The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw
by Wladyslaw Szpilman

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Book Reviews of The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw

Book Review: A Survivor And A Son
Summary: 5 Stars

A man who was young, and whose experiences were extremely fresh wrote this account in 1945. After the book appeared it was suppressed, and it was to be 50 years before it would be available for the public. One of the striking features of the narrative is that it is not an emotional account that vents all the dark hatreds he reasonably could have aired, the book is not a pleasant treatise on life during The Holocaust, it seemingly is related as it took place, without need for anything other than his personal observations. As a musician and well-known composer in Europe, perhaps his writing style is similar to the discipline and management of creating a musical piece for piano. I don't know the answer, however it is very noticeable in the book.

When a person survives a near miss with death, people often say it was just not his or her time to go. If this expression applies to anyone it applies to Mr. Szpilman. Any survivor of this time was a part of a small group, however this man had something looking out for him. The train that takes away his family offers him what would appear to be a brief respite. He hides and is hidden by various people for years until one day the building he has hidden in is burning, and in a moment of despondence he takes medication that puts him to sleep, and then lies down to die. His alternative would have been to walk out the door in to the hands of The SS. He sleeps; he wakes, and survives the fire. Still the SS come and he hangs from a portion of the roof until they leave.

It could easily be labeled luck that he managed to dodge so many near misses that would have lead to an instant, or a prolonged death in the camps. That good fortune, such as it was, helped, he survived as he took his year ordeal a day at a time. We are able to share this experience as his son Andrzej Szpilman never gave up his efforts to have the book published. It took half of the 20th Century to get the book back into print, and into hands of readers. The perseverance of the son is a tribute to the monumental accomplishment of his father's survival.

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