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Resistance
1944. After the fall of Russia and the failed D-Day landings, half of Britain is occupied ...Young farmer's wife Sarah Lewis wakes to find her husband has disappeared, along with all of the men from her remote Welsh village. A German patrol arrives in the valley, the purpose of their mission a mystery. Sarah begins a faltering acquaintance with the patrol's commanding officer, Albrecht, and it is to her that he reveals the purpose of his mission - to claim an extraordinary medieval art treasure that lies hidden in the valley. But as the pressure of the war beyond presses in on this isolated community, this fragile state of harmony is increasingly threatened.
368 pages, Paperback
First published February 10, 2007
80 people are currently reading
2313 people want to read
About the author
Owen Sheers
44 books138 followersOWEN SHEERS is a poet, author and playwright. His first novel, Resistance, was translated into ten languages and adapted into a film. The Dust Diaries, his Zimbabwean nonfiction narrative, won the Wales Book of the Year Award. His awards for poetry and drama include the Somerset Maugham Award for Skirrid Hill, the Hay Festival Medal for Poetry and Wales Book of the Year Award for Pink Mist, and the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award for his play The Two Worlds of Charlie F. His most recent novel is I Saw a Man, which was shortlisted for the Prix Femina Etranger. He lives in Wales with his wife and daughter. He has been a New York Public Library Cullman Fellow and is currently Professor in Creativity at Swansea University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 322 reviews
July 14, 2008
Started off with a bang, ended with a whimper. I read the last chapter over b/c I didn't quite know why it ended or how it ended. But the overall story line was highly captivating. I just wish that the author had a clearer definition on what he was writing. It wasn't a mystery, it wasn't a love story, nor was it a spy story.
June 5, 2011
What a disappointment! Such a great idea, an obviously talented author and a book that never really goes anywhere. Plus the female lead (Sarah) is probably the most boring woman in the history of literature. She has no thoughts, ideas or opinions of her own. She thinks about sheep and her husband and seems to act purely on impulse. I hope she was not intented as a tribute to Welsh women.
The opening chapters promise excitement, tension and scandalous love affairs. Unfortunately the book soon turns into a boring praise of farm living and the countryside. Because country people are like more authentic and stuff (will this myth ever die?). There's a lot of stuff about sheep, "simple yet honest folk doing the right thing" and descriptions of weather. The discriptive parts are admittedly beautifull, but they alone can't save the narrative.
The german officer and his team are the one interesting and not entirely shallow part of the story. I would have enjoyed a book told entirely from their perspective since there's actual character development, personal discovery and realistic conflict. It's a pity these interesting Germans ended up in a cardboard Welsh village full of cardboard women straight out of a travel guide.
I won't say anything about the lousy ending. At least it was consistent with the boring story. This is one book where I find myself rooting for the nazis and that's not exactly a good thing.
The opening chapters promise excitement, tension and scandalous love affairs. Unfortunately the book soon turns into a boring praise of farm living and the countryside. Because country people are like more authentic and stuff (will this myth ever die?). There's a lot of stuff about sheep, "simple yet honest folk doing the right thing" and descriptions of weather. The discriptive parts are admittedly beautifull, but they alone can't save the narrative.
The german officer and his team are the one interesting and not entirely shallow part of the story. I would have enjoyed a book told entirely from their perspective since there's actual character development, personal discovery and realistic conflict. It's a pity these interesting Germans ended up in a cardboard Welsh village full of cardboard women straight out of a travel guide.
I won't say anything about the lousy ending. At least it was consistent with the boring story. This is one book where I find myself rooting for the nazis and that's not exactly a good thing.
October 18, 2008
A valley side too far - Resistance by Owen Sheers
In Resistance Owen Sheers re-writes the history of World War Two. Germany has invaded Britain. The United States, having suffered reversals both east and west, has retreated home to navel gaze. Britain thus is occupied, but has not yet succumbed.
In a remote rural community on the Welsh borders, a whole valley of farming families awakes one morning to find that all the men have gone. No-one knows where. They were recruited, perhaps, into an underground resistance and not one of them let slip any of the details. This, frankly, is incredible.
