Literature or Life
Literature or Life by Jorge Semprun, published by Penguin in March 1998, is a deeply personal account of the author’s experiences during and after his time at Buchenwald concentration camp. At just twenty years old, Semprun, already an accomplished philosopher and poet, was arrested by the Nazis for his activities in the French Resistance. This first edition spans 320 pages and offers insights into his struggles to articulate his experiences, blending elements of biography and memoir.
Readers will find a reflective narrative that explores themes of existence and memory, as Semprun grapples with the impact of his past on his identity and writing. The book delves into the complexities of life during the Holocaust and the challenges of conveying such profound experiences through literature. With its focus on personal memoir and historical context, Literature or Life stands as a significant contribution to the understanding of 20th-century history and the literary figures who emerged from it.
Official synopsis Publisher
Jorge Semprun was twenty years old – already an accomplished philosopher and poet – when arrested by Nazis for activites in the French Resistance. He was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. Literature or Life, a bestseller in France, is a deeply personal account not only of Semprun’s time at Buchenwald, but also of the years before and after, of his painful attempts to write this book…created out of obsessions that returned him again and again like themes in a nightmarish rhapsody.His long reverie on life-as-death, now translated with the mesmerizing power of fiction. It is a profound contribution to Holocaust literature.
? Semprun was awarded the Jerusalem prize at the 1997 Jerusalem International Book Fair.
? Semprun’s first novel, The Long Voyage, won Europe’s prestigious Formentor Prize.
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