Picked this up second hand from "Arty Bees" here in Wellington. It's one that I can justify reading for my university reading programme, so will start on it this morning.

A great book - one of the best I've read this year.

I remember reading a lot of WWII related books as a child and young teenager (probably starting with The Diary of Anne Frank), but none of them dealt with Germany after the war. This book does that.

It also tells a complex story in deceptively simple, easy to follow language - I'm not sure if that's to do with the author or the translator. I read this in two sittings, over 24 hours, but the story is one that will stay with me for a lot longer than that.

Setting this up as a bookring. Please PM me with your location and shipping preferences (Australia/NZ only).

Please review the following:

* Journal when you’ve received the book (so we know it’s not lost).
* Journal when you’ve finished the book (so we know what you thought).
* PM the person whose name appears next on the list for their mailing address and send them the book! (If you're the last name on the list, PM me for my address.) And don't forget to make another journal entry so we know it's on its way to the next ring participant!

Also, if you'd like, please “autograph” the back cover of the book with your screen name, city, and state/country, so whoever “catches” this book later can learn a little about its history, even if he or she chooses not to visit the Book Crossing site.

Cheers,
Alectoness

Ring order

* Alectoness (Wellington, NZ)
* Jackson371 (Burpengary, QLD, Australia)
* Pixette (Sydney, NSW, Australia)
* Cathietay (Christchurch, NZ)
* Boreal (Dunedin, NZ)
* Alectoness (Wellington, NZ)

RELEASE NOTES:

In the mail to Jackson371 in Queensland this morning. I hope its journey is swift.

Book arrived today thank you Alectoness. I will start to read this on the weekend!

WOW! I read this on a plane from Brisbane to Sydney on Saturday (13/08) and enjoyed every minute of it. It was great to read a book based on people's lives affeced by WWII after so many years. It reminded me that the camp's didn't just happen and then they were gone as so many books on the subject have you believe. I found the book to flow easily and it can be read in a couple of hours which is nice - sometimes a book can make me feel as if it owns me for a week.....

I am PM'ing Pixette who is net on the list. I hope you all enjoy this litle read as much as I did.

Posted to Pixette today......

Picked this up from my postbox today. I have another book to finish first but should be able to begin this soon.

I have never before given a 10 to a book because I don't believe anything is perfect. I'm not sure I would describe this book as perfect but I can't think of anything I would change.

I can see this book would resonate very much more with a german audience but the translation is very good and any feeling human being with an understanding of the issues of European WWII can feel deeply for the characters.

The book could also be transported to a different time/place. It is a story of 2 characters participation in extraordinary times taken from one person's perspective.

The period gives it grounding, but it is in essence a story of the prisons we are in, either by force, or of our own making.

Several times comes the accusatory "what would you have done?". In the context, I'm not sure I have an answer and, the judge appears not to wish to be in the context.

Then there is the philosophical argument that "there is no justification of setting other people's views of what is good for them above their own ideas of what is good for themselves."

I am impressed that the storyteller asks not for absolution, forgiveness, understanding or even sympathy for any characters. He merely tells the story as it is - which is very strong and germanic.

The book is one of very few that have ever made me cry.

Ordinary people were caught in extraordinary times. They just are and this is what happened.

RELEASE NOTES:

Posted to Chatietay

Book arrived yesterday in the post - thanks Pixette. Goes to the top of my pile.

This arrived yesterday, thanks everyone, I have been looking forward to this one. I will get started on it as soon as I have finished my current book.

I read this quite quickly over the weekend. I found it quite a moving book but as with all translations I wonder how much better it would have been in the original German.

RELEASE NOTES:

..and back to Alectoness! Thanks for sharing it.

Arrived back in Wellington this morning. Thanks to all participants for keeping this bookring going.

RELEASE NOTES:

Added to the pile at the Wellington meetup this evening.

Picked up at a most enjoyable meetup with some of the Wellington bookcrossers. Great to meet you all!

This looked like an interesting book (and looks like it's been well received on its travels).

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As Alectoness says, the simple language belies a very complex story. The question of how long society's guilt should continue (whether for the Holocaust, slavery, or, closer to home, for colonialism) is one that has interested me recently, and this book has added a lot of food for thought. Plus it's just a very good human story.

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Given to another bookcrosser at today's meetup.

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Picked up at a bookcrossing meetup. Noticed it is marked as a bookring with a cute record on the back cover as to who has read it. Reading the journal notes it looks like the book ring has finished. Alectoness, please PM me if this book is not now in the wild although I gather from futurecat's comments that it is now a wanderer.

Sorry folks, looks like I forgot to write a journal entry when I read this book. Both Gwilk's Squeeze and I have read the book. I thought the main theme was well done and the story felt real and engaging. I think part way through I was re-reading the sleeve notes to reassure myself that it is fiction. Thanks for sharing the book.

RELEASE NOTES:

To find this book, you first need to find Staveley which didn't appear in Google Earth. Staveley is at the intersection of route 72 and Boyds Road. From there follow the signs to Sharplin Falls Walkway which takes you a little way down Boyds Road and then right into Flynns Road. Follow that all the way to the end to find the car park and shelter. The book was sitting on the seat in the shelter. While you are there, you might as well set aside an hour and a quarter (return) to see the falls. Stout shoes recommended. A great walk, my six year old boy managed it no problems.

we ve found this very good book, at Sharplin Falls Walkway, Car Park Shelter. i took it with me to korea, to seoul and there i left it with me friends, who put it in some subway station.

CAUGHT IN STAVELEY VILLAGE CANTERBURY NEW ZEALAND