Wartime Lies (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Ludwik Begleiter
- First Published: 1991
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: 1938-1946
- Setting: Poland
- Principal Characters: Maciek, Tania, Father, Grandfather, Grandmother, Reinhard, Kula, Nowak, Komar, Pani Dumont
- Genres: Long fiction, War fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, World War II, Guilt, Emotions, Jews or Jewish life, Blackmail, Truthfulness and falsehood, Survivalism, Catholics or Catholic Church, Nazism or Nazis, Holocaust, Jewish, Poland or Polish people
- Locales: Poland
Louis Begley’s novel uses the device of an older man looking back on his childhood to tell a harrowing and resonant story. The older man, who does not provide his name, is a student of the classics, a man who looks to Vergil and Dante Alighieri for ways of dealing with his situation. He tells his own story almost unwillingly, but in the knowledge that it may be the only means he has of accepting his boyhood experience.
As a boy younger than ten, Maciek is coddled by his family. His father is a respected physician in their small Polish city; Maciek’s grandfather is a wealthy...
[The entire page is 2005 words long]
Navigate
- Wartime Lies (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
- Wartime Lies (Magill Book Reviews)
- Wartime Lies (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
See Also:
- Add Wartime Lies to your favorites