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nacirema's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I got this as my selection this month for my Kindle early reading service, and began reading shortly after.
My initial impression was that this book was a bit too melodramatic, prompted primarily by a few choice quotes located in the first few chapters. However, once I was just a little further into the book it all began to make sense and fit the tone of the story very well.
This is definitely a heavy, dramatic piece, and an in-depth character study of two brothers, Gerhard and Karl Strangl. If you needed to express the theme of this story in a quote, I would offer up the famous "all that is required for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." Both men, opposed to Nazism, are still swept along with the nation into it, and through their apathy not only help to strengthen the Nazi regime, but also to destroy just about everything they each hold dear in the personal lives - their families, their reputations, and even their opinions of themselves.
While the story gets inside the head of two Nazi officers, it never seeks to apologize for them, nor portray them as evil caricatures. Instead, it offers up an explanation for how these men were taken in and the evil inside of them brought out. Arguably, the arc for both characters is for them each to realize that no, they are not better than anyone else in the Nazi party just because they personally don't believe in the ideology.
The message does seem to run dangerously close to being heavy handed at times, but that's easily forgivable given the subject matter - it's hard not to be heavy handed (without seeming dismissive) about Hitler's Germany. I'm also not sure how likely it is that an officer in charge of arranging transportation in a train depot would, through no desire for advancement, be placed in charge of a concentration camp, but the circumstance by that point is weaved expertly enough that I was willing to go along with it.
Overall, the book was a thoroughly enjoyable, well-researched read. Looking forward to something, hopefully, a little lighter come the next fiction I choose.
My initial impression was that this book was a bit too melodramatic, prompted primarily by a few choice quotes located in the first few chapters. However, once I was just a little further into the book it all began to make sense and fit the tone of the story very well.
This is definitely a heavy, dramatic piece, and an in-depth character study of two brothers, Gerhard and Karl Strangl. If you needed to express the theme of this story in a quote, I would offer up the famous "all that is required for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." Both men, opposed to Nazism, are still swept along with the nation into it, and through their apathy not only help to strengthen the Nazi regime, but also to destroy just about everything they each hold dear in the personal lives - their families, their reputations, and even their opinions of themselves.
While the story gets inside the head of two Nazi officers, it never seeks to apologize for them, nor portray them as evil caricatures. Instead, it offers up an explanation for how these men were taken in and the evil inside of them brought out. Arguably, the arc for both characters is for them each to realize that no, they are not better than anyone else in the Nazi party just because they personally don't believe in the ideology.
The message does seem to run dangerously close to being heavy handed at times, but that's easily forgivable given the subject matter - it's hard not to be heavy handed (without seeming dismissive) about Hitler's Germany. I'm also not sure how likely it is that an officer in charge of arranging transportation in a train depot would, through no desire for advancement, be placed in charge of a concentration camp, but the circumstance by that point is weaved expertly enough that I was willing to go along with it.
Overall, the book was a thoroughly enjoyable, well-researched read. Looking forward to something, hopefully, a little lighter come the next fiction I choose.
dienessi's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
bubbazuzu's review against another edition
4.0
Different perspective
I think this may be the first WWII book I've read from a German soldier's view. It was an interesting change and touched on the conflict these men dealt with as they did brutal things. It covered a lot of ground, pausing here and there to give more detail- about the Russian front, concentration camps and civilian life. I ended up not liking the ending and felt there should have been a little more in the story but overall it was a interesting book that brought me in more thoroughly as I read.
I think this may be the first WWII book I've read from a German soldier's view. It was an interesting change and touched on the conflict these men dealt with as they did brutal things. It covered a lot of ground, pausing here and there to give more detail- about the Russian front, concentration camps and civilian life. I ended up not liking the ending and felt there should have been a little more in the story but overall it was a interesting book that brought me in more thoroughly as I read.
dandyliion's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of those books that takes a widely shared perspective and challenges it beautifully.
In Germany at the start of war, there are two kinds of people: those saluting, Heil Hitler, and meaning it; and those saluting, Heil Hitler, and wondering about the sanity of peers and the reigning government. Unfortunately, in a society where speech is limited and unfiltered expression is punished, it can be impossible to tell the difference between the two.
People are blackmailed into giving sensitive information about others in their communities. Intellectuals' lives are threatened until they resign in support of the cause. Some people are jailed in concentration camps until given an opportunity to run one.
No one is safe. No one can refuse to salute. Everyone who is wanted must participate.
Now, historical facts back up this stunning piece of fiction. People were blackmailed. People were threatened. People were jailed until given an opportunity to save their own lives. How do we, as people and learners, rationalize that these original* Nazis were not all-evil and filled with hatred?