The demands of farming, however, continue, despite invasions and estrangement. Sarah, though devastated by her husband’s, Tom’s, disappearance, must battle on. There are dogs to see to, lambs to nurture, pigs to feed and foals to train. This permanence of landscape and activity is thus set against massive upheaval. Not only have the men gone, but German troops have appeared, troops who seem to be more on holiday than at war. Again, incredible.
Alex is good with animals and helps at Sarah’s farm, as does Albrecht, an English-speaking, Oxford-educated academic, uncomfortable in military garb. Relationships develop, whilst most involved apparently remain increasingly apologetic.
Owen Sheers also wants us to believe a scenario for conquest where the invaders lay siege to the cities. Again this lacks credibility, since German military success in the Second World War seemed to come when invasions went straight to the centre. Where they lay siege, such as Leningrad or Stalingrad, they failed. But then the whole point is that the history has been reversed.
In a situation where passions and tempers would probably have been frayed, tested at least, Owen Sheers presents a community that seems to survive just as before, minus the local males. Resistance is well written and is very readable, often beautiful. But it does demand that one’s belief be suspended from very high indeed.
In Resistance Owen Sheers re-writes the history of World War Two. Germany has invaded Britain. The United States, having suffered reversals both east and west, has retreated home to navel gaze. Britain thus is occupied, but has not yet succumbed.
In a remote rural community on the Welsh borders, a whole valley of farming families awakes one morning to find that all the men have gone. No-one knows where. They were recruited, perhaps, into an underground resistance and not one of them let slip any of the details. This, frankly, is incredible.
The demands of farming, however, continue, despite invasions and estrangement. Sarah, though devastated by her husband’s, Tom’s, disappearance, must battle on. There are dogs to see to, lambs to nurture, pigs to feed and foals to train. This permanence of landscape and activity is thus set against massive upheaval. Not only have the men gone, but German troops have appeared, troops who seem to be more on holiday than at war. Again, incredible.
Alex is good with animals and helps at Sarah’s farm, as does Albrecht, an English-speaking, Oxford-educated academic, uncomfortable in military garb. Relationships develop, whilst most involved apparently remain increasingly apologetic.
Owen Sheers also wants us to believe a scenario for conquest where the invaders lay siege to the cities. Again this lacks credibility, since German military success in the Second World War seemed to come when invasions went straight to the centre. Where they lay siege, such as Leningrad or Stalingrad, they failed. But then the whole point is that the history has been reversed.
In a situation where passions and tempers would probably have been frayed, tested at least, Owen Sheers presents a community that seems to survive just as before, minus the local males. Resistance is well written and is very readable, often beautiful. But it does demand that one’s belief be suspended from very high indeed.
December 31, 2013
This is one of those books that will linger in my mind for a very long time. Reading it was akin to meditation - quiet and subtle, yet powerful. It changed my sense of time and place completely.
This book is an imagined history of a Welch valley if Germany had invaded England in WW II. One morning, the women of the valley awakened to realize that all of the men had left, without a word, presumably to join the English Resistance. Shortly afterwards, a small German patrol moves into the area, and the Welch women and German men must come to terms about the complexities of developing relationships with the enemy.
Here are some of the themes that are lingering in my mind:
1) The women of the Welch valley come into their own when the men leave. Left to manage their farms on their own, they grow - rather quickly - into being independent. This is particularly true for Sarah Lewis who has deeply buried intellectual curiosity.
2) How does love of country compete with love for individuals? In the dire circumstances of the book, everyone has to grapple with these decisions. For the Welch men, do they join the Resistance or stay with their families? Can the Welch women and German soldiers successfully develop relationships that transcend the fact that they are enemies?
3) It's about how we can try to cocoon ourselves in a small moment in time (think of snow days or holidays), yet reality always manages to break in.
4) I want someone to make this book into a film. It was so visual.
This book is an imagined history of a Welch valley if Germany had invaded England in WW II. One morning, the women of the valley awakened to realize that all of the men had left, without a word, presumably to join the English Resistance. Shortly afterwards, a small German patrol moves into the area, and the Welch women and German men must come to terms about the complexities of developing relationships with the enemy.
Here are some of the themes that are lingering in my mind:
1) The women of the Welch valley come into their own when the men leave. Left to manage their farms on their own, they grow - rather quickly - into being independent. This is particularly true for Sarah Lewis who has deeply buried intellectual curiosity.
