Bellissimo romanzo, incentrato sul tema della "diversità"e della difficoltà della sua accettazione per chi la vive. La protagonista è Trudi Montag, una bambina, ragazza e poi donna "zwerg", nana. Per tutto il libro risuona questa parola, che sempre ricorda a Trudi la sua diversità. All'interno della storia di Trudi si svolge la tragedia della Germania che diventa nazista. Del nazismo e della guerra viviamo le tragedie attraverso gli occhi e i racconti di Trudi.Ogni accadimento, bello o brutto, della vita rimane impresso nell'animo della protagonista come pietre nel fiume, sulle quali l'acqua passa levigandole.Bellissimo!

I've read all of Ursula Hegi’s books and have yet to be disappointed. I found this to be her finest work. In fact, Stones From The River stands among my favorite novels. A high school friend turned me onto this book years ago and I am forever glad she did. It's still one of my favorite novels on my shelves. Stones From The River is the first in the Burgdorf series of novels set in Germany around the time of WWII. With the creation of Trudi Montag, Hegi set the stage for some of the finest, most interesting characters and stories modern literature has ever seen. For readers who want to complete the series: to date, the Burgdorf novels by Hegi include (in order): 1. Stones From The River, 2. Floating In My Mother’s Palm, 3. The Vision Of Emma Blau, and 4. Children & Fire.

This is a book that I would not have picked out for myself to read if it weren't for my mother in-law.

The story, set in German in the early 1900's, is about a courageous blond, blue eyed girl named Trudi Montag who just happens to be a dwarf. Over the course of 4 decades, Trudi, tells you the story of her town, her friends, her physical limitations, her jealousy, and most importantly the Hitler reign that sweeps through her town exterminating all Jews and anyone who tries to help them.

I enjoyed the story to a point. I was increasing frustrated with Trudi and how she used her size as a weapon as well as a shield. Unfortunately for her, she didn't allow herself pleasure because she didn't think of herself as worthy.

This book also raised more awareness and a tenderness for those families who lost lives, who escaped camps, or returned deeply afflicted by Hitler. At one point in the book, the town is returning to "normal" after WWII and Trudi wants to ask people about thier experience though she is urged to "let it go". Trudi says...she doesn't want people to forget this ever happened and by talking about, you keep it alive.

It also brought awareness to how the American government closed immigration of Jews to the US when Hitler started reeking havoc. However, Americans came to the rescue AFTER millions of Jews died.

It's a part of history that I need to read and remember.

PS When the story took on the grave details of Jews disappearing and some details about the death camps, it reminded me of "Snow Falling on Cedars" and how the American's took, um, stole land from the Japanese and sent them to "camps". Hmmm - all this shortly after the shocking news of what Hitler did.

If you love World War 2 history this is the book, not even gonna say much except if you haven't read this you must because you will soon be a Zerwg's best friend in the heart of Nazis Germany!

Timely novel at our political juncture, I'd say. For a really good review, read New York Time's book review of 1994. Oddly enough, some other reviews I read glossed over the historically personal impact of the Nazi occupation in the story which was pretty central (to me) and continues to act as a warning for our present and future generations: the human behavior in creeping fascism and.the struggle for "eine heine Welt" - an intact world.

"She felt dizzy with a longing for peace, a longing as powerful as the passion with which she used to will her body to grow, as consuming as the passion that had fueled her revenge on the boys who'd humiliated her. And what she wnted more than anything that moment was for all the differences between people to matter no more - differences in size and race and belief - differences that had become justification for destruction."

Other nice example of writing: "Klara Brocker was one of those girls. At 19 she was the prettiest she would ever be - small and cheerful and neat - the kind of briefly held beautty that never fully flourishes but becomes contained, lacquered by its very tidiness."

Trudi tells the story of growing up a Zwerg in pre WWII Germany. Being a dwarf, motherless and in a time of Hitler's beginnings give great insight to the luxuries we have in our lives.

Trudi is a little person living in a small German town near Düsseldorf and Koln. She was born during the First World War and reached adulthood during the second. The story follows Trudi and her various fellow townspeople through the tough times during, between and after the wars. Good, solid, storytelling. It’s kind of a quiet, long journey, a little tough to get into in the beginning. Wish I’d kept notes on the various characters in order to keep them all straight.

Hegi does an incredible job with this novel. She captures so many different characters and types of people, but manages to do so without resorting to stereotypes. She explores what it is to be different (physically, psychologically, emotionally, socioeconomically, etc.) and yet the same: to be part of a group, yet an outsider: to be a bully, yet a victim, to be strong, but weak. I once heard psychologist say that each of us is made up of half a dozen different people inside. Hegi really understands and explores that. So I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Trudi, the main protagonist. She is complicated and real. But Hegi also spends time and care making her other, secondary characters, fully human and complex. There’s a lot of depth to those who populate Stones from The River.

