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  <id>555048</id>
  <title><![CDATA[The Dark Room]]></title>
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  <description><![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]></description>
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        <name><![CDATA[Rachel Seiffert]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.68</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
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    <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Apr 11 09:51:36 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Apr 12 07:58:31 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I really liked this book.  It is about the holocaust, but told from the perspective of Germans who lived through it.  There are three short stories - the first is about a teenage boy who is handicapped so can't join the German army, bu wishes he could.  The second is the story of five children whose...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/674360">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/674360]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>17173104</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Sarah]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
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    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[anyone interested in the ways history touches specific lives]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Mar 06 11:39:35 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Mar 06 11:41:57 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is the best work of fictional work that employs history without being didactic that I have read since &quot;The Known World.&quot; And I am usually very annoyed by WWII novels set in Germany, which all seem to be too much History Channel and not enough literary value. This book means something.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17173104]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>44922688</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Pamk]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
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    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at>Mon Feb 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Jan 30 21:31:24 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Feb 03 12:32:07 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[  A very powerful book about WWII and its effect on the German population written in three segments.  In the first a socially withdrawn and rather eccentric young photographer uses his camera as a tool to record the war as he isn't physically able to be active as a soldier.  The second story is abou...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44922688">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44922688]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44922688]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>36809901</id>
    <user>
    <id>717971</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Elizabeth]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United Kingdom]]></location>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">108539</id>
  <isbn>0099483491</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780099483496</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">2</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.00</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>3</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Rachel Seiffert&#8217;s absorbing, internationally acclaimed debut explores the modern German psyche through the experiences of three ordinary people.<br/><br/>At the onset of World War II, a young photographer&#8217;s assistant is kept out of the war due to a physical disability, and instead spends his time capturing on film the changing temper of Berlin, the city he loves. Just weeks after Germany&#8217;s surrender, a teenage girl whose parents have been taken into allied custody leads her siblings on a harrowing journey to find their grandmother. And two generations after the war, a teacher searches for the reason why the Russians imprisoned his beloved grandfather. Evoking the experiences of the individual with astonishing emotional depth and psychological acuity, <strong>The Dark Room</strong> develops a portrait of the twentieth century in all its drama and complexity.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[Sue Grainger]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Nov 03 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Nov 03 03:47:59 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Nov 03 03:59:10 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count>1</read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Another bafflingly overrated first novel.  Maybe there's <em>just not anything better available</em> to shortlist for the Booker Prize.<br/><br/>On the up side, this is tremendously well researched, which gives the book verisimilitude.  It's the story of three different German families and the effects that...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36809901">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36809901]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36809901]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>30523980</id>
    <user>
    <id>117720</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Linda ]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Marta, Vt, Italy]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Aug 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Aug 19 03:58:27 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Aug 22 01:23:43 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4599816" title="http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4599816">http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4599...</a><br/><br/>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 cause...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30523980">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30523980]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30523980]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Shlomo]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Apr 15 09:13:02 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Apr 15 09:27:15 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Its funny that tamar gave me this book, and I may have liked it even more than she did.  As she pointed out, the stories get  progressively more powerful.  The spare writing gave it a very archetypal feel, and I think the stories also progressively become more unique to WW2: The bombing of berlin, t...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/729918">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/729918]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/729918]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>32126304</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Pamela]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
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  <read_at>Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Sep 05 16:09:39 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Oct 07 16:14:49 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count>1</read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[What can I say about this profoundly moving and evocative trio of novellas except OMG.  This was a Booker Prize Finalist 2001 (not surprising) and winner of the LA Times Book Prize.  <br/>Seiffert's sparse, lyrical prose pierces to the heart of the matter and evokes time, place, character, humanity...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32126304">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32126304]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>52386372</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Chen Tong]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
