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A review by marleah_a
The Dolphin People by Torsten Krol
4.0
"Sixteen-year-old narrator Erich Linden is fleeing to Venezuela with his war widow mother, Helga, and effeminate younger brother, Zeppi, after the fall of the Reich. They've been sent for by Erich's uncle Klaus, who intends to marry Helga as part of a plan to change his identity to evade prosecution for war crimes. Once they arrive and are rebranded as the Brandt family, they head inland to their new home, but their plane crashes, leaving them stranded in the Amazon, where they are welcomed by members of the Yayomi tribe, who believe the Brandts are dolphins in human form, as prophesied by a tribesman's dreams."
The cover of this book is what first caught my eye, and then the plot sounded intriguing as well. One review describes it as a cross between the TV show LOST and "Life of Pi," which I loved. Erich, the teenage narrator, has an engaging voice that convinces you of the outrageousness of the events in the story. I'm less than 100 pages into it, but I'm hooked.
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Update: Ok, I really enjoyed this book. It can be pretty dark in places (you are dealing with obscure medical conditions, piranhas, morphine addiction, and a former SS officer, after all), but it was really good. I like that it is Erich's coming-of-age story as well, and you get to see these things from a youthful, open perspective. Throughout the book, he reconciles his feelings about the death of his father, his attitude toward his mother, and his thoughts about Nazi Germany and the war. Very good!
The cover of this book is what first caught my eye, and then the plot sounded intriguing as well. One review describes it as a cross between the TV show LOST and "Life of Pi," which I loved. Erich, the teenage narrator, has an engaging voice that convinces you of the outrageousness of the events in the story. I'm less than 100 pages into it, but I'm hooked.
---
Update: Ok, I really enjoyed this book. It can be pretty dark in places (you are dealing with obscure medical conditions, piranhas, morphine addiction, and a former SS officer, after all), but it was really good. I like that it is Erich's coming-of-age story as well, and you get to see these things from a youthful, open perspective. Throughout the book, he reconciles his feelings about the death of his father, his attitude toward his mother, and his thoughts about Nazi Germany and the war. Very good!