This book looks at World War II from an unusual angle that I haven’t encountered much, telling the story of ordinary German citizens in a suburb of Munich during the war. It is, of course, anti-Nazi, which is well reflected in the characters.

I liked the book, but I must say that I find its reviews way exaggerated. It’s a good book, yes, but it is not great by any criterion, at least from my point of view. It tells an interesting story, tells it well and realistically, peppering many historical details along the way, but that’s about it. I guess that had I not seen some of the reviews (which are hard to miss, being all over the outside and inside covers of the book), I would just think it’s a pretty good book. But my expectations were raised so high that I actually tried to find greatness in it, but couldn’t.

Also, I must add that I really disliked the way the author chose to present the plot, with Death as the narrator. While certainly original, I feel that this idea was badly executed. It added absolutely nothing to the book, but became annoying from time to time. Also, the spoiler of the book’s ending appearing at about 2/3rds is completely unnecessary and makes the ending much less interesting and touching.

Related posts:

1. Book review: “Rocket Boys” by Homer Hickam
2. Book review: “Moon palace” by Paul Auster
3. Book review: “The Flanders Panel” by Arturo Perez Reverte
4. Book review: “The age of innocence” by Edith Wharton
5. Book review: “Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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