Austerlitz is the story of a man, who later in life realises that he had a past completely hidden from him, as he - as a child not even 5 years old - has been taken from Czechoslovakia to England on a Kindertransport train, and raised by a childless couple, who erased all of his former identity and gave him an alternative one. As an adult, he realises there was this former identity of him, and starts to trace back his origins, as well as the whereabouts of his parents. Sadly, however, his parents were Jews who ended up as victims of the Holocaust. So he follows this journey, visiting various sites in and around Prague, in particular the town of Terezin, which was the venue for Nazi Germany's Theresienstadt Ghetto.
Let me first make a comment on the narrative structure. It's rather complicated but surprisingly easy to follow. There is an unnamed narrator, that somehow seems to always have the opportunity to stumble across our main character, Jacques Austerlitz. They meet in various places across Europe, whether it's Antwerp, or England, or Paris. Somehow they meet and the story continues. The way the story is narrated is also complicated, as there are no paragraphs whatsoever, things digress multiple times, and sentences tend to be long: there was one such sentence that was about ten pages long altogether. And the phrase "said Austerlitz" appears multiple times, as the narrator simply retells the story through Austerlitz's perspective, while switching back every now and then to his own, but only for brief moments. Overall, it gives the effect that the narrative is hazy or foggy, yet as a reader, one eventually makes shapes emerge out of the text. It sounds complicated, but actually it was a very easy reading experience.
Perhaps it's because I am familiar with several of the locations mentioned in the book. Whether it was Antwerp, or Paris Gare d'Austerlitz, or Terezin, I myself have visited several of these locations, and as a result, I could utilise my own memories of these places in anchoring what I am reading. Who knows. In any case, that was a positive aspect of this book for me.
And then let's talk about the subject matter. It's a novel about the aftermath of the Holocaust. I suppose given that this is a German book, it's a rather brave choice for a novel's subject matter. In any case, these are the aspects of history that humanity shouldn't forget, and looking at what is happening in various parts of Europe nowadays, perhaps it is high time that large swathes of society start reading such books to remember.
Overall, I found this book majorly impressive. I definitely recommend this book enthusiastically. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
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