A tragic tale of a tragic man; this book is a well-written portrayal of the absolute shock and confusion, but also numbness felt by many Jews in pre-war Germany at the state-sanctioned antisemitism. As the book progresses, and the tragedies mount, there is a marked transition in the tone of the writing as Steinberg's (the protagonist) mind breaks down.
However, I often found it hard to emphasise with hil due to his deliberately written-in anti hero nature. The overall feel of the book is quite sullen, which in fairness does match the subject matter.
The author's biography  at the beginning of the book, furthers this sadness; his real-life story being just as tragic as Steinberg's - dying in 1942 well before his time.

I bought this book because I was recommended the book by a colleague and I will say in some parts, this was a really good novel. It does have some imperfections, but that is explained by the context of the book which is really important to note. The book is actually a partially fictionalised version of Bocshwitz's life and he wrote this in around 6 weeks whilst he was escaping to Australia due to being Jewish, in 1938. What is tragic, is that Boschwitz dies not long after this, fleeing Australia and being sent back to the UK, when the ship he is travelling on gets bombed. It feels rushed in areas, but he churned out this novel at break-neck speed and it is quite phenomenal when considering this. 

The emotions that are induced through reading this are quite incredible. Otto Silberman is not a very likable character but when his life is turned completely upside down and he is forced to flee, you start to feel guilty for ever disliking any attribute of his character. Sometimes, the writing was also so compelling that you felt the tiredness of Otto's mind and the monotony of travelling on the trains trying to escape. It really captures the feeling of being lost in your identity and the contemplation over one's existence. 

One thing that also gave me chills, was the foreboding of the Holocaust. Otto is forced to leave in 1938 where the mass killing of the Jewish faith had only really just begun, and the general public weren't fully aware of the extent of the Holocaust. I was particularly blown away by the line (that goes something along the lines of) "what's the worst they can do, shave our heads and kill us?" It chilled me to the bone. To think that Boschwitz himself, fleeing countries desperate to live, could think naively about this circumstance, when it was slowly starting to come true, blows my mind. 

A beautifully human story, Truly an amazing view into the life of a Jewish person in WW2 but also a look into the humanity of people. This book truly touched me in a way I cannot describe, I am left feeling heavy hearted and changed; This is truly a book I think everyone should read in their lifetime.