Part 4 (2/2)

1. In Wartime Lies Wartime Lies, the religious tension is evident from the very beginning as Maciek tells his tale. What events occur that mark the increasing tension from Maciek's perspective?

2. The pa.s.sages from the perspective of ”the man with sad eyes” are meticulously placed throughout the novel. Using your ”sympathy and imagination,” what links can you draw between the content of these pa.s.sages and the moment in Maciek's life they interrupt?

3. In chapter four, Maciek punches Pan Wladek in the chest. Why does he react so violently to the accusation (made most likely as a partial jest) that he has been ”evil” by cheating?

4. Louis Begley mentioned that Dante could be considered ”the greatest connoisseur of evil.” In what ways does Dante and his Inferno Inferno relate to the experiences described in relate to the experiences described in Wartime Lies? Wartime Lies?

5. Seemingly more than most young children, Maciek is somewhat obsessed with being liked. Why do you think this is? And how does this conflict with the ”show” that he and Tania are constantly putting on?

6. At one point, Maciek tells us, ”Tania thought she loved Reinhard, probably as much as she ever loved anybody”. Throughout the novel, how does Tania relate to men and love?

7. There are several ways in which the t.i.tle, Wartime Lies Wartime Lies, relates to the princ.i.p.al characters in the novel. What are some of those ways? And how have these lies forever changed Tania and Mayciek's sense of ethics and morality?

8. If the world of Wartime Lies Wartime Lies is one where everyone bears a burden of guilt, what guilt do Maciek, Tania, Grandfather, and Reinhard carry? is one where everyone bears a burden of guilt, what guilt do Maciek, Tania, Grandfather, and Reinhard carry?

9. When Maciek must attend catechism cla.s.ses, something in his perception s.h.i.+fts. How does Maciek feel about this experience?

10. How does Wartime Lies Wartime Lies compare to other novels about the Holocaust you may have read? compare to other novels about the Holocaust you may have read?

About the Author

LOUIS B BEGLEY is the author of five novels. is the author of five novels. Wartime Lies Wartime Lies, which was written when he was in his mid-fifties, was followed by The Man Who Was Late, As Max Saw it The Man Who Was Late, As Max Saw it, and About Schmidt About Schmidt, and most recently, s.h.i.+pwreck s.h.i.+pwreck.Begley has another life, that of a lawyer. He is a senior partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, one of America's most prestigious firms, and is the head of its international practice.Wartime Lies was the winner of the PEN Hemingway Award, The Irish Times-Aer Lingus International Prize, and the Prix Medicis Etranger, France's most coveted prize for fiction in translation. It was a National Book Award, Los Angeles Times Book Award, and National Book Critics' Circle Award finalist. was the winner of the PEN Hemingway Award, The Irish Times-Aer Lingus International Prize, and the Prix Medicis Etranger, France's most coveted prize for fiction in translation. It was a National Book Award, Los Angeles Times Book Award, and National Book Critics' Circle Award finalist. About Schmidt About Schmidt was likewise a National Book Critics' Circle Award and Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist. Begley has received the American Academy of Letters prize for literature and numerous other awards. was likewise a National Book Critics' Circle Award and Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist. Begley has received the American Academy of Letters prize for literature and numerous other awards.Begley was born in Stryj, a town that was Polish and is now part of the Ukraine, in 1933. Being Jewish, he survived the German occupation by pretending, with the help of false identification papers, to be a Catholic Pole. Begley and his parents left Poland in 1946 and settled in New York in 1947. Begley graduated from Harvard College in 1954, and after having served in the U.S. Army, from Harvard Law School in 1959.Since 1974, Begley has been married to Anka Muhlstein, a prize-winning French author of biographies and other historical works. The combined family includes five grown children. His are a painter and sculptor, a book critic, and an art historian. Hers are a foreign relations specialist and a television journalist.

Wartime Lies is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fict.i.tiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fict.i.tiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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