daredeviling's review
3.0
Technically 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding down for this one.
I found this book very...uneven. The first half of the book was slow and dragged a little, but by the time I got to the second half of the book, I couldn't put it down as the Nazi regime gained ground and more and more bad things started happening. I enjoyed the characters in this book, and I loved reading a historical fiction about the buildup of the Nazi regime between WWI and WWII, since most books focus on the regime itself. The details and research were amazing, and I loved the bittersweet ending.
The first half of the book dwelled too much I think on Billy's childhood and traveling back and forth. Not that it wasn't important because it really made Billy into who he became as a young man, but I think it could have been condensed a bit, since it didn't pull me into the story as well as it could have. Ultimately, though, I thought this was a poignant and tragic romance story that reflected in a real way the turmoil of Germany post-WWI and leading into WWII. I would be interested in reading more books/fiction set during this time.
I found this book very...uneven. The first half of the book was slow and dragged a little, but by the time I got to the second half of the book, I couldn't put it down as the Nazi regime gained ground and more and more bad things started happening. I enjoyed the characters in this book, and I loved reading a historical fiction about the buildup of the Nazi regime between WWI and WWII, since most books focus on the regime itself. The details and research were amazing, and I loved the bittersweet ending.
The first half of the book dwelled too much I think on Billy's childhood and traveling back and forth. Not that it wasn't important because it really made Billy into who he became as a young man, but I think it could have been condensed a bit, since it didn't pull me into the story as well as it could have. Ultimately, though, I thought this was a poignant and tragic romance story that reflected in a real way the turmoil of Germany post-WWI and leading into WWII. I would be interested in reading more books/fiction set during this time.
briarsreviews's review against another edition
3.0
Carry Me by Peter Behrens is a beautifully woven tale of the world wars that gives a unique perspective into the life of people in those times.
The first half of this book was incredibly addicting to me, and I could hardly put it down. It was a solid five out of five stars, and I wish I could have kept reading! Unfortunately, life hit me and I came back a week later to this novel. When I started reading at about page 243 I found myself not as interested and the story began to drag on and on and on. Some of the information could have been left out and the story would have felt just as full when I got to the end.
While this book seemed a little to long, I think the descriptions Peter wrote were divine. I couldn't believe how clear I could imagine this story in my head! The beauty in Peter's words truly wow-ed me, and if you love a descriptive author/book then this one is for you! It's truly exquisite, and I'm surprised this book hasn't won many awards for it's intense descriptions.
The story goes back and forth between World War 1 and World War 2. Sometimes I found it hard to distinguish between the time lines (even though it stated which was which), and I almost wish Peter would have written the timelines in different tones. This wasn't a major issue, but it did make this book a little more confusing for me (personally).
There is a small bit of romance in this novel, but you can hardly call it romance. While that was part of what drew me to the novel (you read the back of the book and it makes it seem like an epic war story with a splash of romance), yet there wasn't much there in terms of romance. There was attraction and sweet comments, but it was more just happening in the story - there was no focus on the romance specifically. This could be a pro or a con for you, but to me I felt the marketing portrayed the romance as more than it was.
The battles in this story were well written - the war itself, the battle between leaving and staying in a place you love, and the troubles of complete opposites (woman vs men, idealisms, romanticism, etc). If you're into themes and like reading into a book, there is so much potential to pick apart in this novel.
And then the ending is somewhat expected (I mean, most people know about history so we kind of know where it was going), but it still blew me away. Without spoiling, I think the way Peter tied this story together and increased conflict was truly incredible.
Overall, this piece of writing is a definite must read for fans of history, war stories, descriptive fiction and historical fiction. I normally stray far away from novels about history, but this one was fantastic!
Three out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
The first half of this book was incredibly addicting to me, and I could hardly put it down. It was a solid five out of five stars, and I wish I could have kept reading! Unfortunately, life hit me and I came back a week later to this novel. When I started reading at about page 243 I found myself not as interested and the story began to drag on and on and on. Some of the information could have been left out and the story would have felt just as full when I got to the end.
