously crafted, to create a meaning that is both profound and beautiful.

Styron's writing is a masterclass in the art of language, and his sentences are a joy to read and to study.

Whether he is describing a character's inner turmoil or painting a vivid picture of a landscape, his words have the ability to transport the reader to another world.

It is no wonder that he is considered one of the greatest writers of our time.

I just watched the movie and it completely took me by surprise. I had expected it to be a happy and light-hearted one, but it turned out to be something completely different. The story was so engaging and the characters were so well-developed that I found myself completely immersed in the movie. I was not prepared for the emotions that it would evoke in me. By the end of the movie, I was left with a sense of longing and a desire to know more about the story and the characters. I can't wait to read the book and see if it can capture the essence of the movie and take me on an even deeper journey.

I truly loved this story.

It had a captivating charm that held my attention from the very beginning.

The characters were well-developed and relatable, making it easy for me to become emotionally invested in their lives.

The plot was engaging and filled with unexpected twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I found myself constantly eager to know what would happen next.

The writing style was also excellent, with vivid descriptions that brought the story to life in my mind.

Overall, this story was a real gem and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an enjoyable and entertaining read.

It left a lasting impression on me and I will definitely be thinking about it for a long time to come.

Sophie's Choice is a remarkable novel penned by William Styron.

It weaves together two distinct yet interconnected stories. One is about a writer from the American South striving to succeed, while the other is a harrowing account of a woman's experiences during the Holocaust and the difficult choices she has to make.

The latter part is widely renowned, but I won't delve into it here. Having watched the movie years ago, I was astonished to discover how much of the novel focuses on the writer and his life decisions.

I actually found this part more engaging than the sections related to the Holocaust. Styron writes from his own perspective, drawing on what he knows, and as someone in the literary world, I could identify with some of his frustrations and insecurities.

In contrast, I felt the Holocaust parts were rather slow-paced. It seemed as if the writer was imagining something he couldn't fully bring to life in three dimensions.

For me, a lot of the writing derived its significance more from the subject matter itself rather than from the writer's ability to evoke empathy or compassion through his prose.

Sophie's Choice is indeed an eminently readable and enjoyable text. However, I struggle to fathom why it is considered a classic. I didn't uncover anything truly universal or profound within its pages.

It is a touching and captivating story, but I'm not sure what compels people to read it beyond its surface appeal.

A tragic love triangle unfolds in New York in 1947, with its roots firmly planted in the horrors of the Holocaust. The story is told through the eyes of Stingo, a 22-year-old budding author who is hopelessly in love with the beautiful Sophie, a 30-year-old Polish woman. Sophie, in turn, is deeply in love with and enslaved by the mercurial biologist Nathan. Each of them is hiding secrets and must lie to survive.

Stingo is tormented by his repressed sexuality, which borders on homo-eroticism. Sophie is haunted by her past in the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz, while Nathan struggles with his violent bi-polarity. Despite their differences and secrets, the three are bound together by mutual attraction and love.

The author, Styron, brings to light the parallel between the persecution of Jews by the Nazis and slavery in America, both of which stripped their victims of their rights and dignity. Sophie seems to be a proxy for a victim of both systems.

As the story progresses, Stingo gradually uncovers the secrets of Sophie and Nathan. We learn about Sophie's children and her survivor guilt, as well as Nathan's true nature. Even Stingo has his own secrets, such as the source of his financial support in New York.

The narrative is filled with diversions into Sophie's past, from her privileged upbringing in Cracow to her descent into hell in Auschwitz. We also learn about her slavish attachment to Nathan and the source of her lack of self-esteem.

Although the subject matter is gripping, the book has its flaws. There are information drops and overly complex sentences that can be tiresome. The author's allusions to Thomas Wolfe and his ponderous style are also evident. However, the scenes in Auschwitz and Birkenau are well-drawn, and the explanation of the philosophy and psychology behind the concentration camp system is in-depth.

Overall, "Sophie's Choice" is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that explores themes of love, loss, guilt, and the human condition. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the Holocaust or in exploring the complex relationships between people.

William Styron penned this novel in the seventies, drawing inspiration from his own experiences. He grew up in the South during the 1930s and spent time in NYC in 1947 after leaving the USMC.

This is a tragic tale of the dysfunctional relationship among three people who met at a boarding house in Brooklyn in 1947. Sophie, the central character, is a beautiful and intelligent woman who endured countless physical and mental hardships in Auschwitz, having grown up in Poland as a non-Jew. Nathan, her intelligent yet delusional and schizophrenic Jewish boyfriend, and Stingo, a Protestant southern writer from Virginia and their friend who serves as the book's narrator. The story largely revolves around Sophie's upbringing in Poland, the political climate there before WWII, and her time in the concentration camp, where she made choices that would haunt her until her death.

I awarded the story 5 stars due to the writer's evident intelligence, adept storytelling skills, writing prowess, and extensive vocabulary. However, at times, I found the story to be a bit of a chore. I had to set the book aside and return to it several times. I read another of his works and attempted to read his Pulitzer Prize-winning "Confessions of Nat Turner," but I stopped. Perhaps I will come back to it someday, but it is extremely challenging to keep reading.

I am somewhat conflicted about this reading experience.

The story and the flashbacks to Sophie's traumatic Holocaust experiences do possess a certain emotional pull and power. However, I believe that both the characters and the numerous digressions and asides from Stingo diminished the book's impact.

Stingo's rants and asides regarding his lust for Sophie and other women were initially mildly entertaining, but as the book advanced, they became increasingly tiresome and distracting.