I think the commentary is especially important today as we see a rise in Nazi sentiment and paraphernalia related to our political climate. Here is the thing: while many Nazis engaged with Hitler's sentiments and army were coerced, required to do so to save themselves and their families, people spreading Nazi sentiment today (and waving Nazi flags, having Nazi tattoos) are under no such coercion. How did we get here?
In Germany at the start of war, there are two kinds of people: those saluting, Heil Hitler, and meaning it; and those saluting, Heil Hitler, and wondering about the sanity of peers and the reigning government. Unfortunately, in a society where speech is limited and unfiltered expression is punished, it can be impossible to tell the difference between the two.
People are blackmailed into giving sensitive information about others in their communities. Intellectuals' lives are threatened until they resign in support of the cause. Some people are jailed in concentration camps until given an opportunity to run one.
No one is safe. No one can refuse to salute. Everyone who is wanted must participate.
Now, historical facts back up this stunning piece of fiction. People were blackmailed. People were threatened. People were jailed until given an opportunity to save their own lives. How do we, as people and learners, rationalize that these original* Nazis were not all-evil and filled with hatred?
I think the commentary is especially important today as we see a rise in Nazi sentiment and paraphernalia related to our political climate. Here is the thing: while many Nazis engaged with Hitler's sentiments and army were coerced, required to do so to save themselves and their families, people spreading Nazi sentiment today (and waving Nazi flags, having Nazi tattoos) are under no such coercion. How did we get here?
ksander's review against another edition
3.0
Well-written historical fiction
Another welcome opportunity from KindleFirst to discover an author and a work I wouldn't have likely found otherwise. The book follows two brothers and their families through the prelude to World War II in Germany and its aftermath, offering both a reminder that real people are behind these momentous historical events and a glimpse of what their paths may well have been like. As the grandson of a German who emigrated to the US in the mid-thirties but who left siblings behind, I couldn't help but wonder whether any of my not-so-distant relatives had similar experiences.
The characters have a nice amount of depth to them, but if I have a critique it's that I feel there was potential for more in-depth exploration of how they came to the decisions they made, how their world-views evolved the way they did. The story unfolds in a series of vignettes and one gets the sense of dropping in on the characters and seeing them at discrete points in time; there's a degree of context that links vignette to vignette, but I felt the characters and their saga cried out for a more thorough exploration, which is why I didn't give it a 4 or 5. Still, an enjoyable read.
Another welcome opportunity from KindleFirst to discover an author and a work I wouldn't have likely found otherwise. The book follows two brothers and their families through the prelude to World War II in Germany and its aftermath, offering both a reminder that real people are behind these momentous historical events and a glimpse of what their paths may well have been like. As the grandson of a German who emigrated to the US in the mid-thirties but who left siblings behind, I couldn't help but wonder whether any of my not-so-distant relatives had similar experiences.
The characters have a nice amount of depth to them, but if I have a critique it's that I feel there was potential for more in-depth exploration of how they came to the decisions they made, how their world-views evolved the way they did. The story unfolds in a series of vignettes and one gets the sense of dropping in on the characters and seeing them at discrete points in time; there's a degree of context that links vignette to vignette, but I felt the characters and their saga cried out for a more thorough exploration, which is why I didn't give it a 4 or 5. Still, an enjoyable read.
mardiggity's review against another edition
3.0
I always wonder how Hitler got so many people to do so many horrible things. This book explores that subject thru the tale of two brothers. A tale in contrast to "The Nightengale" I read earlier this year. I hoped one of the brothers would be strong enough to defy the Nazi machine. A sad tale about the loss of oneself during a horrible chapter in history.
sarebuchheit's review against another edition
4.0
I will always have fond memories of this book as the book I read when I wasn't sleeping while Eliza was a newborn. While the story is ultimately depressing, I really enjoyed forcing myself to think about what WWII was like for Germans, especially those that didn't want to follow Hitler but had to for survival. The character development worked, I felt their angst through the end.
tarafhunter's review against another edition
2.0
Predictable
Although some stories can begin with the end and still leave you wondering how it gets there, this isn't one of those. Given the subject, you know the whole time why, and how, things happen.
Although some stories can begin with the end and still leave you wondering how it gets there, this isn't one of those. Given the subject, you know the whole time why, and how, things happen.
gobbolino's review
5.0
Harrowing
A harrowing tale of how ordinary people are swept away by circumstances beyond their control, having stark choices of their own life or death that lead to immeasurable other deaths. It asked me to reflect if I would have behaved differently if faced with those choices.
A harrowing tale of how ordinary people are swept away by circumstances beyond their control, having stark choices of their own life or death that lead to immeasurable other deaths. It asked me to reflect if I would have behaved differently if faced with those choices.