Reading 1001 discussion

Rating: 4 stars


The book tells about the hardships faced in the Nazi-occupied Łódź Ghetto in Poland during the Holocaust and how a white lie gives hope to those living in this community. In an effort to maintain this original lie, Jacob, the man who originated the lie, is forced to fabricate even more lies. There are three potential endings to the story, one of which is the true ending. Overall, a well-told and beautiful story set during a difficult time in history.

Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Jacob the Liar manages to do what might seem to be impossible, to tell the story of the Holocaust through humor.... Originally a screenplay, {it} is written in a lucid, clear, and often funny tone with moments of touching beauty."

A resident of a Jewish Ghetto in Nazi occupied Poland, Jacob, accidentally hears a bit of war news in an impossible way. Knowing that he won't be able to keep it to himself and also knowing it will only lead to difficulties once told, Jacob somehow manages to make it worse for himself by claiming he heard the news on a secret, hidden radio. Once this lie is voiced, it cannot be unsaid, especially since the tidbit of good news lifts the pervasive despair, giving the Jewish community a reason to go on struggling and living.

The story is multi-layered, with the narrator, another member of the ghetto, relating the story as it was told to him by Jacob, as well as weaving bits of his own story and those of other residents. The narrator also comments on the story he is telling, pointing out the details that he could not have known and telling the reader that he is filling in the gaps. he even goes so far as to convey a wished for ending to the tragic story as well as the more likely ending.

Read in 2015
4 stars

A wonderful story about hope and the human spirit. Jacob Heym lives in the Lodz ghetto in Poland. One night he overhears a broadcast report of the Red Army's advance to Bezanika some 300 miles away. No one will believe him until he says he heard it on his radio. “The first lie, which may not even have been one, such a little lie, and Kowalski is satisfied.” And so the story goes, Jacob tells one lie and then another. Jacob notices that hope lifts the people of the ghetto. “Well done Mr. Heym, carry on, there is no medicine people need as much as hope.” The Lodz ghetto was in operation from 1939-1945. On January 19, 1945 the Soviets liberated the Lodz ghetto, only 877 Jews remained from the more than 245,000.

Diane wrote: "Read in 2015
4 stars

A wonderful story about hope and the human spirit. Jacob Heym lives in the Lodz ghetto in Poland. One night he overhears a broadcast report of the Red Army's advance to Bezani..."

Have you seen the movie? And how well does it compare?

Kelly wrote: "Diane wrote: "Read in 2015
4 stars

A wonderful story about hope and the human spirit. Jacob Heym lives in the Lodz ghetto in Poland. One night he overhears a broadcast report of the Red Army's adv..."

I watched this movie in 2015. I don't remember much about it but I rated it 4/5 stars. I think I liked it. Netflix has it.

A wonderfully told story that brings a personal and intimate voice to the tragic story of the Lodz Ghetto under Nazi Germany during World War II. The story is told through the voice and eyes of someone that saw the events told about but only as a by-stander and not as one of the primary characters. The one thing we understand from this specific point of view is that this person survived to tell the tale. The specific story is about a man named Jacob, who for a number of reasons comes to tell a lie about what specifically is happening at the Eastern front. This lie inevitably leads to further lies but also to the first manifestations of hope throughout the ghetto. The overall tale, because it is told by someone who was not one of the primary characters, is full of some assumptions about interior motivations and the narrator will even tell the reader at times what he has made up or imagined, even to the point of giving the reader a number of different endings. This investigation of human nature and the way that hope defines all of human thoughts about the future is very simply told and very well crafted. However, the story of the ghetto is truly one of the most tragic tales that human beings have forced upon other human beings.

Pre-2016 review:

**** 1/2

In a Polish ghetto towards the end of WWII, Jakob accidentally comes across an uplifting piece of information: the Russian Army has progressed to within a few hundred kilometres from their town. Fearing that he wouldn't be believed when telling his Jewish neighbours and friends, he creates the first lie (he heard it from his radio set) which would lead to so many others, shielding them from the truth while providing them hope that better days are to come. Funny at times, tragic at others, this beautiful novel is expertly written in a somewhat derisive tone (this is (about) Jewish humour, after all). The story is highly reminiscent of some aspects of the movie Life is Beautiful, where Benigni's character explains to his son that life in the camp is just a huge game where prizes are to be won. The best read I have had in a long time (perhaps since Animal's People).