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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
Beautiful story; an enlightening look at several generations of two German families. Fantastic read, as I'm currently living in Berlin, that has give me context from WW1 onward. Great writing. (I also absolutely love that Leo dug into his family history and wrote this book). Would 100% recommend.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
A beautiful story of a family living through incredibly difficult times. This book scopes three generations of a family starting from just after World War I to present day, highlighting the individual and familial struggles to find meaning through political upheaval and disappointment.
Maxim Leo's family had the unique position that every family member had widely different relationships to the GDR. Some fought for, some against. Some against and then for. Some for, then against. Some of these family members were never discussed. Thankfully, Leo had the incredible luxury of well-kept records, Stasi files, photographs, tapes, and time to interview his family before they passed. All this paints a complicated and nuanced picture of the human passion and suffering that led up to the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall.
In the Europe of today, it's almost impossible to imagine that all this took place not so long ago. In many parts of the world, like North Korea, it still is. And behind the facade of unanimous faith and loyalty to party ideals, families wrestle with doubt as they hope for a better life. And the doubt to come when their hopes are suddenly realized.
Maxim Leo's family had the unique position that every family member had widely different relationships to the GDR. Some fought for, some against. Some against and then for. Some for, then against. Some of these family members were never discussed. Thankfully, Leo had the incredible luxury of well-kept records, Stasi files, photographs, tapes, and time to interview his family before they passed. All this paints a complicated and nuanced picture of the human passion and suffering that led up to the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall.
In the Europe of today, it's almost impossible to imagine that all this took place not so long ago. In many parts of the world, like North Korea, it still is. And behind the facade of unanimous faith and loyalty to party ideals, families wrestle with doubt as they hope for a better life. And the doubt to come when their hopes are suddenly realized.
This is the family history of three generations of Germans. The author’s grandparents were young during WWII; one grandfather fought in the French Resistance, the other seems to have been a lukewarm Fascist, but both ended up being inspired by the promise of the new socialist East Germany that was going to rise out of the ruins of the war. Then his parents grew up as products of the GDR, and he was a young man when the Berlin Wall came down.
He’s got plenty of good material, and it’s well-written, so if it sounds like the kind of thing you might like, you’ll probably like it.
He’s got plenty of good material, and it’s well-written, so if it sounds like the kind of thing you might like, you’ll probably like it.