Description
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WINGATE PRIZE 2022 A HISTORY TODAY BEST HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 'A brilliant short novel that serves as a brave, sharp-toothed brief against letting the past devour the present' The New York Times 'Excels in its readiness to court controversy without surrendering nuance, and in place of moralising it offers questioning that's as necessary as it is unsettling.' Observer Written as a report to the chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, the unnamed narrator of The Memory Monster recounts his own undoing. Hired as a promising young historian, he soon becomes a leading expert on Nazi methods of extermination, guiding tours through the death camps. The job becomes a mission, and then a dangerous obsession. With great perspicuity and the bitterest black humour, The Memory Monster confronts difficult questions that are all too relevant to Israel and the world today: How do we process human brutality? What makes us choose sides in conflict? And how do we honour the suffering of our forebears without becoming consumed by it?
Trade ReviewA brilliant short novel that serves as a brave, sharp-toothed brief against letting the past devour the present * The New York Times *
A brilliant, challenging, and uncompromising novel * Jewish Currents *
A bracing corrective to the recent literary fashion for Holocaust kitsch. It takes a fearless and astringent look at the use and abuse of Holocaust memory and emerges with answers every bit as challenging and uncomfortable as this topic demands -- William Sutcliffe
Sarid's incisive critique of Holocaust memorialization, the corruption within it, and the perverse forms of nationalism it can engender is courageous.... Anything but moralistic, it leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions about the complex politics of Holocaust memorialization and its many layers of irony ... Nuanced and subtle at every level * LA Review of Books *
The short but powerful novel raises the question of how far we let the horrors of the past infiltrate our present-day lives.... The Memory Monster is not an easy book to read but its message is important to hear * The Times of Israel *
While countless writers have asked the question of where, or if, humanity can be found within the profoundly inhumane, Sarid incisively shows how preoccupation and obsession with the inhumane can take a toll on one's own humanity... A bold, masterful exploration of the banality of evil and the nature of revenge, controversial no matter how it is read * Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review *
Sarid boldly highlights the risks of "harnessing [ourselves] to the memory chariot" and of how remembrance can calcify our views, in this complex, rewarding story of a man brought low by good intentions -- John Self * Guardian Best Translated Fiction Picks 2022 *
Taboo-breaking, anguished ... Sarid's irony-inflected narrative illuminates how the monstrous legacy of the Shoah can devour integrity, ethics and self-respect in individuals and nations alike * Jewish Chronicle *
Intelligent and powerful... anything but complacent * Times Literary Supplement *
A brave and brilliant short novel translated to great deadpan effect ... Sarid is an exciting writer ... The Memory Monster is clever, funny, disturbing and tragic * Litro magazine *
Unflinching ... a provocative exploration of Holocaust memory in a moment of generational shift -- Rhys Griffiths * History Today *
