Have I read this before: Indeed! I can’t remember when, exactly, but I’ve definitely read this one before. This would be a hard one to forget.    

Review: Okay, turns out I’m a fart, I know exactly when I read it. As you can see in that post (if you bothered to click on the link; I’m actually not sure how many people click on the random links I put in these posts), I mention that I changed my mind about Kelno a whole bunch of times.

Yeah, that didn’t happen this time. I don’t know if it’s because I just recently read Exodus or if I’m just more mature now than I was when I first read this book, but the evidence presented by individuals who claimed to be hurt directly or indirectly by Kelno seemed to very obviously point at his involvement in sadistic concentration camp medical practices/procedures.

Also, I had no idea that this was loosely based on an actual case for defamation against Uris for his Exodus.

But anyway, this is a really good book. It’s not as intense as Exodus (though it definitely gets intense in places), but it still will be one of those books that will stick with you for a while after you read it.

Favorite part: This is kind of more of a side note of a point in the book, but I still really liked this quote. Super relevant to today.

“The crux of the problem is that there exists a basic flaw in the human race and that is man’s inevitable drive toward self-extinction. Instead of war, he has replaced war with things as deadly. He intends to destroy himself by contaminating the air he breathes, by burning and rioting and pillaging, by making a shambles of the institutions and rules of sanity, by mindless extermination of breeds of animals and the gifts of the soul and the sea, by poisoning himself into a slow lethargic death through drugs and dope.”

Rating: 6/10