Michael Best
My rating is for the edition and not the stories. I have the Penguin version and the translation is archaic and, at times, barely comprehensible. My ebook version also appears to be an OCR scan which is fully of typical OCR typo errors, it also lacks coding to link to the very many footnotes.
The Pushkin edition is a modern translation and works wonderfully for me. It is a shame the Pushkin edition misses out on the other short stories included in the Penguin edition, as these add a lot of flesh on the bones of Babel's own character and personality.
An intelligent, well paced novel of espionage and double-dealing set against the backdrop of the final episodes of the English civil war.
Having really liked Robert Wilton's first novel (The Emperor's Gold), I feel this second book is even better.
Did not finish. I gave up after 70%.
If it is a love story, I found the characters neither believable nor understandable.
If, as I suspect, it is some kind of Albanian political allegory, I am too stupid to understand it.
If one wishes to get a sense of the seemingly never ending senseless pain and drudgery of the French retreat from Moscow in 1812, read this book!
The first I have read by this author. Reminds me of a cross between Mankell's Wallander (though less dramatic) and Nesser's Van Veeteren.
The third in Mr Wilton's series and the third I have read with great enjoyment. Perhaps a modern day Buchan?
This is an incredibly bleak, angry and, by the end, a somewhat frustrating read for me. I felt the second, child spirit, voice unhelpful at times, and the anger of the writer too uncontrolled.
I do love Dan Jones's way of getting historical events across. The book gives the reader a wonderful feel for the violence and waste of life during this period.
I really like Roth's style of writing but I don't feel I know enough of post WWI German political history to full appreciate this work. That said, boy is it cynical!
Readable but nothing more.
The initial set-up had me hoping for a far deeper story than it is.
The repeated interruption of the narrative with bits of back story did not help.
I found this easy enough to read but slightly unsatisfying. I am sure there is a deeper message in there than I managed to draw from it.
This is not a crime/detective novel, rather it seems to be a reflection on morality and any inherent meaning to life.
A somewhat clunky translation in places.
Possibly a 2.5. I loved her first book, but I have so far found the subsequent ones I have read to be something of a mixed bag. In this book, one of the key elements - the Alda and Adolf story - was incredibly predictable (to the reader, if not to Thora), though maybe that was what the author intended.
A top end 3. I enjoyed this the most in the trilogy, with there seeming to be a better fit of the battle history and the crime “mystery”.
Thankfully, a short read.
The romance tale is rose tinted tosh. In fact, it simply seems to be there so that she can detail the old, country wedding ritual of that region.
I enjoyed this book, but nowhere near as much as his works on the Plantagenets and The War Of the Roses. I felt an absence of passion for this subject as compared to medieval English history - the absence was probably mine (but perhaps a little was his?).
A 3.5, but I am feeling generous.
Parts of this were incredibly difficult to read, but I see that as a credit.
Perhaps, he tries a bit too hard to explain Heuser's actions/motivations.
A DNF for me.
I rather enjoyed the set-up in which the history of the “special” books is explained. However, it then becomes incredibly slow, turgid and battle-heavy. Any deep meaning to be drawn from it escaped me. It just read like a rather boring “war-games” story.
I did enjoy this book, though I could understand if another reader might find it a little dry.
My biggest gripe, and this is not about the story itself, was the sense of self-satisfaction coming from the author.
Perhaps it was the translation, perhaps the original writing style but I did not enjoy this particularly.
Reluctantly, I feel I must mark this as a 2 for me because, much as I learned so much from reading it, I did not like the book. When Mr Schama presents on TV, I find that sometimes I am riveted by his presentation but at others I struggle to stay awake. Sadly, though this book is packed with knowledge, too often I found my eyes closing because of the way it was all presented.
I came to this book with little real knowledge/understanding of the history of the Jewish people. Perhaps, if I had had a little more to begin with I would have enjoyed this book more.