While this book seemed a little to long, I think the descriptions Peter wrote were divine. I couldn't believe how clear I could imagine this story in my head! The beauty in Peter's words truly wow-ed me, and if you love a descriptive author/book then this one is for you! It's truly exquisite, and I'm surprised this book hasn't won many awards for it's intense descriptions.
The story goes back and forth between World War 1 and World War 2. Sometimes I found it hard to distinguish between the time lines (even though it stated which was which), and I almost wish Peter would have written the timelines in different tones. This wasn't a major issue, but it did make this book a little more confusing for me (personally).
There is a small bit of romance in this novel, but you can hardly call it romance. While that was part of what drew me to the novel (you read the back of the book and it makes it seem like an epic war story with a splash of romance), yet there wasn't much there in terms of romance. There was attraction and sweet comments, but it was more just happening in the story - there was no focus on the romance specifically. This could be a pro or a con for you, but to me I felt the marketing portrayed the romance as more than it was.
The battles in this story were well written - the war itself, the battle between leaving and staying in a place you love, and the troubles of complete opposites (woman vs men, idealisms, romanticism, etc). If you're into themes and like reading into a book, there is so much potential to pick apart in this novel.
And then the ending is somewhat expected (I mean, most people know about history so we kind of know where it was going), but it still blew me away. Without spoiling, I think the way Peter tied this story together and increased conflict was truly incredible.
Overall, this piece of writing is a definite must read for fans of history, war stories, descriptive fiction and historical fiction. I normally stray far away from novels about history, but this one was fantastic!
Three out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
jillann's review
4.0
I found the story slow to get going, but intense and heart-breaking by the conclusion.
F
F
penny_literaryhoarders's review
4.0
Truly this is the story that is worthy of the publishing term Epic when describing. Truly epic. A sad and a wee bit of a shocking end to a sweeping story. Described on back of book as: "A sweeping historical saga about war, love and escape." Perfectly and poignantly stated.
tachyondecay's review
4.0
I’m always fascinated by stories that examine the liminal space and time between the two World Wars. Take The Great Gatsby, for instance: it captures perfectly the weird mixture of fatigue and optimism that followed the Great War. In Carry Me, of course, Peter Behrens has the benefit of hindsight to allow him to trace the rise of Nazi Germany from the ashes of World War I. But he does this through a very meditative narrative, one that captures the way the 1920s and 1930s served as an all-too-brief respite during which the storm clouds gathered visibly, even if too few people were capable of recognizing what they foretold.
Carry Me came out at the end of February. I received this as an ARC from House of Anansi, but because I am a terrible person, I got completely distracted by reading books from a library trip and forgot to read this before its release. I love receiving free books: if you would like me to completely forget to read your book until after it comes out, send me a message and we’ll work something out!
Anyway, this is one of the types of historical fiction that really gets to me. Billy Lange kind of floats on the surface of life. His father and mother come from diverse backgrounds, German and Irish respectively, but more international in their experiences. The former’s internment during the Great War shapes a great deal of Billy’s youth, causing him and his mother to move from the Isle of Wight to London and then finally to Ireland until, reunited with his father, they relocate one more time to Germany. There Billy begins, properly, his on/off friendship (and sometimes more than that) with Karin von Weinbrenner, daughter of his father’s Jewish employer. It’s not quite a “forbidden cross-class romance” story—it’s not much of a romance at all, in fact, but more a kind of gravity between the two people.
The narrative alternates between episodes in Billy’s life, from childhood to young adulthood, and 1938, when Billy and Karin are preparing to leave Germany in the midst of its crackdown on Jews. Despite the intensity of this subject matter, Behrens manages to keep the pacing very mellow. There’s a surrealism to some of the story. This is probably best seen in the way Billy and Karin bond over their mutual love for Karl May’s Winnetou stories of the Wild West: May’s stories in no way attempt to represent the wild plains of North America, and its Indigenous peoples, realistically; rather, the stories serve as allegories for German idealism and the romantic connection between nobility and nature. Behrens does much the same here, with his characters feeling a lot like archetypes of the time rather than people.