2) How does love of country compete with love for individuals? In the dire circumstances of the book, everyone has to grapple with these decisions. For the Welch men, do they join the Resistance or stay with their families? Can the Welch women and German soldiers successfully develop relationships that transcend the fact that they are enemies?
3) It's about how we can try to cocoon ourselves in a small moment in time (think of snow days or holidays), yet reality always manages to break in.
4) I want someone to make this book into a film. It was so visual.
May 1, 2013
This book provides an alternative history on a British resistance organization made originally by farmers.
The author also describes in some way some details of the 1940s rural life.
Page 239:
"The entire collection of your National Gallery for example is, as we speak, stored inside a mountain in North Wales."
Photo by kind permission of BRB (Residuary) Ltd
More details on this interesting subject may be found at The Gallery in wartime.
Some paintings were stored at Penrhyn Castle, North Wales.
Photo by kind permission of BRB (Residuary) Ltd
The author also describes in some way some details of the 1940s rural life.
Page 239:
"The entire collection of your National Gallery for example is, as we speak, stored inside a mountain in North Wales."
Photo by kind permission of BRB (Residuary) Ltd
More details on this interesting subject may be found at The Gallery in wartime.
Some paintings were stored at Penrhyn Castle, North Wales.
Photo by kind permission of BRB (Residuary) Ltd
May 20, 2009
A beautifully written alternative history rooted in fact, this is the story of an isolated valley on the border of England and Wales and what could have happened had the Germans succeeded and invaded Britain in World War II.
For my book group, the book had particular relevance as we live only a few miles from the Olchon Valley, Llanthony and Longtown. The descriptions of how the women carry on working their farms through the bitter winter resonate strongly when you can see farms just like these out of your window. I loved the slowness of the book, the way that life must carry on, war or no war, the picture of an almost magical valley cut off from the world for a few months. The varying viewpoints of the book - the Welsh women, the German soldiers - create many shades of grey and much ambiguity right up to the ending which caused much discussion in the group.
If you want to see some pictures of the setting in the Olchon valley then go here http://faites-simple.blogspot.com/200...
For my book group, the book had particular relevance as we live only a few miles from the Olchon Valley, Llanthony and Longtown. The descriptions of how the women carry on working their farms through the bitter winter resonate strongly when you can see farms just like these out of your window. I loved the slowness of the book, the way that life must carry on, war or no war, the picture of an almost magical valley cut off from the world for a few months. The varying viewpoints of the book - the Welsh women, the German soldiers - create many shades of grey and much ambiguity right up to the ending which caused much discussion in the group.
If you want to see some pictures of the setting in the Olchon valley then go here http://faites-simple.blogspot.com/200...
December 6, 2017
Onvan : Resistance - Nevisande : Owen Sheers - ISBN : 571229638 - ISBN13 : 9780571229635 - Dar 289 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2007
February 15, 2010
Before reading this I was a little lukewarm, anticipating a so so alternative history that focused on the Germans successfully invading Britain in 1940. In fact the story focuses on the impact of a small platoon of German soldiers trapped by snow and circumstances in a small Welsh valley inhabited by women whose men have mysteriously disappeared. The beauty of the tale is how the two groups slowly come to terms with and find happiness in the needs of the other.
The other thing I really loved about this book is the language. It is a slow read for the very best of reasons. Sometimes in a book - every chapter or - so you might pause and savour a particular image or phrase. You do this on virtually every page of 'Resistance'
The other thing I really loved about this book is the language. It is a slow read for the very best of reasons. Sometimes in a book - every chapter or - so you might pause and savour a particular image or phrase. You do this on virtually every page of 'Resistance'
March 16, 2016
Maps and journeys dominate this novel. Historic maps of the medieval world. A route across southern England. The cul-de-sac that is an isolated valley in the Welsh Marches. The pathways of human memories. The unmapped future when one steps off the end of the known world. The past as it might have been if history had taken a different direction.
