La sala d'ambra

by Heinz G. Konsalik

Nel 1716 Federico Guglielmo, re di Prussia, regalò allo zar di Russia Pietro il Grande un tesoro di valore inestimabile: una sala interamente d'ambra, in ogni sua parte. Due secoli dopo, nel 1941, i tedeschi della Wehrmacht trafugarono e portarono a Konigsberg quel pezzo unico e da allora se ne persero le tracce.Konsalik, ricostruendo la storia passata e recente, dal 1716 ad oggi, della Sala d'ambra, tenta di ritrovare il tesoro perduto.

Genres: Historical Fiction, German Literature, Roman

495 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Heinz G. Konsalik (pseudonym of Heinz Günther) was a German novelist.

Many of his books deal with war and showed the German human side of things as experienced by their soldiers and families at home, for instance Das geschenkte Gesicht (The Mutilated Face), which deals with a German soldier's recovery after his sledge ran over a personnel mine and destroyed his face, and how this affected his relationship with his wife at home. It places no judgment on the German position in the war and simply deals with human beings in often desperate situations, doing what they were forced to do under German military law.

Der Arzt von Stalingrad (The Doctor of Stalingrad) made him famous and was adapted into a movie in 1958. Some 83 million copies sold of his 155 novels made him the most popular German novelist of the postwar era and many of his novels were translated and sold through book clubs. He is buried in Cologne.

Reviews

[Martin Gafner · Rating 3 out of 5]

aus den Gemächern des Katharinen-Palasts in leningrad, über Königsberg, bis in die geheimen Stollen Hitlers folgt Michael Wachter dem kostbaren Zimmer: seine Familie bewacht den Saal aus 'Sonnenstein' schon seit der Zeit des russischen Zaren. Nach dem Krieg droht sich die Spur zu verlieren, bis Wachter und ein amerikanischer Geheimdienstoffizier eine neue Fährte entdecken - doch diesmal geht es um Leben und Tod.

[Iris AE · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Konsalik has a bad reputation for "cheap" trashy novels, this one in particular is well researched. Yet, he builds a fantasy fiction around the plot, which is too incredible and paints the grim reality too rosy. Still, reading the novel and going to the Amber Chamber a few days later left quite some impression...

[BasziK · Rating 2 out of 5]

second world war