Description of But You Did Not Come Back by Marceline Loridan-Ivens
Description of But You Did Not Come Back by Marceline Loridan-Ivens
“You might come back, because you’re young, but I will not come back.”—Marceline Loridan’s father to her, 1944
A runaway bestseller in France, But You Did Not Come Back has already been the subject of a French media storm and hailed as an important new addition to the library of books dealing with the Holocaust. It is the profoundly moving and poetic memoir by Marceline Loridan-Ivens, who at the age of fifteen was arrested in occupied France, along with her father. Later, in the camps, he managed to smuggle a note to her, a sign of life that made all the difference to Marceline—but he died in the Holocaust, while Marceline survived.
In But You Did Not Come Back, Marceline writes back to her father, the man whose death overshadowed her whole life. Although her grief never diminished in its intensity, Marceline ultimately found her calling, working as both an activist and a documentary filmmaker. But now, as France and Europe in general faces growing anti-Semitism, Marceline feels pessimistic about the future.
Her testimony is a memorial, a confrontation, and a deeply affecting personal story of a woman whose life was shattered and never totally rebuilt.
My Thoughts On But You Did Not Come Back by Marceline Loridan-Ivens
I have read many fictional, non-fiction, and memoirs about the Holocaust. I just can’t seem to get enough of the subject. I think it is a deer in the headlights kind of thing, I keep wondering how humanity can let this happen. Yet, similar things keep happening to this day. How is shooting or bombing mass amounts of people, much different than making them work in forced labor and then gassing them to death so different? I personally don’t think it is. They are all evil.
In ‘But You Did Not Come Back’, 15 year old Marceline Loridan-Ivens is taken with her father from France to the camps during WWII and the Holocaust. They are in neighboring camps and her father manages to get a note to her which lifts her spirits. She is relieved to know he is still alive. However, by the time she is rescued, she finds out he did not make it.
When she returns to France she is reunited with her mother and other family members who were able to hide when her father and herself were taken. They can’t possibly understand what she went though and it was hard for her to relate to them the same way as before. It is hard for her to just go on as if nothing had ever happened. However, she does find a way to move on.
Marceline Loridan-Ivens writes a poetic almost meditative account of her experience during the Holocaust. It is deeply moving and had me in tears, in parts. However, She is a survivor and an inspiration to us all! She has gone on to work as an actress, a screenwriter, and a director.
5/5
I received the ebook version via Net Galley for my honest review.
About Marceline Loridan-Ivens
Marceline Loridan-Ivens was born in 1928. She has worked as an actress, a screenwriter, and a director. She directed “The Birch-Tree Meadow” in 2003, starring Anouk Aimee, as well as several documentaries with Joris Ivens.
About Sandra Smith
Sandra Smith is the translator of “Suite Francaise” and eleven other novels by Irene Nemirovsky, as well as a new translation of Camus s “L Etranger.” She has been awarded the French-American Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize and the PEN Translation Prize. She lives in New York.”
This memoir sounds emotional, memorable,captivating and fascinating. I read every memoir,non-fiction and fiction about the Holocaust since it is such an important time to remember, is profound and I am Jewish. Your thoughts reflect mine and your feelings about that era and the book are excellent and deeply felt.
Yes, it was very emotional. I cried a lot!
This sounds like a very emotional memoir. This is a time which should not be forgotten.
Definitely should not be forgotten yet, it seems to me that we have not really learned from it enough to keep us from repeating history. There is still so much hatred out there!
I have read other books on the Holocaust but of course are always sad and sometimes so difficult for me to read. This book sounds like a good memoir of the Holocaust about a girl and her family. It was such a horrible time how people were treated that I will never forget. It sounds like the story shows some inspiration as to what Marceline had to overcome.
They can be very hard to read yet, I tend to gravitate to them. It was sad but yes, inspirational as well!
I just came across this review I’d never read before…Like you, I naturally sympathize but cannot imagine the author’s experience in the camp. I can, however, begin to empathize with how alienating the fact of her extreme suffering’s abnormality would be because neither her family nor almost any other person she would know for the rest of her life would be able to relate to such an extremely terrible experience.
Honestly, the element that most beggars my belief is how this woman — and so many other survivors — produce such honest and moving literary accounts of their devastating experiences. Some of these memoirs are simply outstanding, to boot; to channel suffering and alienation into great literature is a holy miracle, IMHO! It’s truly humbling for me to think about.
Thanks for representing human beings with such messy, extraordinary and real lives in your choice of literature to feature, Teddy Rose. It commands my admiration. — Kara S
Yes, Kara, I find it amazing that people who have suffered so much adversary even get out of bed everyday, let alone be able to write and make a real life for themselves! Marceline Loridan-Ivens and others like her are an inspiration!
I’m the same as you – I read Holocaust and WWII fiction and nonfiction/memoirs, and I never tire of them. Night by Eli Wiesel was my favorite, and I read it in high school. It touched me in such a profound way…I can remember the experience of reading it in my high school bedroom, glued to the pages, and astounded by how humans could treat other humans. I added this one to my TBR.
I’m glad you added it to your tbr. Since you like “Night’ so much, I am sure you will like this one!
Thanks, Teddy. I am really looking forward to reading it!