Random Acts Of Heroic Love

Random Acts Of Heroic Love

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74  ·  rating details  ·  1,281 ratings  ·  180 reviews
1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in a hospital somewhere in South America, his girlfriend Eleni is dead and Leo doesn't know where he is or how Eleni died. He blames himself for the tragedy and is sucked into a spiral of despair. But Leo is about to discover something which will change his life forever.





1917: Moritz Daniecki is a fugitive from a Siberian POW camp. Seven thousand k...more
Paperback, 432 pages
Published January 1st 2008 by Black Swan (first published January 1st 2007)
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Community Reviews

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Ashley Alphey
Two tales of love and loss set 75 years apart. Moritz finds himself abandoned in the Siberian wilderness, having survived the brutality of the First World War. He sets out to walk his way back to his native Poland and seek out the girl who captured his heart with just one kiss...The premise of this novel is an interesting one but some of the details of the injuries inflicted during the war are brutal and unflinching and in some other places the imagery is a little poorly executed e.g. 'He spread...more
Jane
In the epilogue, one learns what I wish I had known at the start - that around the time of the Great War, the author's father walked some three thousand miles across Russia during both international and civil wars to return to his homeland and try to find his true love. Although nothing much is known about the real journey, here the author took this as the basis for one of his two stories, the other being that of a young man who wakes in a foreign country to find his lover dead from a bus crash....more
Lucy

This book is about love, from a Male perspective. It is not about being with your loved one but rather about loving whilst apart and the trials/torments yet also joys and illuminations of that. Set in two different time frames and circumstances. One man tells of his being torn from the girl he loved when the War started in 1912 and his hope and determination to come home and to find her when he eventually breaks free from a POW camp and treks thousands of miles across Siberia and Europe. The oth...more
★Loredana★
Due storie parallele, due storie lontane nel tempo e nello spazio, così (apparentemente) lontane che inizialmente non si capisce perchè ci vengano raccontate insieme. Per non svelare troppo del libro, è perchè l'amore non ha tempo, e non ha spazio; l'amore perduto, l'amore ritrovato, sono tutte sfaccettature di quel meraviglioso viaggio chiamato vita, e questa non vale la pena di essere vissuta se non si ama, se non si ha un amore da vivere, un amore per cui vivere, ma per cui non ci si può lasc...more
Marion Hall
This is a rather sickly romantic novel. It focusses on two people affected by grief and their ways of coping.
One story follows a young man, Leo, at the end of the nineties who has lost his girlfriend in a tragic accident, it explores his recovery over the following year. Unfortunately the characters in this part of the tale are unconvincing and underdeveloped - the perfect hospital orderly, the Greek consul in Equador, the friend Hannah, his father, his room-mate, the grief counsellor, the land...more
Anjali
Random Acts of Heroic Love, Danny Scheinmann’s debut novel, follows the journey of two men, separated by time and space and yet have a strong, unknown connection with each other. Moritz Daniecki is a Austro-Hungarian soldier who is captured as a Prisoner of War in the First World War and sentenced to prison. He breaks free and walks for years to reach his childhood love. Leo Dankin loses the love of his life in a bus accident and struggles hard to continue with his life without his sweetheart.

Th...more
Ron
This is a wonderfully powerful novel [but based on a true story, so it's said] of two men, one living in 1917 Russia and one in 1992 South America. Both are taking a journey because of the loss of love, and never forgetting her. Both discover so much about themselves as they travel.



Moritz escapes from a prisoner of war camp in Siberia and walks the thousands of miles west back home across snow and ice, driven by the memory of the girl whom he had only kissed once. Leo gradually realises that the...more
Swera83
This book received the British Book Awards & that’s why I got it! I just saw it there infront of me with the sticker on it and I just grabbed it not knowing what it is and what does it talk about it! I almost regretted buying it coz It started very depressing in a way that you can’t imagine, I just kept crying while reading the first few pages! then another story comes in that has nothing to do with what’s going with the main character Leo! and also the entries/notes between chapters just ma...more
Richard Howard
Two intwined stories separated across the years. The book tells of how Leo comes to terms with losing Eleni, the love of his life, in a bus accident whilst hiking through south America. Although being a scientist, Leo tries to take comfort in the teachings of a new age physicist ([side note]who gets the description of the big bang wrong) preaching the specialness of everything. Leo soon realises that if every thing is special, then nothing is.

