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Apr 10, 2015lukasevansherman rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
"He loved his library so dearly; it was his substitute for human beings." Elias Canetti was a Bulgarian Jew who wrote in German. He is best known for his memoirs, the book "Crowds and Power," and this, his sole novel. He won the Nobel Prize in 1981. The title refers to the burning of heretics by the Inquisition and its the the story of a hermit-like scholar who loves books more than people and takes refuge in his vast library. His life is disrupted by the shrewish housekeeper he marries. And it goes on for like 450 pages. He's been compared to Kakfa, but Kafka's more fun. This is one of the more suffocating books I've read. Originally published in 1935. "In 'Auto-da-Fe' no one is spared."-Salman Rushdie