In the Memory of the Forest: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A Moving Affirmation of a Lost People
Review: I found this book quite by accident and finished it with a powerful mixture of hope and sadness.

The book is a multi-layered account of a vanished people but also works as a detective story, as a documentary of modern Poland (the writing is so authentic I felt he must be a local) and as a history novel too. The day to day gritty realism of a country obsessed with its past and refusing to move forward is quite compelling; the soup, the run down villages, the opportunistic city criminals, the old remnants of Communism, the crowded buses and most importantly, the secrets of the forest and the memories they hold. The 'blurb' in my copy refers to the Schama text 'Landscape and Memory' and there are connections as this novel explores the heart of darkness at the centre of this ancient place in modern Europe. Importantly, for me anyway, the novel becomes a powerful postive evocation of the past and a glimmer of hope for a better future.

Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: A long-overdue note of praise
Review: I picked up this book at the library several years ago (having read nor heard anything about it) and immediately found myself absolutely captivated, entranced, spell-bound by the author's riviting story of a post-WWII Polish village and the shameful secrets shared by its inhabitants. I didn't put it down until I finished it - then returned it to the library and couldn't remember the title! (One of he drawbacks of advancing age) I was beside myself - and no one could help - until just this past month when a total stranger and I were discussing favorite reads, and he popped out with the title of this stunning work. I cannot express what an impact this book has had upon me, and I was devastated to learn that the author (and this was his only novel) had died. What a loss. Evocative descriptions of the Polish countryside, memorable characters, old-world values coming up against the modern age, evil and redemption, and an engrosing story line - this book has it all. I know that I will never forget the title again! - and I am making it part of my permanent fiction collection. Charles T. Powers had a true gift, and we readers are the less for his loss.

Rating:
Summary: Quite a trip
Review: It's very atmospheric from the start but initially quite slow. Although that might be a good thing, because the Poland that Powers introduces us to is quite different from where we live (at least in my case - I'm from Australia) and takes some time getting used to. There's also a large cast and they're all well fleshed out, warts and all.

The second half of the book is gripping and profoundly moving. Kept me going all day, couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Crystalline Prose that Will Break Your Heart
Review: The story of a young man coming of age, discovering love and lies, ambition and murder in a town that cannot admit its past or face its present. Set in Poland as communism collapses, the rupture of old foundations reveal the townspeople to be what they would forget.While one of the book's larger themes is what the Nazis, and by complicity, the Polish people, did to the Jewish population during the Second World War, it is not "a Holocaust book." Rather it is an absorbing murder and love story; a murder that begins the novel and whose investigation provides its framework, a love story that will leave the reader in tears, reminded what the world should be but is not. It is a rare book, one that impels its reader onward with a gripping narrative but repeatedly brings the reader to a halt to reflect on the beauty and lyricism of its prose.

Rating:
Summary: Not a bad book, begining ok, middle boring, ending great,
Review: This book started out slow. The begining was ok, I was more motivated to read it. Then the middle hit, and I was bored to tears! I wanted to quit, but it was for a book group that I was reading, so I kept reading. Though my dislike in the begining may have been mindset, because I was, in a sense, forced to read it. Then after the middle, it started to pick up, and I started to enjoy reading it. Then the end came, and it was fabulous, that's what saved this book, if your reading it, and get bored, keep reading, the ending makes up for it's horrible middle section. Powers, from my view, isn't really a good author, this is his only book. And I see why. Through the middle of the book it was incredibly confusing. And he jumped around. The book was written in First person, but rarely was the first person present, which made it odd. At the end, when what's his face dies... (I won't say who) I hadn't a clue who he was! the names where incredably confusing, and like I said, I didn't know who that guy in the end was who died, and i still don't, though I think I might know... lol, it isn't an easy read, and is something to make you think when you read it. Anyone who doesn't like deep books, or their shallow, don't read, because you'll get lost in the first three pages.