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    <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at>Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Apr 12 09:36:05 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Apr 25 20:01:18 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[German after WW2. Most books were written on the Jew, the Allied, the Americans, the British, etc. Now this is one of rare breed told from the perspective of German right after the war.<br/><br/>WW2 is one of my favorite topics.<br/><br/>Actually the entire guilt of German people as a whole for ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52386372">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52386372]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52386372]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>78613929</id>
    <user>
    <id>231463</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Lucy J]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United Kingdom]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/231463-lucy-j-jeynes]]></link>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
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    <rating>2</rating>
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  <read_at>Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Nov 22 05:03:57 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Nov 22 05:07:42 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Germany, 3 separate stories. I found this book ultimately frustrating and unsatisfying. I'd have rather had one of the three story-lines completed - it was like the start of three novels that just got going and then there wasn't anything more to come. Well-written though, so I'd perhaps try somethin...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78613929">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78613929]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78613929]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>73087961</id>
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    <id>2497965</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Gwyn]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Essex, The United Kingdom]]></location>
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    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
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  <read_at>Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Oct 01 07:33:23 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Oct 01 07:35:09 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Although it is a long time ago in book reading terms that I read this book, I remember thinking 'I must read more from this author' and I haven't been disappointed'!]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73087961]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73087961]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>57728974</id>
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    <id>1153290</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Marcella]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Fri May 29 07:01:24 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri May 29 07:02:48 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Beautifully written stories about Germans living in Nazi Germany and after-the effects of the War, written is beautiful prose. So lovely-a perfect book]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57728974]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57728974]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Dennis]]></name>
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  <isbn>009928717X</isbn>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">20</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[anyone who wants an insight into everyday Germans and World War II]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue May 13 08:38:55 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Apr 25 12:54:34 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue May 13 08:38:55 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I didn't like the first story as much as the last two.  I've read other books with a view of everyday Germans in the days leading up to the Second World War and the days immediately after when they had to live with the destruction and realization of where their decisions led but this had a new view ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20984188">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20984188]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20984188]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>39498661</id>
    <user>
    <id>1718992</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Marina]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Switzerland]]></location>
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  <isbn>009928717X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780099287179</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">20</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Dec 07 01:58:16 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Dec 07 01:58:16 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[For me it was unusual side of the known story. Out of three stories I liked the first story the most.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39498661]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39498661]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>3856722</id>
    <user>
    <id>216284</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Mark]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Pittsburgh, PA]]></location>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">20</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
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    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jul 31 11:02:01 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Dec 17 03:03:14 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I really enjoyed this debut novel, about how World War II affected the lives of ordinary Germans. It's basically three short novellas strung together, the first two during the war, the last one in current times. The most compelling for me was the family whose parents are taken away because of their ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3856722">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3856722]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3856722]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>15898151</id>
    <user>
    <id>446200</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jeff]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Cincinnati, OH]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Feb 20 09:23:27 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Mar 03 19:29:08 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I would have given this book 4 stars, but it lost some of its impact in the last part, during which a man tries to learn why his German grandfather was in a Russian prison for 9 years after WWII. That part seemed implausible at times and lacked the emotional resonance of the other parts of the book....<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15898151">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15898151]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15898151]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>28971284</id>
    <user>
    <id>547376</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Matt]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Buffalo, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/547376-matt-brant]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">1342699</id>
  <isbn>0375421041</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375421044</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">4</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1182874257m/1342699.jpg</image_url>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1342699.The_Dark_Room</link>
