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A review by drifterontherun
Munich by Robert Harris
2.0
This was a real snooze. How do you make a book about the run-up to WWII boring? Well, Harris has managed it by injecting "Munich" with so much unnecessary detail that getting through it feels about as difficult as trying to maintain peace in 1938 Europe.
All that to say, I made it about a quarter of the way through before giving up on this one. I'm fascinated by the subject matter and have read and enjoyed historical fiction before, but this felt awfully anticlimactic to me. It just didn't seem like Harris had anything to say on the subject that hasn't already been said.
Despite that, I will say that that first 25% of "Munich" did leave me feeling like history has perhaps given Chamberlain an undeservedly bad rap. I mean, in hindsight it's easy to say you can't attempt to negotiate with someone like Hitler, but should Chamberlain be judged harshly for trying to in 1938?
Sounds like the topic for a pretty great book!
All that to say, I made it about a quarter of the way through before giving up on this one. I'm fascinated by the subject matter and have read and enjoyed historical fiction before, but this felt awfully anticlimactic to me. It just didn't seem like Harris had anything to say on the subject that hasn't already been said.
Despite that, I will say that that first 25% of "Munich" did leave me feeling like history has perhaps given Chamberlain an undeservedly bad rap. I mean, in hindsight it's easy to say you can't attempt to negotiate with someone like Hitler, but should Chamberlain be judged harshly for trying to in 1938?
Sounds like the topic for a pretty great book!