Having read the reviews, I am amazed that Etty’s spiritual growth managed to be felt by the reviewers despite the terrible translation. This translator not only leaves out the poetry of her way of expressing herself — the continuing metaphors she employs to make her points — but the translator completely misses the point and mistranslates almost on every page. For example, on page 211 of this edition, the translator has Etty telling us that Klaus committed suicide and that she must "make sure his name is taken off the card index." No, no, no. Klaus did not commit suicide and in any case, even if he had, Etty would not have worried bureaucratically about removing his name from a registry. What Etty really said was that a man committed suicide in the camp hospital and Klaus’s reaction was to worry about taking his name off the registry. Because Klaus COULD NOT EMPATHIZE. Klaus hated the Nazis but he himself had the heart of a Nazi. This is what fascinated Etty — that this man who could see the evil in others was oblivious to his own. This point is obscured by the erroneous translation.

A translator who does not understand the message is unable to translate the message. Etty’s message is subtle. Her message is about spiritual growth. If the translator is not at the same level of understanding, the translation will be distorted by numerous tiny slightly wrong word choices and word order. If you liked the book in this translation, well, one can only hope that someone will translate it correctly some day. Or if you can read French, try the version "Une vie boulverse" by Philippe Noble, Editions du Seuil.