Heartbreaking Holocaust tragedy

"Sophie's Choice" is one of the great novels of the century, a blend of tragedy and humor, that perfectly evokes Brooklyn, Tidewater Virginia, and Auschwitz within its pages.

Stingo is a Southerner. Aspiring to be the next Faulkner, he moves to a pension in Brooklyn, where he meets an unforgettable couple - Sophie and Nathan. Sophie is a Polish émigré who was at Auschwitz only a few years before; Nathan is a brilliant, wild Jewish scientific researcher. Their relationship is turbulent - Nathan is constantly reducing Sophie to tears - but they're too much in love to break up.

Gradually, Stingo and the two become the best of friends. Stingo's novel is coming along perfectly, Nathan is making great scientific discoveries, Sophie and Nathan are deeply in love, God's in his heaven and all's right with the world - until one night when Nathan, drunk and furious, brings Auschwitz back to Sophie's memory to haunt her. From there on, the novel turns its focus to Sophie's past and the dark side of Sophie and Nathan's relationship.

What amazes me about this novel, and makes it so endlessly readable, is Styron's urbane descriptive voice. He vividly describes psychological states, places, and events. He shifts from bawdy sexual farce, to the deepest pathos, to hallucinogenic fugues, to horrifying revelation of evil...all of this with great skill and versatility. And he makes it all readable and completely entertaining!

"Sophie's Choice" is a magnificent, beautiful novel that deserves to be ranked among the great books of all time.