All fictions could be said to be alternative histories, in that they describe people who may not have existed and events that may never have happened in our own physical world. Resistance however sits firmly in the alternate history genre given that it envisages what might have happened if Nazi Germany had finally triumphed; it’s a popular theme, explored for example in Philip K Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. In Sheers’ novel Hitler’s armies have seen success both on the Eastern Front and in Western Europe, and have begun their successful invasion of Britain in autumn 1944. The novel’s action focuses on the Olchon valley, an isolated location north of Abergavenny, and it is here that a group of German soldiers are sent on a clandestine mission by Himmler and where they mysteriously encounter an all-female community.
Foregrounded are the German officer, Albrecht Wolfram, and Sarah Lewis, the farmer abandoned by her husband Tom; the latter, we surmise, has joined a covert Auxiliary Unit manned by insurgents — as the Germans call them — to maintain resistance against the occupiers. Sarah and the other women (Maggie, Mary, Menna and Bethan) are completely in the dark as to why their men have left, but with winter approaching they have no choice but to get on as best they can with the demands of hill farming. It comes as a complete shock when Captain Wolfram and his men appear. What do they want, and why are they here?
Sheers explores in great subtlety the relationships between the soldiery and the women. In particular Albrecht, a former scholar, and Sarah, who left school early, find they have more in common than they expected — missing loves, similar sensibilities, a respect for literature, and a recognition of their shared humanity. Against their relationships there is, mixed in with some reluctant toleration and socialising, a background of suspicion, distrust and fear in the wider community; and of attempts to restore some normality being punctuated by savage acts of reprisal.
Invisibly binding foreground and background like threads in a tapestry are more abstract themes. Albrecht’s surname reflects the tribute paid to the medieval poet Wolfram von Eschenbach: Wolfram is best known as the author of Parzival, the story of Sir Perceval’s quest for the holy grail. In the late 13th-century Hereford Mappa Mundi, which looms large but mostly hidden in these pages, the quest theme is also strongly represented: illustrated prominently are Jerusalem as the centre of Christian pilgrimage and Crete’s labyrinth as symbolic of the classical quest. The search for a special relic to take back to Himmler’s parody of Camelot, the Wewelsburg Castle, is in fact just one of many Arthurian themes in this novel; another is Sarah’s childhood remembrance of Welsh artist and poet David Jones who had enthralled her with tales of Arthur and of the spirit of a king within the mountains. (This latter may be the medieval hero Owain Lawgoch rather than King Arthur, however, as Owen Sheers the poet will have known.)
Borders and margins are everywhere: in the Welsh Marches; Offa’s Dyke itself — built to separate the Mercian Angles from their Cambrian neighbours — running on the ridge above the valley named from a river with a Welsh name; in the sheep farmers, conscious of their Brythonic heritage but geographically resident in England’s Herefordshire. More intangible are the understandable barriers between Albrecht’s men and the valley women, and those between the locals at the Llanthony Show and poor shunned Maggie.
I very much admired the author’s recreation of life in the Welsh hills, the minutiae of exacting tasks combined with isolation and with the usual anxieties accompanying subsistence farming. This slow pace of life is beautifully echoed in the pace of the narrative as we move through the rural year, from autumn to summer. Violence is never dwelt on, and rarely visceral; while there is always a constant sense of menace and of the world turning inexorably, the shocks are few but telling.
The final violent deed, done by somebody we might least expect, is to me narratively speaking exactly right; it symbolically crosses the border between wartime uncertainty and a hopeful future, with the object itself a gateway to be utterly destroyed so as to allow stasis to be overcome. The genius loci is thus summoned from his cave, the final crossing of the ridge over which Offa’s Dyke runs an escape from the perils of No Man’s Land. The hand of the poet, I feel, is evident everywhere in this wonderful novel; it’s a healthy way to respond to the horrors of war and conflict and to exalt the human spirit.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-resist
All fictions could be said to be alternative histories, in that they describe people who may not have existed and events that may never have happened in our own physical world. Resistance however sits firmly in the alternate history genre given that it envisages what might have happened if Nazi Germany had finally triumphed; it’s a popular theme, explored for example in Philip K Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. In Sheers’ novel Hitler’s armies have seen success both on the Eastern Front and in Western Europe, and have begun their successful invasion of Britain in autumn 1944. The novel’s action focuses on the Olchon valley, an isolated location north of Abergavenny, and it is here that a group of German soldiers are sent on a clandestine mission by Himmler and where they mysteriously encounter an all-female community.
