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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
An interesting book and the author did well in going back and forth between present day and each of the sister's remembrances of their past. I found that the story rambled on and on a bit. I found myself wishing the story were over!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Separated twins are an extremely fascinating research object for scientists because they are ideal to illustrate the "nature versus nurture" debate: what is the deciding factor in a lifetime?, the genes you inherited, or the education you got? According to the first view separated twins would live more or less the same lifes; whilst the second school insists the different contexts (cultures) lead to very different lives.
Judging from this book Tessa De Loo seems rather to adhere to the second school: Lotte and Anna, separated when they were 6 years old, definitively lived very different lives, until they found each other again, 70 years later in the Belgian health resort of Spa. Especially the war turns out to have driven a wedge between them. De Loo extensively recounts how Anna, who stayed behind in Germany, underwent the Nazi regime, married a soldier who eventually became an SS-man, and after the war endured the harsh years of the reconstruction. Lotte was raised by a family member in the Netherlands, saved Jews from the hands of Nazis and developed an outright hatred for all things German.
Fascinating, of course. But I don't think that De Loo intentionally focussed on an experiment around separated twins. That is my impression since especially Anna can tell her story in full and articulate how ordinary Germans came to rally around Adolf Hitler, how they just tried to live their own lives and overcome the war events and finally also trying to make the best of their lives after the disastrous defeat. To my knowledge De Loo is the first author to give such explicit attention to the German "suffering", long before the wave of scientific studies on the impact of the Allied bombings of German cities.
You can feel free to call this a justifiable correction of the unilateral and simplistic story of the justified fight against absolute evil. But in my opinion De Loo falls short the other way round: Anna and especially her (SS-)husband Martin are pictured as truly "good" Germans, who are just trying to do well, saints almost, and that is just as simplistic and romanticizing. In that sense, the novel is a bit disappointing. But all in all, an interesting and readable story. (2.5 stars)
Judging from this book Tessa De Loo seems rather to adhere to the second school: Lotte and Anna, separated when they were 6 years old, definitively lived very different lives, until they found each other again, 70 years later in the Belgian health resort of Spa. Especially the war turns out to have driven a wedge between them. De Loo extensively recounts how Anna, who stayed behind in Germany, underwent the Nazi regime, married a soldier who eventually became an SS-man, and after the war endured the harsh years of the reconstruction. Lotte was raised by a family member in the Netherlands, saved Jews from the hands of Nazis and developed an outright hatred for all things German.
Fascinating, of course. But I don't think that De Loo intentionally focussed on an experiment around separated twins. That is my impression since especially Anna can tell her story in full and articulate how ordinary Germans came to rally around Adolf Hitler, how they just tried to live their own lives and overcome the war events and finally also trying to make the best of their lives after the disastrous defeat. To my knowledge De Loo is the first author to give such explicit attention to the German "suffering", long before the wave of scientific studies on the impact of the Allied bombings of German cities.
You can feel free to call this a justifiable correction of the unilateral and simplistic story of the justified fight against absolute evil. But in my opinion De Loo falls short the other way round: Anna and especially her (SS-)husband Martin are pictured as truly "good" Germans, who are just trying to do well, saints almost, and that is just as simplistic and romanticizing. In that sense, the novel is a bit disappointing. But all in all, an interesting and readable story. (2.5 stars)
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Yet another war novel, this book focusses on the fortunes of twins, Lotte and Anna, who are taken to live apart when their parents die. Reared from the age of 6 in separate countries, they follow quite different paths as the Second World War consumes Europe. Years later, when they are old women, they meet in a Belgian town, and attempt to dissect the stories that led them there.
The Twins is a fantastic piece of writing, a truly unique viewpoint of a conflict that has been covered many times in modern literature. It is wonderfully human, consistently moving and devastating in equal parts. It is highly readable throughout, and definitely to be recommended.
The Twins is a fantastic piece of writing, a truly unique viewpoint of a conflict that has been covered many times in modern literature. It is wonderfully human, consistently moving and devastating in equal parts. It is highly readable throughout, and definitely to be recommended.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
3.5 ⭐️. Trước khi đọc quyển này, điều mình lo ngại nhất là nó sẽ để Đức Quốc xã được nói những lời bộc bạch, giải thích và tẩy trắng nhưng tội ác của họ trong Thế chiến thứ 2. Nếu thế chắc mình cũng muốn vứt quyển này ngay lập tức.
Nhưng rất may đây chỉ là lời của một người dân Đức, vô tội, chèo chống giữa nhưng phong ba của các cuộc chiến tranh, những mưu đồ chính trị.
Mình hiểu được cảm giác của Lotte, mình cũng không thể chịu đựng được thái độ của Anna; nhưng cuối cùng, máu mủ ruột ra mãi mãi không thể bỏ rơi nhau. Mong bà được yên nghỉ, bà đã vất vả rồi.
Nhưng rất may đây chỉ là lời của một người dân Đức, vô tội, chèo chống giữa nhưng phong ba của các cuộc chiến tranh, những mưu đồ chính trị.
Mình hiểu được cảm giác của Lotte, mình cũng không thể chịu đựng được thái độ của Anna; nhưng cuối cùng, máu mủ ruột ra mãi mãi không thể bỏ rơi nhau. Mong bà được yên nghỉ, bà đã vất vả rồi.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
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