Astas Tagebuch, 3 CDs (ADAC Motorwelt Krimi-Edition)

by Barbara Vine, Ruth Rendell, Anna Thalbach (Sprecher)

book data

289 ratings, 3.90 average rating, 32 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		28%
4		39%
3		27%
2		3%
1		1%

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published

April 1st 2007 by Audio Media Verlag (first published October 1st 1993)

details

Audio CD

isbn

3939606456 (isbn13: 9783939606451)

description

ADAC Motorwelt ADAC: Barbara Vine | Astas Tagebuch (3 CDs), VÃ-Datum: 26.04.07

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Sep 05, 2007

Philip rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176616)

bookshelves: favorites

Owns a copy — Read in October, 2009

recommends it for: Just About Everyone

This is my favorite novel by Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine, and at this point just about my favorite novel, period. I recently finished reading it for the eleventh time. I much prefer the book's British title, ASTA'S BOOK, for a character's name definitely influences how you envision them.

A famous diary that may provide clues to a brutal murder, a present-day narrative by the diarist's grand-daughter, and a trial transcript - from these elements Rendell weaves together a sp...more

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Dec 09, 2009

LizG rated it:

(review of isbn 0517587963)

Read in December, 2009

I came across an old list of reading recommendations a few weeks ago and requested a few of them from the library. I love that service. I go online, find the books I'm looking for, and they deliver them to the library a couple of block away. Brilliant.

Anyway, I had long forgotten why the book was recommended, but I do know I shared a similar literary sensibility with the long ago list-provider, so I added it to the roster of requests. Kitty, you were absolutely right, it's a book wor...more I came across an old list of reading recommendations a few weeks ago and requested a few of them from the library. I love that service. I go online, find the books I'm looking for, and they deliver them to the library a couple of block away. Brilliant.

Anyway, I had long forgotten why the book was recommended, but I do know I shared a similar literary sensibility with the long ago list-provider, so I added it to the roster of requests. Kitty, you were absolutely right, it's a book worth recommending.

It seems the book's title has changed at some point from Asta's Book to Anna's Book -- don't let this confuse or stop you. Don't let the lame book description stop you either, it's actually a very good read.

I almost gave up on the book very near the beginning due to confusion with the use of names and pronouns (which "she" are they referring to?!). Note: I'm not one to read books that require a diagram'd family tree to keep the players straight. Once I got clear that Asta is in fact Mormor (the Danish name for one's maternal grandmother) and Rasmus is also Morfar (how the Danish refer to one's maternal grandfather), things flowed much more smoothly.

In fact, I had a hard time putting the book down. It flows between the diary author's thoughts and the granddaughter's narrative, slowly but surely peeling back and deepening the mystery and its aftermath, many, many years later. And each time you think you are near to unraveling the puzzle, the red herring is exposed while you are teased into continuing in the journey for truth.

I enjoyed the insight into that era, early 1900's as an immigrant to England. Even more so, I enjoyed the unapologetic and honest perspective of the diarist with her lack of emotion and at times harsh and critical view of life and those around her. She is not without love and not vicious. Simply free to express her true feelings in a diary she expects no one will ever read.

The players of the past entwine, as do the characters of the present, to a surprising as well as plausible conclusion. I love a well-spun story and this deliciously fits the bill. I became engrossed and found I very much wanted to learn the truth along with the granddaughter.

I am satiated. I may need to rest before I pick up another novel.(less)

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Sep 07, 2009

Cissy rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

Read in September, 2009

I'm a person who really appreciates a complex, engrossing, multi-tiered plot filled with twists and turns and the happy prospect of thousands of pages to come. But sadly, Anna's Book seemed too long, and not in a good way. Too much time was spent on the boring and predictable story-within-a-story about the murder trial. I also was impatient with all the unrealistic hoopla over Anna's published diaries--they weren't that interesting, nor was she, or really, any of the other (too many) characters....more

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Apr 24, 2009

Chambodia rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

Read in March, 2009

This is the first book I've read by this author. It sat on my bookshelf for a few years before I pulled it off, but once I started reading, I was hooked. It's not a typical mystery. I was drawn into Anna's mundane journal entries and her honesty about her relationships/worldview. The granddaughter's story was less interesting, but it did help tidy up the loose ends.

