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rach94's review
4.0
As I had to read this book for college, I thought I would hate it, because it's a rare thing when teachers make their students read enjoyable books.
My expectations were really low and I wasn't looking forward to reading it, but when I finally started, I found myself enjoying it a lot.
I can't quite say what was it that made me like this book so much, just that I did and that then it was super easy to learn all the things we were being taught in class.
It's such an easy (though "different") and quick book to read that I would recommend to anyone who'd ask me about it.
My expectations were really low and I wasn't looking forward to reading it, but when I finally started, I found myself enjoying it a lot.
I can't quite say what was it that made me like this book so much, just that I did and that then it was super easy to learn all the things we were being taught in class.
It's such an easy (though "different") and quick book to read that I would recommend to anyone who'd ask me about it.
acciodawn's review
5.0
Once again I am grateful that I’ve come across a wonderful literary work at university. I had to read this play for my German Literature after the Second World War class. I’ve read Wilfred Owen poems and a little of Ernst Jünger’s “Storm of Steel,” but these tackle the First World War. This play captures the guilt of a German soldier returning home perfectly. He does not want to carry the responsibility of the horrid crimes he’s committed, and he is gaslighted by the Colonel who sent him to war. His trauma and PTSD are made fun of, most poignantly after the scene where he relates his horrid dream of playing an instrument made of bones. I think I will always remember that sequence because it is harrowing but also manages to convey to readers what it’s like to fight it the war and to return home and have to deal with the after effects and the sleepless nights. Out of the many works after the war that I will be reading this semester, this one will definitely stay with me.
erika_gore's review
challenging
dark
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
msand3's review against another edition
3.0
If Beckett writes, “...you must go on. I can't go on. I'll go on,” then Borchert counters with “...you must go on. I can’t go on. I won’t go on.” Except “I won’t go on” is not necessarily an existential cry of defeat, but rather a declaration that we as a society simply can’t go on if we continue down the road of mechanized, dehumanizing warfare and the alienating social order that preaches nationalism at the price of universal equality. It’s a societal warning more than a personal plea, as the protagonist of Borchert’s heavily Expressionist play/radio drama, Beckmann, is the canary in the coal mine, showing us a potential path to destruction in the second half of the 20th century. (Looking back from 2021: we made it...but at what continuing price?)
This book also contains much of Borchert’s short fiction, including the entirety of Dandelion. These pieces are depressing, Expressionist, fatalistic, and oppressively bleak. I don’t advise reading this book unless you are in a frame of mind to understand the crushing, overwhelming hopelessness that war leaves in its wake.
This book also contains much of Borchert’s short fiction, including the entirety of Dandelion. These pieces are depressing, Expressionist, fatalistic, and oppressively bleak. I don’t advise reading this book unless you are in a frame of mind to understand the crushing, overwhelming hopelessness that war leaves in its wake.
jon30sch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
3856miles's review
5.0
Es war nicht leicht, dieses Buch zu lesen. Aber vielleicht ist es gerade deshalb so wichtig, es trotzdem zu tun. Borchert schildert die Folgen des Krieges mit einer Schonungslosigkeit, die ein tiefes Gefühl von Verzweiflung hervorruft.
manonchtls's review against another edition
4.0
4,5
Cette pièce de théâtre est vrm vraiment géniale, j’aimerais bien voir une mise en scène de cette pièce un jour!
Cette pièce de théâtre est vrm vraiment géniale, j’aimerais bien voir une mise en scène de cette pièce un jour!
elvinelverenn's review
4.0
WOWOWOW. Dieses Drama ist vielleicht eines der besten Dramas, die ich über die Nachkriegszeit gelesen habe. Beckmann, die Hauptfigur in diesem Stück kehrt von Stalingrad nach Hause, aber wie kann er weiter wie normal leben, nachdem er so viel Tod, Schmerzen, Hunger und Not im Krieg gesehen hat? Keiner will für die Millionen von Toten, die an der Front für sie gestorben sind, verantwortlich sein. Nicht mal Gott, der in diesem Stück personifiziert wird, kann erklären wo Er war, während so viele im Krieg gelitten haben.
Dieses Drama zeigt, dass der Krieg dem Menschen nicht nur körperlich zerstört, sondern auch mental, und dem Menschen von den drei wichtigsten "Tugenden" beraubt: Glaube, Liebe und Hoffnung.
Dieses Drama zeigt, dass der Krieg dem Menschen nicht nur körperlich zerstört, sondern auch mental, und dem Menschen von den drei wichtigsten "Tugenden" beraubt: Glaube, Liebe und Hoffnung.
livithomson48's review against another edition
5.0
Although when I first read this I thought it was the most depressing book I had ever read (I was 17, give me a chance, I was also proven wrong soon after), over time I've realised that it has a lot to say about the mental health of soldiers was affected by the wars, a topic that is so often spoken little about in older literature.
Digging more into the background of this novel and the author's life, you see more and more of the author's own struggles in his writing and you're given that feeling of being connected to someone else through time.
It is depressing but it's also on an important topic and the story of these characters is interesting and touching and offers to British readers a different point of view on the world wars when we are so used to our own country's narrative from that time.
I would recommend reading this to many (not all) readers because it may open your eyes. I'm very grateful to my wonderful German teacher for asking me to read this.
Digging more into the background of this novel and the author's life, you see more and more of the author's own struggles in his writing and you're given that feeling of being connected to someone else through time.
It is depressing but it's also on an important topic and the story of these characters is interesting and touching and offers to British readers a different point of view on the world wars when we are so used to our own country's narrative from that time.
I would recommend reading this to many (not all) readers because it may open your eyes. I'm very grateful to my wonderful German teacher for asking me to read this.