In Free Fall

Feb 22, 2013 Kai Schreiber rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Zeh hat sich ein bisschen am Thema übernommen. Die Diskussionen auf höchstem Niveau schrammen immer ein wenig an den relevanten Punkten vorbei, und die Behauptung, Kopernikus habe die flache Erde wiederlegt einem hochgebildeten Physiker in den Mund zu legen ist beinahe schon ein wenig peinlich, das Buzzthema freier Wille ist angeklebt - nur weil der öffentliche Diskurs Zufall und Freiheit andauernd verwechselt, müssen die Fachleute in Romanen das ja nicht auch tun - und die Natur der Viel-Welten...more

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Jun 25, 2010 Seán rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, first-reads, crime-lit

Like my man Wally Abish, you crack the spine and ask, "How German Is It"? Über, mein gelehrter freund!

Seriously, what is more German than a high brow police procedural about physicists and a murder in a university town on the edge of the Black Forest? Also, peep the author's photo. It's endearingly weird and Teutonic.

Positioned on the moderately arty end of the crime novel spectrum, Zeh has leavened genre convention with a hearty dose of epistemological thinkables and nuggets o' quantum mechanic...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Shruti Rao rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's only after a harrowed search on Goodreads for a copy of Dark Matter for days did I chance upon the fact that it Zeh's novel, originally in German, was released in America as In Free Fall. Thanks, USA.

There are books you read and love, and then there are the ones you read when you're going through a personal crisis and the words on the page seem like a hallucination. Surely the author didn't know exactly how to articulate your dense, impenetrable chaos? You read the book in a drunken frenzy,...more It's only after a harrowed search on Goodreads for a copy of Dark Matter for days did I chance upon the fact that it Zeh's novel, originally in German, was released in America as In Free Fall. Thanks, USA.

There are books you read and love, and then there are the ones you read when you're going through a personal crisis and the words on the page seem like a hallucination. Surely the author didn't know exactly how to articulate your dense, impenetrable chaos? You read the book in a drunken frenzy, coming up every now and then, in absolute shock, wondering if this is all happening. You pick up highlighters, pens, post-its and start marking your territory, tearing the sanctity of the text, underlining sentences three, four times with a pencil, as if to point out to the stranger sitting next to you that this here, is it. This is your life. These are your thoughts. This is no coincidence.

This is entirely relative, and it will cloud my review of the book, but I consider Zeh's masterpiece a life-changing event. To be given the power of articulation during a tough time, is, for me, one of the highest acts of mankind. The book is dense, but not in the way you always imagined Joyce's Ulysses or Kafka's Metamorphosis to be (I say imagine, because I haven't). It can be really annoying to read if you're not in the zone, although, so you've been warned. I don't know what your "zone" should be for reading this book, but I know it'll change the way you see things around you, marvel at the brimful of talent available in the world.

The summary, as usual, you'll have to look up. My reviews tend to spill into the realm of my own personal experience of them, and I hate that I didn't read this book in 2011, so I could say this is the best book I've read in 2011, and it would mean something. To call a book the best you've read all year in January, is a little presumptuous.

Please pick up the book and go in armed with an open mind and a pencil. The language is exquisite, magical and powerful, for which the translator must be commended as much as Zeh. Science geeks can have their orgasm, literature-philes can have their orgasm, philosophers can have their orgasm, and murder mystery/thriller enthusiasts can have their orgasm.

It really is THAT good.

I held the book a lot closer to me after I finished reading it.

5 philosophers sitting in a room, discussing the worth of your life to Dark Matter by Zeh.(less)

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Jul 06, 2010 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-audio-books, 2010-mysteries

In Free Fall, by Juli Zeh, (translated from German) A-minus, narrated by Mark Branhill, produced by Random House Audio, and downloaded from audible.com.

This book is strange, but with razor-sharp humor and characters who are quirky but somewhat charming. Chapter headings are summaries of what will be in the chapter, such as: “A child is kidnapped but does not know it. One man dies, two physicists fight, and a senior constable falls in love. In the end, everything is different...yet
exactly the sam...more

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Jun 20, 2010 Jmm rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommend-for-some-readers, police-procedural, germany

Would you commit murder as the ransom for your kidnapped child? Was physicist Sebastian's son, Liam, really kidnapped or is Liam's kidnapping a story his father invented? Is there a parallel universe where other versions of our lives play out? These questions all form part of the strange plot of Juli Zeh's intriguing police procedural In Free Fall whose quirky cast of characters include two physicists, a socially awkward female detective, and a senior detective with a terminal brain tumor.

