One of the first things you notice about this book is Borowski's writing style. He portrays life in concentration camp. Period. His language, while sometimes beautifully subtle and poetic, and other times sharp and to the quick, only seeks to enhance exactly what he is saying. There is no underlying tone, no message, nothing which colours and, in some way, distorts the prose. He leaves the conclusions, the thoughts, entirely for the reader to draw or to make. He does not seek to influence or to guide, only to tell.
And that's the second thing you notice about Borowski: his subjects. He writes about everything in the concentration camp, yet still focusing on relatively trivial events. The short stories don't appear as such, with beginnings and endings, like novels in miniature. Rather, it seems like there is a running narrative, stretching throughout the concentration camp period, from which Borowski has cut out certain pieces, almost at random, that rather than being those episodes which can best fit into the short story form of writing, will give the reader the best overall picture of the concentration camp life. Once again, his aim is not to create tension or excitement, in fact emotions of any kind, but to tell, just tell. Perhaps his subjects, his form of writing, does give you an idea about why he took his life a few years after the war: his heart, just like his prose, had had to be devoid of every emotion, because one who has seen things like he did, and survived them, cannot feel, lest he go insane.
This is a good book, and it's definitely a book that should be read. No book is perfect, and this doesn't recieve the fifth star because of some technical details. The prose, the subject, are all artfully done, but you sometimes do get lost. You lose yourself slightly in the prose towards the end. But it's not a long book, so it's not a big deal. And again, these are just minor technical problems. The artistic side is masterly.

Trying to critique any book of Borowski is an enormous task. Borowski's character by itseelf is complex (specally his clueless suicide etc.) and the books are even denser so it is sometimes difficult to understand who is the main target especially when you read the post war writings. "This way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentleman" is a fantastic recreation of the truth - Borowski must have been extremely powerful character that is why he found the language to describe the horrors of Auschwitz - most people will not even find the language do describe this macabre specter even years after getting freedom. The horror is at such a level that death is no more a part of the horror rather its is a means of escaping further pain. This is one of the first hand descriptions of Nazi atrocities and there are very few better examples. It can be safely assumed that the first person narrator of all the short stories in this book is the author himself. The real wonder is the satire he has incorporated even within such situations. The story called "The man with the package " is not only touching but probably one of the best I have ever read from any author. Gogol also dealt with similar topics of atrocities but of a different regime but Gogol always kept a sense of suspense where the end could not be predicted easily. For Tadeusz Borowski the twist in the end, which may be easily guessed, is not at all important rather the way he arrives to this end is far more effective and magnetic. You may think this is strange but at no point you feel like crying or sorry rather you sense the shivers down the spine and then you feel the disgust for the Nazi regime - probably this is the biggest punishment an author can give to his oppressors. The post war stories are not so hypnotic. I will recommend everybody to buy this book and give it to their next generation.
Just one question bothers me all the time - how did Borowski survive Auschwitz - was it just luck and coincidence or a little helping hand from his side to the Nazis. I see him trying to vindicate his position all the time but could he really do so? Please read the book and find for yourself.

Borowski's depiction of his days spent as an inmate in Auschwitz are totally gripping. Because the book is short stories, he is able to give different pictures and perspectives of the "Auschwitz Life" through the experiences of numerous inmates and incidents.

Incredibly, Borowski has a tremendously talented way of describing the virtually indescrible horror of the scene, without being grisly and gory. But his point is so poignantly made with the book, that it is really almost a must read for those interested in just how horribly people can treat other people.

While suicide is very rare amongst Holocaust survivors, the ones who do commit it, have a very high percentage of authors, poets and artists. These being the ones who felt the pain so deeply, that at some point, they could no longer live with what they had seen. Sadly, Borowski did take his life, and perhaps ironically, he gassed himself to death.

Once the reader has read his rendition, it is easy to understand why he cannot live with what he saw anymore, and in fact, it is hard to understand sometimes why so many other Holocaust survivors don't take their own lives.

The book is beautifully written, almost poetic at times. And it is hard to imagine anything about Auschwitz being poetic, but Borowski does manage to do it in this book. I would recommend the book to anyone who really wants to get a picture of just how low humanity can sink in extreme conditions.

As a person who really enjoys learning about the Holocaust and World War II, I would strongly recommend this book. The author actually experienced the cruelty of the holocaust first hand and struggled to deal with what he encountered in the camps. He explained what it was like to live day to day, always wondering what he would have to do to get that extra scrap of food, or maybe do lighter work. It sort of reminded me of the book "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" which I read years ago. Please read this book to better understand the kind of suffering that the victims of the Holocaust endured so that it never happens again.

This book voices a strong opinion that I disagree with completely. It seems to exclaim that good cannot survive where evil is so overwhelming. There were, according to these survivors, no heroes at Auschwitz; those who did not die became "totally familiar with the inexplicable and the abnormal" and "learned to live on intimate terms with the crematoria." This book is not for those who choose to see survival in Auschwitz as a triumph of the human spirit. Anyone who claims that there were no heros of this tragedy has not read "Facing the Lion: Memoirs of a Young Girl in Nazi Germany", in my opinion a much better written book and FAR more uplifting.

I say worst not because it was poorly written or translated but because the descriptions of the events and the people are *almost* too horrible to believe. At times I was too sickened to continue reading but I desired to know how they survived the sights, the smells, the screams, the smoke. When I finished the book, I found inspiration-- if anyone could survive Auschwitz, then the small trivial problems that we sometimes let control our lives can be overcome. The book, unfortunately, ends abruptly as if the authors in recounting these horrible memories could stand them no more. I would have liked to have read about their liberation and their lives after the war, but I thank them for having the courage and the strength to give us their account of this inhuman history.

The reviewers of this book have done a masterful job. However, the paragraph on p.141 beginning, "We work beneath the earth and above it, under a roof and in the rain, with spade, the pickaxe and the crowbar." ... and ending with "Antiquity--the conspiracy of free men against slaves!" deserves reading and rereading, after which the next six paragraphs should be read slowly and thoughtfully.