Book
Caging skies / Christine Leunens.
"An avid member of the Hitler Youth in 1940s Vienna, Johannes Betzler discovers his parents are hiding a Jewish girl named Elsa behind a false wall in their home. His initial horror turns to interest--then love and obsession. After his parents disappear, Johannes is the only one aware of Elsa's existence in the house and the only one responsible for her survival."--Publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781419739088
- Physical Description: 297 pages ; 24 cm
- Publisher: New York : The Overlook Press, 2019.
- Copyright: ©2019.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Originally published: Auckland, N.Z. : Random House, 2008. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Hitler-Jugend > Fiction. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) > Austria > Vienna > Fiction. Vienna (Austria) > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Historical fiction. |
Available copies
- 2 of 2 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Terrace Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrace Public Library | LEU (Text) | 35151001102581 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2019 June #1
An avid young Hitler supporter discovers that his parents have been hiding a Jewish girl in their house. Johannes Betzler is a child in Vienna when Hitler comes to power and Austria votes for annexation. In school, he learns that "our race, the purest, didn't have enough land" but that "the Führer had trust in us, the children; we were his future." Johannes joins the Jungvolk and, once he's old enough, the Hitler Youth. At home, meanwhile, his parents grow more and more discomfited; they're quietly opposed to the Nazi party but well aware of the danger they'd be in if they voiced their oppositionâeven to their own son. Then, as a teenager, Johannes is maimed by a bomb, losing a hand and part of his cheekbone. Wounded, he returns home, where for months he is bedridden, alone in the house with his mother and grandmother. Increasingly, his father isâmysteriouslyâgone. His mother seems to be acting oddly and, finally, Johannes discovers the reason why: There is a girl, a Jewish girl, hidden upstairs in a secret partition. This is where Leunens' (Primordial Soup, 2 002) novel takes off. Johannes becomes increasingly fixated upon Elsa. At first, her existence prompts him to question his devotion to Hitlerâis he betraying the Führer by not reporting his parents?âbut as time goes on, and as Johannes' preoccupation with Elsa grows more sexual, these doubts fade. Leunens is a strong writer, her prose supple and darkly engaging. Her depiction of wartime Vienna is nearly cinematic and utterly convincing. But it isn't clear if Johannes is meant to be a sympathetic character, and as the novel goes on, and his choices grow more and more disturbing, it becomes harder to sympathize with him. Nor does he change, exactly, over the course of the book, although his circumstances certainly do. Ultimately, it's unclear what Leunens' larger purpose is. This is a dark, disturbing novelâbut to what end? Vivid prose isn't enough to lift this book from its own excruciating depths. Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
