This book is about a Dutch couple who hide a Jewish refugee during WWII. The story is short and spare. The psychological insights of the redeemer and the redeemed are acute. But maybe a person who is a little more introspective than can appreciate the fine pen the author uses. ( )

Very well written and thought provoking story. ( )

The story of Wim and Marie, a Dutch couple who first hide a Jew they know as Nico before having to dispose of his body when he passes away from pneumonia, is told in this novella. It portrays a penetrating study of common people resisting the Nazi occupation and, true to its title, a dark comedy of wartime manners. This 1947 novella, which has been translated for the first time into English, exhibits Hans Keilson at his very best: profoundly sardonic, perceptive, compassionate, and brilliantly modern, an heir to Joseph Roth and Franz Kafka. Keilson's writing was praised for investigating "the destructive force at work in the twentieth century, down to its deepest psychological and spiritual repercussions" in the citation that came with his award of Germany's prestigious Welt Literature Prize in 2008. ( )

Eleberri honetan, judu ez den bikote batek naziengandik ihesi doan judu bat ezkutatzen du etxean. Idazlearen estilo soilean, hirukotearen arteko elkarbizitza, beldurra, laustrofobia, elkartasuna eta itxaropena agertzen dira orriotan. ( )

Een Nederlands echtpaar laat een jood tijdens WOII bij zich onderduiken. Als de man aan een ziekte sterft, leggen ze het lijk, gekleed in een pyjama van de echtgenoot, in een nabijgelegen park. Doordat ze vergeten zijn de wasserijnummers uit de pyjama te knippen, lopen ze zelf gevaar en moeten ze halsoverkop onderduiken. Ze ervaren nu aan den lijve wat dat betekent. ( )