Sophie's Choice: William Styron

So much happened in this book, it will be hard to cover. I was surprised I hadn't heard of it before coming across a list of banned books because it is an incredible story. I liked that the narrator tells us his nickname is stinky within the first few pages. The voice of this novel is very down to earth and likable, I enjoyed how Styron made the narrator an author. The story weaves together the lives of three very different people; Stingo, a southern boy aspiring to be an author, Nathan, a person we believe to be a doctor, but is actually crazy and Sofia, a survivor of Auschwitz. The story goes back and forth between Sofia's past at the concentration camp and her history to what happens at present time in the book. Sofia tells about her Father, who was a supporter of the "final solution" and was one of the first people murdered, having to choose which of her children would go to the gas chamber and which would live, and her life with the crazy man in the United States. This was an excellent book and I look forward to reading Styron's other stories.