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Book ReviewsGo Down to Silence |
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Book: Go Down to Silence
Written by: G. K. Belliveau |
Publisher: Multnomah
Average Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5
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A moving account.
Rating:
4 / 5
What does it mean to be a young Jewish boy in war-torn, occupied Belgium during WWII? It means that your life suddenly becomes a living hell where you're constantly afraid, always in hiding, and you watch the Nazis (whoever they are) take your father and uncle to the death camps, and you're not even sure what's going on or why you're being hunted. Those were the thoughts that kept going through seventy-one-year old Jacob Horowitz's mind as he waited at the airport for his son, Isaac. He was taking Isaac to Belgium to show him his roots This is a deeply personal, emotional first person story of a young Jewish boy's trials in trying to stay alive while understanding the horrors of World War II. Then, after surviving the war, he grows up into a somewhat bitter old man who realizes he needs to set his house in order before he dies. Very moving and easy to follow, even though the time line jumps back and forth from the past to the present. Well written.
I almost didn't read it
Rating:
5 / 5
I just happened to snag this one off the "new books" shelf at the library (sorry Mr. Belliveau) and wasn't particularly excited about reading it since I've read so many books on the holocaust and figured this probably wouldn't provide a new perspective. I was wrong. It was gripping text from the beginning and brings up questions about where our sense of right and wrong comes from and how we make the choices that we make. Never once while reading this did it occur to me that this was a "Christian" book. . .I learned that the instant I finished the book and walked to the computer to beg my own redemption by writing a review. In fact, I kept looking at the author's name and wondering if he too was a Jewish man who was using a pseudonym like one of the characters in the story. This is a book about people, both Jewish and Christian, who suffered in WWII and this is the first time I have taken the time to let others know about a really, really good book.
A very moving novel
Rating:
5 / 5
Due to the help of Belgium Christians, Jew Jacob Horowitz survived the Holocaust. However, he never forgot the horrors of the Nazis even decades later. Although his mother pleaded he remember he was Jewish, the terror destroyed his faith in God. Now several decades later, Jacob is a successful Cleveland businessman with two grownup children with families of their own. Jacob and his youngest son Isaac are alienated because he has always refused to mention the horrors he faced during the Nazi abomination. That estrangement seems silly now to Jacob when he learns he is dying and that one of his European benefactors is near death. With his son in hand, Jacob plans to say good-bye to Pierre and hello to his family. Told in flashbacks, GO DOWN TO SILENCE is a fantastic human drama that will inspire anyone with a soul. The story line is incredible as readers feel Jacob's emotions as his life winds down and he tries one last time for salvation on the spiritual and mortal planes. G. K. Belliveau has written an amazing tale that brings the aftermath of the Holocaust home in a way rarely seen in a novel. Harriet Klausner
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