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The Far Side of the Sky
by
Daniel Kalla (Goodreads Author),
David Kalla
On November 9, 1938—Kristallnacht—the Nazis unleash a night of terror across Germany that paves the way for Hitler’s “Final Solution.” Meanwhile, the Japanese Imperial Army continues to rampage through China and tighten its stranglehold on Shanghai, a besieged and divided city that becomes the last haven for thousands of desperate European Jews.
Dr. Franz Adler, an Austrian...more
Dr. Franz Adler, an Austrian...more
Paperback, 448 pages
Published
by HarperCollins Canada
(first published September 20th 2011)
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The Far Side of the Sky is a novel by Canadian emergency room doctor Daniel Kalla about the experiences of Asians and Europeans in Shanghai during WWII. I'm just going to assume that Daniel Kalla and Vincent Lam have abandoned their game of online chess and are now trying to out-novel each other. Obvious comparisons aside, The Far Side of the Sky is a fantastic novel in its own right. At times heartbreaking (okay, almost entirely heartbreaking), it tells t...more
The Far Side of the Sky is a novel by Canadian emergency room doctor Daniel Kalla about the experiences of Asians and Europeans in Shanghai during WWII. I'm just going to assume that Daniel Kalla and Vincent Lam have abandoned their game of online chess and are now trying to out-novel each other. Obvious comparisons aside, The Far Side of the Sky is a fantastic novel in its own right. At times heartbreaking (okay, almost entirely heartbreaking), it tells t...more
After taking a course on the history of the Holocaust, a period where many Western scholars still believed to be under-researched, I often correlated it to my own understanding of the Japanese occupation in China. The Far Side of The Sky is a novel that combines both periods and reflects a period of time for the Chinese and the German Jews in "an age of neither". Even though the book itself is not entirely historically accurate, and the Chinese pinyin completely out of whack, the book still enta...more
A very interesting book about a unique period of time in history. I had no idea, Austrian Jews were able to flee to Shanghai during the late 1930's in an attempt to escape the Nazis. The book opens following the night of terror of Kristallnacht in 1938 when the Nazis rampaged Austria. Franz Adler, a renowned surgeon and widow in Austria is contemplating his options against the Nazis. His brother, Karl is among those who were killed and Karl's widow, Esther and Franz's daughter, Hannah are depend...more
This is a story that is based on the reality of the German Jews in Shanghai just before and during World War II. The story begins in Vienna on Kristallnicht, when Franz, a young surgeon, finds his brother killed. It is made clear to Franz that his best hope is to leave, and he, wanting to take his daughter, his brother's widow, and his father with him finds that Shanghai is his only choice. Franz is also a widower and he dotes on his young daughter Hannah.
In Shanghai, Sunny is a nurse. Her fathe...more
In Shanghai, Sunny is a nurse. Her fathe...more
The Far Side of the Sky is about the Jewish refugee community in Shanghai. Readers get glimpses of refugee life in 1938-9, 1940, 1941, 1942. (For example, the narrative might cover one or two months in a given year, and then jump to the next year.)
Franz Adler is able to flee Vienna, Austria, after Kristallnacht with his young daughter, Hannah, and his sister-in-law, Esther. Also accompanying them is an artist Ernst Muhler who fears persecution as well. (He joins them at the very last minute whe...more
Franz Adler is able to flee Vienna, Austria, after Kristallnacht with his young daughter, Hannah, and his sister-in-law, Esther. Also accompanying them is an artist Ernst Muhler who fears persecution as well. (He joins them at the very last minute whe...more
Getting Shanghaied
The Far Side of the Sky by Daniel Kalla (Forge Books; 464 pages; $26.99).
Warfare can ravage the places we call home to such an extent that our surroundings become almost unrecognizable to us. Conflict can destroy the very places and people we hold most dear. Combat can also tear families asunder, yet armed confrontations should never threaten our way of life or break our spirit. In Daniel Kalla's novel The Far Side of the Sky, hope never dies, even in the very darkest of hours...more
The Far Side of the Sky by Daniel Kalla (Forge Books; 464 pages; $26.99).
