Scan barcode
jrmarr's review against another edition
4.0
A gripping tale of a Jewish Czech family experiencing the increasing terror of Nazi occupation in 1938. I was haunted by the knowledge of what was about to befall them as they anguished over whether to escape or stand their ground. It also gives an interesting insight into the the Kindertransport, and of the fate of the children who were sent away in an effort to save them.
m_brooks's review against another edition
4.0
I must admit, I only picked up the book based on the cover photo, the little sad boy lured me in.
I am so glad I picked this book up, definitely not a beach read like initially intended, but the book opened my eyes to a different aspect of World War 2 from the perspective of a Jewish Czech family trying to stand their ground while protecting their son from the perils of Nazi invasion. A truly compelling story of one's family journey past and present.
Excellent written and executed, I only gave it 4 stars as the mysterious present day secondary narrator seemed to distract from the main story and the emotions invoked. Only later on does the secondary narrator play an integral and ah ha role
I am so glad I picked this book up, definitely not a beach read like initially intended, but the book opened my eyes to a different aspect of World War 2 from the perspective of a Jewish Czech family trying to stand their ground while protecting their son from the perils of Nazi invasion. A truly compelling story of one's family journey past and present.
Excellent written and executed, I only gave it 4 stars as the mysterious present day secondary narrator seemed to distract from the main story and the emotions invoked. Only later on does the secondary narrator play an integral and ah ha role
whatiswhatwas's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure what I think of this book, even a few days after I fished.
I was very interested in the historical story itself. I've read a lot of WWII books, but I don't know if I've ever read one that took place in Czechoslovakia right prior to the war. Especially from the POV of a very well off, secular Jewish family. Nor had I ever heard of these kindertransports.
It did fall a bit short in actually providing me with a great deal of description of the greater state of things at the time. For me, it didn't really capture a *mood* at the time. It is very focused on the dramas within this particular family.
The thing I liked least though, was the flipping back and forth between current day and the 1930s. I *hate* this style. I don't know if it's become more popular of late, or if I've just picked up a lot of books lately that use it. I find it ruins the flow of the story for me, and I really disliked the narrative style of the current day. Like she was talking to you, but not to you, to the person that gets fully uncovered by the end.
All of that being said... I still enjoyed this book. It was very interesting, and I think I'd like to search out some books from a similar place and time. I've travelled a lot in these areas, and I find that always adds a bit of context otherwise missing.
Bottom line, I'd recommend it. You probably won't *love* it, but you won't put it down either.
I was very interested in the historical story itself. I've read a lot of WWII books, but I don't know if I've ever read one that took place in Czechoslovakia right prior to the war. Especially from the POV of a very well off, secular Jewish family. Nor had I ever heard of these kindertransports.
It did fall a bit short in actually providing me with a great deal of description of the greater state of things at the time. For me, it didn't really capture a *mood* at the time. It is very focused on the dramas within this particular family.
The thing I liked least though, was the flipping back and forth between current day and the 1930s. I *hate* this style. I don't know if it's become more popular of late, or if I've just picked up a lot of books lately that use it. I find it ruins the flow of the story for me, and I really disliked the narrative style of the current day. Like she was talking to you, but not to you, to the person that gets fully uncovered by the end.
All of that being said... I still enjoyed this book. It was very interesting, and I think I'd like to search out some books from a similar place and time. I've travelled a lot in these areas, and I find that always adds a bit of context otherwise missing.
Bottom line, I'd recommend it. You probably won't *love* it, but you won't put it down either.
oldenglishrose's review against another edition
3.0
The inspiration behind Far to Go is Alison Pick’s own family history. Her grandparents were forced to flee from persecution in Czechoslovakia during the Second World War, eventually settling in Canada. She uses this to create the story of the Bauer family, a priviledged Czech family who are Jewish by birth but don’t really practise their faith. However, Pavel, Anneliese and their young son Pepik are Jewish enough to become targets as the Nazi occupations spreads across Europe. The family must try to work out how best to escape and Marta, their non-Jewish nanny, must decide exactly where her loyalties lie.
The Second World War is a subject which is eternally popular (if that’s the right word) in historical fiction and there are a whole host of memoirs and autobiographies from that time, so a book has to try rather hard to stand out amongst so many voices. Far to Go succeeds because it has a different situation and a different tone to other books that I’ve read in a similar vein. Where other novels of the Holocaust can be beautifully, elegiacally tragic, bleakly depressing or even ultimately hopeful, Far to Go feels unusually dirty and distasteful in a way which is extremely effective. This is not a straightforward book but one filled with complex emotions: it is about betrayal which is ultimately understandable, divided loyalties with no possible solution, the physical ache of regret, and bitterness rather than tragedy. The atmosphere is particularly well created.
