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emmamacdonald's review
4.0
“Every time I go back, the images in my head battle with each other. In my memory, the houses are taller, the streets wider, the pathways longer; the images of my childhood impose themselves stubbornly on what I am seeing”
scythe_lucifer's review against another edition
3.0
An sich ist das Buch nicht schlecht, nur hat mir ein wenig der rote Faden gefehlt. Die Familiengeschichte, die in diesem Buch dargelegt wird, wird in diesem Buch nicht chronologisch erzählt, sondern springt immer mal wieder in der Zeit hin und her.
cnyreader's review
4.0
Pavel is Maron's grandfather, a victim of the Holocaust, though he had renounced his Jewish heritage and joined the Baptist church in his adulthood. This book is an exploration by Maron of her grandparents and parents, their interaction with one another, the rise and fall of the Nazis, and the subsequent rise and fall of communism in Germany. That description is much drier than the book, however.
Maron is a great storyteller, though the disjointedness is a bit jarring. The style, though, feels reflective of her experience of exploring family history. I found her perspective of watching her mother join the communist party and truly believe in its goodness, and later her own rejection of the party, very interesting. It gave me new insight into what an incredible time it would have been to live in Germany, the sense of turbulence and disruption and reaction to all that had happened and how they thought they were doing the right things for themselves and their country.
Food: a foraged meal. Mushrooms, nuts and berries found here and there while wandering through the woods.
Maron is a great storyteller, though the disjointedness is a bit jarring. The style, though, feels reflective of her experience of exploring family history. I found her perspective of watching her mother join the communist party and truly believe in its goodness, and later her own rejection of the party, very interesting. It gave me new insight into what an incredible time it would have been to live in Germany, the sense of turbulence and disruption and reaction to all that had happened and how they thought they were doing the right things for themselves and their country.
Food: a foraged meal. Mushrooms, nuts and berries found here and there while wandering through the woods.
eilidhcan's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thebobsphere's review against another edition
4.0
It seems that timing was perfect for during the month of November I have read three books that dealt with war and so far I have enjoyed all of them.
In scope Monika Maron’s Pavel’s Letters is very similar to Dubravka Ugresic’s ‘The Museum of Unconditional Surrender’ that is, an autobiographical tale about someone trying to piece her past by using photographs and letters as evidence. However whereas Ugresic had been able to reconstruct her history well, Maron had more problems as her mother forgot a lot of the important details and her grandfather erased most of his history and left behind a series of letters and a handful of pictures.
The setting for Pavel’s Letters is during wartime Berlin. Maron is writing her novel as the wall is falling down so it is just that she documents the two major events of the Germany’s troubled history. As she finally puts together her past Maron finds out that it is one of suffering and deception, albeit with tender moments.
Pavel’s Letters is a brutally honest book. I deals with its subjects bluntly and there is no time wasted in describing events and yet in doesn’t become self-indulgent or some kind of moan fest, which the novel could have easily turned into. It’s focal point is memory and how one can erase or alter it in order to give a more optimistic view of life. Although clearly this is not the case and the author’s family did undergo a lot of suffering.
I am loving the fact that the last three books have all touched upon the same theme and have been able to give us a unique vision of the events leading to the war be it World War II or the Bosnian one. There will always be some sort of imprint caused, that can affect an outlook of life and the these novels are helping become more aware of these happenings
In scope Monika Maron’s Pavel’s Letters is very similar to Dubravka Ugresic’s ‘The Museum of Unconditional Surrender’ that is, an autobiographical tale about someone trying to piece her past by using photographs and letters as evidence. However whereas Ugresic had been able to reconstruct her history well, Maron had more problems as her mother forgot a lot of the important details and her grandfather erased most of his history and left behind a series of letters and a handful of pictures.
The setting for Pavel’s Letters is during wartime Berlin. Maron is writing her novel as the wall is falling down so it is just that she documents the two major events of the Germany’s troubled history. As she finally puts together her past Maron finds out that it is one of suffering and deception, albeit with tender moments.
Pavel’s Letters is a brutally honest book. I deals with its subjects bluntly and there is no time wasted in describing events and yet in doesn’t become self-indulgent or some kind of moan fest, which the novel could have easily turned into. It’s focal point is memory and how one can erase or alter it in order to give a more optimistic view of life. Although clearly this is not the case and the author’s family did undergo a lot of suffering.
I am loving the fact that the last three books have all touched upon the same theme and have been able to give us a unique vision of the events leading to the war be it World War II or the Bosnian one. There will always be some sort of imprint caused, that can affect an outlook of life and the these novels are helping become more aware of these happenings
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