While...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Prowisorio rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ik had Vrije val niet op een beter gekozen moment kunnen lezen, denk ik... Nog niet zolang gelezen heb ik 1984 herlezen, maar vooral Alle mensen heten Janus dat ik een week voor het lezen van Vrije val heb uitgelezen, heeft ervoor gezorgd dat ik met nog meer plezier dit boek van Zeh heb gelezen. Niet alleen omdat allerlei idee��n en (wetenschappelijke) theorie��n waar Zeh mee 'speelt' in dit boek, in Janus aan de orde kwamen, maar vooral omdat het thema van beide boeken voor mijn gevoel overee...more Ik had Vrije val niet op een beter gekozen moment kunnen lezen, denk ik... Nog niet zolang gelezen heb ik 1984 herlezen, maar vooral Alle mensen heten Janus dat ik een week voor het lezen van Vrije val heb uitgelezen, heeft ervoor gezorgd dat ik met nog meer plezier dit boek van Zeh heb gelezen. Niet alleen omdat allerlei idee��n en (wetenschappelijke) theorie��n waar Zeh mee 'speelt' in dit boek, in Janus aan de orde kwamen, maar vooral omdat het thema van beide boeken voor mijn gevoel overeen kwam: de tweedeling in de mens, nl. ratio en gevoel. Volgens Klukhuhn is wetenschap de uiterste consequentie van de ratio, net als kunst dat van het gevoel is.. Vandaar de Januskop.

Dit thema komt in Vrije val tot uiting in de twee hoofdrolspelers Oskar (ratio, empiristist, vrijgezel) en Sebastian (gevoel, theoreticus, getrouwd met een vrouw, die eigenaresse is van een ... kunsthandel), terwijl ze wel beiden op hetzelfde gebied werkzaam zijn: de fysica. Natuurlijk, want dat mag je verwachten van Juli Zeh, speelt ook de moraal en het recht (spreken) een belangrijke rol. Het laatste is niet echt een onderwerp in Janus, maar 'goed en kwaad en waarheid' zijn natuurlijk onderwerpen bij uitstek van de filosofie. Het was absoluut toeval dat ik de boeken in deze volgorde heb gelezen, net zoals het toeval is dat de deeltjesversneller in Cern ten tijde van het lezen van Vrije val, waar Oskar werkzaam is, onder veel media-aandacht (weer) werd opgestart. En ook was het toeval dat ik, even voor het lezen van Vrije val, bij een hoofdpersoon in een serie op tv. de gevolgen van een hersentumor kon volgen (waanvoorstellingen). Commissaris Riet heeft namelijk ook een hersentumor.... En laat toeval nou ook nog een grote rol spelen in Vrije val, waardoor degene die eerst een rechttoe rechtaan moordenaar lijkt, ineens niet meer de werkelijke schuldige (b)lijkt. In ieder geval niet volgens commissaris Riet. Denkt hij. Dacht hij.

Moet je eerst Janus hebben gelezen? Of 1984? Of je eerst hebben verdiept in de kwantummechanica of de relativiteitstheorie. Of eerst begrijpen waarom de oorzaak van het bouwen van een huis, de oplevering van dat huis is? Welnee. Ook zonder die kennis, is Vrije val een prachtig boek. Bijna of misschien dan juist wel een echte literaire thriller.(less)

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Jan 09, 2013 Judith Kautz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sie möchte ihn packen und schütteln und anschreien, oder vielleicht auch umarmen und streicheln und an ihm riechen..

Wenn M. in ihrem bisherigen Leben etwas weniger Glück und etwas mehr Unglück erfahren hätte, würde sie den Rufnamen dieser Leere kennen: Angst.

...unverzeihliche Fehler.. zeichnen sich nicht durch Unachtsamkeit, Irrtum oder das Fehlen besseren Wissens aus. Ihre Besonderheit besteht darin, auch bei Kenntnis aller Umstände keine Alternative zuzulassen.

