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Original poster

Anyone else not like The Tattooist of Auschwitz?

29 replies

Fantasisa · 08/04/2019 21:05

I listened to it on Audible which has some sound/editing issues which didn’t help and the protagonist was dramatised very meekly which I found annoying. I just didn’t connect with the love story at the heart of it and found it underwhelming and weirdly unmoving. Anyone else?

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Nowthenforever2019 · 08/04/2019 21:07

Me. Terribly written and didn't believe all the story

Bezalelle · 08/04/2019 21:07

I had to stop after the first few pages. It just didn't engage me, and this is a period of history that I am fixated by.

ContessaIsOnADietDammit · 08/04/2019 21:07

I didn't care for it. There was minimal narrative tension and IMO it was poorly written too...

Original poster
Fantasisa · 08/04/2019 21:08

Yes! I didn’t believe it either, he was too selfless and it felt like a PR version of a love story that could have been gritty, real and haunting.

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Justmuddlingalong · 08/04/2019 21:10

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.

Original poster
Fantasisa · 08/04/2019 21:13

Agree, it could have been beautiful, everyone seemed to love it though! Best we can hope for is that when it is picked up for a film a decent scriptwriter is employed.

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Original poster
Fantasisa · 08/04/2019 21:15

@nowthenforever2019, I read that earlier. I can’t get worked up about the historical inaccuracies, that would always be the case with something based on memories. I’m worked up about the fact that I didn’t care about any of the characters, it was all so badly drawn and I have studied the Holocaust and been to Auschwitz so I definitely do care.

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MrsPinkCup · 08/04/2019 21:21

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

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 09/04/2019 12:17

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.

Nowthenforever2019 · 09/04/2019 18:02

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.

Oblomov19 · 09/04/2019 18:05

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

Hellohah · 10/04/2019 12:20

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

FaFoutis · 10/04/2019 12:26

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.

Original poster
Fantasisa · 10/04/2019 12:28

Mills and Boon in a death camp - This is so accurate!

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flitwit99 · 19/04/2019 20:34

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.

tripfiction · 23/04/2019 10:09

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.....

princessspotify · 26/04/2019 21:01

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.

cleomummy · 26/04/2019 21:12

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.

hanahsaunt · 26/04/2019 21:21

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.

hopelessatthinkingupusernames · 27/04/2019 16:09

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

maggiethecat · 29/04/2019 23:21

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

Freshbreadandbutter · 21/05/2019 20:35

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.

Chamomileteaplease · 31/05/2019 15:22

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

So badly written, I was embarrassed for the author.

LittleDoritt · 31/05/2019 15:28

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

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