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3⭐️ The word “Transit” does not only refer to the transit papers that the refugees so desperately tried to get hold of to escape the war, it also refers to how the main character let go of his past and moved on with his life. I must admit that I got bored in the middle when everyone‘s just waiting for something to happen, but I guess the agony is exactly what Seghers tried to capture in this story

I loved “The Seventh Cross” very much, so I hope this is as good 🤞🏻

Great idea Scott, to post about our favorite #NYRB book for the #NYRBBookClub. I don‘t have many yet (I‘m sure that will change soon!) I haven‘t read The Door but of the others I liked Transit best.

Transit is about escape and finding refuge but also about being a Mensch in a world that has gone mad. It's a book that I want to read again.

“Unfortunately I don‘t have enough money for a regular supper. But how about a glass of rose and a slice of pizza? Come, sit with me.”

This was a great read — and so important now to read, about the day to day life of someone just trying to get by and move on to a new country to escape death and make a better life.

And it made me seriously crave rose and pizza. #backpackEurope

#ReadingResolutions Day 17: These two definitely fit #CoverLove for me. #NYRB

“And what if some of these poor souls, still bleeding physically and spiritually, had fled to this house, what harm could it do to a giant nation if a few of these saved souls, worthy, half-worthy, or unworthy, were to join them in their country — how could it possibly harm such a big country?”

Thoughts from 1940 Marseille over cider in 2018 DC. #backpackEurope

Been working a lot from the couch, which means I can put on tv, but work needing to be done kind of interferes with being able to watch subtitles. So I put on a wish fulfillment movie set in the south of France instead—“To Catch a Thief.” It probably wouldn‘t make Avignon, but I can dream. #backpackEurope

This is so good, though not what I was expecting (definitely not a “thriller” as described, but that‘s okay). It‘s about WWII refugees waiting to get permission to sail from France ahead of German advances. It‘s about the waiting and frustration and the way she writes about the bureaucracy is very Catch-22 like.

This is the novel of a German refugee in WWII, who arrives in Marseilles. This city is full of refugees, (almost) all of them trying to get on a ship out of Europe.
The best about the book, in my opinion, is the fact that it sketches a situation in WWII that I didn‘t know about. A situation that seems pretty comparable to that of all refugees in Europe right know. Waiting, not knowing, fear and boredom.
#1001books