The Last of the Just: A Novel

The immensity of this human tragedy is impossible to encapsulate between the covers of a book but reading this one is an experience that reaches deep into the heart and touches the soul.

A beautifully woven story about a family of Just Men. I wasn't aware of the Talmudic tradition of the "Lamed-Vov," which is portrayed in a fictional, though no less mysterious and sacred, account of the men of the Levy family. We learn of the history of the family, its traditions and its colorful characters in their eastern European beginnings, as they migrate westward into Germany for economic opportunity, and further, harsher journeys eastward by necessity and force.The characters made an indelible mark--I smiled at their eccentricities, the beauty in their flaws. Their strength in faith in the face of atrocity moved me to tears. I heard about this book on Dennis Prager's radio show...he made a passing comment, but something made me write the title down. I'm so glad I did, for it's a book that will forever remain etched in the moral part of my brain, and the innermost confines of my heart. It's a rare book that I've finished and felt changed...this is such a book.The Kindle edition (as I purchased) has a few flaws--some inconsistencies in casing most often. The most confusing (but still discernible) error is that of the female name "Ilse" which distorts to "Use" at some points in the text. E-books can be buggy, but it hardly mars this story.

I just finished reading this beautiful novel, crying and I am once reminded how almost impossible is to accept, understand, grasp : yes, indeed, an Holocaust occurred in our mist.I discovered this novel through an Holocaust online class offered by Coursera.org (can't recommend it enough!).This is a very unique novel enrapt of figurative narrative giving a tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.How did the author accomplish such mission? By sharing the legacy of a Jewish family, the Levys, from the 12th Century up the end of WWII. Through the epic story of their ancestors, the author clearly portrays the Jewish culture, their customs, their beliefs and what they go through up until the Holocaust. We witness how the Levy family suffers through several persecutions (pogroms from Eastern Russia, Poland, Germany); the injustices of antisemitics agenda, the involvement of the Hitler Youth group in the school system and so on. But most importantly, what makes this novel a piece of art of its own, is the quest to determine the reasons of the Jews' fate. Why do the Jews have to suffer all these misfortunes? Why the hate? Why the Holocaust? I don't want to state the reasons here, you have to read this novel to discover them.Reading this novel to me, was like listening to a symphony full of beauty, strong feelings, sensing the suffering yet being a song from the soul of human heart.I can't recommend this novel enough. Be open-minded, it's a unique novel. Give it a try.

This is an extraordinary novel. I first read it many years ago, at my father's insistence, and I was so deeply moved. I won't go into a long review except to say that this is an extraordinary story - in a way, the only way to tell the story of our people. I would give this five stars - five hundred stars - except that the Kindle edition, which I read, is full of typographical errors. One would think that they would have a proofreader look over the OCR output, but evidently not.

I'm glad I discovered this book thanks to a recommendation by Noam Chomsky during an interview. Excellent novel (if you can bear the endless suffering that it portrays).

I have lived with this book for half a century. I was twenty years old when I first read the story of Ernie Levy and the lamed vov and it seared my heart and my soul for the next fifty years. I had to read it again, now, at the age of seventy, after a full life, a life that I was blessed to live when so many of my brothers and sisters were not so fortunate. This story, which is more than a story, which is naked reality, remains sealed in my soul forever.

I purchased the book from a very fine seller. The book arrived in better than expected condition. Sadly, a number of the last pages were missing. The seller told me they wanted to refund my money so that was good of them.As for the content, it was excellent. I wish I could have read this book in the original Yiddish but as my Yiddish is nearly non-existent, I was happy for the fine English translation.As usual, with books that have to do with the Pogroms and the Shoah, it never ceases to shock me at how many times the Jews (and others) are run out, rounded up, arrested, murdered or accused of crimes they did not commit. Their children are bullied by school mates and also by the authorities that they should be able to trust. This book was no different. I am happy that I read this fine work and would encourage people who enjoy a well-written novel to make the purchase.

It's hard to say I "liked" this book. It was a painful read at times. I did find the translation left something to be desired, but overall the translator had a difficult task. There were times I wanted to give up. It's not like I didn't know how the book would end. What made this book different from other holocaust literature was that it focused on the lead-up to the Nazi regime, and it increased my understanding of what a Jew in that era might have experienced, long before entering an extermination camp. I would imagine that in 2016 this book is not attracting a lot of readers, but I'm sure in its time it was eye-opening.

Can one enjoy a book like this? Rather to acknowledge the suffering of a people. After centuries of persecution even this horrendous attempt at annihilation has failed to crush a heritage, a spirit that lives on until one day the stigma will be washed away. To me that is the message in this book.

In too many ways, the history of Europe is the history of Jewish suffering. Impossible beauty and impossible horror mix on every page of this book. The Holocaust seems like a bottomless source of inspiration for art and "art" alike, and there is a fine line between wanting to explore the subject and being exploitative. This book is a masterpiece on so many levels: the beauty of the language, the finesse of guiding the last of the Just to his destiny and the unspeakable evil looming like a dark cloud. This is a book that demonstrates the power of written word and makes it impossible to not be moved by it. The Last of the Just should be read and re-read, lest we forget what we are capable of.

I found it rather repetitive and not an easy read. From the reviews, and hearing a programme on BBC Radio 4 about it, I felt it was a must-read, but it did not retain my attention.

It feels like a gift, a privilege to have read this book. A holy thing. Somehow not a tragedy because the outcome was never in doubt. Something more than tragedy, closer to a divine comedy, “intolerably sad, profound”.

Emotional, touching and educational - what's not to like?