exdebris's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
abookishtype's review against another edition
4.0
Every now and then, I see pictures that blend old and new images of a place to show how much has changed and how much as stayed the same. A lot of them show scenes from World War II alongside rebuilt walls and buildings. The protagonist of Marrow and Bone, by Walter Kempowski and pitch-perfectly translated by Charlotte Collins, Jonathan Fabrizius, has the same kind of vision. His interest in medieval history and his own family history from the end of World War II is always at the front of his brain. Fabrizius isn’t particularly bothered by his past vision, but he does wonder what it means that history is only lightly buried below the mundane, contemporary surface, waiting for someone to scratch...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
4.0
It might not sound funny, but I can very easily see Monty Python doing this book (well, not now but you know).
Kempowski's book is about memory and feeling but also about how people deal with the past.
It is a rather strange book. But there are lovely passages, some quite funny including the one about the teddy bear.
Kempowski's book is about memory and feeling but also about how people deal with the past.
It is a rather strange book. But there are lovely passages, some quite funny including the one about the teddy bear.
dreesreads's review against another edition
4.0
It's 1988, and the freelance journalist Jonathan Fabrizius gets a job that involves traveling through East Prussia (now Poland) for a luxury car manufacturer and then writing a piece promoting the upcoming car rally and things to do along the route ("state of the art V8 engines against a backdrop of dilapidated towns). He goes. Jonathan was born in East Prussia--he was born as the Germans fled west in advance of the Russian army. His father was killed in the war, his mother died at his birth and was left at a church by his uncle, who raised Jonathan and bankrolls his freelance existence.
There is a lot of sardonic humor here, as the trio (driver, journalist, organizer) drive their fancy car--it, as well as their West German-ness, makes them targets for both police looking for bribes and small-time cons. They try to find certain German sausages and can't. In looking for "interesting things to do", they go to the usual places, and are following a busload of elderly Germans on a heritage tour (a tour Jonathan's parents might have been on, had they survived). The restaurant critic cancels. Scandinavian tourists are in Gdansk "to get tanked on the cheap". Of the three, only Jonathan manages to meet regular Poles, largely accidentally, but he goes with it each time.
Each bit of this humor is part of Kempowki's addressing serious topics. The haves (from the West) vs the have-nots in communist Poland. Memory, history, and family. The question of whether Germans of the 1980s should be punished or forgiven for the sins of their fathers (or, in the case of the heritage tour, themselves). The behavior of those on the heritage tour. What is considered "interesting" and "worthwhile" for tourists.
At under 200 pages, this small book packs a punch.
There is a lot of sardonic humor here, as the trio (driver, journalist, organizer) drive their fancy car--it, as well as their West German-ness, makes them targets for both police looking for bribes and small-time cons. They try to find certain German sausages and can't. In looking for "interesting things to do", they go to the usual places, and are following a busload of elderly Germans on a heritage tour (a tour Jonathan's parents might have been on, had they survived). The restaurant critic cancels. Scandinavian tourists are in Gdansk "to get tanked on the cheap". Of the three, only Jonathan manages to meet regular Poles, largely accidentally, but he goes with it each time.
Each bit of this humor is part of Kempowki's addressing serious topics. The haves (from the West) vs the have-nots in communist Poland. Memory, history, and family. The question of whether Germans of the 1980s should be punished or forgiven for the sins of their fathers (or, in the case of the heritage tour, themselves). The behavior of those on the heritage tour. What is considered "interesting" and "worthwhile" for tourists.
At under 200 pages, this small book packs a punch.
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