Reunion, Fred Ulhman

I just finished a little book, the aforementioned Reunion, by Fred Ulhman.

In my edition, which I found for only one euro (thank you again Book Off), published by The Harvill Press of London, there is an introduction by Jean d'Ormesson. D'Ormesson sits on the highly regarded Académie Francaise in seat 12.For those of you who are unfamiliar with d'Ormesson, I highly recommend "Du coté de chez Jean".

In his introduction calls Reunion "literary perfection", and says, "Delight and distress mingled in me so powerfully that I found myself smiling through tears that came to my eyes".

The story is very simple. A young lonely Jewish boy and a young lonely German noble going to school together and becoming friends. The friendship is deeply felt by both parties and comes to an end because of the circumstances of 1930's Germany and because this friendship cannot live forever.

I highly recommend this book, so much so that I've included it on my list of Mandatory Reading. Mostly because I refuse to believe that any one who read this book would not add their own tears to d'Ormesson's or my own.