A short, beautiful book. I wouldn't call it a Holocaust novel, even though it does loosely deal with the Holocaust. Instead, it's simply a well-written a book about the linked lives of two people. Some reviewers have called it boring, but I did not stop reading until I reached the end. For me, it was a story about a life, and about life. 
 For a long time I've had a thought which I've never written down clearly, but the author did that for me here, late in the book: 
 "I wanted simultaneously to understand Hannah's crime and to condemn it. When I tried to understand it, I had the feeling I was failing to condemn it as it must be condemned. When I condemned it as it must be condemned, there was no room for understanding. I could not resolve this. I wanted to post myself both tasks - understanding and condemnation. But it was impossible to do both."This is, I believe, a universal truth. If you truly understand someone, you cannot condemn them. If you do condemn them, you have failed to understand them. If everyone understood this and made it a part of themselves, the world would be a much kinder place, and better for all.