About this title: In January 1945, in the waning months of World War II, a small group of people begin the longest journey of their lives: an attempt to cross the remnants of the Third Reich to reach the British and American lines, in this richly crafted novel that puts a face on one of the 20th century's greatest tragedies.
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Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 0307394956 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 0307394956 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 0307394956 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 0307394956 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 0307394956 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780307394965ISBN:0307394964
Description: Acceptable. Back/ Front cover is folded. Back/Front cover has minor tearing or ripping. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House Large Print
Date Published: 2008-05-06
ISBN-13:9780739327951ISBN:073932795X
Description: Good. Large print edition. Good clean condition. All pages are clean. Cover/book edges have some wear. Your satisfaction is guaranteed! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780307394965ISBN:0307394964
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. clean pages, book cover is slightly wear out. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 379 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very Good. 0307394964 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780307394965ISBN:0307394964
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 379 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. First Paperback Edition. Clean, crisp copy. read more
Description: Very Good. 0307394964 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Date Published: 2009-02-10
ISBN-13:9780307394965ISBN:0307394964
Description: Very Good. Mild bumping and wear from handling; Mild rubbing to covers and spine; Slight soiling to page edges; ** Free USPS tracking and confirm on US orders ** read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Date Published: 2009-02-10
ISBN-13:9780307394965ISBN:0307394964
Description: New. Pre-release ARC book with different cover and publisher stickers. New, unread, unused & in perfect condition with no damaged or missing pages. Great Copy. Ships Lightning Fast. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Date Published: 5/6/2008
ISBN-13:9780307394958ISBN:0307394956
Description: New. FIRST EDITION STATED. Hardback w/ DJ. Enjoyable reading copy for your personal pleasure. You are buying a Book in NEW condition with very light shelf wear to include very light edge and corner wear. Buy it Now! ! ! As always, thank you for buying this book from International Book Source, YOUR ONE source FOR ALL your BOOK related NEEDS. Please remember to CHOOSE carefully how QUICKLY you would like to RECEIVE this material FAST, or standard (on next page). Thanks again! ! ! ! read more
"This novel was a departure from the type of story Bohjalian usually writes (all of which I've enjoyed - even The Double Bind, which many people strongly disliked). Set in the closing days of WWII, the novel follows several characters over a period of months -- a German family as it flees west to escape the Russian army, the family's Scottish POW, a Jew staying alive by posing as a German soldier, and a French girl in a work camp.
Some reviews here complain that the depictions of violence are unnecessary or gratuitous. While I'd agree that there are truly horrific scenes, I disagree that they're gratuitous; I thought there were many, many less than I've seen in other novels. (I will say that I didn't expect the violence when I picked up the book. From the blurb on the back, I thought it would involve only the journey west. I didn't expect scenes set in work camps.) Other reviews here claim the characters are static. I disagree with that, but I do admit the changes are often small or subtle. This wasn't a perfect book, nor was it an easy book, but I liked it."
"This book by Chris Bohjalian is haunting, brutal and fiercely honest. Set in the waning days of World War II in Europe, a tale of love, growth and the grim realities of war unfolds. The story is woven together by a variety of alternating characters, slipping in and out of different scenes as the plot requires.
I liked this aspect of the novel, yet I wanted more of the characters. I liked them, with their good and bad qualities for all to see. How many German families went along with things? To survive? Perhaps even to thrive? To protect their own families? And truly, who could have ever imagined a plot so vicious could really be happening, even down the lane?
When I read stories of WWII, I wonder what would I do? Would I risk the safety of my own family to protect the condemned? Surely in those initial moments I would protect, but would I continue - as the risks and fears mounted? As I witnessed the punishment of those caught, could I continue?
This book reveals the flaws of men without judgment - surprisingly, for it would be easy to caste all Germans as bad, Jews as just victims, and war crimes like murder and rape as facts instead of indicators of boiling rage. An eye for an eye, even if the victim had nothing to do with the initial crime...
