Colette was our host this month. Present were Beth, Betty, Colette, Linda, Michèle and Shirley. We were a small group this month.
Beth presented the book The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis. Martin Amis was born in 1949 and died in 2023. He was the son of Kingsley Amis, a well known British author who wrote over 20 novels including Lucky Jim. Martin Amis wrote several novels, essays, memoirs and screenplays. Two of his novels were nominated for the Booker Prize.
The Zone of Interest is the area around the concentration camp Auschwitz, about 40 sq. kilometres. The commandant Rudolph Höss and his family, live in the region along with others who work at the concentration camp. There are several characters, however Amis has chosen to tell the story via 3 of them, the camp commandant Paul Doll, Golo Thomsen, who is a very aryan, blue-eyed tall young Nazi officer and the third character is the head of the "Sonders" jewish prisoners who help the Nazis, with the hope of saving themselves. Many reviewers see the story as a comedic farce with a love story included between, Golo Thomsen and the Camp Commandant's wife Hannah Doll.
All of us found the book challenging and difficult to read. Some found it well written giving more the prospective of the protagonists, they believed they were doing the right thing. Some however did not like the writing style and did not appreciate the German phrases that were not translated, making it hard to read and understand. None of us found the story to be funny.
Though it was not a story that members enjoyed reading, it was one that brought on a discussion about the war in mideast at moment. Thank you Beth.
