cheyenneisreading's review against another edition
5.0
An unexpected winner. This book was written with so much human appeal and so much natural detail I never expcted to enjoy it quite as much as I did.
sarah_kearney's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book in 3 days; found it very hard to put down. It's a very moving story about one family's attempts to flee Nazi persecution, and most importantly to save their only child. I looked up the founder of the 'Kindertransports' to the UK, and he is still alive at 103!
chrissireads's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting book that was very readable. I like Alison Pick's writing style. I loved some of the characters and think that they were developed well throughout!
lindacbugg's review against another edition
5.0
Man Booker #4
Very good & very sad(which I was expecting)
Very good & very sad(which I was expecting)
ciska's review against another edition
3.0
The author
Born in Toronto in 1975, Alison grew up in Kitchener, Ontario and in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. She has a BA in Psychology from the University of Guelph and an M Phil from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Currently on faculty in the Humber School for Writers' Creative Writing by Correspondence program, Alison Pick in Toronto where she is at work on a memoir. For more information visit http://www.alisonpick.com
The review
This book left me a bit disappointed and I am not sure why. The point of view in the book is changing on a regular base. Though the effort has been made to make clear who is talking it is confusing at points but not to disturbing. I found it difficult to connect to Martha though she was supposed to be the sympathetic person in the book. There where to many things going on with her to get a clear view of the woman she was supposed to be. In a way she was behaving like a scared abused person but her thoughts where very strong at points not fitting in that characteristic. Easier was it to connect to Pavel and Pepik almost as easy as it was to get angry with Anneliese at points. Still I cannot escape the feeling there was so much more story behind all these characters that was left out.
The story of the journalist is very nicely woven into the whole situation. I like the way that is set up.
Still I cannot be very enthusiastic about the book, I enjoyed it enough but am not sure I would recommend it to other people.
Born in Toronto in 1975, Alison grew up in Kitchener, Ontario and in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. She has a BA in Psychology from the University of Guelph and an M Phil from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Currently on faculty in the Humber School for Writers' Creative Writing by Correspondence program, Alison Pick in Toronto where she is at work on a memoir. For more information visit http://www.alisonpick.com
The review
This book left me a bit disappointed and I am not sure why. The point of view in the book is changing on a regular base. Though the effort has been made to make clear who is talking it is confusing at points but not to disturbing. I found it difficult to connect to Martha though she was supposed to be the sympathetic person in the book. There where to many things going on with her to get a clear view of the woman she was supposed to be. In a way she was behaving like a scared abused person but her thoughts where very strong at points not fitting in that characteristic. Easier was it to connect to Pavel and Pepik almost as easy as it was to get angry with Anneliese at points. Still I cannot escape the feeling there was so much more story behind all these characters that was left out.
The story of the journalist is very nicely woven into the whole situation. I like the way that is set up.
Still I cannot be very enthusiastic about the book, I enjoyed it enough but am not sure I would recommend it to other people.
nocto's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first book I've picked up from the 2011 Booker Prize longlist. By the end of the Kindle sample - where I usually decide whether I want to keep reading or not - I really wasn't into the story, hadn't figured the characters out and wasn't especially bothered about keeping reading. I went against my own judgement however and carried on. And got captivated by the family story.
In retrospect it is hard to understand why all Jewish families weren't taking every opportunity to flee from Nazism in 1938. This book does a great job of painting the picture of a pretty ordinary family in Czechoslovakia, with Jewish heritage but not really practising Jews, seeing jobs and opportunities taken away from them, being betrayed by friends and still not really getting how bad it was going to get.
As is pointed out in other reviews, the decision to send children to safety on the Kindertransport is central to the story, and I thought the "contemporary framing story" (phrasing stolen from Fleur) was necessary to show the after effects of the Kindertransport and made this into a 21st century book rather than one that could have been told anytime post-World War II. I completely agree with Fleur that it was an excellent decision to tell the main story through the eyes of the non-Jewish non-family member nanny though, Marta had just enough distance from the main characters to tell the story objectively whilst still being involved in the story.
A good book, that doesn't get five stars from me because I found the beginning confusing, but I thought it was well worth a read and a Booker longlist place.
In retrospect it is hard to understand why all Jewish families weren't taking every opportunity to flee from Nazism in 1938. This book does a great job of painting the picture of a pretty ordinary family in Czechoslovakia, with Jewish heritage but not really practising Jews, seeing jobs and opportunities taken away from them, being betrayed by friends and still not really getting how bad it was going to get.
As is pointed out in other reviews, the decision to send children to safety on the Kindertransport is central to the story, and I thought the "contemporary framing story" (phrasing stolen from Fleur) was necessary to show the after effects of the Kindertransport and made this into a 21st century book rather than one that could have been told anytime post-World War II. I completely agree with Fleur that it was an excellent decision to tell the main story through the eyes of the non-Jewish non-family member nanny though, Marta had just enough distance from the main characters to tell the story objectively whilst still being involved in the story.
A good book, that doesn't get five stars from me because I found the beginning confusing, but I thought it was well worth a read and a Booker longlist place.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
3.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2011/05/2011-book-129.html
antiquitea's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely beautiful in the most heart-breaking of ways. It's a slow start, but once you begin to let yourself fully be taken into this book, you can not put it down.