Rating:
Summary: important and deeply touching work
Review: This book was haunting and moving. In modern day Poland, after all of the history that has trampled through it, layers are exposed and the unexpected occurs. The young farmer through whose eyes the story unfolds seems to learn along with us the true horrors as well as the noble acts of redemption that form the history of the town and of his own life. These characters breathe, and along the way the characters of the "disappeared" breathe with them. The great beauty of this book brings sorrow at the knowledge that the author only wrote one novel before he died. But this one will make him live. He's on every page. Wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: Life & Remembrance
Review: This is a beautifully written book with unforgettable characters and an unforgettable setting, in post-communist Poland. The feel of the novel is in fact much more ancient than it was meant to be but that perhaps proves the prevalence of the past in our present and future, and why this is important and inescapable. Powers' novel on revelation and discovery and guilt is explored not only on the macro level -- that of the village, but also on an individual level. The weaving of the storyline and interactions of the different strands and ideas in the novel is intoxicating. I couldn't put down the book nor leave the world of this village which has to embark on a trip of self-examination, and eventually, recovery. It is refreshing that the holocaust is dealt with in non-fiction, and this novel is similar to "Stones from the River" though more superior. Poignant, moving and unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: Pity and Terror--and Thwarted Love
Review: This novel takes the point-of-view of Leszek, an emotionally abused and poor farmer's son. He yearns to leave--but can't. Everything conspires against his dreams, from the corrupt former Communists to scheming priests to his sadistic father. Add to that the weather--cold, damp, bleak and pervasive Polish mono-seasons that never allow winter to leave. But Leszek has boundless dreams, falls in love, exalts in nature, and follows a neo-Catholic blind faith. His endearing soul forces us to stay with him as he is the unwitting detective in a mystery that is more than a murder, it is the clue to centuries of rebellious sects that peppered Polish history. In contrast, the villagers are a foreboding lot, welded to their misery and unwilling to strive past the next meal. Little hope for Leszek to form redeeming or enduring relationships. But the forest is his friend, the leafless trees his dialogue. There is a pervasive sense of place in Powers' writing, unforgettably drawn. It's a pity to lose him at age 53, with no chance of a second novel from his all-seeing mind.

Rating:
Summary: A Polish murder-mystery
Review: Those who like to read books about Poland (there must be a few of us out there) will find that Charles Powers' "In the Memory of the Forest" is a pleasant surprise. This book is a real dark horse. It doesn't appear to be widely known (I found it for sale on the used-book cart at my local library) and it's the only novel that Powers ever wrote. But the lesser known works are sometimes the most satisfying reads.

"In the Memory of the Forest" is a murder-mystery set in the small farming village of Jadowia, somewhere to the northeast of Warsaw. The book is skillfully written, with an interesting plot, a few twists here and there, and an ending that's both disturbing and reassuring. Poland's role in the Holocaust is the dark and provocative background for the novel. What I liked most about the book is that Powers (a former journalist who lived in Warsaw for five years) captures the personality of Poland better than other authors who have attempted this same task, e.g., James Michener, Lily Brett. My only complaint is that many of the characters are too clearly cast as "good guys" or "bad guys," without a chance for them to surprise you with the other sides of their personalities. A Polish murder-mystery is a narrow genre, which most people wouldn't be inclined to read. But if you're daring enough to tackle those tricky Polish pronunciations, you'll probably be glad that you read this book.

Rating:
Summary: accountability
Review: What a brilliant overlooked gem. I am so glad a friend recommended this book. It is a deeply nuanced, intelligent exploration of historical and personal accountability. In the form of a mystery novel, it gets to the heart of questions of the historical self, collective responsibility and collective guilt, the ways in which lies are perpetuated among generations and truth can be used as a bludgeon. It will be of great interest to anyone interested in the tribunals going on about Bosnia, central Africa, South Africa, etc.; or in WW II history; Jewish history; the uneasy transitions from communism to capitalism; or questions about how we are formed by our parents moral choices, and whether we can or should escape the consequences.