A hero's homecoming Book

A Hatred For Tulips, September 1, 2007
By gerryb (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews

If Breughel were a minimalist 21st century writer this might have been one of his books. It an easy and pleasurable read, almost casual in style, bit rich in incidental detail. The profoundly horrific dilemmas of being human that it deals with emerge stealthily but potently. It turns out Anne Frank's probable betrayer was not particularly monstrous but a confused and impressionable kid named Joop from a hungry family. The money he gets for informing may help save them from starvation and the Anne Frank's fate seems much more distant. The contrast of the breezy writing style and the gravity of the material make the book all the more memorable. There are other nuances in the plot which turn out to be quite important but I will leave them for other readers to discover. I recommend this book very highly.