Bohjalian creates characters and scenes that stay with you long after the final page has been turned. And for me, that is a sign of a good book - it gets me thinking, expanding the horizons to include not just the pretty places, but all places in the feast of life."
"The author read a real life diary of a German sugar beet-growing woman who was forced to leave her home in Germany-Poland-Germany as the Russians invaded in 1945 at the very end of WW 11, treating with brutality the men women and children that were in their path. The fictional story focus is upon a lovely 18 year old daughter Anna, her 10 year old brother Theo, and her mother as they flee not even always one step ahead of the invaders. With them are a Scottish POW whom Anna has fallen in love and a resourceful handsome German "officer" who is really a Jew in survival mode who escaped two years earlier from a death train. The relationships among this unlikely mix prove to be the mechanism for the author to address questions of humanity and inhumanity of a wretched time in history. The isolated German farm women learn about the treatment of the Jews while they themselves are suffering during their flight and being bombed in winter, yet they can hardly believe the cruelty to be true. As events convince them that there is indeed substance to the horror tales, they are forced to contemplate the terrible burden they will also bear many years into the future because of their heritage and homeland --and that knowledge helps them begin to comprehend the reaction of the world against Germany and starts a psychological reality that appears to have no good solution. The story is a bit cinematic/contrived in its ending -- yet the point of view of the German women (not especially politically involved) and Germany as things are falling apart around them at the end of the war is not one I recall encountering in many books I have read."
"I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I love WWII fiction and couldn't wait to read it...once I started, I couldn't put it down, it pulled me right along to the end. It's supposed to be quirky, but some of it I just don't buy: Anna's romance with the POW (not the fact that it happened, but they WAY it develops), or the fact that a POW would be able to travel across Germany with a family and never be questioned once. I also found the writing to be all over the place, quite repetitive, and the emotion never subtle. For example: "a stain the color of rotting cherries was waxing imperceptibly into a moon around the crater in the lieutenant's chest." huh? And the love scenes...Anna is a young girl growing up in the thirties? Her galavanting about unchaperoned with an enemy prisoner, and the extent of their "secret" dalliances: I didn't believe it for a second.
There were two characters I really empathized with: the boy Theo and Uri (Anna and the Scottish prisoner, on the other hand, have the depth of cardboard cutouts). Uri is a Jew who escapes a death train, disguises himself as a German officer, and wreaks havoc on any Nazi he can find--to the extent that his revenge is just as odious as the wrongs he is responding to. His joining up with an aristocratic German family, although unexpected, prompted some of the more interesting character interactions. Uri's presence begs the question of morality, and who is to blame for war crimes: the state? It's citizens? And how much revenge is then justified? By default, Uri's history casts him the only character whose bloody hands are deemed acceptable...but is this *gasp* cliche?
I became rather attached to young Theo, a compassionate boy who loves animals, cares genuinely about people, and is slowly becoming "Nazified" by the culture he is exposed to. One of my favorite scenes was when Theo wrote letters to German soldiers on the front. His innocent chatter tinged with patriotism, and his "heil" sign-offs, is a disturbing reminder of cultural and national influence and control. Should we feel guilty for liking Theo because of what he may be becoming?
The side story of the Jewish women, although illustrating an important part of history that shouldn't be forgotten, didn't mesh well with the rest of the story (because it is still not socially acceptable to write a book about WWII and NOT have a side story about the holocaust. Charlotte Grey by Sebastian Faulks did this too, to similar effect). The subject is heart-wrenching, but I felt it belonged either in it's own book, or needed to be more closely tied to the main action. At any rate, it was thoroughly disturbing...which is not a bad thing.
I liked how the author Mr. Bohjalain used a different viewpoint--that of a German aristocratic family--to show the war from "the other side", a side I'd be interested in reading more about. Overall, a fast paced, gut-wrenching, if a far-fetched and emotionally heavy-handed read."
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