This was an inspirational and realistic journey to explore one woman's family history during the Holocaust. Topic was difficult but well written. Enjoyed Picoult's fine moral line drawn between the main character's life today and the past.

I usually enjoy Jodi Piccoults novels; they are generally well written and well researched and tackle both sides of an issue. I was, however, not sure that I wanted to read a holocaust story by this author. I am so glad I did. The characters come to life and make you care about then. Piccoult ponders how good and evil can reside in each of us and how we control our demons. She explores punishment and forgiveness and finding a way to continue. Piccoult asks each of us to question our complacency in light of post-holocaust genocide. The Storyteller is a novel you will continue to analyze long after you turn the final page.

Depressing, not at all a typical Jodi Picoult book. All about Nazis. Not at all what I want out of a novel. Very predictable as well.

This book was hard to put down. There are several themes running through the book which keep you enthralled. This is Picoult's best book by far and she is one of my favorite authors. Told from a variety of first person narratives, it is riveting.

This is a very interesting book about the holocaust and a survivor and her family. It certainly holds your interest and has many subplots. Too much coincidence in the book to be totally believable and I also have questions about the ending but a compelling story and members liked the book. Better than some of Picoult\\\'\\\'s other books.

This book is very different from some of the \"fluff\" books Jodi Picoult has written. It is well writen and readable considering the difficult subject of the Holocaust. Our group enjoys historical fiction books so this was a good fit.

Wonderfully written.

Kept me reading, I didn't want to put it down

An emotional story. Worth reading. I couldn't put it down because I wanted to know what would happen. Emotionally charged book.

Everyone really liked this book and what a great discussion! There is an amazing moral and ethical dilemma told in a way that keeps you reading to find out what peoples choices will be. The back and forth between past and present was well done and it was really interesting to see life in a concentration camp from both sides. Highly recommend this one for book clubs!

We could have discussed this book ALL DAY. So much to talk about. Epic historical story. Just really wonderful. Add it to your list now!

I couldn't put it down.

Another though-provoking book from Jodi Picoult. Becaue of her extensive research, she is able to weave a story of love and forgiveness about one of the most horrific events in history. The twist at the end gives the reader a moment of pause as they try to imagine themselves in the story.

Interesting story weaving two people together. I have read many Holocaust books and this one was a bit different, which I appreciated.

I loved the interweaving of the 4 stories that tell this interesting and heart- wrenching story.

The Storyteller is one of those books that makes you wonder what you would do in that situation.

Not just a holocaust story, many discussion-worthy themes.

The topic was fascinating but I found the main characters not believable and the ending trite.

Gives you insight into the reality of an event that should never have happened. Make you wonder what you would have done in the same situation. I don\\\'t necessarily agree with the ending.

Gripping, informative, a real page turner

This book generated a very good discussion. Some people found it a bit confusing in the beginning, but things were clarified along the way. A powerful story and reminder of the things people went through during the holocaust.

This book had many characters to remember but it all came together rather nicely in the end. I have always been interested in the Holocaust and I loved the different viewpoint of this book - coming from a fictional character. This story brought me to question what would I do in that circumstance. How could humans treat other humans that way? Does one ever really regret evil actions that were committed in the past? It combined past and present gracefully through the many different "storytellers" and would be an exceptional book for a book club.

