From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes:
The Autobiography of Robert Clary
by
Robert Clary
I can't explain why I didn't love this book. Mr. Clary has a great memory for details and he relates them well. He doesn't hold back on the feelings and he doesn't try to turn himself into a hero. He simply makes it clear, up front, that he's not one to dwell on the past at the expense of living in the present. In fact, I almost think he would have rather not have to tell about his life in the concentration camps. It was more of a "this needs to be told; people have to know and I'm famous enough that they'll listen to my story," than it was a cathartic "rip this beating heart out of my chest." (That turn of phrase comes from Cheryl Strayed, writing about the time when she had a book stuck in her and it had to come out.)
This autobiography was easy to pick up, hard to put down, and charitable to all--except the Nazis, of course. And if there were a certain lack of soul-searching or a personal need to make sense of it all, I'm the only one who'd miss it.
Good, solid memoir.
I can't explain why I didn't love this book. Mr. Clary has a great memory for details and he relates them well. He doesn't hold back on the feelings and he doesn't try to turn himself into a hero. He simply makes it clear, up front, that he's not one to dwell on the past at the expense of living in the present. In fact, I almost think he would have rather not have to tell about his life in the concentration camps. It was more of a "this needs to be told; people have to know and I'm famous enough that they'll listen to my story," than it was a cathartic "rip this beating heart out of my chest." (That turn of phrase comes from Cheryl Strayed, writing about the time when she had a book stuck in her and it had to come out.)
This autobiography was easy to pick up, hard to put down, and charitable to all--except the Nazis, of course. And if there were a certain lack of soul-searching or a personal need to make sense of it all, I'm the only one who'd miss it.
Good, solid memoir.
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