Die Mischung ihrer Körpergerüche...more

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Sep 20, 2010 Timothy Hallinan rated it 4 of 5 stars

The first Juli Zeh novel I've read, FREE FALL won't be the last. She's a fiercely intelligent writer playing some very inventive games with the mystery form. Oskar and Sebastian are one-time kindreds souls, brilliant physicists inseparable as students but gradually estranged over conflicting creation theories, for want of a better term. Sebastian has found a new life with a wife and child, but Oskar is a fierce solitary except for the one night a month he comes to dinner. And then a nightmare be...more

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Aug 21, 2010 Dorothy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I started to read the book a few months ago and misplaced it. When I found it I had to start over reading it. This is not a light beach read. You need to pay attention to the story line. The book is classified as a mystery but it almost like reading a science fiction novel. It was some what confusing until I realized that we are experiencing most of the story line through the police detective and then things start to make a little more sense. I rarely read books over again, but for me this is a...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Prakash rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have to admit I couldn't able to get the rhythm of the novel at first 150 pages. Once Schilf enters, I found its very interesting and easy. But the end - with full of magical realism(A bird soars into the air), made it difficult once again.

One thing is pretty clear, It needs a lot of work from the reader side. One need to know about qunatum physics, Schrodinger's cat paradox, George orwell's writings and more and more about the 4th dimension.

The design of Maike, Rita and Julia are too good....more

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Jan 08, 2013 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this was NOT a bedtime reading book. There's lots of little details to pay attention to, and some of the physics discussions can get quite dense. Also, while the translation from German is really excellent, the sentence structures and thought patterns were not what I was used to and so I had to really focus. The atmosphere of the novel is absorbing and the story is fascinating. Some of the physics ideas discussed were really interesting. The patterning of Oskar after Oscar Wilde was very...more

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May 30, 2010 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, mystery

I received a free copy of this book as a first reads promotion. I was skeptical, thinking how good can it be if they are giving copies away? After reading 2 pages my skepticism was gone. After 5 pages I was hooked.

The writing in this book is really interesting. Lyrical without being overwrought, cerebral without being pretentious.

This book is classified as a mystery by the publisher, but it is not a conventional mystery. The crime and the perpetrator are revealed in the narrative. The mystery l...more

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Jun 22, 2010 Suzanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-read

I was one of the winners of this first-read giveaway. I am not a fan of mysteries, but I must say that this one grabbed me from the outset. Zeh is a very talented writer and a very educated one who has written on a difficult subject dealing with the tension between two phyicists who are friends but also adversaries in their beliefs. The physics concepts she presents were challenging to envision but the story and her characterizations were so well presented that it kept me reading to the end. Int...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Liviu rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011_release_read, mainstream, read_2012

book that made waves and I kept an eye on it, finally bought a copy...
read only a chapter or so but very deserving of the acclaim so far

a little disappointing in the end; very clever and well written but reads more like a puzzle than a novel with characters that are flat and lifeless with few exceptions

the physics involved is very 20-30's rather than modern (as a few tidbits, the many worlds interpretation in its modern Multiverse incarnation is something taken very seriously today not a fringe...more

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May 03, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, european

DARK MATTER is one of those books that I picked up with considerable happy anticipation, so was more than a little startled to find myself really struggling to get into the start of it. Until a point at which I found I wasn't struggling and was completely absorbed.

And I suspect that's very much what the book is set out to do. Set in Freiburg near the Black Forest, the book starts out with two men and their obsessions. Their friendship begins at University, studying physics - Sebastian, retains h...more DARK MATTER is one of those books that I picked up with considerable happy anticipation, so was more than a little startled to find myself really struggling to get into the start of it. Until a point at which I found I wasn't struggling and was completely absorbed.

And I suspect that's very much what the book is set out to do. Set in Freiburg near the Black Forest, the book starts out with two men and their obsessions. Their friendship begins at University, studying physics - Sebastian, retains his love of physics opting for academia, sharing his love of physics with his love for his wife Maike and young son Liam. Oskar is less traditional, hanging onto many of the eccentricities of their university days - he goes onto research, pure physics. Despite a falling out between the two, they continue to meet on the first Friday of every month and debate - argue - discuss late into the night. Then Liam is kidnapped and Sebastian is told that he must kill a man to regain his son. Understandably his life shatters, he feels set adrift from everybody and everything and he makes some choices which seem to the reader, the outsider, inexplicable.

