num_pages: 256
description: Spare, dark, and cinematic, The Tortoises describes life in the Nazi reign of terror. A renowned writer and his wife live quietly in a beautiful villa outside Vienna, until the triumphant Nazis start subjecting their Jewish "hosts" to ever greater humiliations. Veza Canetti focuses on seemingly ordinary people to epitomize the one flag-happy German kills a sparrow before a group of little children; another, more entrepreneurial Nazi brands tortoises with swastikas to sell as souvenirs commemorating the Anschluss.
language: English
title: The Tortoises
titlecomplete: The Tortoises
genres: Fiction, German Literature
ratings_count: 54
publisher: New Directions