Take a photo of a barcode or cover
rnaveedp 's review for:
Prisoner of Night and Fog
by Anne Blankman
3.5
Now my initial rating was 3.25 but it changed after I read the Author's Note. Being the history buff that I am, the proximity of the characters to Hitler himself attracted me to the story as well as repulsed me from it. See, the problem is, when I read of historical figures in fiction, I always question the reality of it and how it might change my perception of that particular person. So I felt irked throughout the whole novel. However, the copious amount of research on the setting and characters is evident. I just wasn't convinced until I read the Author's Note (which should have been at the beginning of the book!) about the research that went into the book and that only a few of the characters were fictional. Most of the events were true as well. Blankman just manipulated them to create a story which I now realise is brilliant.
With that aside, the book was just okay . I haven't read historical fiction in a long time so I enjoyed it. However, the story itself fell flat for me. I didn't have any emotional connection with the characters no matter how intense the situations were. The plot was also very predictable and almost boring. The only element that met my expectations was the setting. There was an eerie tension in the atmosphere from all the things that were happening that the author managed to capture magnificently. The feelings of different people (his family etc.) towards Hitler and his pre-WWII self really taught me the psychology behind his methods.
This book was more informative then I thought which got me thinking and doing some research of my own. But entertainment wise I found it to me just eh.
Now my initial rating was 3.25 but it changed after I read the Author's Note. Being the history buff that I am, the proximity of the characters to Hitler himself attracted me to the story as well as repulsed me from it. See, the problem is, when I read of historical figures in fiction, I always question the reality of it and how it might change my perception of that particular person. So I felt irked throughout the whole novel. However, the copious amount of research on the setting and characters is evident. I just wasn't convinced until I read the Author's Note (which should have been at the beginning of the book!) about the research that went into the book and that only a few of the characters were fictional. Most of the events were true as well. Blankman just manipulated them to create a story which I now realise is brilliant.
With that aside, the book was just okay . I haven't read historical fiction in a long time so I enjoyed it. However, the story itself fell flat for me. I didn't have any emotional connection with the characters no matter how intense the situations were. The plot was also very predictable and almost boring. The only element that met my expectations was the setting. There was an eerie tension in the atmosphere from all the things that were happening that the author managed to capture magnificently. The feelings of different people (his family etc.) towards Hitler and his pre-WWII self really taught me the psychology behind his methods.
This book was more informative then I thought which got me thinking and doing some research of my own. But entertainment wise I found it to me just eh.