Foregrounded are the German officer, Albrecht Wolfram, and Sarah Lewis, the farmer abandoned by her husband Tom; the latter, we surmise, has joined a covert Auxiliary Unit manned by insurgents — as the Germans call them — to maintain resistance against the occupiers. Sarah and the other women (Maggie, Mary, Menna and Bethan) are completely in the dark as to why their men have left, but with winter approaching they have no choice but to get on as best they can with the demands of hill farming. It comes as a complete shock when Captain Wolfram and his men appear. What do they want, and why are they here?
Sheers explores in great subtlety the relationships between the soldiery and the women. In particular Albrecht, a former scholar, and Sarah, who left school early, find they have more in common than they expected — missing loves, similar sensibilities, a respect for literature, and a recognition of their shared humanity. Against their relationships there is, mixed in with some reluctant toleration and socialising, a background of suspicion, distrust and fear in the wider community; and of attempts to restore some normality being punctuated by savage acts of reprisal.
Invisibly binding foreground and background like threads in a tapestry are more abstract themes. Albrecht’s surname reflects the tribute paid to the medieval poet Wolfram von Eschenbach: Wolfram is best known as the author of Parzival, the story of Sir Perceval’s quest for the holy grail. In the late 13th-century Hereford Mappa Mundi, which looms large but mostly hidden in these pages, the quest theme is also strongly represented: illustrated prominently are Jerusalem as the centre of Christian pilgrimage and Crete’s labyrinth as symbolic of the classical quest. The search for a special relic to take back to Himmler’s parody of Camelot, the Wewelsburg Castle, is in fact just one of many Arthurian themes in this novel; another is Sarah’s childhood remembrance of Welsh artist and poet David Jones who had enthralled her with tales of Arthur and of the spirit of a king within the mountains. (This latter may be the medieval hero Owain Lawgoch rather than King Arthur, however, as Owen Sheers the poet will have known.)
Borders and margins are everywhere: in the Welsh Marches; Offa’s Dyke itself — built to separate the Mercian Angles from their Cambrian neighbours — running on the ridge above the valley named from a river with a Welsh name; in the sheep farmers, conscious of their Brythonic heritage but geographically resident in England’s Herefordshire. More intangible are the understandable barriers between Albrecht’s men and the valley women, and those between the locals at the Llanthony Show and poor shunned Maggie.
I very much admired the author’s recreation of life in the Welsh hills, the minutiae of exacting tasks combined with isolation and with the usual anxieties accompanying subsistence farming. This slow pace of life is beautifully echoed in the pace of the narrative as we move through the rural year, from autumn to summer. Violence is never dwelt on, and rarely visceral; while there is always a constant sense of menace and of the world turning inexorably, the shocks are few but telling.
The final violent deed, done by somebody we might least expect, is to me narratively speaking exactly right; it symbolically crosses the border between wartime uncertainty and a hopeful future, with the object itself a gateway to be utterly destroyed so as to allow stasis to be overcome. The genius loci is thus summoned from his cave, the final crossing of the ridge over which Offa’s Dyke runs an escape from the perils of No Man’s Land. The hand of the poet, I feel, is evident everywhere in this wonderful novel; it’s a healthy way to respond to the horrors of war and conflict and to exalt the human spirit.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-resist
April 22, 2008
Spolier alert: Nothing happens in this book. I'd include this in the list of novels that take a great premise and squander it with a finely observed yet tectonically slow narrative. (The others I can think of—also British—are P.D. James' Children of Men and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.) I was hoping this would be a bit of historical speculation with a literary sensibility, along the lines of Philip Roth's excellent The Plot Against America. But instead of exploring the possibilities of a hypothetical German invasion of England, Sheers is more interested in the intricacies of sheep farming under occupation. Beautifully boring!
June 2, 2017
We read this for book club and it has to be admitted that it didn't go down too well. I, however, liked it. But I am struggling to know why I liked it! It really wasn't my kind of book. I like plot driven crime and this definitely wasn't that. I think it has to be the quality of the writing. I really felt the atmosphere of the place and the dilemmas of the people. And when I finished the book the story stayed with me for a little while. So no thrills and spills but a well-written, gentle piece.