The other story is about Moritz, who after falling in...more
Sanhita
Two of my friends frowned when they saw me reading this book and read the title. I too was a bit apprehensive when I picked up the book. But once I started reading it (after picking it up and keeping it down for a couple of times), I got drawn into the two apparently unlinked stories.
In one hand you have Leo whose story begins with the loss of his loved one and there is Moritz, who is struggling through all odds, difficulties and pain both physical and mental to reach his love.
When you are feeli...more
Rachel Brand
This dual-time narrative follows the stories of two very different men who can't let go of the women they love. In 1992, Leo Deakin loses his girlfriend in a bus accident in South America and struggles to get over her death, wondering how he could ever possibly move on. He sees Eleni in everything he does, yet her continued presence in his life causes him to fall into a spiral of depression. Meanwhile, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the outbreak of WWI, Moritz Daniecki leaves his beloved Lott...more
Araz
This is definitely one of the cannot-put-down type of books. From the moment I got it I couldn't stop reading it and I'm sure I'll keep going back to read it again.

A couple of things I really liked about the book:
- It has several pictures of animals showing affection towards each other i.e. polar bears hugging.

- The story of his grandfather painted a picture to me that was different of WWI. Most of what I was taught about the war spoke about the western front and not so much about what was hap...more
Cathy Cottle
My sister found this book in a book warehouse in Australia. She picked it out by chance and loved it so recommended it to me. This book is not for the faint-hearted. It is a graphic, tragic and tender love story. I had a love-hate relationship with the book. I couldn't put it down but at times I thought, "I can't keep reading this!" I couldn't decide whether to give it 4 or 5 stars and decided 4 stars because it was so painful at times. (It does have a good ending though). The author reminded me...more
Célia
Danny Scheinmann pegou na história do seu avô, que combateu na I Primeira Guerra Mundial, fugiu dos campos gelados da Sibéria onde tinha sido feito prisioneiro e percorreu a Rússia durante 3 anos para voltar para casa e para o seu amor. Este pedaço de história verídica, da qual o autor não sabe muito mais, serviu de base a este livro, que fala sobre o amor numa perspectiva de separação, e sobre todos os ensinamentos que daqui se retiram. Para além da parte da história que decorre no passado, aco...more
Annie
This book breaks your heart - you'll cry (after the first few chapters in my case!) but despite some gut-wrenching scenes of sadness and horror there's also a real feeling of joy. This book's about love - illustrated with pages from Leo’s notebook, with fantastic quotes and pictures, I wanted to buy and start keeping one immediately. It's two separate stories, two perspectives, but I thought it worked well. To be slightly critical (it's difficult...) the link between the two stories was semaphor...more
Se71
The person who wrote the back cover of this book did a really good job of suckering me in to read it. It piqued my interest by claiming that the two stories that unfold within would have a startling link at the conclusion. This was a lie. It wasn't startling at all, and was rather boring and predictable.

Having read rather too may stories set in the Second World War, involving as they do the terrible situations the Jewish populations suffered, I thought this book which was set in the First World...more
Mary
It started well but unfortunately I soon lost interest. The writing didn't keep the same momentum or quality throughout - some passages were well written and engaging, others just fell flat
Yet another book made up of two not obviously related tales.In one a young man loses his love in a tragic accident, in the other lovers are separated by war. The trek from the farthest ends of Siberia back to Austria didn't engage me at all. It seemed rather sketched in and unreal - perhaps this is in comparis...more
Holly
Interesting reflection on the nature of love and why we need it in our lives. I've read 4 books in a row that have parallel stories --one set in modern times and one in a different time period. I always find the older story much more compelling; the modern one just doesn't hold my interest to the same extent. This book is the same. I found the story of Moritz and his escape from a Siberian POW camp riveting. The characters he meets along the way are memorable and his grueling journey is riveting...more
Marie
I really enjoyed this, it was passed on to me and I never would have given it a second glance usually. When will I learn not to judge books by their covers?!! Usually for me love stories are a no, historic fiction is a no (particularly wartime), and I found the presentation completely unappealing. I was pleasantly surprised to find both the love stories were genuinely moving without being sickly sweet or self-indulgently tragic. The way they intertwine together at the end brings the whole book t...more
Lynne
Book has 2 narrators - Leo in 1992 and Moritz in 1917. Both experience great love and loss, in different ways. I'd had this book for a while and always put it back on the shelf as it didn't appeal much but I read it as part of a book round robin and so glad I did. I preferred Moritz's tale to be honest, all about WW1 and the revolution/upheaval in Russia was just fascinating. The ending was a little predictable but certainly didn't spoil the story. Really enjoyed the author's style of writing -...more
Jenny
This story takes place during 2 time periods, modern day and early 20th century. It tells the story of Leo coping with losing his girlfriend, and love of his life, in a bus crash while traveling in South America. But it also tells the story of another man who left his love to fight in WWI. It takes place in Galicia (modern Western Poland/Ukraine)and through Russia. It did made me want to read up on WWI history. The true story though wasn't about the war (as we already know how that ended) but th...more
Jenny
This book alternates between modern times (1992) and the early 1900's as it tells the stories of two men: Leo, who just experienced the tragic loss of his girlfriend, and Moritz, a soldier in World War 1 who is clinging to his love for a girl back home. Each man's story was interesting, although I probably preferred Moritz's. The overall plot of the book (not each man's story) seemed to develop rather slowly, as I found myself wondering how the two stories were related. However, when the connect...more
Shonaigh Mudie
This book is about war, romance, travel and the legnths that people will go to for those they hold dear. It has two different settings, beautiful and vibrant South America and the bleak Siberia, in the grips of war. The setting also varies in time, part of the book is set during wartime and the other in the modern day. Wonderfully written, rich and detail with characters that come to life. The alternating time peiods make for an interesting read, the differences between these times are clear but...more
Sara W
I should start by saying that I will only ever review or mention books I think were quite wonderful, so here we go.