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Jun 13, 2007

Alice rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

bookshelves: mystery

Read in March, 2007

recommends it for: Mystery junkies, psychologists, genealogists, historians

Ruth Rendell is not your typical mystery writer...she tends to dwell more upon the psychological triggers of a crime or explore the mysteries within specific family structures. In Anna's Book, she explores a secret in a British family of Danes. Through the matriarch's diary entries, one of the family members tries to find out a secret kept quiet for decades: the true identity of "Swanny." Was Swanny adopted? Was she really a child of a brutally murdered woman that had 'disappeared from...more

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Apr 14, 2009

Kathy Rogers rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

Read in April, 2009

A great read, fascinating story, but I would never have attributed it to Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine. I loved the plot within a plot; it took a while to tie the different mysteries together. Not recommended if you're looking for the deep psychological thrillers I usually associate with Barbara Vine.

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Aug 24, 2009

Victor J. rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

Another Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine novel. This one is better than the last, Blood Doctor, but I could not help but think of the infamous review by Ambrose Bierce: The covers of this book are too far apart."

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Nov 12, 2009

Lori S added it (review of isbn 0451405498)

Read in November, 2009

Good read, got kind of bogged down, but the end was worth it. It says on the back jacket that she got an honorary doctorate from BGSU. Wonder when that was?

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Sep 03, 2007

KBM rated it:

(review of isbn 0517156741)

bookshelves: fiction, mystery

(This is by Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine)
How to describe this book? It has one of my favorite set-ups -- a family/historical mystery solved by people in the current day. But that is simplifying things a lot. Anna is a Danish housewife in London who keeps a diary in the early 1900s. Swanhild is her daughter -- after Anna's death she edits her mother's journals but is never able to find the truth of her parentage, the ONE thing she really wants to know. Ann is the present day na...more

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Aug 08, 2009

Shirley rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

bookshelves: mystery

Read in August, 2009

Generally good: Story of how one woman's diaries take on a life of their own, greatly influencing several lives.

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Oct 09, 2009

Mickie rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

Truth is I love almost anything by Barbara Vine and Ruth Rendel - same author, different writings

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Feb 18, 2010

Jnsanche rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

A book I read while in Cuba. Interesting but far from a literary masterpiece.

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Feb 21, 2009

Anita rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

bookshelves: mystery

Read in March, 2009

I love a good British mystery and Ruth Rendell, writing as Barbara Vine, always delivers an intriguing read. If you're looking for fast action, then this isn't the book to pick up, but if your fancy is a well written British cozy in the tradition of an Agatha Christie, then I would recommend this book.

I'm pretty good at figuring out "who-done-its" before the ending, but this one came as a complete surprise.

Anita

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1 comment

Dec 19, 2009

Jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

A very unlikeable protagonist/diarist.
Too drawn out for me. 2.5 stars.

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Jun 26, 2009

Lianne Ramsden rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

Its title as published in Britain is Asta's Book

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Mar 26, 2009

Denise rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

Read in January, 2001

Excellent use of story within a story technique and of journals/letters as part of the narrative.

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Mar 27, 2009

Jz marked it as to-read (review of isbn 0451405498)

bookshelves: mystery, own, to-read

Written 1993.

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Jan 10, 2010

Denise added it (review of isbn 0451405498)

Read in January, 2010

Bom até agora, excepto toda aquela treta de toda a gente estar tão interessada nos diários.

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Apr 24, 2008

Gloria rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

bookshelves: contemporary-lit

Read in January, 2008

A deep family secret hides an event early in the 20th century. Story covers several generations of women and how this secret has affected the family. Set in England, the mystery comes unraveled via a diary; truly unanticipated twist at the end.

Appeal Factors: Family Secrets, Strong Women, Relocation, Story developed through Multiple Generations, Murder, Slowly Unraveling Mystery

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Jan 04, 2008

Anna rated it:

(review of isbn 0451405498)

Read in January, 2008

This historical fiction book drags a little in parts, but is an interesting point of view of life from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. The "mystery" at the center of the story wasn't that interesting to me, but I think others might like it.

Solid writing, but a little too "history teacher" for me at parts.

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