Billy’s life is more defined by the in-between than anything else. German–Irish by descent, born and raised in England and then Ireland and then Germany, inspired by Germanic visions of North America, raised on notions of English propriety but betrayed by English xenophobia, and finally coming of age in post-war Germany while being taunted as an outsider … Billy has a lot of cultural baggage. It’s not surprising, then, that he fails to discover something uniquely his, and settles instead for an office job doing translation work. Similarly, it’s important to note that while Billy has some sexual encounters prior to and outside of his physical intimacy with Karin, he never has a serious romantic relationship. The closest he comes is to fantasizing about marrying a secretary at the law firm where he does some clerical work, and nothing comes of that.
As with most things in his life, Billy is stuck in the in-between with Karin. She constantly addresses him as “old Billy,” or “Billy, my old friend,” often peppering her speech with Anglicisms that make her sound more modern and forthright. She leans on Billy, falls back on him when she needs refuge, but sees him not as a viable partner so much as a pillar in her life. Or, at least, that’s the way Billy tells it … unreliable narrators and all. It’s worth noting, too, that Billy marries towards the end of the novel … though we might infer that the relationship is very different from the one he had with Karin, as I suppose romances begun later in life often must be.
I spent some of my time reading this book trying to decide whether Karin fits the profile of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (TVTropes). On balance I have to conclude she does not. Although Billy occasionally refers to her rebelliousness, it always seems to be a fairly tame and understandable reaction to her issues with her parents. And Karin does not really embody a character who exists as a kind of wish fulfilment for Billy: she seems to have her own goals and her own life. Instead, the two are more like planets whose orbits occasionally cross rather than one orbiting the other as a satellite.
And then that Hitler guy shows up and ruins everything.
Behrens deftly deals with the rise of fascism. He shows how people on every side of the issue don’t quite grasp the shape of what is to come. Both Billy’s father and von Weinbrenner fail to comprehend the dangers posed by Hitler’s anti-Semitic rants. The way that Billy describes the fascist crackdowns in Frankfurt and the changing zeitgeist is sinister. A great deal of literature and movies attempt to depict the horror of living under Nazi Germany (or in Nazi-occupied Europe) during the war, but I haven’t been exposed to as much literature that focuses on the rise of Nazism. In characters like Gunther Krebs, Behrens demonstrates how the Nazis leveraged personal and political beliefs in order to get people to conform to a sharp, manic vision of what Germany needed to become. And, alas, one gets a good sense of why it was so difficult for those with consciences to stand up and fight this rising power in an effective way.
The ending is a little bit predictable, and to be honest, I’m not sure I like it. Oh, it makes sense, in a kind of cinematic, inevitably tragic way. And I like that Behrens fast-forwards through Billy’s life during the Second World War and afterwards, that the story speeds towards its conclusion with little emphasis on what happens now that they have left Germany. This just might be one of those cases where the author does their job too well, and, like a meal that is so rich you know you won’t be able to eat your fill, the emotions inherent in this novel inexorably lead to a bit of a hollow feeling.
So that’s good, I guess? Carry Me is definitely some of the best literary historical fiction I’ve read in a while (using the word “literary” here to connote a certain style as distinct from historical fiction more driven by plot and circumstance than the character and consciousness of Behrens’ prose). It is a relaxing read, in the sense that the writing has the quality of a luxurious, soft blanket or bath towel—though the setting and subject matter, of course, doesn’t have the same soporific and reassuring qualities!
Carry Me came out at the end of February. I received this as an ARC from House of Anansi, but because I am a terrible person, I got completely distracted by reading books from a library trip and forgot to read this before its release. I love receiving free books: if you would like me to completely forget to read your book until after it comes out, send me a message and we’ll work something out!
Anyway, this is one of the types of historical fiction that really gets to me. Billy Lange kind of floats on the surface of life. His father and mother come from diverse backgrounds, German and Irish respectively, but more international in their experiences. The former’s internment during the Great War shapes a great deal of Billy’s youth, causing him and his mother to move from the Isle of Wight to London and then finally to Ireland until, reunited with his father, they relocate one more time to Germany. There Billy begins, properly, his on/off friendship (and sometimes more than that) with Karin von Weinbrenner, daughter of his father’s Jewish employer. It’s not quite a “forbidden cross-class romance” story—it’s not much of a romance at all, in fact, but more a kind of gravity between the two people.
