Reviews

Comedy in a Minor Key by Hans Keilson

pedantic_reader's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

hanyaya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

gbliss's review against another edition

4.0

Excellent. Not quite as good as Death of the Adversary, but still an incredibly powerful little novel.

jenpenbuck's review against another edition

1.0

This book was billed as a dark comedy, but I didn't get the humor and didn't find the story all that dark, either. Perhaps something was lost in translation.

uniskorn's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

readacorn's review against another edition

4.0

gelesen für Sommerchallenge
Aufgabe 2. 50 - 100 Seiten

Wim und Marie haben sich im besetzten Holland den Widerstand gegen die Nazis angeschlossen und verstecken in ihrem Haus den Juden Nico. Trotz angespannter Situation gibt es Momente der Innigkeit und das Gefühl der Zusammengehörigkeit. Bis Nico sich eine dumme Erkältung zuzieht, stetig schwächer wird und schließlich stirbt. Wie wird man die Leiche eines rechtlosen Juden los, ohne sich selbst und den Widerstand zu gefährden?

Frage 1: Was hat dir besonders gut an dem Buch gefallen?
Ich fand es schön, eine Erzählung zu lesen, in der in Kriegszeiten das Gute im Menschen im Mittelpunkt steht.

Frage 2: Was hat dir weniger gut gefallen?
An manchen Stellen verlor der Autor sich in unrelevante Details.

Frage 3: Was war dein Lieblingscharakter?
Marie. Sie war realistisch, nicht hysterisch, konkret besorgt und sympathisch fehlerhaft.

Frage 4: Würdest du das Buch/eBook weiterempfehlen?
ja, vielleicht auch eine gute Schullektüre

rogier_vdw's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

nick_jenkins's review against another edition

4.0

“And Marie understood that words like “love your neighbor” or “national duty” or “civil disobedience” were only a weak reflection of this deepest feeling that Wim and she had felt back then: wanting to shelter a persecuted human being in their house. Like the way people veil a body in fabric and clothing so that the blaze of its nakedness does not blind too deeply the eyes that see it, people veil life itself with precious garments, behind which, as under ashes, the double-tongued fire of creation smolders. Love, beauty, dignity: all that was only put on, so that whoever approached the glowing embers in reverence would not singe his grasping hands and thirsting lips. But wherever violence and annihilation tore away the protective covering, the undaunted heart was thrown into turmoil and could not rest until new costumes had formed, new threads had been spun, to mask and raise up what was shameful and unbearable.”

kevburmeister's review against another edition

reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

mkesten's review against another edition

3.0

This book is about a Dutch couple who hide a Jewish refugee during WWII. The story is short and spare. The psychological insights of the redeemer and the redeemed are acute. But maybe a person who is a little more introspective than can appreciate the fine pen the author uses.