Tzili: The Story of a Life
by Aharon Appelfeld

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Book Reviews of Tzili: The Story of a Life

Book Review: Touching fable of survival
Summary: 5 Stars

"Tzili" is a powerful narrative of an experience which is too deep to be expressed, where characters are forced to participate in a historical event they are not able to understand. The war is the background of the story, but it remains an abstract for Tzili and the reader, history becomes a fairy tale. The author assumes that the reader knows the historical facts, and his purpose is to understand the victim.

Tzili is the name of the simplest child of a poor Jewish family, devoid of charm; she is an academic failure and a disgrace for the family. She remains passive, mute, despite constant punishment and ridicule, absorbing what little she is able to in her religious education. Abandoned when war breaks out, she has the wisdom to endure a world of cruelty and physical suffering. Having to face the horror she turns empty and emotionless. Tzilil finds a lover and father of her child in a refugee by the name of Mark, who is mentally disturbed, an eccentric character among many others.

But "Tzili" is not an autobriography, as Appelfeld himself said: "the reality of the Holocaust surpassed my imagination, if I remained true to the facts, no one would believe me!" He reinterprets his childhood memories and turns them into a fablelike, dreamlike, nightmarish narrative. It is certainly a tale that leaves its footprint on the mind of the reader.

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