The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Released: January 11, 2018 | Genre: Historical Fiction, World War II
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In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.
Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.
One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.
A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.
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The Tattooist of Auschwitz wasn’t originally a novel. Heather Morris first wrote Lale Sokolov’s story as a screenplay after spending three years interviewing him. When Hollywood didn’t bite, her sister-in-law convinced her to turn it into a book instead.
REVIEW
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆
Overrated compared to its peers.
(I hate this review already, but stick with me, I’ll explain why at the end.)
Historical fiction, especially WWII stories, has been killing it lately: Beneath a Scarlet Sky, The Alice Network, All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and plenty more I can’t even remember right now. These books set a really high bar.
Typically, something like this might get overlooked or underrated. Think James White on the Patriots, or any YA dystopia that gets lost in the shuffle. But The Tattooist of Auschwitz somehow did the opposite, managing to stand out as subpar compared to other novels in this genre.
It seems like a lot of readers automatically assume historical fiction = greatness: deep, emotional tales that explore freedom, humanity, and resilience. On that scale, Morris’ novel just doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Now don’t get me wrong, I have massive respect for the true story behind the book. But I can’t shake the feeling that the novel is overrated because of that story. Take away Lale’s real-life experiences, and the book itself doesn’t quite live up to the quality I’ve come to expect from this genre.
Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by reading one incredible WWII novel after another in the past couple of years. That “victim of the moment” effect is real.
That said, it’s not a bad book. Lale’s story is genuinely heart-wrenching and heartwarming at the same time. The tale of love enduring in the darkest of circumstances is powerful.
Where it falls short for me is scope. The story is narrowly focused on Lale and his personal hardships, which is fine, but I wanted more context. What about the guards, the labor, the camp hierarchy, the food, the shifting state of the war? Those external factors shaped Lale’s experience, yet they’re rarely explored.
This is probably my least favorite review I’ve done so far. Not the book, I’ve read far worse, but my review itself. I’m not a fan of reviews that compare the product to other products, instead of judging it on its own merits and taking into account that it’s not trying to be like those other products. My problem was, as I was reading, it’s all I could think about. How great those other books were, and how this just didn’t have the same feel to it. I will admit, this skewed my expectations and ultimately my opinion. Being aware of that, I gave it the benefit of the doubt with a 3/5 instead of a 2/5.
(Yep, I just reviewed my review)