October 26, 2015
Umut vaadeden bir baslangicla, okuyucunun ilgisini cekiyor. Cok farkli, ilginc bir konu.II. Dünya Savasi'ni Ingilizler degil de, Almanlar kazansaydi ne olurdu? Ve Almanlar Ingiltere'ye cikartma yapsaydi? Savasin, cepheye gitmemis ve sicak savasi görmemis siradan halk (ciftiler, zanaatkarlar vs.) üzerindeki yikici etkisini göstermesi acisindan basarili buldum diyebilirim. Ama gittikce yavanlasmaya basladi kitap. Ortalarina dogru konu dagilmaya ve yazarin sürekli ayni sekilde tekrar eden Ingiliz kirsali tasvirlerinde bogulmaya basladim. (ki tasvir okumaya bayilan biriyimdir, kolay kolay sikilmam) Kitabin en az yüz sayfa kisaltilanilecegini ve sadelestirilebilecegini düsündüm bu yüzden.
Bir de Pegasus Yayinlari, nasil kötü ceviri yaparmis bunu da görmüs oldum.
Cevirmen wikipedia ve eksisözlük'ten (evet evet eksisözlük!) kaynak göstermis bazi yerlerde.
Kitabi begenmemem de aslinda basarisiz cevirinin de etkisi oldugunu kabul etmeliyim. Keske orjinal dilinden okusaydim, belki daha olumlu bir görüs yazabilirdim.
Bir de Pegasus Yayinlari, nasil kötü ceviri yaparmis bunu da görmüs oldum.
Cevirmen wikipedia ve eksisözlük'ten (evet evet eksisözlük!) kaynak göstermis bazi yerlerde.
Kitabi begenmemem de aslinda basarisiz cevirinin de etkisi oldugunu kabul etmeliyim. Keske orjinal dilinden okusaydim, belki daha olumlu bir görüs yazabilirdim.
March 30, 2012
Some wonderfully evocative language describing a valley in the Welsh border region, the farming inhabitants whose menfolk have gone off to fight as an underground cell against the Germans when Britain is overrun by Nazis, and the relationships that develop with a German patrol. Unfortunately for me Sheers doesn't really express the feelings developing between the two groups adequately, and is rather naive about the consequences of isolating the two groups through a long winter in war time.
The interesting point here, of course, is the fact that over the centuries Britain has had to accommodate several groups of successful invaders, and Sheers does begin to unpack a little the politics of accommodation, compromise and collaboration. But here too I don't believe Sheers explores the subject fully enough.
I liked the book, but I don't think he did the subject matter full justice!
The interesting point here, of course, is the fact that over the centuries Britain has had to accommodate several groups of successful invaders, and Sheers does begin to unpack a little the politics of accommodation, compromise and collaboration. But here too I don't believe Sheers explores the subject fully enough.
I liked the book, but I don't think he did the subject matter full justice!
December 23, 2015
It's probably not one of the worst books ever written but I can't help giving It one star for being one of the most boring ones I have ever read. The premise sounded si interesting: Hitler is winning World War II and Germany is invading England. However this book is focused on farming, at which I am definitely not interested. A group of women are abandoned by the ir husbands who join the resistance and they have to survive alone and learn how to take care of their sheeps. I have never read so much about sheeps.
Nothing really happens in all the book, zero suspense. It's not a novel about characters neither, they are all so plain. Oh god, I hated this so much, I don' t even know how I managed to finish It.
Nothing really happens in all the book, zero suspense. It's not a novel about characters neither, they are all so plain. Oh god, I hated this so much, I don' t even know how I managed to finish It.
June 10, 2010
I was able to herd sheep after reading this book. It was that awesome.
May 6, 2012
3º Livro do meu mês temático - 2º Guerra Mundial
Este é um livro bastante cativante, com um ambiente riquíssimo, de cores vivas e quentes tal como o seu enredo. Contra todas as expectativas, vi-me presa á história desde a primeira página. Passada num ambiente rural, a vida das personagens tem tudo menos facilidades: o trabalho é penoso e cansativo, a vida vai caindo num ciclo monótono, sem grandes capacidades para luxos. Para piorar, Inglaterra começa a ser invadida pela Alemanha a partir de Setembro de 1944, e com eles trazem na bagagem toda uma sombra de guerra e mortes.