As with most of her books, this one, too, was very well researched and very well written. However, sometimes, the silly sex and hackneyed expressions used by the main characters, juxtaposed against the background of a serious Holocaust investigation, seemed to me, to trivialize the monstrosity of the event and the war, although I do not believe that was the author’s intent.
The Storyteller is a book within a book. Minka was once an aspiring writer. Her story is two-fold because in the tale she created, about a young girl and a demon, a story that during the war distracted so many from their pain, she explores the existence of dark, horrifying, supernatural and unimaginable events, and observes people’s reactions to them, but then it becomes an allegory about herself and her own unimaginable experiences. Jodi Picoult raises many questions in her book, and although I didn’t find the book that well done, I found the questions she raises, the ideas she makes the reader consider, enormously insightful and important. She has taken a rather heavily used subject and made it slightly new again with her perspective, so that it is worthwhile to read for that reason alone.
The story revolves around several characters. Using Mary, a former nun, Sage, who declares herself an atheist, although she was born a Jew (Hitler would still have called her a Jew), Leo, a Jew and a Nazi hunter, Joseph, a Nazi, Adam, an adulterer, and Minka, a camp survivor, the author crafts a story that explores the subject of the Holocaust. Is she seeking to discover if it is simply the nature of the beast that causes the savage behavior, so that horrors like genocide will simply always exist, or seeking to prove that they can be prevented? Is it that the beast can’t help himself, because he is simply a beast or is it that someone allows the beast to flourish?
Sage, and an elderly man, Joseph, meet at grief counseling; both have recently suffered a significant loss. Joseph makes a very strange request of her. He wants her to help him end his life. Who is Joseph, and why does he want to end his life? Further, why ask a stranger for help of that kind? Sage was a troubled woman who carried painful memories she could not resolve. Apparently, Joseph was a troubled man who also carried a burden of painful memories and deeds. Minka, Sage’s grandmother, was my heroine. She was brave and honorable all her life, but her memories were the most painful of all. Each of the characters featured had secrets and lies that dictated how they faced and lived their lives. Would they resolve their issues? Could they even be resolved?
Picoult reopens the wound of the Holocaust, which much like Minka’s book, also defies reality. At first, I thought, she seemed to be trying to keep it festering, as in “we will never forget”. However, I believe, in the end, she was seeking to find answers about the why of it and the resolution of it, so that life might continue without its constant hovering shadow hanging over the lives and memories of those painfully touched by it. Eventually, would the subject of the Holocaust and its lessons die with its victims and perpetrators? Should it, or should we keep its memory alive so that we may learn from it?
Does everyone have the capacity for evil? Are things always as they seem? Do witnesses always see accurately? Is evil ever a forgivable sin? Were Sage’s scars symbolic of the deep emotional and physical scars that the victims and perpetrators inevitably carried with them their entire lives? The dilemma is explored well, but the story, used as the vehicle, is a bit trite. Often, the tale was simply too philosophical and waxed too poetic. Even the love story felt completely contrived. Some of the dialogue was just too corny, as in, “I’m a federal agent, if I tell you, I have to kill you”, or the references to CSI and Law and Order which tended to diminish the seriousness of the underlying themes of the book.
At the end, the reader will ask themselves many questions that have been asked numerous times before and will also discover some new ones. Where does the responsibility for the carnage belong? On whose shoulders should it fall? Were they just obeying orders? Were so many unaware of the brutality of the concentration camps or did they turn a blind eye for their own selfish reward? Are there any forgivable excuses for the heinous behavior? Is it even possible to forgive or forget the barbarism of the Nazis? Although, in my eyes, they were despicable, it was not so in everyone’s eyes. The reader will have to internalize all of these theories and decide for themselves whether evil can ever be justified or forgiven. Each will see the problem Sage faces with different eyes, different mindsets and very different backgrounds. Who has the right to play G-d? Does anyone? If we have not walked in their shoes can we fully understand or judge their plight? In the end, does the book resolve anything? I was not sure when I turned the final page. For me, I don’t believe there is ever an explanation for evil or an excuse for it. What will other readers think?
As I write, I realize that the book is more interesting than I thought, at first, because it makes the reader think about so many questions that are unresolved today and of the causes of the chaos which precedes monstrous events, events that will surely continue to exist in the future if we don’t give the past enough credit and thought, if we don’t learn from it, if we don’t learn how to respond to it appropriately, if we don’t learn how to end the vicious cycle of greed, envy and hate.
***As an aside, I wondered what was meant by the inclusion of the story about “the wandering Jew” and Jesus, and what was meant by the image of Christ that was baked in the bread? Were they symbols of a strong religious fervor and belief, or were they symbols of the superstitions that keep anti-Semitism alive, or symbols for the reasons that we are all so divided, or symbols of the fanaticism and rush to conclusions that drives unrest, or of the exaggerations that we are all prone to that foment and maintain the superstitions and the mistrust of “the other”?

You can really see this events happening to someone! So sad, and like Minka said in the book, it\\\'s still happening today!

This is one of the few books the entire book club rated highly. It deals with difficult subjects but gives so much to discuss. Is assisting a suicide ever ok? What is forgiveness and who has the right to forgive? Should there ever be a statute of limitations on murder? What is accomplished by deporting a 95 year old criminal? These are just a few of the topics your book club will want to discuss after reading this book!

