A Century of Wisdom: Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World's Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor Hardcover – Deckle Edge, March 20, 2012

I knew about Alice Herz-Sommer before I read this book, and I was always very fascinated by her life and especially for her happiness and content with life even though she faced the toughest events a life can have. This book shows her remarkable quest for happiness and how she can explain whole books on philosophical ideas of life with just a single sentence. She was an absolutely remarkable individual and I was deeply saddened when she past away a few months ago.The book is written as a life story told in part from her point of view but mostly from a third-person-viewer point of view (i.e the writer's). It tells how she grew up among the great literary minds of the early 20th century, and how she went through both world wars! She lived for 110 years and seen so much and experienced life so much that it is nothing less than amazing to read all about it. And this book covers every soulful bit of her experiences. I think, the writer did a great job assembling all those biographical stories to be told as a novel book, and not just as a simple biography. I enjoyed this book very much and I respect Alice very highly. This book is for those who want to broaden their understanding of life, and how it is possible to look at life perspectively and be happy. She was a pianist, and as a pianist myself, I consider this book to be as important for musicians as reading the biography of their favorite composers.Highly Recommended!!! Will give you some great inspiration and appreciation for life.

i usually try to avoid intimate portrayals of Holocaust victims because what i already know about this horrible debauchery gives me nightmares. But this account is different. Without going into too much detail about the gruesome facts involved, this lovely 109 year-old lady has the best attitude i have ever heard of, stating that "every day i live, even during that horrible time, was beautiful, as i was privileged to LIVE!" Life, to her, is so beautiful that she looks forward to each and every day as we all should: as if it will be her last and she wants to get the most out of it. She has an uncanny ability to embrace life's trials and hardships as challenges to prove her strength and look back on with triumph. As we all should. i had to have this book to broaden my outlook, had to have this opportunity to prolong my life with this kind of positivity. Being a musician like her, i marveled at the ease with which she, at 109, plays a Bach Invention on the piano. An invention is a piece which is a contrapuntal wonder, the melody occurring in exactness in 2 parts, one starting a certain number of measures before the other, and continuing likewise to the end, both parts conflicting yet perfectly fitting to the other masterfully. Anyone who can play these artful turns shows extreme coordination as well as great discipline, as the art can be lost much more quickly without continued practice. A lesson in inspiration! Once again, Amazon, you provided me with a needed lift!

Just listening to someone who has lived this long is a priceless education in itself. It is even more poignant, because Mrs. Herz-Sommer, hasn't succumbed to the usual ravages of old age. At least, not yet. Having said that, though, the chapters are a bit repetitious in my opinion. And, her reluctance to talk about anything concerning her incarceration and torment in the Nazi concentration camp is a huge mistake. Not for her...probably due to the potential horror of reliving it again in her mind. But, it is a tragedy for the people world wide who deny the existence of the Holocaust. The younger generation needs to be reminded of the savagery and inhumanity that is inherent in all of us. Genocide has been a fact of life in history before the Holocaust. And, It continues to run amok today, in Africa and Syria, Iraq and other countries, where being different in any way from the majority can get you tortured and killed.

My book club read A Garden of Eden in Hell by Melissa Muller. After reading that book, I wanted to learn more about Alice. I couldn't believe that I, someone who enjoys both classical music and history, had lived as long as I have without knowing about Alice Herz-Sommer. I went on line to find out more about her, and I saw this book, which I purchased and read. It is a good follow-up to the first book because it tells a lot of the same stories, but goes into more detail. For example, it tells more about Alice's friendship with Franz Kafka and also goes into detail about her son, Rafael. Alice's life is such an inspiration to me. It's amazing that she is still living at age 109. The book even included a couple of Alice's favorite recipes. I made the apple cake and served it at the book club when we discussed Alice's life. I would recommend both books, especially for those who appreciate classical music and history.

There is really no explaining why some events destroy one person and are conquered by another. Alice Herz Sommer had a charmed life as a young married woman in pre WWII Prague. A beloved daughter in an upper middle class jewish family she was also an extraordinary musician. But the day the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia her world imploded. Her mother and husband were sent to concentration camps and eventually so was Alice along with her six year old son. Music saved her life and her soul over and over again.She just refused to see herself as a victim. The Nazis did not conquer Alice, neither did breast cancer or the death of her beloved son. Read this book and see how you see the world differently and your role in the world--even if the effect is just for one day. A powerful story about an extraordinary person.