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A review by stephtoro
Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson
2.0
I waivered between two and three stars. If I could give it 2.5 I would but I'm feeling somewhat generous because I enjoy WWII history and historical literature so three stars it is.
Interesting plot. The writing was meh. The dialogue was unrealistic in every way. Catherine is presented the reader as basically perfect in every way-- she's a gourmet cook! A stunning beauty! An amazing lawyer!-- but she is crippled by insecurity and constantly whining about how inadequate she is. It's also extremely annoying (and unbelievable) that an educated American woman in 2004 is so incredibly ignorant about even basic facts of the holocaust. She "shivers" every time an upsetting fact arises in the narrators story and is incredulous at the violence the Nazis inflicted on the Jewish population, like this is all news to her. At one point the narrator, a self-educated octogenarian from Poland, teaches her (a lawyer!) about the Dred Scott case, which every law student has read.
The narrator's story was interesting enough to keep me going but the writing really wasn't great. It does all wrap up with a neat little unsurprising bow though so I guess it gets a point for closure, but even then I was expecting something a little more... Complex.
And after writing all this, I've changed my mind. Two stars.
Interesting plot. The writing was meh. The dialogue was unrealistic in every way. Catherine is presented the reader as basically perfect in every way-- she's a gourmet cook! A stunning beauty! An amazing lawyer!-- but she is crippled by insecurity and constantly whining about how inadequate she is. It's also extremely annoying (and unbelievable) that an educated American woman in 2004 is so incredibly ignorant about even basic facts of the holocaust. She "shivers" every time an upsetting fact arises in the narrators story and is incredulous at the violence the Nazis inflicted on the Jewish population, like this is all news to her. At one point the narrator, a self-educated octogenarian from Poland, teaches her (a lawyer!) about the Dred Scott case, which every law student has read.
The narrator's story was interesting enough to keep me going but the writing really wasn't great. It does all wrap up with a neat little unsurprising bow though so I guess it gets a point for closure, but even then I was expecting something a little more... Complex.
And after writing all this, I've changed my mind. Two stars.