  <average_rating>4.00</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>6</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[A debut novel that retells the history of twentieth-century Germany through the experiences of three ordinary Germans. <br/><br/>Helmut:  A boy born with a physical deformity finds work as a photographer&#8217;s assistant during the 1930s and captures on film the changing temper of Berlin, the city he loves. But his acute photographic eye never provides him with the power to understand the significance of what he sees through his camera. . . . Lore:  In the weeks following Germany&#8217;s surrender, a teenage girl whose parents are both in Allied captivity takes her younger siblings on a terrifying, illegal journey through the four zones of occupation in search of her grandmother. . . . Micha: Many years after the war, a young man trying to discover why the Russians imprisoned his grandfather for nine years after the war meets resistance at every turn; the only person who agrees, reluctantly, to help him is compromised by his own past.<br/><br/><em>The Dark Room</em> evokes the experiences of the individual with astonishing emotional depth and psychological authenticity. With dazzling originality and to profound effect, Rachel Seiffert has re-envisioned and illuminated signal moments of the twentieth century in all their drama and complexity.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Aug 01 07:54:52 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Aug 01 07:55:28 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This novel is written in the present tense, which lets the spare prose describe the emotions, motivations, and actions of the characters. Intense, heart-felt, illuminating, it ought to be read by readers interested in 20th-century Germany, WWII, and the psychology of survivor's guilt and the power o...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28971284">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28971284]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28971284]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>15985544</id>
    <user>
    <id>158374</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Anne]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Provincetown, MA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/158374-anne-sanow]]></link>
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  <isbn>0375421041</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375421044</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">4</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1182874257m/1342699.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1182874257s/1342699.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1342699.The_Dark_Room</link>
  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[A debut novel that retells the history of twentieth-century Germany through the experiences of three ordinary Germans. <br/><br/>Helmut:  A boy born with a physical deformity finds work as a photographer&#8217;s assistant during the 1930s and captures on film the changing temper of Berlin, the city he loves. But his acute photographic eye never provides him with the power to understand the significance of what he sees through his camera. . . . Lore:  In the weeks following Germany&#8217;s surrender, a teenage girl whose parents are both in Allied captivity takes her younger siblings on a terrifying, illegal journey through the four zones of occupation in search of her grandmother. . . . Micha: Many years after the war, a young man trying to discover why the Russians imprisoned his grandfather for nine years after the war meets resistance at every turn; the only person who agrees, reluctantly, to help him is compromised by his own past.<br/><br/><em>The Dark Room</em> evokes the experiences of the individual with astonishing emotional depth and psychological authenticity. With dazzling originality and to profound effect, Rachel Seiffert has re-envisioned and illuminated signal moments of the twentieth century in all their drama and complexity.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2001</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Feb 21 08:02:15 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Feb 21 08:05:13 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[These three novella-length stories are terrific: Seiffert manages to write in a manner that's both spare and detailed.  The two pieces set in wartime (featuring Helmut and Lore) are the most immediate and compelling; there's some momentum lost in the Micha story, set 50 years later, but it does serv...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15985544">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15985544]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15985544]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>9407028</id>
    <user>
    <id>619015</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Michelle]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[markham, Canada]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
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    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
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  <read_at>Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Nov 21 14:28:18 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Nov 21 14:34:39 -0800 2007</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[This book deals with modern Germans coming to terms with WWII and the roles their forebears played in the war, in the form of three stories.  To quote the jacket: &quot;...probes the modern German psyche through the experiences of three ordinary people.&quot;  It is a brilliant book and was shortlis...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9407028">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9407028]]></url>
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      <review>
  <id>14837102</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Jean]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>123</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
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  <date_added>Thu Feb 07 12:19:49 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Feb 07 12:22:31 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book is good at evoking the details of how people deal with the war, but it ends up very weird and amoral.  I understand that sometimes things have to be done in war, that people would normally not choose to do.  However, I think that this story shows the seamy, unnecessary side of those choice...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14837102">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14837102]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14837102]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>30906814</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Dipanjan]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Dark Room]]>
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  <average_rating>3.65</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[<em>The Dark Room</em> 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: <br/>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.<br/>Seiffert writes about the &quot;real, everyday people&quot;, about the ones who didn't actually &quot;do it&quot;. She writes chronologically, from Helmut's birth in 1921 to Micha living in Germany in 1997, and widens the time-frame with each story. <p> 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. <em>The Dark Room</em> 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. --<em>Olivia Dickinson</em> </p>]]>
  </description>
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  <read_at>Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Aug 22 10:50:25 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Aug 22 10:53:56 -0700 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[It is one of the excellent books i've read... It explained three scenarios in Germany at three different times, all three were related to the world war II. It really expressed the feeling of the germans about their country in three different times...]]></body>
    
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