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lastpaige111's review against another edition
5.0
As a student of German literature and someone obsessed with the pre, during, and post WWII era (and not in terms of battles and body counts, but in terms of human story), I was gripped. Great psychological thriller/spy novel taking place in the little-treated time between the war and the wall, mixed with literary references. My only complaint--if you're going to listen to the audio book, be ready to hear some butchered German.
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
5.0
Joseph Kanon gets better and better—this novel offers a terrific atmospheric setting, taut plotting and, finally, a believable female character. Best of all, the main character is in the devil of a fix, one that ties up the perils of the late 1940s in one compromised package.
Alex Meier fled Berlin in the early 1930s, not because he’s Jewish, but because he was a communist. He survives the war but is caught in Senator McCarthy’s net, and because he never applied for US citizenship he is in their sights. He’s divorced and has a son which gives them a powerful hammer to hold over his head. As a celebrated novelist, he will return to what is morphing into East Berlin, get in with the Russians and Germans creating the new socialist paradise, and report his findings to the US. If he refuses, he will be deported and never permitted to return to see his son again.
The Berlin airlift is on, four years after the end of the war the city is still a moonscape of rubble. The Russians are dismantling anything that survived and carting it back to the USSR. Culturally, the city has drawn many of its brightest lights to return; Jews who fled in the ‘30s, as well as a number of American communists who want to help build the new Germany. Alex is a big catch for the Soviets and he has access to inner workings on both sides.
I’ll say no more. The story is gripping and the sense of place is harrowing—the war may be over but there is still a literal and figurative minefield facing survivors. Only fault—it’s too short.
Alex Meier fled Berlin in the early 1930s, not because he’s Jewish, but because he was a communist. He survives the war but is caught in Senator McCarthy’s net, and because he never applied for US citizenship he is in their sights. He’s divorced and has a son which gives them a powerful hammer to hold over his head. As a celebrated novelist, he will return to what is morphing into East Berlin, get in with the Russians and Germans creating the new socialist paradise, and report his findings to the US. If he refuses, he will be deported and never permitted to return to see his son again.
The Berlin airlift is on, four years after the end of the war the city is still a moonscape of rubble. The Russians are dismantling anything that survived and carting it back to the USSR. Culturally, the city has drawn many of its brightest lights to return; Jews who fled in the ‘30s, as well as a number of American communists who want to help build the new Germany. Alex is a big catch for the Soviets and he has access to inner workings on both sides.
I’ll say no more. The story is gripping and the sense of place is harrowing—the war may be over but there is still a literal and figurative minefield facing survivors. Only fault—it’s too short.
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
5.0
Joseph Kanon is a master of intrigue in the post WWII world, writing books that put a compromised American, or someone living in America, back in Berlin with a super high stakes challenge. "The Berlin Exchange" Takes place later than many of his books, in 1962, and American spy and physicist Mark Keller is suddenly pulled from his British prison cell and shoved across Checkpoint Charlie to return to East Berlin. During the war, he spied for the Soviets, was caught, and imprisoned by the British. Now, for reasons he can't imagine, he has been released and has the chance to see his beloved ex-wife and son.
Mark is wondering why this is happening--his physics are out-of-date, his spy skills useful in wartime only. He encouraged his wife to divorce him, and she is now married to a prominent East German lawyer, while his son is the star of a popular TV show where he plays a boy with model Communist values and behaviors.
Like "Leaving Berlin," "The Berlin Exchange" gives us the thriller as art. Fine tuned to a fair-the-well, this novel is so good, so deep, and raises so many questions. East Germany continues to be a mystery to us, and we need Joseph Kanon to give us more stories that unpeel layers of the post war world where the iron curtain fell.
I'm very grateful to Simon and Schuster and Edelweiss for digital access to this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Mark is wondering why this is happening--his physics are out-of-date, his spy skills useful in wartime only. He encouraged his wife to divorce him, and she is now married to a prominent East German lawyer, while his son is the star of a popular TV show where he plays a boy with model Communist values and behaviors.
Like "Leaving Berlin," "The Berlin Exchange" gives us the thriller as art. Fine tuned to a fair-the-well, this novel is so good, so deep, and raises so many questions. East Germany continues to be a mystery to us, and we need Joseph Kanon to give us more stories that unpeel layers of the post war world where the iron curtain fell.
I'm very grateful to Simon and Schuster and Edelweiss for digital access to this novel in exchange for an honest review.
amihan_drt's review against another edition
was so difficult to read. this ain’t even a writing style it’s broken sentences.
shirlee2024's review against another edition
4.0
A different perspective on Berlin in the early 50s.
jbzar's review against another edition
4.0
A good book with strange twists and a bit outlandish ending
I enjoyed this book. It kept my attention from beginning to end in spite of it being difficult at times to keep track of who was who. First names, last names, foreign names, acronyms and what not. And I thought the relatively rapid evolution of the protagonist, Alex, from innocent to assertive spy was pretty far-fetched. But it's a fantasy after all, so why not?
I enjoyed this book. It kept my attention from beginning to end in spite of it being difficult at times to keep track of who was who. First names, last names, foreign names, acronyms and what not. And I thought the relatively rapid evolution of the protagonist, Alex, from innocent to assertive spy was pretty far-fetched. But it's a fantasy after all, so why not?
jwoodsum's review against another edition
5.0
fascinating look at Berlin in the aftermath of WWII - very well written
jimmacsyr's review against another edition
4.0
The background is Germany (specifically Berlin) through the eyes of post ww2 Berliners in the soviet sector. The intrigues of all sides as the lines begin to harden are the main focus of this well written (and in this edition's case, read) thriller. I enjoyed it very much.