This book is beautiful. It is sad, and funny, and most of all heartbreaking. If you let yourself really feel while reading this book you will cry. A lot.
I actually don't want to say much about it, as part of its joy is seeing the parallels in the tales. One of the best things about it is that one of the main characters 4000km walk across Siberia and Russia to get back to his belove...more
Jan Howard
Loved this book set in two different ages and countries, it is a book of love stories told by the man and all he endures and experiences, It made me cry. The first story is of today and losing a loved one in an accident, that the hero blames himself for, he isn't to blame, but you feel and understand his angst. The other is set in Europe and tells of an epic journey of a soldier returning to the love of his life, the two stories are only similar in that love is involved, i did not see this parti...more
Miss GP
Jun 09, 2009 Miss GP rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Historical fiction fans, those interested in non-sappy romance
Recommended to Miss GP by: Bookbrowse.com
Much to my surprise, I truly enjoyed this novel. I'm not generally into romances or books that will leave me emotional, but I was intrigued by the historical fiction aspect of it. The plot line that follows Moritz’s exploits during and after WWI was entertaining and provided me with my history fix. It reminded me quite a bit of the story of Odysseus’s wanderings. The sections of the book that dealt with Leo’s coping with the loss of his love, however, were remarkable. Leo’s guilt and grief felt...more
Ann Spivack
I'm going back and forth on this one. I love the format, switching back and forth between the two love stories that took place 75 years apart. I love the story of trying to survive a crushing loss. But sometimes the author dips into mundane topics -- a crush that someone in the lab has on Leo. Who cares about that? And Leo's Ph.D. on the mating rituals of ants -- that didn't work for me either. But the idea of the notebook, and the images and poetry at the beginning of the chapters -- enormously...more
Shovelmonkey1
Feb 06, 2012 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people with loose and easily tuggable heart strings
Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: suckered in by the title again - doh!
There are certain books which have exhibited mystical powers and pull me in on their "buy me" tractor-beam. This book was one of them and the other was Dave Eggars' A Heartbreaking work of Staggering Genius .

I have lately concluded that this power is directly linked to titles which bellow "over exaggerated human greatness and endeavour contained within!" and thus confer upon me a sort of delusional wistfulness which confuses my girl brain and makes me be all soppy around the edges like a marshm...more
LindyLouMac
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6...

This read like two novels for me much of the time and I kept wondering why the author had not just made both these terrific stories into two separate novels. Well it is with good reason and eventually all is revealed and makes sense. Although you will need to make sure you read the epilogue and acknowledgments for full enlightenment.
The stories are those of the two protagonists, Mortiz Daniecki and Leo Deakin, both stories centring on the young mens search...more
Alison
This was the second time I have read this - this time as part of my reading group. I was surprised how little I remembered - before restarting it, I think I mainly remembered the opening which is definitely memorable. Having finished it again, I am less surprised how little I remember because although the two stories covered are very readable and have a "large picture" there is little individual "happenings" to stay in the memory. What stays is the overall feel of the book which is very satisfyi...more
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Should the biographical aspect of this book have been stressed 4 18 Mar 24, 2013 09:19am  
Random Acts Of Heroic Love (Paperback)
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DANNY SCHEINMANN is a writer, actor and storyteller. He lives in London with his wife and three children.

"Random Acts of Heroic Love" has just been optioned for a movie. The novel was in the Sunday Times Top Ten Bestsellers for 6 weeks and has now been translated into 21 languages.
More about Danny Scheinmann...

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