Skeletons at the Feast

Although David's selection has romance and a relatively happy ending, I found the book disturbing. The brutality of the German and Russian soldiers, the bombing and strafing by the German and Allied planes, the raping and pillaging, and especially the persecution of the Jews, it is a painful reminder of man's inhumanity to man. I am reminded of a book I read in high school called the "Painted Bird" involving a 14 year old Jewish boy enduring the atrocities in Eastern Europe at the end of the war. I also also am reminded of the book we read, "Slaughterhouse 5" involving the senseless bombing of Dresden. The story is told from the perspective of the German family fleeing their estate in occupied Poland. The family has to live with the guilt that they benefited under the Nazi's and the men fought for the 3rd Reich. On the other hand, the main characters are decent and one can say goodness won out, but just barely.