The Book of Aron

A novel

De: Jim Shepard

Narrado por: Michael Goldstrom

The acclaimed National Book Award finalist—“one of the United States’ finest writers,” according to Joshua Ferris, “full of wit, humanity, and fearless curiosity”—now gives us a novel that will join the short list of classics about children caught up in the Holocaust.

Aron, the narrator, is an engaging if peculiar and unhappy young boy whose family is driven by the German onslaught from the Polish countryside into Warsaw and slowly battered by deprivation, disease, and persecution. He and a handful of boys and girls risk their lives by scuttling around the ghetto to smuggle and trade contraband through the quarantine walls in hopes of keeping their fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters alive, hunted all the while by blackmailers and by Jewish, Polish, and German police, not to mention the Gestapo.

When his family is finally stripped away from him, Aron is rescued by Janusz Korczak, a doctor renowned throughout prewar Europe as an advocate of children’s rights who, once the Nazis swept in, was put in charge of the Warsaw orphanage. Treblinka awaits them all, but does Aron manage to escape—as his mentor suspected he could—to spread word about the atrocities?
Jim Shepard has masterfully made this child’s-eye view of the darkest history mesmerizing, sometimes comic despite all odds, truly heartbreaking, and even inspiring. Anyone who hears Aron’s voice will remember it forever.

A Child of our times

What did you love best about The Book of Aron?

Aron's experience opens up an entirely new perspective on the tragedy of WWII and most specifically, the Warsaw Ghetto.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Book of Aron?

When Aron betrays his friend to the Nazis

Have you listened to any of Michael Goldstrom’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

good performance

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Every second, every moment, every description and action in the book are terribly moving and important.

heartbreaking masterpiece

I had to read this book for school, but I really loved it. it's deviating. so beautifully written though. I would absolutely recommend this book

Absolutely heartbreaking.

The clarity of the prose, the starkly candid voice of Aron, and the unbearably sad historical circumstances make this an unforgettable experience. Beautifully read; beautifully written.

Reading doesn’t do the writing justice

Jim Shepard is understated, nuanced, and smart. In order to get his dark sense of humor, it’s important to read with a certain pace and tone. I stopped listening to the audiobook about a third of the way through and finished it in print. The dialogue moves much faster in print. The reader goes too slowly and misses the punchiness. The book is so damn good.

a different view of the Holocaust horror

I've read a number of WWII books, describing both the European and the Pacific theatres. This is the first one that offers an almost neutral viewpoint (I know, I didn't read any other reviews that agree with me, either) . There are Jews who betray each other and there are Nazis who are sympathetic towards the Jews. It seemed more like a study of how human beings might choose to behave when challenged, rather than another indictment of the Third Reich. As either one--a psychological invention or a 'Holocaust novel'--I found it weak and uninvolving. Read anything by Elie Wiesel instead.