Reviews

Comedy in a Minor Key by Hans Keilson

kevburmeister's review

reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

apocryphal_goose's review

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

snowbenton's review against another edition

1.0

Supremely dull tale of a Dutch couple who harbors a Jewish man during WWII until he dies of an ordinary illness. The story weaves back and forth from his death to the events leading up to it, but there is a complete lack of tension or character development.

jasonfurman's review against another edition

5.0

A gem of a novella. Dutch, written right after the war, it tells the story of a young married couple sheltering an older Jewish man. The story bounces back and forth in time, organized around the events before and after the man they are hiring dies of what seems to be pneumonia.

Although not perfect, it is deeply humane and evocative.

xtina_reads's review

emotional

3.5

skyblue's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

alchemistbite's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

My first read of the new year, and my first read in over 10 years (outside of Dune...). An excellent representation of the novella literary genre, the pacing never felt slow thanks to the--I think--excellent seamless time weaving in the prose. It felt very modern, which was excellent and of course sad given the historical context; it also felt like a stage play, at times (it certainly inspired my inner imagining of the scenes: actors, line delivery). It was exactly the right length. 

emma_not_watson_reads's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

rebel_rocketman's review against another edition

5.0

Beautifully written, haunting, and quirkily funny, this is a bizarre hybrid of Holocaust story, human-condition drama, and black humor that could have gone on much longer than it's short 160-odd pages. Even with it's brevity, the story and characters are wonderfully imagined and fully fleshed, and the nonlinear storyline gives the novella a sense of depth and history lacking in some novels many times as long.

Deeply moving and easily relatable, without being overly weighty, this was a surprising and excellent quick read.

khyland's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. Since I don't usually write reviews, this in itself should show how much I loved it. Wim and Marie live in occupied Holland, and the only way they can resist the new, harsh regime is to allow Nico, a Jew, to hide in their house. When Nico dies, they have to figure out how to get rid of his body. But this short novella is so much more than that. It moves along smoothly between present and past; a few times it takes a few lines to realize that a jump has been made, but the transitions are mostly smooth. Certain passages are absolutely beautiful, and I wanted to read them over and over again.
I easily read the book in two sittings. It's one of the best books I've read this year. It's short; it's simple; it's there.