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Bookish Quotes
"From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover that you have wings."
The Dark Room
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The Dark Room
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4 journalers for this copy...
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Many thanks to ruthwater for sending this book as a RABCK, all the way from England to Canada! I look forward to reading it and journaling my thoughts here. Best wishes from New Westminster, British Columbia (at left: the Fraser River, as seen from the top of my street).
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I'm just starting The Dark Room this afternoon, and already finding it quite engaging. It will be interesting to compare it with Gunter Grass's Crabwalk, which I read earlier this year. Thanks again, ruthwater, for sharing this one. (Left: author Rachel Seiffert)
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The Dark Room is not so much a novel, as a short story (Helmut), followed by a novella (Lore) then -- finally -- a short novel (Micha). I was surprised by this structure as I got into the book, as none of the reviews I'd read when I started it (see below) indicated this would be the case. I have a real aversion to short stories -- I don't find they give me sufficient opportunity to really suspend my disbelief and get into the fictional world the author seeks to describe. True to form, I didn't enjoy Helmut much at all -- I didn't feel the story ever quite came to its point. Lore was a little better, but it didn't engage, move or surprise me -- none of the things I expected. Micha, on the other hand, was an excellent read. I read it on a five hour flight today (Vancouver -> Ottawa), and it kept me enthralled for nearly the whole time. Micha tells the story of a 31 year old German teacher (Michael of "Micha") who is trying to come to grips with the war record of his beloved grandfather, a Nazi and member of the Waffen-SS posted to Belarus (Byelorussia) in 1943/44. In telling the story of Micha and his German-Turkish wife, Mina, Micha makes the link between the complicity of many Germans in WWII-era atrocities and racist undercurrents in contemporary Germany. As a story about the immediate -- and long-term -- aftershocks of WWII, "Micha" reminded me of a number of novels I've read this year, especially Gunter Grass's Crabwalk, but also Shirley Hazzard's The Great Fire and Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. Here's the Guardian's review, and one in Spike magazine. (Above: Berlin, 1945) |
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Just a quick note to say one more "thanks" to ruthwater, before I release this book in downtown Ottawa some time tomorrow morning. Thanks for getting me through another long Vancouver -> Ottawa flight, Ruth! I hope whomever finds this one next will find it interesting.
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Journal Entry 7 by
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