The Dark Room
2 journalers for this copy...
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Dark Room is a careful study of three Germans affected by the Second World War: Helmut the young photographer with the deformed arm; Lore the 12-year-old who manages to get her refugee siblings to Hamburg in 1945; and Micha the young teacher who pursues the truth about his grandfather's war years 50 years later. Micha is the most instructive in getting to the core of this book:
I think they should read about the people who did it, too. The real, everyday people, you know. Not just Hitler and Eichmann and whoever. All the underlings, I mean. The students should learn about their lives, the ones who really did the killing.
Seiffert writes about the "real, everyday people", about the ones who didn't actually "do it". She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story.
Helmut is unable to join up because of his weak arm--his parents become ashamed of him in Nazi Germany. Yet by taking part in the last-ditch stand against the Russian invasion of Berlin in 1945 he is at last happy. His story, represented through his tiny photographer's lens, is indicative of his own narrow vision. Seiffert widens her view with Lore, and her encounter with Thomas, a young man who has blue-smudged numbers up his arm and (false) documents saying he is Jewish. As a well-off 12-year-old, whose father was in the Nazi Party, Lore too is at first oblivious to the effects of the war on others. She tries to believe that the pictures the Allies pin up of the Jews in the camps--whether alive or dead--are American actors. Micha's story, raking over the past and with the advantage of hindsight, well-documented history and the public German admission of guilt, feels the most raw and truthful. Seiffert writes delicately and plainly, making clear that it is not just the Jewish or Nazi experience of the Second World War which is valid, but that a whole country was involved, and is still affected by it. The Dark Room reminds us again that every person's experience is unique, and every person's heritage (whether German, Byelorussian, American or Jewish, Christian or atheist) will always be unique to them.
Synopsis:Amazon.co.uk
The Dark Room tells the stories of three ordinary Germans: Helmut, a young photographer in Berlin in the 1930s who uses his craft to express his patriotic fervour; Lore, a twelve-year-old girl who in 1945 guides her young siblings across a devastated Germany after her Nazi parents are seized by the Allies; and, fifty years later, Micha, a young teacher obsessed with what his loving grandfather did in the war, struggling to deal with the past of his family and his country.
The Dark Room is a careful study of three Germans affected by the Second World War: Helmut the young photographer with the deformed arm; Lore the 12-year-old who manages to get her refugee siblings to Hamburg in 1945; and Micha the young teacher who pursues the truth about his grandfather's war years 50 years later. Micha is the most instructive in getting to the core of this book:
I think they should read about the people who did it, too. The real, everyday people, you know. Not just Hitler and Eichmann and whoever. All the underlings, I mean. The students should learn about their lives, the ones who really did the killing.
Seiffert writes about the "real, everyday people", about the ones who didn't actually "do it". She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story.
Helmut is unable to join up because of his weak arm--his parents become ashamed of him in Nazi Germany. Yet by taking part in the last-ditch stand against the Russian invasion of Berlin in 1945 he is at last happy. His story, represented through his tiny photographer's lens, is indicative of his own narrow vision. Seiffert widens her view with Lore, and her encounter with Thomas, a young man who has blue-smudged numbers up his arm and (false) documents saying he is Jewish. As a well-off 12-year-old, whose father was in the Nazi Party, Lore too is at first oblivious to the effects of the war on others. She tries to believe that the pictures the Allies pin up of the Jews in the camps--whether alive or dead--are American actors. Micha's story, raking over the past and with the advantage of hindsight, well-documented history and the public German admission of guilt, feels the most raw and truthful. Seiffert writes delicately and plainly, making clear that it is not just the Jewish or Nazi experience of the Second World War which is valid, but that a whole country was involved, and is still affected by it. The Dark Room reminds us again that every person's experience is unique, and every person's heritage (whether German, Byelorussian, American or Jewish, Christian or atheist) will always be unique to them.
Synopsis:Amazon.co.uk
The Dark Room tells the stories of three ordinary Germans: Helmut, a young photographer in Berlin in the 1930s who uses his craft to express his patriotic fervour; Lore, a twelve-year-old girl who in 1945 guides her young siblings across a devastated Germany after her Nazi parents are seized by the Allies; and, fifty years later, Micha, a young teacher obsessed with what his loving grandfather did in the war, struggling to deal with the past of his family and his country.
In my opinion ‘The Dark Room’ was incomplete and disappointing because it was written as three separate stories. The common link is that they are all set in Germany and are stories about three Germans and the effect that the devastation caused by the Nazis in World War II has on their lives.
They read more like short stories; the first is only 63 pages and is about a young man Helmut. Born in Berlin in 1921 by the time war arrives he is working as a photographer and not fit enough for war service he records the traumas of Berlin during this period with his camera.
The second story, the one I enjoyed most, is 150 pages and set in allied occupied Germany in 1945. It is about a twelve year old girl Hannelore who after the arrest of her Nazi parents leads her younger siblings to safety. I would have liked to see this particular story expanded in to a complete novel or maybe linked with the first one about Helmut.
Finally the story of Micha set in Germany in the late 1990’s, the longest story at 170 pages but the one I liked least. Micha is a young man who has become obsessed with the past of his family and country. He has developed a strong desire to know if his beloved grandfather was guilty of committing any atrocities during the War. Again, I would have preferred to read this as a separate novel?
Although I understand the authors theme within the stories and like the link the title gives to the stories I did not find it a particularly rewarding read overall. I definitely feel I would have enjoyed this more than I did had there been some sort of connection with the protagonists.
This title is now marked as available so I will therefore place it on the bookshelf at our holiday home. If it is not taken it will be wild released somewhere suitable in due course.
They read more like short stories; the first is only 63 pages and is about a young man Helmut. Born in Berlin in 1921 by the time war arrives he is working as a photographer and not fit enough for war service he records the traumas of Berlin during this period with his camera.
The second story, the one I enjoyed most, is 150 pages and set in allied occupied Germany in 1945. It is about a twelve year old girl Hannelore who after the arrest of her Nazi parents leads her younger siblings to safety. I would have liked to see this particular story expanded in to a complete novel or maybe linked with the first one about Helmut.
Finally the story of Micha set in Germany in the late 1990’s, the longest story at 170 pages but the one I liked least. Micha is a young man who has become obsessed with the past of his family and country. He has developed a strong desire to know if his beloved grandfather was guilty of committing any atrocities during the War. Again, I would have preferred to read this as a separate novel?
Although I understand the authors theme within the stories and like the link the title gives to the stories I did not find it a particularly rewarding read overall. I definitely feel I would have enjoyed this more than I did had there been some sort of connection with the protagonists.
This title is now marked as available so I will therefore place it on the bookshelf at our holiday home. If it is not taken it will be wild released somewhere suitable in due course.
Journal Entry 3 by LindyLouMac at By hand, by hand -- Controlled Releases on Friday, October 17, 2008
Released 15 yrs ago (10/17/2008 UTC) at By hand, by hand -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Taken by another Bookcrosser at a Bookcrossing Lunch held at my house today.
Happy reading
LindyLouMac
Taken by another Bookcrosser at a Bookcrossing Lunch held at my house today.
Happy reading
LindyLouMac
Picked this book up at a Bookcrossing lunch, it seems to be the kind of book that I usually like read,I have been put off slightly by the journal entry but will start it asap
I found this book quite a disappointing read, it started off on a good note but went on and became quite depressing, I seemed to be reading it for ages and couldn't get to the end quick enough. I do hope the next person I pass it on to enjoys it more than me.