It's through the early phase of the book that I really found myself struggling - firstly with the relationship between Sebastian and Oskar which, whilst interesting, didn't seem to be telling me anything in particular, and secondly with how Sebastian, a supposedly intelligent man, managed to let himself be manipulated to that point (despite father love and the desire to do anything to protect your child, without giving the plot away, there are factors which seem inexplicable).

But enter the police Detective Schilf and things get really interesting - the book shifts focus from an almost mocking, frivolous tone into a profoundly emotional character study. Not just a character study, this book quickly evolves into one in which the reader is forced to consider some hairy questions - what would you do if you had weeks or hours to live, one final case, and a guilty man in extenuating circumstances?

It's also at this point that the structure of the book begins to makes sense - and those chapter introductions stop being slightly quirky (Chapter one in seven parts. Sebastian cuts curves. Maike cooks. Oskar comes to visit. Physics is for lovers. / Chapter four in seven parts. Rita Skura has a cat. The human being is a hole in nothingness. After a delay the detective chief superintendent enters the scene) and start to have a point - sometimes they ask a question / sometimes they state a thought to be explored / sometimes they just intrigue. All in all it's at this point that DARK MATTER stops being a slightly darker version of TV's The Big Bang Theory and starts to become a character study of depth, layers and great emotional impact.

All in all I'd have to say, stick with the early part of DARK MATTER. It's not crime fiction just for entertainment, and it's often confusing and slightly odd and there are parts of the book that will make you stop and think, and maybe back-track a bit. But this is crime fiction for thought provocation and boy does it manage to do exactly that.(less)

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Mar 17, 2011 Julie Smith (Knitting and Sundries) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Julie by: Books R Us http://www.booksrusonline.com/

Shelves: reviewed

This review first appeared on my blog: http://www.knittingandsundries.com/20...

A strange, symbiotic friendship between Sebastian and Oskar . . . visits with each other that feel like confrontations . . . a doctor's patients that seem to have died from drug experimentation . . . a murder based on a misunderstanding . . . and conflict over the "Many Worlds" theory, which basically means that everything that can happen HAS happened on a parallel timeline . . .

These are some of the happenings in thi...more

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Aug 06, 2010 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: european, crime

DARK MATTER is one of those books that I picked up with considerable happy anticipation, so was more than a little startled to find myself really struggling to get into the start of it. Until a point at which I found I wasn't struggling and was completely absorbed.

And I suspect that's very much what the book is set out to do. Set in Freiburg near the Black Forest, the book starts out with two men and their obsessions. Their friendship begins at University, studying physics - Sebastian, retains h...more DARK MATTER is one of those books that I picked up with considerable happy anticipation, so was more than a little startled to find myself really struggling to get into the start of it. Until a point at which I found I wasn't struggling and was completely absorbed.

And I suspect that's very much what the book is set out to do. Set in Freiburg near the Black Forest, the book starts out with two men and their obsessions. Their friendship begins at University, studying physics - Sebastian, retains his love of physics opting for academia, sharing his love of physics with his love for his wife Maike and young son Liam. Oskar is less traditional, hanging onto many of the eccentricities of their university days - he goes onto research, pure physics. Despite a falling out between the two, they continue to meet on the first Friday of every month and debate - argue - discuss late into the night. Then Liam is kidnapped and Sebastian is told that he must kill a man to regain his son. Understandably his life shatters, he feels set adrift from everybody and everything and he makes some choices which seem to the reader, the outsider, inexplicable.

It's through the early phase of the book that I really found myself struggling - firstly with the relationship between Sebastian and Oskar which, whilst interesting, didn't seem to be telling me anything in particular, and secondly with how Sebastian, a supposedly intelligent man, managed to let himself be manipulated to that point (despite father love and the desire to do anything to protect your child, without giving the plot away, there are factors which seem inexplicable).

But enter the police Detective Schilf and things get really interesting - the book shifts focus from an almost mocking, frivolous tone into a profoundly emotional character study. Not just a character study, this book quickly evolves into one in which the reader is forced to consider some hairy questions - what would you do if you had weeks or hours to live, one final case, and a guilty man in extenuating circumstances?

