Results: Cut Off (And Protected) From Reality

The Holocaust always fascinated author Max Gross. But while reading about the Nazis' notoriously efficient genocide of the Jews, he wondered whether they could have just possibly missed a Jewish village somewhere in Eastern Europe. And if so, what would have happened? In his debut novel, he offers a fascinating answer to this question. "The Lost Shtetl," published October 13, paints a picture of such a town. Having been cut off from the rest of the country and the world (no spoilers about the how, when and why), the people of Kreskol emerge into modern-day Poland with no knowledge of the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, or the Cold War. They have never seen an automobile, telephone or computer. They have no idea what Jews have gone through while they were living their protected lives. Does this sound like a book you would enjoy reading?

This concept if not a new one, but has been a source of fascination in movies and books for years. These three movies are just examples of three very different scenarios. Have you seen any of these movies about towns or individuals that have, for one reason or another, been cut off from reality (and what happens when they get drawn back in)?

Back in reality, there are some towns much closer and more rooted in reality, that seem to have been "cut off" from the rest of the world around them, or look like they are set back in a simpler time. Have you visited any of these U.S. towns (or even live in them)?

Have you been to (or live in) any of these Canadian towns that seem to be from another era, or frozen in time?