The novel also deals with an aspect of the Holocaust which I’ve not really read about before, most of the books I’ve read being set in Germany. Pick illustrates well how different the situation was in Czechoslovakia, showing the conflict between Germans and Czechs as a more complex level underlying the usual Nazi/Jew dichotomy. She also chooses to make her characters a family of secular Jews, and in doing so she is able to explore such a variety of different reactions to the persecutions: Pavel becomes more Jewish, driven to explore the faith which makes him an outcast; Anneliese is desperate to throw off the stigma of Jewishness and escape, and Marta the gentile nanny is forced to see her employers in a totally new light. Marta’s struggle to decide what to do in her situation comes across as very real and human, and I like the fact that she is neither a saint with no thoughts for her own security nor a selfishly motivated traitor. I’m sure there were many people who felt exactly as Marta did and were just as confused about their sudden change in status, so it feels very believable.
For all its interesting new perspective, this book is not without its flaws. The four different strands of narrative in quick succession which open the book (a letter from one character, a letter which it’s only later possible to tell is from a different character, a brief first person section with an unidentified ‘I’ and ‘you’, and the main body of the story in third person with different characters again) are initially very confusing. It’s impossible to tell if these people are all the same, partially the same or all different and there’s no obvious features to link the four sections together. It is only as the reader progresses through the book that it becomes apparent who is being referred to in each of them, and while this technique can be effective, I found it to be a few too many things at once with which to open a novel. This mixed structure continues throughout, and while the inclusion of the letters is particularly poignant, I found that it held me at arms’ length from the characters and their actions. I watched them experience these powerful emotions and although the overall emotional tone of the book was impressively well drawn, as I’ve already stated, I didn’t find myself feeling along with them but observing from a distance.
The other niggle that I had was the use of Czech words and phrases. The way that they’re sprinkled throughout the text is actually a rather nice touch as it grounds the novel very firmly in one specific place and adds an authentic flavour of Czechoslovakia. However, the terms used are rarely explained within the context of the story, and having no experience at all of Czech language, Czech food or Czech cutlure I had no idea what all these things being talked about were. I know that lengthy explanations can sometimes be tedious and laboured to read and if they are words that Pick is used to using because of her Czech heritage then it may just not have come up as an issue, but at least the first time a Czech term occurs it would be nice if there were some sort of explanation of what it means without me having to resort to constant Googling. The simple expedient of adding a glossary to the end of the book would solve this problem wonderfully.
The Second World War is a subject which is eternally popular (if that’s the right word) in historical fiction and there are a whole host of memoirs and autobiographies from that time, so a book has to try rather hard to stand out amongst so many voices. Far to Go succeeds because it has a different situation and a different tone to other books that I’ve read in a similar vein. Where other novels of the Holocaust can be beautifully, elegiacally tragic, bleakly depressing or even ultimately hopeful, Far to Go feels unusually dirty and distasteful in a way which is extremely effective. This is not a straightforward book but one filled with complex emotions: it is about betrayal which is ultimately understandable, divided loyalties with no possible solution, the physical ache of regret, and bitterness rather than tragedy. The atmosphere is particularly well created.
The novel also deals with an aspect of the Holocaust which I’ve not really read about before, most of the books I’ve read being set in Germany. Pick illustrates well how different the situation was in Czechoslovakia, showing the conflict between Germans and Czechs as a more complex level underlying the usual Nazi/Jew dichotomy. She also chooses to make her characters a family of secular Jews, and in doing so she is able to explore such a variety of different reactions to the persecutions: Pavel becomes more Jewish, driven to explore the faith which makes him an outcast; Anneliese is desperate to throw off the stigma of Jewishness and escape, and Marta the gentile nanny is forced to see her employers in a totally new light. Marta’s struggle to decide what to do in her situation comes across as very real and human, and I like the fact that she is neither a saint with no thoughts for her own security nor a selfishly motivated traitor. I’m sure there were many people who felt exactly as Marta did and were just as confused about their sudden change in status, so it feels very believable.