It's also at this point that the structure of the book begins to makes sense - and those chapter introductions stop being slightly quirky (Chapter one in seven parts. Sebastian cuts curves. Maike cooks. Oskar comes to visit. Physics is for lovers. / Chapter four in seven parts. Rita Skura has a cat. The human being is a hole in nothingness. After a delay the detective chief superintendent enters the scene) and start to have a point - sometimes they ask a question / sometimes they state a thought to be explored / sometimes they just intrigue. All in all it's at this point that DARK MATTER stops being a slightly darker version of TV's The Big Bang Theory and starts to become a character study of depth, layers and great emotional impact.

All in all I'd have to say, stick with the early part of DARK MATTER. It's not crime fiction just for entertainment, and it's often confusing and slightly odd and there are parts of the book that will make you stop and think, and maybe back-track a bit. But this is crime fiction for thought provocation and boy does it manage to do exactly that.
(less)

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Jul 23, 2010 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mysterious, work-in-translation, firstreads, books-i-own, 2010

In In Free Fall, author Juli Zeh combines murder, mental health, and the time-space continuum to create cinematic murder mystery. Originally published in German and titled Schilf, after the detective who solves the case, there is very little mystery about who the killer is, or his motive for that matter. It's the contrast between the characters, their thought processes, and how they come to terms.

Detective Schilf, for one, is a combination between an ancient mystic and an idiot-savant. He litera...more In In Free Fall, author Juli Zeh combines murder, mental health, and the time-space continuum to create cinematic murder mystery. Originally published in German and titled Schilf, after the detective who solves the case, there is very little mystery about who the killer is, or his motive for that matter. It's the contrast between the characters, their thought processes, and how they come to terms.

Detective Schilf, for one, is a combination between an ancient mystic and an idiot-savant. He literally stumbles onto the answer to his cases by visiting cafes, and looking for coincidences. He doubts his own perceptions, and isn't even sure that his new girlfriend actually eists outside of his mind. His former student, and primary investigator for the case, Rita Skura, has learned to be a detective by always following the opposite of her instinct--if she believes a confession, she must assume the confessor is actually innocent, and vice-versa. While these two are not necessarily the primary characters, they provide an interesting comparison of the two major types of detectives. Schilf is a transcendental Hercule Poirot, his "little grey cells" capable of synthesizing evidence on an apparently subconscious level. Skura is the prototypical strong female cop in any police procedural. She follows leads, tests DNA, interrogates suspects and persons of interest, all of the usual police work.

The protagonist, Sebastian, is a physics professor interested especially in the multiple worlds theory of time. Essentially, this theory suggests that at any given moment, there is a world in which I am typing this book review, and a world in which I stop, turn off the computer, and do a multitude of other things instead. Time is like a foam, and at each moment, more and more worlds are able to bubble off, each existing distinctly, but derived from a common history. Honestly, I've never found physics so interesting.

As for the writing itself, I'm eager to my hands on a copy in German, but this translation by Christine Lo seems very accurate. It leaves intact many of the more cinematic elements of the novel. The book is split into seven sections, each prefaced by a few brief sentences, reminiscent of a playbill's description of acts. And, as this novel is set to be made into a movie (which I am excited to watch), the sort of passive descriptions given and the brief thoughts and motivations outlined in the narration are of a sort that will translate easily into action, not dialogue, in a film.

Zeh's subtlety in writing is a great strength, and a great asset to the reader. While there are many standout moments, it is the book as a whole which is strong, and the narration which carries the reader to the end.(less)

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Jun 22, 2010 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. As I received a free copy of this book, here's my attempt to offer a review as my thanks.

Though the book is labeled as a psychological thriller, I found it to be more an intellectual exercise than a psychological one. Generally, my personal reaction to psychological thrillers is something I experience in my gut, while this book I experienced more in my head...

Not being one for review-as-synopsis, I'll wing it...

The benefit of this conceptual foray into the police procedural / thriller genre, is...more

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Aug 11, 2010 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, own, recommend

First-reads giveaway win!

Sebastian and Oskar, both physicists, are either friends (perhaps secret lovers?) or bitter rivals. They shared a common bond – the love of physics (and maybe love for each other?). The desire for knowledge about the universe and beyond drives them both to unthinkable deeds.

