Reviews

Das erste Drittel, vielleicht sogar Hälfte, des Buches zieht sich unglaublich lang auch dadurch, dass man in unterschiedliche pov's von Personen geworfen wird deren Zusammenhang zunächst nicht verständlich ist. Als es dann endlich in Richtung Wilhelms 90. Geburtstag geht, wird alles klarer, die Verbindungen zwischen den Familienmitgliedern und ihre Geschichten und Ansichten. Insbesondere Nadjeshda Iwanowas Parts und Markus' hatten auch eine amüsante Komponente.
Mit Alexander habe ich mich bis auf das letzte Kapitel schwer getan. Obwohl so viele Personen so sehr an ihm hängen, gibt es nichts, was mich seine persönliche Motivationen verstehen lässt. Zudem sind seine Kapitel sehr träge und es war ein Kampf sich durchzubeißen. Alle anderen Charaktere werden menschlicher, vertrauter durch ihre eigenen hoffnungslosen Versuche das eigene Scheitern (sowie das Scheitern der DDR) sowie den eigenen Abbau aufzuhalten.

emmy_and_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This book is about four generations of Umnitzer family in Germany. I would say that the central character is Alexander who is diagnosed with a terminal illness and who travels to Mexico. But, chapters are divided in a way that each chapter is a different year, so we follow parts of the family in that year. We have Alexanders' communist grandparents living several years in Mexico before returning to East Germany, his parents who came back from Russia and then Alexanders' son. This book is about family, war, communism, duty and Germany. I picked this book up knowing nothing about it and I liked it. I have to say I learned a lot about that part of history, what it was like to live on the east side of 'the wall', about punishments for opinions you weren’t supposed to have and about beautiful places in Mexico. Funny thing is, I didn't really like any of the characters but still enjoyed reading this novel.

senid's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

This book is the story of 4 generations of a family living in East Germany. This book is very different from what I usually read but I was drawn in. I enjoyed seeing the personalities revealed through conversations and thoughts. I loved how different the writing style was for the thoughts of different characters. The story is not told in a linear fashion and I enjoyed being able to ask hubby questions about the history. Irina's cooking at Christmas over the years will stay with me. I loved the intermixing of familiar themes, such as food, memory, work, and then unfamiliar aspects related to living in Germany. Strikes me that around the world much is the same, and then details that are not. I do suggest this book for the characters in it.

franschulman9's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This is a translation of a best selling, award winning German novel. The book is about four generations of an East German family and ties national and world events to critical times in the characters' lives. The book goes back and forth in time, starting in September 2001 and going back to different decades beginning in 1952, sometimes repeating incidents from the perspective of different family members. The story was interesting, especially since I was able to relate to many of the references having recently been in Berlin, but there was no character I especially cared about. I also think a knowledge of 20th century German history is necessary to understand the book.

soeurcierelitteraire's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

Je le relis pas parce que je suis maso, c'est pour les cours

wordswoods's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Du hast wirklich keine Ahnung wie froh ich bin, dass ich endlich mit dem Buch fertig bin.

More...