erinhorne27's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful book! This short novel packs a punch. Krivak shares a brand new perspective on a war I know very little about in comparison to others. His writing style sucks you in. Looking forward to reading his other works soon!
libbymon's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Pregnancy, Death, and War
kellyroberson's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. His second book is much better. The literary device was distracting.
hannaheglane's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
siria's review against another edition
2.0
Having looked at the author's website, I see that The Sojourn is undoubtedly a deeply personal novel for him, based as it is on the experiences of several members of his family. Unfortunately, I think that deep connection which Krivak feels to the novel is also the source of its greatest weakness, for in the process fictionalising his grandparents' experiences and making them part of the book's main character, Krivak forgot that most of his readers are not going to have that same instinctive interest in, and prior knowledge of, the characters.
He never put the work into making his characters seem like three-dimensional people, so this slim novel mostly consists of a (admittedly seemingly painstakingly researched) recounting of a series of events which happen to the narrator. I never got a clear sense of why I should care about all of this, about who Josef was or what his reaction to things were, or what the message of this book was (beyond "Europe's dreadful but America is awesome! Freedom, fuck yeah!"). Several parts of The Sojourn also felt very stock, the kind of Western male coming-of-age fantasy that I find particularly tedious. The whole section of the novel featuring the young, pregnant Roma girl was so intensely problematic that it would take me several paragraphs to break it all down, and I'm just not that invested in this novel, so let me boil my reaction to it down to a simple: "... no."
Krivak mentions in an article about the origins of this novel that several of its events originally happened to his grandmother. I couldn't help but feel that The Sojourn would have been many times more interesting if he'd stuck with a female protagonist. Watching a woman—particularly one with a gift for being a sniper—navigate her way through Central Europe during the First World War would have been intriguing. This merely felt stale.
He never put the work into making his characters seem like three-dimensional people, so this slim novel mostly consists of a (admittedly seemingly painstakingly researched) recounting of a series of events which happen to the narrator. I never got a clear sense of why I should care about all of this, about who Josef was or what his reaction to things were, or what the message of this book was (beyond "Europe's dreadful but America is awesome! Freedom, fuck yeah!"). Several parts of The Sojourn also felt very stock, the kind of Western male coming-of-age fantasy that I find particularly tedious. The whole section of the novel featuring the young, pregnant Roma girl was so intensely problematic that it would take me several paragraphs to break it all down, and I'm just not that invested in this novel, so let me boil my reaction to it down to a simple: "... no."
Krivak mentions in an article about the origins of this novel that several of its events originally happened to his grandmother. I couldn't help but feel that The Sojourn would have been many times more interesting if he'd stuck with a female protagonist. Watching a woman—particularly one with a gift for being a sniper—navigate her way through Central Europe during the First World War would have been intriguing. This merely felt stale.
stuhlsem's review against another edition
4.0
It's always interesting to read war books from the other side. In history class, you don't learn that they were people, too.
chxrles_'s review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars is definitely more accurate.
This book is a debut novel by the author, which is sometimes evident in parts of the writing/plot. I did enjoy the plot and the setting as the part of the Great War detailed in this book is mostly overlooked. The reason for my 3.5 stars is mostly because there were some parts of the writing that distracted me from the novel’s story. Long (almost run-on) sentences could’ve been broken down into more cohesive sentences. I also think that if the book was just a bit longer, the plot could’ve been more developed. This book was clearly well-researched but it missed some of the heaviness that other books of this genre have when detailing combat and war. Overall, a good read.
This book is a debut novel by the author, which is sometimes evident in parts of the writing/plot. I did enjoy the plot and the setting as the part of the Great War detailed in this book is mostly overlooked. The reason for my 3.5 stars is mostly because there were some parts of the writing that distracted me from the novel’s story. Long (almost run-on) sentences could’ve been broken down into more cohesive sentences. I also think that if the book was just a bit longer, the plot could’ve been more developed. This book was clearly well-researched but it missed some of the heaviness that other books of this genre have when detailing combat and war. Overall, a good read.
palliem's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book--it was very evocative and had such a distinct voice in the writing that I found it impossible to not fall in love with the writing. There aren't a lot of novels that focus on WWI, and this is a great addition to that literature.
laurelkane's review against another edition
4.0
Hooray for non-required reading!!!
WW1 obsession continues... just saw War Horse last night. INCREDIBLE
WW1 obsession continues... just saw War Horse last night. INCREDIBLE
sarahpjs's review against another edition
3.0
Really beautiful writing. There's not a lot of plot, and I guess I'm the kind of reader that needs a little plot here and there.