Reviews - Adressat unbekannt

1.22k reviews for:

Adressat unbekannt

Kathrine Kressmann Taylor

4.3 AVERAGE

amren's review against another edition

4.75

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

For it being a very short novel, you pretty much get the struck, the shock and the adrenaline of the story. For somebody that is quite new to this theme and part of history, I would very much revommend it. And as the comment of the translator goes - I want to see this in schools and see people look at each other saying ‘never again’.

Content Warnings

jsantia59's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wow! This book was quick and so well written. Its epistolary nature, especially after reading the Afterword which included some of the inspiration behind the ideas used, was brilliantly.

Particularly the use of the letters as a murder weapon after Martin betrayed Max’s sister to the Nazis—chefs kiss.

The sudden change in Martin’s perspective on Nazism and plunge into antisemitism was shocking and wholly representative of the MAGA mentality today.

Definitely recommend!!

liberty_reads's review against another edition

4.5

emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

kim_pingi's review

3.0

informative medium-paced

hanie_hadadnia's review against another edition

5.0

عجیب ترین کتابی بود که تا الان خونده بودم.
چجوری میشه توی ۵۰ صفحه قلب آدم به درد بیاد؟
چجوری میشه که دو دوست صمیمی فقط سر یه اختلاف نظر در مورد مذهب تمام دوستی چندین و چند ساله خودشون رو نادیده بگیرن و آخر دوستیشون به اینجا ختم بشه؟
امیدوارم توی دوستیامون اختلافاتی سر سیاست و مذهب پیش نیاد که در آخر دوستیامون تمام و به بی تفاوتی و .. تبدیل بشه.
خیلی تلخ بود، خیلی.

بخشی از اوایل کتاب : اما وادی دیگری هست که همیشه می‌توانیم احساسات صادقانه را در آن تجربه کنیم _محضر دوست. آن‌جا که خودپسندی های حقیرمان را دور می‌ریزیم و صمیمیت و تفاهم را حس می‌کنیم؛ همان‌جا که خودخواهی‌های حقیر غیرممکنند و شراب و کتاب و کلام معنای دیگری به زندگی ما می‌دهند. به این ترتیب چیزی ساخته‌ایم که هیچ دروغی به آن راه ندارد. آن‌جا در آرامش کاملیم.
_ماکس، ۲۱ ژانویه ۱۹۳۳

mastersal's review against another edition

3.0

This little short story (not novel) is a series of letters written between two German friends, which was interesting. The story was written in 1932 which is probably the most fascinating thing about the book. The author “was writing about the present, about what she observed and understood in the world around her. The rapturous reception the novel received … suggests that she was not alone in her awareness of what was happening in Europe…” (from the introduction).

The story is pretty simple and wasn’t particularly shocking because of the benefit of hindsight. None of it really was “new” to me and the length meant that I didn’t really connect. But in context of when this was written and the questions about “How do we know what we know, and when do we know it? Why does a good person become a bad person? What power does a citizen have against the state?” are all fascinating.

In the end I am going with 3.0 stars mostly because of the historical impact and the contemporaneous picture it provides of people who were concerned about what was happening in Germany while it was happening.

From a pure literary taste perspective however, the story was too short for me. It’s worth checking out as a piece of history and the caution it provides for us as to the fracturing of civil society as scary and a sign of times to come.