Kaddish for a child not born

by Imre Kertész

Imre Kertesz's novel is a tale of identity and memory - the story of a middle-aged man taking stock of his life in the everpresent shadow of the Holocaust. The story unfolds at a retreat as the narrator, a middle-aged survivor of the Holocaust, tries to explain to a friend that he cannot bring a child into a world where the Holocaust has occurred and could occur again. In an intricate narrative, we learn of the narrator's myriad disappointments: his unsuccessful literary career, his failed marriage, his ex-wife's new family and children - children that could have been his own. Kaddish for a Child Not Born is a deeply introspective, poetic yet unsentimental work in which a man takes stock of his own life choices and those that have been made for him by events beyond his control.