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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
I don't really know why I disliked this book so much, I have been fascinated by the plot for years but I just found the reading experience to be very dull.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
An intriguing premise (Nazi Germany won WW2) and a slightly cliched mystery/thriller.
From BBC Radio 4:
Adaptation of the English author's chilling novel set in a dystopian Hitler-led post-war Germany.
A TV adaptation Fatherland (1994) was made based on this book, with Rutger Hauer, Miranda Richardson, Peter Vaughan.
Adaptation of the English author's chilling novel set in a dystopian Hitler-led post-war Germany.
A TV adaptation Fatherland (1994) was made based on this book, with Rutger Hauer, Miranda Richardson, Peter Vaughan.
I read this book soon after it came out and have re-read it a few times. After visiting Berlin on July 13, I decided I wanted to read it again and bought a new copy. Still riveting.
Set in 1964 in a world where Germany won the war (although Russia still holds out against them), a series of events drag detective Xavier March into an investigation loaded with danger.
As he picks his ways through the clues, the atmosphere gets more and more tense as he has to watch his every step.
The whole novel has a sense of suspicion around every character and event, in the backdrop of a grimy Berlin getting ready to celebrate Hitler's birthday.
As he picks his ways through the clues, the atmosphere gets more and more tense as he has to watch his every step.
The whole novel has a sense of suspicion around every character and event, in the backdrop of a grimy Berlin getting ready to celebrate Hitler's birthday.
I wasn't sure about this at first. It seemed like a police procedural set in a world where the Nazi régime hadn't been defeated, and I wondered what the point was. Especially as it seemed to give a weird validity to the Third Reich. There wasn't enough disapprobation. Then the point was made clear. If the Nazi régime was still going strong, there would be certain central pillars of their ideology that were kept secret from their loyal subjects. About halfway through the book came to life and the jeopardy became more believable. Imagine you had become an adult under that régime, had begun to question its purity, and then you discovered its most terrible secret. Robert Harris has used historical fact to imagine a different end game well. It is a clever book. I just wish he'd been more unaccepting sooner in the story.
This book did a good job on the things that it set out to do. Harris told a convincing, fast paced tale in an alt-history Germany with politics, suspense, and thrill all rolled into one.
So, why does this book only get two stars?
It did not even attempt to explain how Germany won the war, and how they got to the place the book happens in. My wanting to hear that history and story was the only reason I picked up the book. Argh.
So, why does this book only get two stars?
It did not even attempt to explain how Germany won the war, and how they got to the place the book happens in. My wanting to hear that history and story was the only reason I picked up the book. Argh.
I had a nightmare after reading this. And I felt sick. But that is okay. Because we need to be repeatedly reminded of the horrors to prevent them from happening again. Everyone should read this mixture of crime story, science fiction and brutal historical facts.
It's 1964. The German's have won the war. The story follows a homicide investigator Xavier March as he is called to retrieve a body pulled from the river. As his investigation deepens, he realises there is more to the case than he first thought, and he finds himself up against the Gestapo.
As a whole this book is difficult to follow. There is a lot of German in here, that is difficult to grasp and remember. Words like Kriminalpolizei, Ordnungspolizei and Sturmbannfuhrer are used heavily throughout. I do not recommend this book to anyone who knows little about the second World War or German history. It is the alterations to this history that makes this reading experience uneasy and surreal.
Many of the characters named in this novel actually existed during Nazi reign, and are recognisable to anyone who knows about German history. Unfortunately the writing style is jumpy in places, and makes it even more difficult to keep up with on top of all the German words.
In saying this, the novel is quick paced and has a lovely twist that you're not expecting and is a refreshingly different read to what I am used to. Anyone interested in war conspiracies and crime novels would probably enjoy this one
As a whole this book is difficult to follow. There is a lot of German in here, that is difficult to grasp and remember. Words like Kriminalpolizei, Ordnungspolizei and Sturmbannfuhrer are used heavily throughout. I do not recommend this book to anyone who knows little about the second World War or German history. It is the alterations to this history that makes this reading experience uneasy and surreal.
Many of the characters named in this novel actually existed during Nazi reign, and are recognisable to anyone who knows about German history. Unfortunately the writing style is jumpy in places, and makes it even more difficult to keep up with on top of all the German words.
In saying this, the novel is quick paced and has a lovely twist that you're not expecting and is a refreshingly different read to what I am used to. Anyone interested in war conspiracies and crime novels would probably enjoy this one