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In Paradise
In Paradise | Peter Matthiessen
7 posts | 6 read | 21 to read
In Paradise tells the story of a group of men and women who come together for a weeklong meditation retreat at the site of a World War II concentration camp, and the grief, rage and upsetting revelations that surface during their time together. Even as it probes the suffering, conflicts, and longings of these diverse characters, In Paradise raises provocative and unanswerable metaphysical questions: what responsibility comes with bearing witness to such cruelty and tragedy; and what insights into the nature of good and evil may be lost in the next decade or two, as the last survivors of and witnesses to the death camps pass away. Having participated in three Zen retreats at Auschwitz beginning in the 1990s, Matthiessen had long wished to comment on the ongoing fallout of last century's global catastrophe, but as a non-Jewish American journalist, I felt unqualified to do so, I felt I had no right. But approaching it as fiction as a novelist, an artist I eventually decided that I did. Only fiction would allow me to probe from a variety of viewpoints the great strangeness of what I had felt.
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bell7
bell7
In Paradise | Peter Matthiessen
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Pickpick

Polish American professor Clements Olin participates in a spiritual retreat to Auschwitz. He's researching poet Tadeusz Borowski, but just like all of the other characters on the retreat with him, he is also searching for something much more personal. This bleak, introspective novel asks how can we truly bear witness to the Holocaust, and how culpable are each of us for terrible actions of the human race?

Cinfhen I‘m always interested in Holocaust reads #stacked I‘m anticipating tissues?!!? 6y
bell7 @Cinfhen probably not a bad idea. It's different in that it's set 50 years after, but your heart breaks for these characters and the long-reaching affects 6y
16 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
bell7
bell7
In Paradise | Peter Matthiessen
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In Paradise by Peter Matthiessen is my current book club read, a sobering and introspective novel about the Holocaust, told from the perspective of a participant in a retreat at Auschwitz 50 years later. Should make for an interesting discussion!

ReadZenRites Wow. Spending the night there... 6y
bell7 @ReadZenRites yeah, I'm not sure if they've really had spiritual retreats as the novel describes, but I would find that really eerie 6y
12 likes2 comments
blurb
peacegypsy
peacegypsy
In Paradise | Peter Matthiessen
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Any Matthiessen fans out there?

FeastOfFiction Never heard of this book but looks like something I‘d love! 7y
37 likes2 stack adds1 comment
blurb
CherylDeFranceschi
CherylDeFranceschi
In Paradise | Peter Matthiessen
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The world's first house made of books. Looks like #paradise to me! #lyricalapril

tagged users iconCinfhen
Laura317 That's a thing? That IS paradise! 8y
Hobbinol Oh wow! Hope they're hardbacks! 8y
CherylDeFranceschi @Hobbinol 😂😂 8y
See All 20 Comments
LeahBergen That gate! 😱 8y
Hooked_on_books There is nothing about this that isn't awesome. 😍 8y
Bette Completely awesome. 😊❤️ 8y
cathysaid I want to go to there... 8y
kspenmoll Amazing! 8y
elkeOriginal Is this real? I NEED this to be real! And visitable! 8y
CherylDeFranceschi @elkeo It is real. It's in the U.K. I do not know if it's open to the public. 8y
CherylDeFranceschi @Laura317 @LeahBergen @Hooked_on_books @Bette @cathysaid @kspenmoll @elkeo Let's buy it and time-share!!!!! 8y
elkeOriginal Whereabouts? I would happily plan a UK vacation and sit outside the gate dreaming of coming inside 😁 And I would totally do the Litsy timeshare!! 8y
Hooked_on_books Count me in for the timeshare! 8y
Cinfhen WOW! Totally amazing 🌈🌈🌈 8y
Laura317 That would be such fun! @CherylDeFranceschi 8y
GatheringBooks now that is awesome! 8y
minkyb That is crazy good! 8y
Zelma Litsy timeshare? I love that idea. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, no tv but a screen solely for Litsy, a kitchen stocked with tea, coffee and booze, and a ton of cozy nooks for reading. 8y
CherylDeFranceschi @Zelma Perfect! 8y
GypsyKat 😍😍😍 8y
129 likes20 comments
blurb
PandaPanda
PandaPanda
In Paradise | Peter Matthiessen
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This is my vantage point when I'm reading on the couch, and I think a good book and an adorable dog is #paradise. #LyricalApril @Cinfhen

Cinfhen Can't argue with you🙌🏻 And that CUTE little face 🐶 8y
Sace 😍😍😍 Love your reading buddy. 8y
minkyb I am jealous that your buddy lets you read. Mine stands on me and licks me, the book, my mug... 8y
PandaPanda @minkyb haha well Casper is 90 lbs so I think he may kill me if he stood on me too much. 8y
Lmstraubie So cute 😍 8y
86 likes5 comments
blurb
kyraleseberg
kyraleseberg
In Paradise | Peter Matthiessen
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Today's Dollar Store finds!
I loved Burial Rites so I'm excited to add the hardcover to my library and I've heard wonderful things about In Paradise.

17 likes
review
autumnprivett
autumnprivett
In Paradise | Peter Matthiessen
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Pickpick

The events take place 50 years after the end of WWII and chronicle a spiritual retreat at Auschwitz. Matthiessen does an excellent job of capturing the spirit that still lingers over the camp. He writes about what it means to be wholly broken and, by the end, we feel it too.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

AnnieSmith I loved this book! 9y
25 likes8 stack adds1 comment