The Storyteller is quite an emotional ride. This is my second book by Jodi Picoult and it won\'t be the last. This is a book of many stories. It is a story of a middle-aged Jewish female who is scarred both physically and emotionally -- so much that she works as a baker at night, a trade learned from her father, so that she can reduce the amount of personal contact with other people. It is a story of a fictitious un-dead monster who preys on the blood of innocent victims. It is the story of an SS officer, who works in a concentration camp in WWII; and a story of a concentration camp survivor. Above all it is a story of human nature. The realism that is created in the telling of how a young adult male could go from an average man to a sadistic killer and participate in genocide acts was both fascinating and eerie and, at times, hard to digest. The courage and fortitude shown by survivors was applaudible and a testiment to the depth of a human soul. This book was an exceptional journey of just how much the human heart is capable of bearing. With the exception of The Book Thief, I don\'t know when I have cried so much while reading a book. And when I wasn\'t crying, I was aghast at the horror of what was placed upon the Jewish community during this time and yet amazed at their resilience and bravery to continue as long as their bodies allowed. This book is a wonderful piece of literature that is sure to move you. It is a thought provoking work of art that is sure to leave you counting your blessings for all of the loved ones in your life.

A good read that hooks you and keeps you coming back to see what will happen next. The twist at the end got me I never saw that coming!

Picoult looks at the links between family identity, religion, humanity, and difficult decisions.

For the most part, I don\\\'t like Jodi Picoult\\\'s books. To me she had always followed basically the same formula. I wasn\\\'t necessarily happy when our book club picked this book. Didn\\\'t buy it but got it from the library. The book starts off a bit slow but you do have to get to know the various individuals.

And then I couldn\\\'t put it down! In fact, I stayed up until after 1:00 a.m. in order to finish it.

She made the lives of the people living through the Holocaust real. They had family that would just be gone. There were no rules to survival, just luck, or for many, maybe not so lucky.

A very good read.

The story is about basically four main characters whose lives are intertwined because of the Holocaust during WWII and present day. Definitely makes you think.

This book was a real eye opener.

Very compelling but sad with real stories of the what the SS did to the prisoners in the concentration camps during WW11.

The author did her homework with the genocide in the death camps, Nazi SS intimidation, the propaganda of the Nazi regime, and the correlation with an evil such as vampires.

THE STORYTELLER by Jodi Picoult
A story within a story within a story is the only way to quickly describe THE STORYTELLER. There are three storytellers -- Sage, a baker, who carries guilt and grief that consumes her; Josef, a beloved elderly man, who confesses to Sage and wants her to forgive and then kill him; and finally, Minka, a Polish Jew and resident of a concentration camp during WWII. I found Minka’s story compelling. Forgiveness is the overriding theme of the book. A sentence on page 450 states that you can only forgive someone the wrong they have done to you personally. Sage, Josef and, even Minka, need forgiveness, but who can forgive them and will they – that is the question.
I found this to be one of Picoult’s more challenging and thought provoking books. She is known for addressing timely topics with a twist ending. THE STORYTELLER addresses forgiveness in way that will give you pause for thought, especially the ending. Book groups will have a lively discussion of guilt and forgiveness.
5 of 5 stars

This was an awesome book. Picoult is an amazing writer the way she can take different points of views in the story but still intertwine them so beautifully. The amazing details she created in my mind of Auschwitz and the Holocaust was indescribable!

I'm definitely in the minority with this one as the vast majority of my book group members enjoyed this book. I felt the religious aspects of the book were trivialized and dealt with in a manner that can only be seen as trite, contrived, and formulaic. I thought the characters were somewhat two-dimensional and there wasn't any character growth. The only portions of the story that I enjoyed reading were Minka's life story, her fictional story, and the bits about Leo. This wasn't a bad or even poorly written book, it just wasn't what I expected and I couldn't connect.

Pretty good. Very interesting read.

Jodi Picoult excellently develops the character. Her research is extensive and she does a great job with allegory. One feels like you are part of the story while reading and emotionally involved.

This book was amazing, I did not want to stop reading it. The author does a beautiful job in her writing by making you feel the story.

I enjoyed the book. I’ve always been interested in learning as much as possible about the time period of WWII

Our book club found this book dark and difficult at times, but also very important as historical fiction. The twist at the end also surprised us!

This was a roller coaster read. At times details very hard to read, but made this book all the more profound and such a good read! Love the way Jodi Picoult entwined her characters through the book and leads you to an ending that can still surprise you.

Really good ending, but a slow starter.

I’m not finished yet, but the story is gripping and I don’t want to put it down.

It's never taken my 12 days to read a historical fiction novel. This book was 460 pages and I almost put it down. But the last 200+ pages finally got me engaged in the book. A lot of questions that you could come up with if this was for a book club. I would not read this book again but I did like it be the end.