The Assault

My son needed it for class. It arrived quickly and was exactly as described.

This book is written by a Dutch Nobel prize winner and one of the best novels I have ever read. I highly recommend this book

This is a classic book which should be read by anyone interested in WWII, or for that matter, human nature. This is the story of a man who slowly learns the truth about the events which led to the death of his family. What we perceive to be true may not be; those who seem to be our friends may not be. This is a work of art

Book is a touching story of one man's experience when the Germans invade his town in Haarlem . He is a young boy when he sees his family and his home destroyed. He spends years of his life blocking it out and not remembering anything.Well written, and it drew me into his story.

I read this for a class requirement. The premise of the story is good, but there is limited character development. All the characters seemed rather two-dimensional and lacked any personality. It tells a fairly good story, but it was rather boring.

Read because mu daughter had it as school. If this is one of the best Dutch have , they do not have much.

Read it in Dutch, bought this version for my kids. Excellent writing, great translation. Great time piece. Excellent plot line, about the choices we make, and those that others make and how they affect us.

The Assault tells the story about the Jewish people that endured great pain in their lives.

In a Haarlem street the Dutch Resistance kills an active collaborator. In retaliation the Germans have destroyed a house in that street in which live ten-year-oldAnton Steenwijk with his parents and elder brother. Anton survives, but his parents and brother are killed. As Anton grows up, he wants to suppress all memories of that time, and it is not a coincidence that he chooses to become an anaesthetist. But of course the trauma is buried within him, and affects his mental life in many ways, some that are inexplicable to him. But the members of the resistance who had carried out the assassination are haunted also, by their knowledge that their deed had led to uninvolved people being shot. All these states of mind are explored in this story, as much that lay concealed emerges over the 36 years after the event. The reader is engaged as taut knots are loosened and unwound.During all this time the world moves on and new political issues arise - Vietnam; the anti-nuclear movement. Do they leave the old issues behind or are they connected with them?This short book's limpid prose is very precise, profound and rich in unobtrusive symbolism. It is all very compelling

Firstly, even though this is a work of fiction, I felt when I'd finished it that I'd learnt a great deal from it. I lived for years in both the Netherlands and Germany when I was younger and I've read dozens of books about WW2 and about the history of the Netherlands in later life, but I still didn't have much idea what it was like to live in the Netherlands during the War... until I read this book. I don't know if it's a great work of literature, but I must repeat that I found it extremely worthwhile to read it. Finally, you should be aware that the events it describes are often extremely harrowing. Many events that happened to the author's own family were extremely harrowing in real life, so perhaps that is why he was able to write such a convincing, sad and instructive story.

Loved the writing and the story/plot. Definitely worth reading. Well written and plotted. Recommend reading.

Clearly written, informative book detailing The Netherlands in WW2 and the legacy thereof.

A post war classic which tackles the knotty issues of how to cope in the aftermath of atrocities, timely in its examination of whether to draw a line under the past in the light of what the present gradually reveals about all those involved and their own complex human motives.