Warfare can ravage the places we call home to such an extent that our surroundings become almost unrecognizable to us. Conflict can destroy the very places and people we hold most dear. Combat can also tear families asunder, yet armed confrontations should never threaten our way of life or break our spirit. In Daniel Kalla's novel The Far Side of the Sky, hope never dies, even in the very darkest of hours...more
This novel greatly reminded me of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, another novel dealing with a "fish out of water" Westerner in new territory, learning the social customs of the land, and befriending am intriguing native woman who is an outsider in some way. I wonder just how common that is in literature, now that I think about it. Like The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, this novel is also very thorough on its background research and has a grounding in some medical history as well (Ka...more
Another fabulous piece of historical fiction. The story of a Jewish family who flees Germany following Kristallnacht seeking refuge in Shanghai. Although they are not actively persecuted, they must face the challenges and restrictions of life in China where the Japanese have recently assumed power.
Just as they begin to acclimate themselves to life in a very different culture far from their home Japan enters the war and aligns with Germany. Unfortunately for them and the thousands of other Jewish...more
Just as they begin to acclimate themselves to life in a very different culture far from their home Japan enters the war and aligns with Germany. Unfortunately for them and the thousands of other Jewish...more
After Kristallnacht, Franz Adler, a secular Austrian Jew, is desperate to save the remaining members of his family–his daughter Hannah and sister-in-law Esther. The only place they’re able to find letting in refugees is the relatively border-lax Shanghai.
Meanwhile, Mah Soon Yi, aka Sunny, the daughter of a Chinese doctor and American missionary, is trying to deal with the partial Japanese occupation of her home city of Shanghai while working as a nurse in one of the large hospitals and volunteer...more
Meanwhile, Mah Soon Yi, aka Sunny, the daughter of a Chinese doctor and American missionary, is trying to deal with the partial Japanese occupation of her home city of Shanghai while working as a nurse in one of the large hospitals and volunteer...more
What an interesting and informative story. I knew about November 9, 1938 when Kristallnach occurred in Germany. The Nazi Germans came to remove all the Jews from Germany and Poland and Russia. But what I didn't know was that about 20,000 Jews managed to find their way to Shanghai, China. Shanghai had been an international city of many cultures for many years. But even there, the "immigrants or refugees" had to find their way to get along in the city. At about the same time, the Japanese Imperial...more
Having a penchant for Holocaust literature, this book falls exactly into place. Although it is fiction, it is based on events directly following Kristalnacht. It takes place in Shanghai as it follows a widowed surgeon who takes his daughter, newly-widowed sister-in-law, and gay artist/friend on a luxury liner passage to Shanghai. Apparently, Shanghai was a haven for thousands of Jewish refugees, and they were accepted without condemnation. However, the Japanese controlled parts of the city (it w...more
Now this is a subject matter I not only know well but am writing about in my own forthcoming new novel.
Unfortunately, this book is very superficial and predictable. The author is a physician, and it's obvious that HE knows medicine very well, given the detailed medical procedures and jargon in the book. No surprises in the plot. Maybe I do know the history too well, but these characters are so stereotypical that I could see everything coming way ahead. Also, the story stops at a happy ending po...more
Unfortunately, this book is very superficial and predictable. The author is a physician, and it's obvious that HE knows medicine very well, given the detailed medical procedures and jargon in the book. No surprises in the plot. Maybe I do know the history too well, but these characters are so stereotypical that I could see everything coming way ahead. Also, the story stops at a happy ending po...more
This page turner historical novel is based on a little known part of the history of WWII, the emigration of twenty thousand German Jews to Shanghai, the only place that would take them. Shanghai at the time was militarily divided between the Japanese and the Western powers and had virtually no passport control. After 1938, every country including the USA and Great Britain had shut their doors to Jews desperate to escape the the genocide started by the Nazis.
