well, i've finally got into this blog, and right now, i'm a little more than halfway through the book. so far, the book (fatelessness) hasn't been too interesting. it seems more like a history book than a real book. the book was rather boring up until the jewish men got taken off the buses. by then, it kind of had you wondering where they would take georg, and whether he would get to see his family again. christine, i agree with you that explaining all the stories of people who are irrevelant to the book, but i suppose that must have been what it was like to be waiting in that room....boring with nothing to do but sit around and listen to peoples stories. my favourite part was when they got on the train to be taken to auschwitz, because this is the part of the book that i found was most honest to the actual circumstances that georg went through. he described some of the hardships, like having to use a slopbucket and being incredibly thirsty. he also told us what it was like to live in such close quarters with 60 people for a few days. i especially liked the part of the train ride when they'd all crowd at the windows to see where they were stopping, because it's just like...well, us nowadays, i guess. it was amazing to learn about what they had to go through when they arrived at the concentration camp, being showered and shaved, and getting new clothes. i never really guessed that they had to go through all that before they even entered the camp. georg's description of auschwitz didn't match anything that i've read about it. he made it seem simple, and just another happening on his journey, but in truth, concentration camps were horrrible places, and he kind of skimmed over that. the only part of his description that makes you come close to thinking what a nasty place it was was the part about the crematoriums, and the gas chambers. when he heard about the unfit, mothers, children, and pregnant women being gassed, i couldn't believe how unemotional he was...how it didn't seem to affect him at all! the only thing he said was that "it seemed like a student prank". that really pissed me off, because i didn't think it was funny at all. what do you guys think about him finding it funny?
-megan hirst