A moving and well drawn portrait of an extraordinary man.
Julie Gray’s biography of Gidon Lev who survived the horrors of the Theresienstadt concentration camp as a young boy and whose zest for life is inspirational is a captivating, well-drawn and warmly penned narrative that’s hard to put down. The book’s structure reminds me of another and very different biography written about Orson Welles by Barbara Leaming. Both books allow you to hear both the voice of the author and the subject in candid conversation. This double-threaded narrative strikes me as a very effective and engaging way to construct a biography, and Julie Gray uses it to very great effect.
One cannot fail to be moved and humbled by Gidon Lev’s story and his remarkable level-headed and philosophical outlook on life and politics in general. Without wanting to spoil the story for readers, suffice it to say that there are in Lev’s life terribly sad and moving moments that sit cheek-by-jowl with other truly life-affirming and joyous incidents. And Gray has conveyed these with a lightness of touch that makes the reading all the more enjoyable.
The True Adventures of Gidon Lev is a first-class biography of a remarkable man. It is also an important work that lends a great deal of humanity and understanding to the canon of testimonies and historical treatises documenting one of the darkest episodes of human history.
Julie Gray’s biography of Gidon Lev who survived the horrors of the Theresienstadt concentration camp as a young boy and whose zest for life is inspirational is a captivating, well-drawn and warmly penned narrative that’s hard to put down. The book’s structure reminds me of another and very different biography written about Orson Welles by Barbara Leaming. Both books allow you to hear both the voice of the author and the subject in candid conversation. This double-threaded narrative strikes me as a very effective and engaging way to construct a biography, and Julie Gray uses it to very great effect.
One cannot fail to be moved and humbled by Gidon Lev’s story and his remarkable level-headed and philosophical outlook on life and politics in general. Without wanting to spoil the story for readers, suffice it to say that there are in Lev’s life terribly sad and moving moments that sit cheek-by-jowl with other truly life-affirming and joyous incidents. And Gray has conveyed these with a lightness of touch that makes the reading all the more enjoyable.
The True Adventures of Gidon Lev is a first-class biography of a remarkable man. It is also an important work that lends a great deal of humanity and understanding to the canon of testimonies and historical treatises documenting one of the darkest episodes of human history.
