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nickknack's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5 - The short stories felt very abrupt and jerky. The characters kind of bled together and I had a hard time distinguishing a unique voice for each. I really enjoyed the setting and themes though.
anneliesb's review against another edition
What I liked:
-The language. Cristina Garcia has a very pleasant style and the German words and phrases thrown in gave the text a nice couleur locale.
-The setting. It's been a few years since I was last in Berlin and it felt like a little visit there.
-It is good to be aware that for a lot of ordinary German people the war wasn't much fun either, not to mention the aftermath.
What I didn't like:
-The construction. The book consists of almost 40 chapters. Each chapter tells the story of one person. These chapters are so short, they're more vignettes than short stories. This makes that you don't have enough time and information to get involved or interested in the characters. Some of the characters show up in each other's chapters, but since it is all so fleeting, I couldn't be bothered to pay special attention to this.
-It felt like the chapters were all pitches for possible future novels, just ideas for what could potentially become interesting novels.
-It's fiction. The whole thing would be more interesting if it were actual historical accounts. I felt that these are the type of stories you don't need to make up, especially if you're not going to elaborate on them.
What I didn't get:
-The narrator. The stories are gathered by 'The Visitor' who makes a point of not being named. I didn't see the point of this secrecy. The Visitor barely plays a part other than listening to the stories , yet we do get some glimpses of her private life and daughter.
I'm not star-rating this one, because it doesn't feel like a high rating, yet I guess a low rating would be unfair in some way. Maybe I just don't get it despite the notes provided by Cristina Garcia and Pagehabit.
-The language. Cristina Garcia has a very pleasant style and the German words and phrases thrown in gave the text a nice couleur locale.
-The setting. It's been a few years since I was last in Berlin and it felt like a little visit there.
-It is good to be aware that for a lot of ordinary German people the war wasn't much fun either, not to mention the aftermath.
What I didn't like:
-The construction. The book consists of almost 40 chapters. Each chapter tells the story of one person. These chapters are so short, they're more vignettes than short stories. This makes that you don't have enough time and information to get involved or interested in the characters. Some of the characters show up in each other's chapters, but since it is all so fleeting, I couldn't be bothered to pay special attention to this.
-It felt like the chapters were all pitches for possible future novels, just ideas for what could potentially become interesting novels.
-It's fiction. The whole thing would be more interesting if it were actual historical accounts. I felt that these are the type of stories you don't need to make up, especially if you're not going to elaborate on them.
What I didn't get:
-The narrator. The stories are gathered by 'The Visitor' who makes a point of not being named. I didn't see the point of this secrecy. The Visitor barely plays a part other than listening to the stories , yet we do get some glimpses of her private life and daughter.
I'm not star-rating this one, because it doesn't feel like a high rating, yet I guess a low rating would be unfair in some way. Maybe I just don't get it despite the notes provided by Cristina Garcia and Pagehabit.
kbuchanan's review against another edition
3.0
While Garcia's considerable beauty of style is still on display here, I'm not sure that this milieu serves her quite as well as the longer-form novel. Though still deemed a "novel," this work is more like a string of tiny vignettes strung together loosely by the concept that all of these stories are being told to a "visitor" to Berlin. While some of these are lovely little well-constructed jewels, some feel too rushed to ever really develop, and I found myself missing the rich magical realism present in Garcia's other novels. Some of this may also be my own bias, as I feel that the field of literary fiction is so saturated by WWII material that I was hoping for something a bit different from this. Beautiful writing; subject matter I feel like I've seen before.
sweetpealsd's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It provided a good look at how everyone sees the same event differently and only when you put all accounts together do you get an accurate picture of what happened. In this case how people in Berlin perceived WWII. I tend to dislike books that switch POV often but I really enjoyed the different voices given to the characters.
onecrab's review against another edition
3.0
I seem to be reading books regarding WWII lately. An enjoyable collection of stories. But best book of 2017? Hm. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171213-the-10-best-books-of-2017
kgoody's review against another edition
5.0
Quick read of interesting stories from East Berliners. The stories were written without being very sad or awful, but when I try to explain them to someone, they sound upsetting.
meghankristine's review against another edition
2.0
I think if I full understood the way this book was formatted; 2-3 page long fictional stories of people living in Germany, I would've liked it better. I expected a handful of lengthy stores though where I'd get to truly learn about the people.
So I guess it's my fault, for expecting this book to be something it wasn't.
So I guess it's my fault, for expecting this book to be something it wasn't.
franschulman9's review against another edition
4.0
Short stories about people living in Berlin after the Wall fell. All the people talk about their lives during World War II and after. Some were adults during the war and made choices involving the Nazis, others talk about their parents decisions. I listened on audio and do not recommend it for this book because of the many characters who are both make and female.