This love story between an Austrian Je...more
This love story between an Austrian Je...more
Finished this last week ... maybe even before then but we're still livin' la vida loca at our house so just now reviewing and it'll be a skimpy review at that. I did like this bit of historical fiction quite a lot. The thing I liked best about it was that it taught me something I didn't know about WWII. I knew that there were Jews and others who fled Nazi Germany for Shanghai, must have read something that mentioned it, but I thought Shanghai equaled Casablanca, a jump off point for somewhere el...more
After having read countless books of fiction about the Holocaust, this is by far the weakest! While I enjoyed reading about a different place (Shanghai) and how many Jews from Europe ended up there, the story was so sanitized and somehow Harlequinesque...if I may be so bold as to say that!! Every character was too perfect too wonderful, too loving or comically evil and so predictable. Every problem had a solution, everytime someone was taken in for questioning they miraculously were let go...and...more
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A really satisfying novel which takes you from Kristallnacht to Shanghai with perspectives of Jewish refugees connecting with the lives of native Chinese in the tumultuous years just prior to WWII and during. Because the author is a medical doctor (author of Pandemic and others), there's plenty of authentic background on surgery and medical issues, with the main characters being in the medical profession. I liked the medical details, although others may be surprised to find how much of that is i...more
Mr. Daniel Kalla is best known for his medical thrillers, having read and enjoyed every one of his previous novels I can honestly say this latest addition has to be one of his best and is definitely a page-turner.
“The Far Side of the Sky” is more a love story than a suspense novel, it recounts the period of war torn Shanghai as seen through the eyes of two main characters- Dr. Franz Adler, a secular Austrian Jew and Soon Yi Mah, a native Eurasian nurse. Their lives are caught up in a whirlwind...more
“The Far Side of the Sky” is more a love story than a suspense novel, it recounts the period of war torn Shanghai as seen through the eyes of two main characters- Dr. Franz Adler, a secular Austrian Jew and Soon Yi Mah, a native Eurasian nurse. Their lives are caught up in a whirlwind...more
This story tells of a German Jewish family's emigration to Shanghai, a city militarily divided between the Japanese and the Western powers during the late 1930s. Shanghai was the only city that accepted Jewish refugees at a time when all other cities and countries denied emigration to Jews. Dr. Franz Adler flees Nazi Germany with his family in hopes of starting a new life in Shanghai only to find that his struggles do not end. I enjoyed learning about Shanghai, its international settlement, the...more
This was the story of part of the World War II era that I had never heard. I have read several books, seen movies, etc. about the Nazis and their tragic role in the fate of so many Jews. What I did not know was that many Jews were given permission to leave before the late 1930's until the rest of the world closed their borders to them. Shanghai China was an easy place to emigrate to with the lack of passport control and mixed control of Shanghai by several countries. The story follows a family t...more
After a long draught of boring books, I hit it big with "The Far Side of The Sky". The book begins in Vienna
during "Kristallnache" where the brown shirts rained down on the Jews in a night of terror and death!!
Shortly Dr Adler and his daughter and sister in law immigrate to Shanghai to escape the Nazi's.
Life is very different for the doctor and his family after arriving in China. Kalla has done a great job
of researching the history of the 20,000 Jews who fled for their lives to Shanghai. Treat...more
This style of book is totally up my alley - the book follows Franz Adler, an Austrian Jew who takes refuge in Shanghai during the World War II era, with the remaining members of his family. The mix of cultures which is so beautifully, but also accurately portrayed by Kalla is impressive. The story also follows a half-Chinese nurse, Sunny Mah. The timeline of both Adler and Mah, intersperse and eventually climaxes with romance, mostly set within a refuge hospital where both parties work. The tech...more
Though its power is waning, television's influences on mainstream culture is platitudinous. Rarely do we ask how it came to be the most powerful medium, and when. Andre Jute answers those questions in The Time-Life Conspiracy. The transition from print occurred earlier than I thought. The events in the story took place in 1952, about the same time as television became the most popular deliverer of the daily news. The story focuses on the schemes of Henry Luce, the co-founder of Time magazine and...more
Jun 27, 2012
Christina (A Reader of Fictions)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
netgalley
Originally posted here.
Yet again, I find myself seriously impressed with the breadth and variety of WWII historical fiction. I honestly feel like whenever I read a WWII novel, whether I like it or not, I learn something new and fascinating. The Far Side of the Sky is no exception. I never previously knew that thousands of German and Austrian Jews escaped to Shanghai.
