The poetic description of sadness at the heart of this short novel is very moving.

Within the pages of this book, Tisma has brought to life a small part of the world which, at the time, was sadly caught between the clash of two ideologies that were slowly descending, like dark clouds, upon Europe - communism and fascism. The consequent racial suspicions, which leave no one untouched, are real: Hungarians, Jews, Serbians, all are caught in the ideological swirl which, as we know, had devastating consequences for the people of the region: pogroms, the invasion by Arrow Cross Hungarians, the murder of communists (Blam's sister)...

The novel also delves into the unconscious of violent retribution, something which, as we have learned in recent years, only leads to the perpetuation of violence. Mr. Tisma must have had the wars that raged throughout the 90s in mind (i.e., Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina) while he was writing his novel. (The precariousness of the region, of which we are all aware, is in part the result of a failure to put the past behind, to let go, to forgive.) The dream-like scenes, where long-dead friends of Blam's pay their executioners in kind, are harrowing.

A short novel about a region of the world whose history we unfortunately know too little about, and but one tiny chapter in the book of horrors that were visited upon the European Jewish community.

The Book of Blam is a wonderful book and an important book. It recounts the events during the Holocaust period in what is now Serbia. After reading this and Tisma's Kapo, he has a style of writing that is unlike most writers that I have read from Eastern Europe; concise, flowing storylines and easy to read. His story has been told many times before but there is something to Tisma's writing that makes Genocide appear as normal to these killers as washing their hands or going for a walk. His is a voice of reason in Novi Sad, a city with little tolerance then and now. After the events in the Balkans during the recent past, sad to say, not much has changed.

This is the literary equivalent and then some of the photographic essay "A Vanished World" and Anne Frank's diary in 1950, had she survived. And an all too useful exploration of how survivors of the abyss might look at the world. I can't say I'm looking forward to reading Tisma's other work, but read it I must.

Any translation is going to be challenging. Richard Williams' translation from the Serbo-Croatian comes across as choppy, sputtering in its inner dialogue, which may or may not reflect the rhythms of Aleksandar Tisma's original. As a psychological study, this is a great book. It delves into the mind of Lamian who survives Auschwitz by becoming a Kapo, or prison leader, who beats, kills and rapes his fellow Jews in order to survive. As a novel, it is less successful because while many brutalities are graphically recalled, not much happens in the present. Like bookends, we start as Lamian thinks he has finally found Helena Lifka and end in her flat. In the meantime, we flash back, find out about Lamian's struggles as a boy, his distance from his Jewish parents, his college struggles, his sexual self-discovery and the perversions of war, and then the haunting remembrance of brutality that will not fade and not allow him to live a normal life. Lamian is disturbed from the beginning of the novel, and only experiences momentary peace. This book is a difficult read not only because of the translation and the novel's construction which is one long internal dialogue, but because of the difficult nature of the subject matter. It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between the past and present, which is how it must be for the main character. It is a brave book, facing realities that need to not be forgotten. It is particularly interesting because it details the treatment of Jews in Serbia during World War II. Read & weep.

A story of mimicry that ends up always badly.

A Jewish child baptized in a roman-catholic church because his parents wanted him to feel more comfortable in his environment, grows into a student in Zagreb hiding his identity amidst his nationalistic Croatian colleagues, ends up in an infamous concentration camp in Jasenovac, Croatia, tortured by one of his former colleagues.

The mimicry saves him again when he trades places with a dead Serb. But that gets him sent to Auschwitz. There he becomes a KAPO. He spies on other inmates, has more privilege than other inmates, abuses other inmates promissing them food.

A mimicry is again at work after the war when he has a good governement position in Yugoslavia, being considered a "victim of Nazi terror". Pangs of conscience catch up with him though.

The greatness of this book is the fact that as much as we despise him for his weakness, we feel sorry for him. And all the while we ask ourselves: "How can I be sure that I would be stronger in such an extreme situation". This is a powerfull book with deeply human message. I couldn't put it down and spent a sleepless night until I finished it...

Much has been written detailing the experiences of the victims of the Holocaust, but there is less fiction dealing with the minds of the perpetrators and collaborators. In "Kapo" Tisma has presented a glimpse into the mind of one such collaborator. This amazing portrait of self-loathing and paranoia held me transfixed like a rabbit in caught in the glare of headlights. I highly recommend "Kapo" for anyone who wants to be kept up late at night in a state of agitation

"The Use of Man" covers familiar territory for those who have read "Kapo": Post World War II Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, In this book, Tisma was unable to achieve the same gripping effect as he did in the horrific "Kapo". The narrative is rather aimless, and while it may accurately display the dislocation felt by many who lived through this brutal era in Balkan history, it does not make for engaging reading. If you're searching for a thrill on the scale of "Kapo," look elswhere

This is a great book. It describes german, jewish and serb families, thier lives and reactions before, during and after the World War 2 in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia.

It contains one of the most vivid description of Concentration Camp suffering and survival that I have ever read.

For someone who has spent first fifteen years of life in the former Yugoslavia, this is a masterpiece! But I read it in Serbian and English, and must warn that many things will pass you by if you are not familiar with ethnic, geographic, and human differences and relations in the former Yugoslavia. It should also be understood that it is difficult if not impossible to capture cultural things in any translation, including English. This book reveals Tisma'a genius even more in the light of the recent and current events in the former Yugoslavia and Serbia. He uses his words carefully, and with simple language creates images of incredible force, stirring an entire range of emotions in the reader. It is only after the reading that the full horror of it all hits you! A powerful book on many levels!