In my opinion, the characters were rather lackluster. Sophie and Nathan didn't seem genuine to me, and as a result, I couldn't truly sympathize with or connect to them. Part of this could be due to the fact that we are hearing about them from Stingo's perspective, but still, I simply didn't think they came across as realistic.

Although Stingo gradually reveals segments of his story and experiences with Nathan and Sophie, and ultimately the revelation of Sophie's "choice", somehow it all just loses momentum, and there is a constant disconnect between what Stingo wants to convey and how he presents it.

There are some positives. I can understand how parallels to dark historical moments, such as the slavery of the South and the Holocaust, are explored in Sophie's Choice and how this affects each central character. Styron can eloquently capture and paint a picture with words; his prose and style are indeed impressive.

But at times, he appears to overreach and provide an excessive amount of backstory, only to revisit that story once again.

While Sophie's Choice has a literary quality and some powerful moments, I just felt that it lacked the real impact I had anticipated.

Whenever I read a book that has the Holocaust as the background, I am always struck by the thought.

'How can human beings behave towards other human beings in such a terrible manner?'

Such meticulous planning was involved to carry out such terrible deeds.

I ask myself, what went wrong with such an intelligent race that they exterminated and brutalized millions of defenceless men, women, and children (even babies). I can understand war to some extent, as it is a tragic consequence of conflicts between nations or groups. However, this meticulous killing during the Holocaust is something that is truly beyond any words.

It is difficult to fathom the level of hatred, prejudice, and inhumanity that must have existed to drive people to commit such atrocities.

I feel a terrible sense of loss and, to some extent, a kind of despair. The Holocaust is a dark chapter in human history that serves as a reminder of the potential for evil that exists within us.

It is essential that we never forget this history and work towards creating a more just and peaceful world where such atrocities can never happen again.

Knyga klaiki yra tokia puiki knyga, kurią perskaityti palieka išdraskytą ir skylėtą sielą.

Autoriaus pasiūlymas yra labai patraukli, nes jis leidžia vartotojui atsisakyti gyvenimo rūpesčių ir atsidurti ramiai ant sofkutės, mėgindamas užsikrovinti knygos turiniu.

Jei autoriaus tikslas buvo supurtyti ramiai sau ant sofkutės snaudžiantį žmogų, tai jis jį visiškai pasiekė.

Knyga yra labai gera išėjimas iš kasdienybės ir galimybė patirti ką nors naujo ir įdomaus.

Visų pirma, ji yra puikus būdas atsisakyti įvairių įtemptų darbų ir atsidurti ramiai, mėgindamas išsikelti savo sielą į aukštesnę lygį.

Visas, kuris nori pasižymėti gerą knygą ir išsikelti savo sielą į naują lygį, turi perskaityti "Knyga klaiki".

“Someday I will understand Auschwitz.” This was a bold yet naively absurd assertion. In truth, no one can ever fully fathom Auschwitz. A more accurate statement might have been: “Someday I will pen about Sophie’s life and death, thus helping to illustrate how absolute evil persists in the world. Auschwitz itself remains incomprehensible. The most profound commentary on Auschwitz was not a statement but a response.

The query: “At Auschwitz, tell me, where was God?”

And the answer: “Where was man?”

― William Styron, Sophie’s Choice

I am at a loss for words. This is no understatement, as I have postponed this review for over a month, hoping the right words would come to me. But they haven't. I cannot convey how this book makes me feel. I struggle to find the appropriate words to describe the evil and the indescribable tragedy of the Holocaust. I now realize that the words don't exist.

The only thing I can say is that we must never forget the horrors humans can inflict on one another. There is no excuse for such atrocities, and we all know that. So, what do we do now? Write about it so people can attempt to feel the heartbreak? I'm not sure if there's a definitive answer to that question, but I will say that William Styron did an excellent job of trying to get us to pay attention.

He crafted the book in an old-fashioned Southern style, slowly beginning the novel as if it were meant to be read while lounging in a hammock on a hot summer afternoon in the deep south. We don't even meet Sophie until around page 70, and when we do, you might feel as I did: that there is something breathtakingly beautiful in her raw pain. She is not hardened or cynical; she is simply who she is, and the only way we can see the true impact of the emotional turmoil of her “choice” is to closely examine the abusive relationship she has with Nathan.

Styron is masterful at subtly showing readers the reasons behind the events. Sophie believed she deserved the abuse from Nathan, and there's no doubt about that. We know it's because she thinks she doesn't deserve happiness, believing herself to be a monster. What kind of mother could do what she did, she must have been thinking. Styron never explicitly states this, however. Instead, he preferred to give readers the space they need to let the book unfold on its own.

It's almost flawless.

However, towards the end of the book, we see the convergence of the narrator's voice of Stingo and the author himself. This is where some things might leave perceptive readers scratching their heads in disbelief, as some of what happens between Sophie and Stingo doesn't seem like something she would do. At least not at first glance.

This leaves me wondering if Styron actually knew someone similar to Sophie…

Oh God, I hope not. I want to keep pretending and believing that this didn't happen to a single person. But it probably did, right? And so much worse. And why? For cruel amusement? I truly don't understand the hatred. I've tried to visit forums where white supremacists lurk and read their wretched posts while trying not to vomit. They simultaneously idolize Hitler while denying the Holocaust. They can't have it both ways, and the least they can do is face the truth.

Maybe they can't admit it out loud because deep down they know it's wrong. Otherwise, they would be shouting from the rooftops about how proud they are that Nazis treated humans worse than most people treat the worst violent criminals in history.

“Let your love flow out on all living things.”

― William Styron, Sophie’s Choice

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A soulful and beautiful read awaits you.

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