Anyone else not like The Tattooist of Auschwitz?

I thought it was terrible. There was no interrogation of the feelings of those who, like the eponymous tattooist, collaborated on order to survive, it felt very superficial and the horror of the camps was not conveyed.

I abandoned it about a quarter of the way in and went back to read ‘If this is a man’ by Primo Levi, as a means of purification and to remind myself of the true, unsanitised horror of this period.

On one level, I felt this book was a simple tale of boy meets girl, boys fall in love with girl etc.

However, I felt it seriously underplayed the horrors of the concentration camps. It was more like a poor man’s Butlins. Although it did refer to food shortages etc, it gave the impression that most people were okay, just didn’t get fed a lot etc hence the need for extra rations. However, the photographs that exist of the concentration camps are of people emanciated, starving, ribs showing etc, rather than just being a bit hungry.

So on one level, I think it’s a sweet little love story, but on another, I feel it does a dis-service to the inmates if the camps.

I didn't like it, for many of the reasons mentioned above. I felt it lacked heart and credibility. The characters were two dimensional - the portrayal of the Nazi officers in particular was almost a caricature. I got to the end, and I felt that I just didn't know Lale. Which given the access the author had to him, is quite a feat. And what I could glean, I just didn't really like.

The edition that I have states that it was initially interviews taken with a view to film or screenplay and that when that didn't come about, it was put together as a book instead. I wonder how much that impacted on the writing.

I didn't think it was at all well written.
Interestingly I follow Auschwitz memorial on twitter and they have been really condemnatory about the book.
(It's a good follow btw-really sobering and beautifully done)

The writing was so dreadful. I felt that it could have been an amazing story under more skilled hands.

So glad to hear I'm not the only one.

So badly written, I was embarrassed for the author.

Sorry months late to this as looking for any opinions on The Nightingale and saw this thread. Totally agree with the posters on here re Tattooist of Auschwitz, badly written and didn't engage me at all. I did love The Nightingale though and now reading All The Light We Cannot See.

Didn't get past the first 5 pages. And usually I stick with a book.

I thought it was okay but I don’t get why everyone has been raving about it❤️!

Gosh, it was dull. I almost felt bad for not liking it, but not really. Poorly written and does not stand up to other books about the Holocaust.

I didn't like it either, felt guilty not liking it but thought it was poorly written. I also couldn't engage with it, I wish it had been written by the man himself as it would have had more emotion in it I felt it was very disengaged.

I agree with prev poster,I'm fixated with this period of history and I thought it was poorly written and some of it doesn't make sense. I found it a very difficult read.

It felt like a simplistic writing style. And supposedly based on a true story which seemed like a marketing ploy - just write fiction if you are not sticking to fact. There were no antibiotics available to those in the camp so why introduce such a glaring error? Surprised it has done so well, but then I guess good marketing and money behind it have enabled it to be a popular read.....

I didn't like him as a person. Maybe I wasn't meant to. I guess he had to do some really unlikeable things to survive, that's the whole point of the story maybe.
But I didn't find myself rooting for him at any time or desperately wanting him to survive above any of the other characters.

Mills and Boon in a death camp. It's just wrong (as well as being very badly written).
I would like to know what survivors think of it.

I didn't hate it, but I was sorely disappointed.

Read it on a recent trip to Auschwitz. Wasn't that impressed.

With a fictional book, I'm not so by historic accuracy. But as this is supposed to be a true story, the fact that there are massive parts which could not be true makes me suspicious of the whole thing. Clearly he isn't a reliable witness and it's suppose to be a biography.

I agree, OP.

I didn't like the writing, it felt like a story that had been told and re-told and no doubt it was, and no doubt the protagonist had every reason to tell his story as much as he liked because it was an important story, but it was the role of the author to make it fresh, and alive and she didn't do it justice.

Other bits in it bothered me as well, but it was mostly the writing that made me dislike it.

Me, I hated it and can't understand when people rave about it 🤷‍♀️

www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/07/the-tattooist-of-auschwitz-attacked-as-inauthentic-by-camp-memorial-centre

Me. I was really disappointed in it. I bought the paperback and the writing style really got on my nerves. It was a story that deserved a great writer. Not someone who hoped a great story would carry their shitty abilities.