The story of these refugees has a double impact, since it allows Kalla to draw connections between the German's treatment of conque...more
Yet again, I find myself seriously impressed with the breadth and variety of WWII historical fiction. I honestly feel like whenever I read a WWII novel, whether I like it or not, I learn something new and fascinating. The Far Side of the Sky is no exception. I never previously knew that thousands of German and Austrian Jews escaped to Shanghai.
The story of these refugees has a double impact, since it allows Kalla to draw connections between the German's treatment of conque...more
This is a condensed version of my review. The extended version can be found here.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Disclaimers: I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: First off, I consider myself something of a history buff and so I love it when I read a novel that causes me look at something in a new light. Sarah's Key did that for me and so did this novel.
This novel is not your average WWII novel....more
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Disclaimers: I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: First off, I consider myself something of a history buff and so I love it when I read a novel that causes me look at something in a new light. Sarah's Key did that for me and so did this novel.
This novel is not your average WWII novel....more
The Far Side Of The Sky is a captivating story that pulls readers into the lives of Franz Adler, Sunny Mah and a host of other vibrant, well-developed characters. Though the novel begins with the horrific events of Kristallnacht in Austria, most of the story takes place in the city of Shanghai where thousands of European Jews have fled seeking refuge from the Nazis' persecution. Despite the endless stream of bad news they receive from home and the war that is raging all around them (which, event...more
3.5 stars
Well written book. It was very interesting from a historical point of view. I've learned a lot about shanghai during WW II. I did not realize that so many Jews fled to Shanghai during the Nazi occupation. I also enjoyed the story line. My problem with that book was that there are some parts of the book that are too far stretched and not very realistic ( i.e Sunny single-handedly successfully blackmails high ranking Nazi into leaving Shanghai). Otherwise a good historical fiction.
Well written book. It was very interesting from a historical point of view. I've learned a lot about shanghai during WW II. I did not realize that so many Jews fled to Shanghai during the Nazi occupation. I also enjoyed the story line. My problem with that book was that there are some parts of the book that are too far stretched and not very realistic ( i.e Sunny single-handedly successfully blackmails high ranking Nazi into leaving Shanghai). Otherwise a good historical fiction.
This historical novel is based on a little known part of the history of WWII, the emigration of twenty thousand German Jews to Shanghai, China being the only country who had not closed their borders to refugees trying to escape Germany. Shanghai at the time was militarily divided between the Japanese and the Western powers and had virtually no passport control. After 1938, every country including the USA and Great Britain had shut their doors to Jews desperate to escape the the genocide started...more
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Another World War II novel, but this time it takes place in Shanghai where a lot of German/Austrian Jews went because no other countries would take them. This story follows an Austrian surgeon and a few years of his life in Shanghai. The Japanese occupy the city and are supporting the Nazi regime, so the Jews are constantly worried about their safety. This book is a quick easy read, not particularly well-written, but it is interesting.
Fascinating, absorbing, difficult at times (what Holocaust story isnt?) yet heart warming. A look into the detriment of the Nazi movement as far as the Far East and the relationship between the Germans and the Japanese during WWII. A part of the story I am sorry to admit I was unaware of until reading this. I found the historical events and context very interesting.
A different perspective on the years 1938- 1942- an exiled Austrain Jewish doctor ends up with his daughter in Shanghai just after the Japanese invasion. Racism from the Asian point of view of Japanese against Chinese during the early period of World War II along with the struggles of mized race love make this a page turner. Well researched too.
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Born, raised, and still residing in Vancouver, Kalla spends his days (and sometimes nights) working as an ER Physician in an urban teaching hospital.
The idea for his first medical thriller, PANDEMIC, sprang from his clinical experience in facing the SARS crisis of 2003. He has written five science thrillers and or medical mysteries, delving into themes and topics as diverse as superbugs, drug addi...more
More about Daniel Kalla...
The idea for his first medical thriller, PANDEMIC, sprang from his clinical experience in facing the SARS crisis of 2003. He has written five science thrillers and or medical mysteries, delving into themes and topics as diverse as superbugs, drug addi...more
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“Simon shook his head. ‘The Nazis in Germany…the Japanese here in Shanghai…Treating people as less than human because of the shape of their faces or the sound of their names. Sometimes it feels like the whole damn world is unraveling.”
—
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