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In the story of a trip to Auschwitz, family can be a real pain in the tuches

JL;DR SUMMARY Yasmina Reza's novel "Serge," newly translated into English, delves into the complexities of family dynamics through the lens of a Holocaust memorial trip. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

AuschwitzHolocaustJewish IdentityFamily DynamicsTranslationCharacter StudyYasmina RezaSergeJean PopperUnlikeable Protagonist

Places mentioned

Auschwitz, Lesser Poland, Poland
"In Yazmina Rezas novel Serge, the three Popper siblings embark on a family trip to Auschwitz to find traces of their family who perished there."
France
"The novel ends with the siblings reunited at a doctors appointment where Serge will undergo a procedure to learn if he has cancer. Even though, in the end, the family comes back together, Serge has seemed to learn nothingthere is no character development, no moment where he apologizes for his behavior and tries to be more cooperative. In fact, none of the characters make any big transformations. The feeling that everyone is treading water makes for a difficult read, but it also feels real."

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Cairo Item ID 60075
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-08-26 05:31:03 UTC
Curated 2025-08-26 08:30:43 UTC