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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I tend to avoid holocaust novels (so depressing), and I might not have picked this up had I known what it was about. I'm glad I did, however. This novel, to me, perfectly captures the feeling of walking through Germany (or Amsterdam, in this case), and trying to reconcile the modern, bustling society with the genocide that occurred there during WWII. The main character is a famous Israeli writer who goes to Amsterdam to research his family's history. As he does so, he writes a novelization of his mother's experience as a Jew living in Amsterdam during the Holocaust. As the story progresses, I began to find the holocaust narrative more interesting than the primary story, but the stylized shifting between past and present was a cool literary technique. The writing style could be a little tedious at times--the author is constantly describing the setting in rich (sometimes unnecessary) detail, so you learn about what color everyone's ties are or what kind of soup they're eating--but I got used to it after a while and found myself more immersed, especially after the first three hours or so of the audiobook version.
This started out quite strong for me but the weird repetition saw it go into a nose-dive. I read/skimmed it to the end and tried to give it more time, but there was just something about it throughout where it just didn't make that kind of connection I was anticipating.
The repetition was where entire sentences and sometimes as much as paragraphs were repeated on later pages. It was so jarring and confusing I kept checking that I was on the right page. No, I hadn't read this page yet, but there was that sentence or paragraph repeated! How strange. It wasn't a writing style, technique that I warmed to.
The repetition was where entire sentences and sometimes as much as paragraphs were repeated on later pages. It was so jarring and confusing I kept checking that I was on the right page. No, I hadn't read this page yet, but there was that sentence or paragraph repeated! How strange. It wasn't a writing style, technique that I warmed to.
I tried to read this book 2-3 times. I think the farthest I got was 60-70 pages. I wouldn’t normally post a review of a book I didn’t finish, but I received an advanced reader copy via a goodreads giveaway.
I struggled with this book (if that wasn’t already obvious from my previous paragraph). I believe this was a translated work, and I think that created my big disconnect. After 70 pages, I have no idea what is happening, couldn’t tell you any of the characters’ names, and reading it felt like work.
I’m in the minority with my thoughts. And life is too short for my hobby to feel like work. On to my next book!
I struggled with this book (if that wasn’t already obvious from my previous paragraph). I believe this was a translated work, and I think that created my big disconnect. After 70 pages, I have no idea what is happening, couldn’t tell you any of the characters’ names, and reading it felt like work.
I’m in the minority with my thoughts. And life is too short for my hobby to feel like work. On to my next book!