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A review by graff_fuller
Greeks Bearing Gifts by Philip Kerr
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Bernie Gunther is NOT lily white. Through the circumstances of his life, he's been put in SO many compromising things...that when you hear his accomplishments (under duress) before the war, during the war and after the war...by the Nazis, or people who are greedy (that use his Nazi affiliations against him)...it gives people pause.
There are probably many readers that have started this series, and haven't finished it EXACTLY because of that connection (and I wouldn't blame them...and neither does the character Bernie Gunther. Especially since...if you've gotten this far...you know that he's attempted suicide, bc of these same things himself).
To walk in the shoes of someone else (which we get to do, when reading about morally grey characters), I think, makes us sympathetic and empathetic. We feel their sorrow and pain, but we also have separation enough...that we even judge them by their actions (for good or for bad).
Obviously, if I could...some how have met Bernie Gunther...I probably wouldn't believe him...and would judge him as being a Nazi and condemn him because of it. BUT, since we know the thoughts and feeling...the actual scenes of what he actually did, or felt at the time...and how he tried his best...we see him differently.
Now, when this series is finished (and I do not know WHEN that will be), it will be interesting IF the author witll reveal to us, his readers...that Bernie Gunther is actually a bad guy, and he's been an unreliable narrator (for he was lying to himself), that would be genius and it would also, in my opinion...break the trust between the author and the readers of Bernie Gunther's tale...so I hope that he doesn't do that.
So, as you can see...I've loved what I've read of this series. I still lack three books. BUT, I will get to them, in time...but they have all been earlier (chronologically) in the series. So, we are now in 1957. What will happen next in his life?
There are probably many readers that have started this series, and haven't finished it EXACTLY because of that connection (and I wouldn't blame them...and neither does the character Bernie Gunther. Especially since...if you've gotten this far...you know that he's attempted suicide, bc of these same things himself).
To walk in the shoes of someone else (which we get to do, when reading about morally grey characters), I think, makes us sympathetic and empathetic. We feel their sorrow and pain, but we also have separation enough...that we even judge them by their actions (for good or for bad).
Obviously, if I could...some how have met Bernie Gunther...I probably wouldn't believe him...and would judge him as being a Nazi and condemn him because of it. BUT, since we know the thoughts and feeling...the actual scenes of what he actually did, or felt at the time...and how he tried his best...we see him differently.
Now, when this series is finished (and I do not know WHEN that will be), it will be interesting IF the author witll reveal to us, his readers...that Bernie Gunther is actually a bad guy, and he's been an unreliable narrator (for he was lying to himself), that would be genius and it would also, in my opinion...break the trust between the author and the readers of Bernie Gunther's tale...so I hope that he doesn't do that.
So, as you can see...I've loved what I've read of this series. I still lack three books. BUT, I will get to them, in time...but they have all been earlier (chronologically) in the series. So, we are now in 1957. What will happen next in his life?