For all its interesting new perspective, this book is not without its flaws. The four different strands of narrative in quick succession which open the book (a letter from one character, a letter which it’s only later possible to tell is from a different character, a brief first person section with an unidentified ‘I’ and ‘you’, and the main body of the story in third person with different characters again) are initially very confusing. It’s impossible to tell if these people are all the same, partially the same or all different and there’s no obvious features to link the four sections together. It is only as the reader progresses through the book that it becomes apparent who is being referred to in each of them, and while this technique can be effective, I found it to be a few too many things at once with which to open a novel. This mixed structure continues throughout, and while the inclusion of the letters is particularly poignant, I found that it held me at arms’ length from the characters and their actions. I watched them experience these powerful emotions and although the overall emotional tone of the book was impressively well drawn, as I’ve already stated, I didn’t find myself feeling along with them but observing from a distance.
The other niggle that I had was the use of Czech words and phrases. The way that they’re sprinkled throughout the text is actually a rather nice touch as it grounds the novel very firmly in one specific place and adds an authentic flavour of Czechoslovakia. However, the terms used are rarely explained within the context of the story, and having no experience at all of Czech language, Czech food or Czech cutlure I had no idea what all these things being talked about were. I know that lengthy explanations can sometimes be tedious and laboured to read and if they are words that Pick is used to using because of her Czech heritage then it may just not have come up as an issue, but at least the first time a Czech term occurs it would be nice if there were some sort of explanation of what it means without me having to resort to constant Googling. The simple expedient of adding a glossary to the end of the book would solve this problem wonderfully.
cheyenneisreading's review against another edition
5.0
An unexpected winner. This book was written with so much human appeal and so much natural detail I never expcted to enjoy it quite as much as I did.
sarah_kearney's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book in 3 days; found it very hard to put down. It's a very moving story about one family's attempts to flee Nazi persecution, and most importantly to save their only child. I looked up the founder of the 'Kindertransports' to the UK, and he is still alive at 103!
chrissireads's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting book that was very readable. I like Alison Pick's writing style. I loved some of the characters and think that they were developed well throughout!
lindacbugg's review against another edition
5.0
Man Booker #4
Very good & very sad(which I was expecting)
Very good & very sad(which I was expecting)
ciska's review against another edition
3.0
The author
Born in Toronto in 1975, Alison grew up in Kitchener, Ontario and in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. She has a BA in Psychology from the University of Guelph and an M Phil from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Currently on faculty in the Humber School for Writers' Creative Writing by Correspondence program, Alison Pick in Toronto where she is at work on a memoir. For more information visit http://www.alisonpick.com
The review
This book left me a bit disappointed and I am not sure why. The point of view in the book is changing on a regular base. Though the effort has been made to make clear who is talking it is confusing at points but not to disturbing. I found it difficult to connect to Martha though she was supposed to be the sympathetic person in the book. There where to many things going on with her to get a clear view of the woman she was supposed to be. In a way she was behaving like a scared abused person but her thoughts where very strong at points not fitting in that characteristic. Easier was it to connect to Pavel and Pepik almost as easy as it was to get angry with Anneliese at points. Still I cannot escape the feeling there was so much more story behind all these characters that was left out.
The story of the journalist is very nicely woven into the whole situation. I like the way that is set up.
Still I cannot be very enthusiastic about the book, I enjoyed it enough but am not sure I would recommend it to other people.
Born in Toronto in 1975, Alison grew up in Kitchener, Ontario and in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. She has a BA in Psychology from the University of Guelph and an M Phil from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Currently on faculty in the Humber School for Writers' Creative Writing by Correspondence program, Alison Pick in Toronto where she is at work on a memoir. For more information visit http://www.alisonpick.com
The review
This book left me a bit disappointed and I am not sure why. The point of view in the book is changing on a regular base. Though the effort has been made to make clear who is talking it is confusing at points but not to disturbing. I found it difficult to connect to Martha though she was supposed to be the sympathetic person in the book. There where to many things going on with her to get a clear view of the woman she was supposed to be. In a way she was behaving like a scared abused person but her thoughts where very strong at points not fitting in that characteristic. Easier was it to connect to Pavel and Pepik almost as easy as it was to get angry with Anneliese at points. Still I cannot escape the feeling there was so much more story behind all these characters that was left out.
The story of the journalist is very nicely woven into the whole situation. I like the way that is set up.
Still I cannot be very enthusiastic about the book, I enjoyed it enough but am not sure I would recommend it to other people.