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A review by tricky
Christine by Alice Cholmondeley
2.0
A young woman travels to Berlin to improve her ‘fiddling’ skills before the commencement of World War One and through her letters to her mother we witness her hopes, dreams and how they are all shattered as war begins.
This is not a long novel about 140 pages but at times it can drag. Really drag. I found the difficulty in the voice of Christine especially when she goes on and on about her relationship with her mother. I know it is a different time, a different age but her attachment to Mother is like being doused in sugar. It is nauseating as she drones on about how close they are, how she is the only one and a lot of the letters are padded out with this waffle.
Once you get over the saccharin relationship you begin to see the hatred of Germany. It starts early with little descriptions such as Berlin described as ‘There is no mystery about it, no atmosphere; it just blares at you’ or how German children are so depressed they are self-harming ‘ They commit suicide, schoolchildren and even younger ones, in great numbers every year.’ There is nothing nice about Germany and you feel the book is a form of propaganda. This element of the book has caused some controversy in that Von Arnim eventually wrote the book under a pseudonym and was passed off as an actual eye-witness account to these events.
The character of Christine is crafted to illicit a sympathy from the reader. She struggles to adapt to her new environment, adapted to the language, the people and the culture. As she does come to terms, her social circle expands and she meets the love of her life a German soldier. As war comes closer, the difficulty to remain in Germany becomes difficult and she flees for safety. If you cannot connect with Christine the novel does become tedious.
It was an interesting read.
This is not a long novel about 140 pages but at times it can drag. Really drag. I found the difficulty in the voice of Christine especially when she goes on and on about her relationship with her mother. I know it is a different time, a different age but her attachment to Mother is like being doused in sugar. It is nauseating as she drones on about how close they are, how she is the only one and a lot of the letters are padded out with this waffle.
Once you get over the saccharin relationship you begin to see the hatred of Germany. It starts early with little descriptions such as Berlin described as ‘There is no mystery about it, no atmosphere; it just blares at you’ or how German children are so depressed they are self-harming ‘ They commit suicide, schoolchildren and even younger ones, in great numbers every year.’ There is nothing nice about Germany and you feel the book is a form of propaganda. This element of the book has caused some controversy in that Von Arnim eventually wrote the book under a pseudonym and was passed off as an actual eye-witness account to these events.
The character of Christine is crafted to illicit a sympathy from the reader. She struggles to adapt to her new environment, adapted to the language, the people and the culture. As she does come to terms, her social circle expands and she meets the love of her life a German soldier. As war comes closer, the difficulty to remain in Germany becomes difficult and she flees for safety. If you cannot connect with Christine the novel does become tedious.
It was an interesting read.