What would you do, if one day your father shows up at your door and reveals a terrible secret and holes in his memory? If you’re anything like Mark Kurzem, you’d do everything you could to help him find out the truth about his past.
Slogging through dim childhood recollections, Mark and his father spend hours sitting at the kitchen table, as his dad slowly opens up about what he remembers from being a kid.
The Mascot: Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father’s Nazi Boyhood is the kind of book you can’t put down, though at certain parts you certainly want to. Kurzem hides no detail of his investigation – from the scholars who don’t believe his father’s story to the strange actions of the man who just might be his father’s half-brother.
The Mascot is both an intriguing mystery and a touching view into a family and the way people deal with secrets. It gives deeper insight into how World War II played out in the Soviet States, Latvia and Belarus particularly.
The questions the book raises – to what extent is a child culpable? who are the book’s heroes? what would you have done? – resonate long after The Mascot ends.
Promise next week’s Recommended Reading will be happier
(I seem to be on a weird Nazi kick),
Megan
The Mascot: Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father’s Nazi Boyhood
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Oooh! That sounds interesting! Your description reminds me of both Everything Is Illuminated and The Reader. Those types of moral situations are so heartbreaking… and so intellectually interesting.
Wow…sound like I need to put this on my TBR list.
And as for the Compliment Man, sounds like he’s moved to warmer climes…I found this link to help you sort things out. He most definitely used to hang out at 18th and Belmont NW, though!
This sounds really intriguing. I’d definitely be interested in reading it.
Also, for some reason, your review reminds me that I need to remind you that you need to see ‘Waltz With Bashir’!
book sounds fascinating, and yes, you really do need to see Waltz with Bashir
I’ve never heard of that book, but it sounds really interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.
What’s with all the Nazis?! Just kidding- it’s important to read about history, even sad history. Plus it’s so cool that people who survived WWII and the Holocaust are still around today. We should learn from them while they are still with us.
Both the hubs and I love WWII books, I just finished “I Have Live A Thousand Years,” it was insanely sad but so captivating!
Thanks for the suggestion
Mariel
http://www.oneshetwoshe.com