Having been blown away by Appelfeld's The Conversion, I bought a few more of his books - All Whom I Have Loved being one of them. It's similar to The Conversion in some ways: a pre-Holocaust Europe setting, anti-Semitism, and a great deal of sadness and death. However, there are many differences between the two stories, so I didn't feel like I was reading the same book.Paul, a young Jewish boy, lives with his parents until their divorce. His mother obtains a teaching position in another city, and Paul moves there with her. He is taken care of by a local girl, Halina, whom he at first doesn't like but grows quite fond of rather quickly. (view spoiler)[Halina, unfortunately, is murdered by her fiance, and her death shakes Paul. Meanwhile, Paul's mother is having a relationship with a Gentile named Andre, whom she eventually marries. Paul's father, a distant, alcoholic, rather tortured artist-turned-schoolteacher, visits him only sporadically, but eventually comes to retrieve Paul from his mother. Paul lives with him for a while, traveling to Bucharest when his father attempts to become an artist again. But, due to anti-Semitism and his "decadent" (and provocative) style, the father's art exhibit does not go well. Coupled with Paul's mother's desertion by her new husband and death of typhus, and Paul's father's world falls apart. The father falls deeper and deeper into despair, loses all of the money he has, and is eventually killed. Paul, whose parents were both orphans, is now orphaned himself, and must go to live in an orphanage. And though nothing is said of Paul's fate, one can't help but think that a poor, young, Jewish boy on the brink of the Holocaust is not going to fare well in the years to come. (hide spoiler)]
I didn't really care for this book. There are times when I really enjoy the view point of a child, but I guess I need the child to more vocal or verbal about his feelings. He doesn't have to be too verbal, but enough so that I, as a reader, don't get frustrated that this kid is not saying anything he feels at all. The whole book was narrated by this little boy and we hear all his thoughts and feelings and concerns about his mother and father. But does he once relay these thoughts, feelings, or concerns to his parents? No. His mother abandons him and he is completely emotionally destroyed by this. Or a close friend of his dies and his mother shows no care about how he is feeling and this leaves him extremely depressed. We hear all about these feelings, but never once does he tell his mother he misses her or how sad he is that his friend is dead. I just needed at least one moment of clarity, but alas, I was never given it, thus causing me to dislike this book.
What do You think about All Whom I Have Loved (2007)?
A story of a young boy is a small village where anti-Semitism is on the rise. Sadly portrays the father, a painter, who has lost out on the success he feels he deserved and drinks his sorrows away.The focus is the child and family, but underlying is the question of which is the better way to survive - avoiding the hate and confrontation or taking a stand. The father does take a stand with sad results for him and his son. Appelfeld writing is as good as ever but this is a depressing story without hope ultimately.
—Jean Kelly