The narrative alternates between episodes in Billy’s life, from childhood to young adulthood, and 1938, when Billy and Karin are preparing to leave Germany in the midst of its crackdown on Jews. Despite the intensity of this subject matter, Behrens manages to keep the pacing very mellow. There’s a surrealism to some of the story. This is probably best seen in the way Billy and Karin bond over their mutual love for Karl May’s Winnetou stories of the Wild West: May’s stories in no way attempt to represent the wild plains of North America, and its Indigenous peoples, realistically; rather, the stories serve as allegories for German idealism and the romantic connection between nobility and nature. Behrens does much the same here, with his characters feeling a lot like archetypes of the time rather than people.
Billy’s life is more defined by the in-between than anything else. German–Irish by descent, born and raised in England and then Ireland and then Germany, inspired by Germanic visions of North America, raised on notions of English propriety but betrayed by English xenophobia, and finally coming of age in post-war Germany while being taunted as an outsider … Billy has a lot of cultural baggage. It’s not surprising, then, that he fails to discover something uniquely his, and settles instead for an office job doing translation work. Similarly, it’s important to note that while Billy has some sexual encounters prior to and outside of his physical intimacy with Karin, he never has a serious romantic relationship. The closest he comes is to fantasizing about marrying a secretary at the law firm where he does some clerical work, and nothing comes of that.
As with most things in his life, Billy is stuck in the in-between with Karin. She constantly addresses him as “old Billy,” or “Billy, my old friend,” often peppering her speech with Anglicisms that make her sound more modern and forthright. She leans on Billy, falls back on him when she needs refuge, but sees him not as a viable partner so much as a pillar in her life. Or, at least, that’s the way Billy tells it … unreliable narrators and all. It’s worth noting, too, that Billy marries towards the end of the novel … though we might infer that the relationship is very different from the one he had with Karin, as I suppose romances begun later in life often must be.
I spent some of my time reading this book trying to decide whether Karin fits the profile of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (TVTropes). On balance I have to conclude she does not. Although Billy occasionally refers to her rebelliousness, it always seems to be a fairly tame and understandable reaction to her issues with her parents. And Karin does not really embody a character who exists as a kind of wish fulfilment for Billy: she seems to have her own goals and her own life. Instead, the two are more like planets whose orbits occasionally cross rather than one orbiting the other as a satellite.
And then that Hitler guy shows up and ruins everything.
Behrens deftly deals with the rise of fascism. He shows how people on every side of the issue don’t quite grasp the shape of what is to come. Both Billy’s father and von Weinbrenner fail to comprehend the dangers posed by Hitler’s anti-Semitic rants. The way that Billy describes the fascist crackdowns in Frankfurt and the changing zeitgeist is sinister. A great deal of literature and movies attempt to depict the horror of living under Nazi Germany (or in Nazi-occupied Europe) during the war, but I haven’t been exposed to as much literature that focuses on the rise of Nazism. In characters like Gunther Krebs, Behrens demonstrates how the Nazis leveraged personal and political beliefs in order to get people to conform to a sharp, manic vision of what Germany needed to become. And, alas, one gets a good sense of why it was so difficult for those with consciences to stand up and fight this rising power in an effective way.
The ending is a little bit predictable, and to be honest, I’m not sure I like it. Oh, it makes sense, in a kind of cinematic, inevitably tragic way. And I like that Behrens fast-forwards through Billy’s life during the Second World War and afterwards, that the story speeds towards its conclusion with little emphasis on what happens now that they have left Germany. This just might be one of those cases where the author does their job too well, and, like a meal that is so rich you know you won’t be able to eat your fill, the emotions inherent in this novel inexorably lead to a bit of a hollow feeling.
So that’s good, I guess? Carry Me is definitely some of the best literary historical fiction I’ve read in a while (using the word “literary” here to connote a certain style as distinct from historical fiction more driven by plot and circumstance than the character and consciousness of Behrens’ prose). It is a relaxing read, in the sense that the writing has the quality of a luxurious, soft blanket or bath towel—though the setting and subject matter, of course, doesn’t have the same soporific and reassuring qualities!
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