In Free Fall by Juli Zeh was a great read. I was instantly drawn to the characters and the setting. I loved that the story was set in a city in Germany that I’ve actually visited! I could picture Fr...more

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Nov 12, 2007 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ihre Wortgewalt ist eine ihrer großen Stärken, aber leider hält ihr Können als Erzählerin einer mitreissenden Geschichte da nicht mit - Juli Zeh schreibt auch in "Schilf" wieder ungezählte großartige, starke Sätze, aber die Motivationslage ihrer Protagonisten vermag sie an der entscheidenden Stelle nicht überzeugend zu vermitteln. Dass eine derart finale Entscheidung, wie sie im Mittelpunkt der Erzählung steht, so kurzfristig und geradezu in Panik getroffen wird, ist zwar vorstellbar, aber eben...more

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Aug 17, 2010 Janine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I had my reservations at first, but after getting lost in the beautiful prose at the beginning, I was hooked. An interesting, and often times, cerebral read, this book delivered.

The relationship between Oskar and Sebastian was aggravating and fascinating at the same time. At times, I wanted to smack them both for their petty jealousies of each other, but it was real and honest. I felt bad for them both in the end. I loved the flaws nature of each of the characters, and I could relate to all of t...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Glyn Smith-Wild rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an intriguing, complex and inspirational book. Juli's descriptive prowess saturated the pages. Even the two ducks - Bonnie and Clyde - had a part to play. Toward the end of the book, when the dtecetive was hurrying home to his flat, the ducks, swimming towards him said: 'Quick, quick.' How clever is that? I didn't find it an easy read, but very enjoyable, very worth while.

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Oct 12, 2012 Pavlína rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Opět kniha, od které jsem se nemohla utrhnout. Nečtu detektivky, ale tohle není detektivky. Nečtu populárně-naučné knihy z oblasti fyziky, ale tohle není populárně-naučná kniha. Nečtu poezii, ale tohle není poezie (i když poetických obratů a popisů je tu vrchovatě). Čtu knihu Juli Zeh a olizuju si všech deset prstů. Zážitek. Jako vždy. Chci další!!!
PS: Vážně můžu dát jen 5 hvězdiček?

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Nov 29, 2010 Bob rated it 3 of 5 stars

This may be a prize winner in a literary sense, but I found it way to "Busy" and cluttered with "mind games" for my taste. I stuck it out but it was somewhat of a chore and I felt left hanging at the end. Probably because I don't have the right mindset to follow the convolutions. I like my reading more straight forward.

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Dec 08, 2010 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I didn't know what was going on about a third of the time and wish the epilogue would have been longer to help me sort things out. I found a lot of sweetness here (amidst some horrifying moments), and things to think about, including a concept involving the mountains that I'd never heard before.

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Jun 21, 2010 Dixie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, fiction, favorites

I won a copy of this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

In Free Fall is a fast moving suspense novel. A pair of dueling physicists provides refreshing subject matter as does the notion of research on time and parallel time lines in a non-science fiction realm. The relationship between Sebastian and Oskar, friends and physicists, is complicated and intriguing. A smart cast of characters and vivid descriptors round out the story. All of the tie-ins to birds and the senior detective's br...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Milchund Kaese rated it 4 of 5 stars

Endlich mal wieder ein gutes Buch von Juli Zeh! Nachdem ich bei "Adler und Engel" irgendwann frustriert aufgegeben habe. Die Story war einfach so unglaublich hanebüchen und bescheuert, musste ich Schilf innerhalb von 3 Tagen weglesen, weil es einfach so spannend war. Natürlich ist die Story auch ziemlich fantastisch aber ich konnte mich darauf einlassen.
Typische Themen von Juli Zeh mit Genies und der Suche nach sich selbst beziehungsweise einem Sinn des Lebens und man denke auch dem typischen so...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Simon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow - this is not your normal mystery or thriller book.

It's maybe because I was just tired, or maybe because I failed my Higher Physics, but I just didn't really 'get it'. It's had rave reviews for being a completely different kind of thriller, and that it certainly is. With a running theme of an anaylsis of time, it does have an intriguing mystery element to it.

In the end though, I found the thriller element a bit empty and disappointing. I must admit I did finish the book without having a clue...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was an amazing mystery---exceptionally well-written and with a fascinating plot. German author and taking place in Germany, it deals with 2 physicists who have been friends since college. Highly recommended.

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