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_askthebookbug 's review for:
The Choice: Embrace the Possible
by Edith Eva Eger
• r e v i e w •
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"My mama told me something I will never forget..."We don't know where we're going, we don't know what's going to happen, but no one can take away from you what you put in your own mind." - Edith Eger.
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It was only after reading this book did I learn of Dr. Edith's nickname. She has been often called as 'the Anne Frank who didn't die' and this doesn't come as a surprise considering the fact that Edith escaped hell. Contrary to other Holocaust books that ends with the survivors' escape, The Choice has been crafted in a rather thoughtful manner by taking the readers through their healing process. Affected by trauma that shadows generations of Jews, Dr. Edith tells us the long journey that many undertake once they are out of death camps. This book was a learning process but more than that, it stands for unwavering faith and hope that life does exist even after unfathomable horror.
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Dr. Edith and her family were sent to the camps during the War when she was just sixteen. As an accomplished Ballerina, she was made to entertain the Angel of Death himself, Josef Mengele who had a horrendous reputation of being unkind to the Jews. After staying in Auschwitz for months, she along with thousands of others were moved to Gunskirchen. They served as human shields and were made to sit on the top of the trains. Throughout her days of imprisonment, Dr. Edith drew hope from the memories of her family, her first love and from her sister who was with her in the camp. When she was eventually rescued by American soldier, she was just a skeleton who had lost sense of time and place. But life wasn't all over for Dr. Edith and her sister.
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What sets this book apart is her ability to be candid about the nightmares and losses that clung to the survivors years after their liberation. Grief followed them everywhere, putting a dent on their relationships and future opportunities. Her recovery like many others'was a lengthy process. With her husband being a survivor himself, their family struggled to balance the past and future, often the former leaning heavily on the latter. With barely a few words of English to support her when she moved to America, Dr. Edith is now a renowned psychologist and has helped many veterans in dealing with their trauma. The Choice makes for a spectacular book in reviving the very need to stay alive and focus on the positive. Considering how this read was mostly a self-help book, the contents of it felt repetitive. Part one held my interest extremely well but I felt it diminishing as I progressed to the others. I frequently felt that Dr. Edith's writing of her client's cases was unnecessary. One or two would have sufficed but it felt too much when the list increased. Albeit, this didn't impact me much considering the other Holocaust books that I've read, it did manage to imbibe a feeling of lightness as I finished the book. The Choice may be the one for you if you're looking for a sign of hope amidst an abyss of darkness.
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Rating : 4.2/5.
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"My mama told me something I will never forget..."We don't know where we're going, we don't know what's going to happen, but no one can take away from you what you put in your own mind." - Edith Eger.
.
It was only after reading this book did I learn of Dr. Edith's nickname. She has been often called as 'the Anne Frank who didn't die' and this doesn't come as a surprise considering the fact that Edith escaped hell. Contrary to other Holocaust books that ends with the survivors' escape, The Choice has been crafted in a rather thoughtful manner by taking the readers through their healing process. Affected by trauma that shadows generations of Jews, Dr. Edith tells us the long journey that many undertake once they are out of death camps. This book was a learning process but more than that, it stands for unwavering faith and hope that life does exist even after unfathomable horror.
.
Dr. Edith and her family were sent to the camps during the War when she was just sixteen. As an accomplished Ballerina, she was made to entertain the Angel of Death himself, Josef Mengele who had a horrendous reputation of being unkind to the Jews. After staying in Auschwitz for months, she along with thousands of others were moved to Gunskirchen. They served as human shields and were made to sit on the top of the trains. Throughout her days of imprisonment, Dr. Edith drew hope from the memories of her family, her first love and from her sister who was with her in the camp. When she was eventually rescued by American soldier, she was just a skeleton who had lost sense of time and place. But life wasn't all over for Dr. Edith and her sister.
.
What sets this book apart is her ability to be candid about the nightmares and losses that clung to the survivors years after their liberation. Grief followed them everywhere, putting a dent on their relationships and future opportunities. Her recovery like many others'was a lengthy process. With her husband being a survivor himself, their family struggled to balance the past and future, often the former leaning heavily on the latter. With barely a few words of English to support her when she moved to America, Dr. Edith is now a renowned psychologist and has helped many veterans in dealing with their trauma. The Choice makes for a spectacular book in reviving the very need to stay alive and focus on the positive. Considering how this read was mostly a self-help book, the contents of it felt repetitive. Part one held my interest extremely well but I felt it diminishing as I progressed to the others. I frequently felt that Dr. Edith's writing of her client's cases was unnecessary. One or two would have sufficed but it felt too much when the list increased. Albeit, this didn't impact me much considering the other Holocaust books that I've read, it did manage to imbibe a feeling of lightness as I finished the book. The Choice may be the one for you if you're looking for a sign of hope amidst an abyss of darkness.
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Rating : 4.2/5.