Kertesz won the Nobel Price in Literature "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history." I'm not sure I understand what that means, but I think it describes his writing. Haunting, dark, plodding - the author's own experiences in Buchenwald and Auschwitz provide the foundation for his narrative. A book I might need to read several more times in order to more fully understand.