I was also fascinated by Hegi’s portrayal of common German citizens as part of a community, and how they managed to proceed and live through the growing threat of Naziism. We’ve all wondered; How did that happen in Germany, with its high culture and advanced level of sophistication and education, etc.? How does the individual, being part of a group, act or respond to such mean politics and inhuman treatment of Jewish people (first simple prejudice, to resentment and hostility, then dehumanizing, to real violence, and torture and death). What does that social dynamic look like in its early stages, middle stages, and late stages? Of course there are some who “patriotically” fully support the cruelty. But then others who are perhaps willfully blind. And what of the others, those with empathy with Jewish victims, and enough courage and bravery to act, to try and help? And what of those with a bit less bravery, who couldn’t find the courage to act, but who failed to publicly show sufficient enthusiasm for “dear leader”? In her novel, Hegi paints a full and rich portrait of what all of that might look like.

This is a very well written and engaging book, full of interesting characters, who lived in interesting times. This also is an important book. It’s important because right now there are a lot of interesting characters all around us, and we certainly are living in interesting times.

In my review of my favorite book of all time, Rohinton Mistry’s “A Fine Balance”, I said “I think I judge all books I read by how closely they examine the balance of the title, between hope and despair.” This book gets 5 stars. I also love unique points of view, and this book is written from the point of view of a dwarf living in Germany through Hitler’s reign in WWII. It’s a long story, with too many characters to keep track of, and it’s not an easy read, but well worth it in my opinion. Oddly, as I read it, I was reminded of Russo’s "Nobody’s Fool", just for the descriptions of small-town life and the myriad of colorful characters. Lastly, as I imagine is true of all books set in Germany in WWII, you have to ask yourself the profound and disturbing question, “Could it happen here?”

Trudi, the protagonist, is an extraordinary character and differentiates this novel from a lot of works of art about WWII out there. As a dwarf, she is inevitably forced to be an outsider, to all people. Hegi's writing is beautifully detailed, and seeing Trudi growing up is heartbreaking and heartening, as this eternal mark of her body forces her into situations that she cannot control, and as she finds new ways to relate to herself, to transcend and develop new self-conceptions. Hegi masterfully shows us how being an outsider, this horrible position, also enables one to have a radically different perspective than those had by all others in one's community. Trudi is clear-eyed and understands people's psychological motivations with great nuance; she can respond to the developments of national socialism very different than many around her. As a whole, this novel does fantastically both as a historical novel, letting us stand in the shoes of a specific era of people; and as an existentialist novel, getting to the core of what it means to be thrown into a body and world that we did not choose, and showing us a pathway of grace through it all.

This was an excellent book. I was astounded by Hegi's ability to capture both the everyday life of Germans over the 20-year span leading up to the end of WWII and the experience of a woman with dwarfism. Not once does she dramatize for the sake of Hollywood-like entertainment. Considering the standard treatments for both the topics of dwarfism and WWII, this is indeed a rare accomplishment.

I myself have dwarfism and am usually sick of the average portrayal of dwarfs in the media as either amusing, adorable, freakish, or pitiful, but Hegi's portrayal of Trudi Montag was amazingly normal and simultaneously resonating. I am dying to know who in Hegi's life gave her the inspiration to portray the experience of a dwarf so accurately without treating her like a novelty. Authors who don't belong to a minority take a risk when they try to tell their story for them, but in this case Hegi succeeded brilliantly.

Since I read the book, I have also - coincidentally - been living in Germany now for over three years. My German friends and in-laws appreciate the need for novels set in WWII since they of course recognize the importance of what one can learn, but they are also sick of the theme being treated as a novelty by any author or filmmaker trying to catch the audience's attention. Hegi's non-dramatic portrayal of the era is crucial in proving that WWII and the Holocaust originated in the midst of everyday people. This signifies how it happened, how it should be resolved, and how future tragedies can be prevented.

When I was 19 I remember "auntie birdbrain" (the mother of my best friend) recommending a long list of great books to read that summer in between college years. I can still see the swoopy handwriting and the star after Ursula Hegi's Stones from the River. I have no idea why it took me over a decade to actually read the book. I finished it in three days and loved every single page, all the gruesome details, the love and misery. I cried at many points. This is a masterpiece, as demonstrated by its award achievements. I will now read all of Ursula Hegi to make up for lost time.