Conhecemos quatro mulheres receosas com o subido desaparecimento dos seus maridos e vizinhos, no vale Olchon (situado entre a fronteira do País de Gales com a Inglaterra); a seguir, um jovem rapaz vê a sua vida mudar rapidamente quando aceita entrar para os Serviços Especiais das Unidades Auxiliares (um organismo de resistência contra a invasão da Alemanha); por fim, cinco soldados alemães são incumbidos numa missão. E para além de possuírem uma arma, também são seres humanos com sentimentos.
Paira na rádio relatos de confrontos em Londres, mas as mulheres sentem-se seguras no vale, pois ali não há nada de interesse para um bando de soldados alemães. Mal sabem elas, que Albrecht e mais outros quatro soldados foram convocados pela SS para uma missão secreta naquele lugar…
É verdade que grande parte do texto se desenrola em tom de descrição, mas penso que os diálogos não tenham sido negligenciados pelo autor, pois este ritmo mais lento e introspectivo é a sua técnica de fazer o leitor entrar na história com todo o seu esplendor.
Os pensamentos e memórias dos vários personagens são um meio para conhecermos os mais variados cenários físicos e sociais daquela época: histórias pessoais trágicas, situações bizarras, todo o simbolismo da altura e o clima de guerra e conflitos que assaltavam a Europa e o Mundo. Agradou-me imenso todas as referências a organizações da época, ditos populares e outras referências culturais e históricas, que culminaram num cocktail cultural que enriqueceu em largos espaços toda a leitura.
Durante o desenvolvimento, o livro torna-se um pouco repetitivo e sem qualquer indicação dos capítulos uma pessoa pode perder-se, mas para compensar o texto está sempre pontuado com focos de interesse que fazem a história fluir e desta maneira, conhecermos ainda mais as personagens.
Perto do final, o ambiente adensa-se e dá-se uma ligeira mudança que é sentida pelo leitor e que o torna mais atento para tudo o que vai acontecendo. O vale vai sendo pouco a pouco um campo de mortos, deixando no ar um cheiro de incerteza em tudo e todos…
+ Descrições primorosas, nada chatas. São introduzidas muito suavemente em concordância com os vales serenos que retracta
+ Personagens que se complementam ao longo da trama. Retractam o papel e a personalidade dos soldados e das pessoas simples na Segunda Guerra Mundial.
+ Livro recheado de curiosidades e alguns segredos da época, enriquecendo desta maneira a nossa cultura
+ Enredo curioso por se basear numa possível intervenção da resistência inglesa contra a ocupação por parte do Exército alemão (que na realidade não foi necessária)
-------------------
- No início, o novo leitor é confrontado com mudanças repentinas de narração/personagens, confundindo um pouco. Mas depois de habituados, já não ficamos perdidos.
Em suma, é um livro sensível mas adulto, um romance histórico com uma pequena pitada de mistério, belas e calmas paisagens, sem grandes cenas de acção, mas com bastante movimento e pormenores deliciosos que fazem desta trama um livro encantador, e acima de tudo compulsivo!
Frase favorita:
“(…) O vale era belo, não havia como negá-lo. Sem tanques, sem abrigos e trincheiras, sem bocas-de-fogo da artilharia antiaérea a projectar-se de entre sacos de areia. Os poucos edifícios em ruinas haviam sucumbido ao tempo, tanto cronológico como atmosférico, e não às bombas e às balas. Era a natureza em toda a sua avassaladora certeza, desde a multidão de árvores que corria ao longo da base do vale à desafiante aridez do cimo dos seus montes.” Pág. 125
Este é um livro bastante cativante, com um ambiente riquíssimo, de cores vivas e quentes tal como o seu enredo. Contra todas as expectativas, vi-me presa á história desde a primeira página. Passada num ambiente rural, a vida das personagens tem tudo menos facilidades: o trabalho é penoso e cansativo, a vida vai caindo num ciclo monótono, sem grandes capacidades para luxos. Para piorar, Inglaterra começa a ser invadida pela Alemanha a partir de Setembro de 1944, e com eles trazem na bagagem toda uma sombra de guerra e mortes.
Conhecemos quatro mulheres receosas com o subido desaparecimento dos seus maridos e vizinhos, no vale Olchon (situado entre a fronteira do País de Gales com a Inglaterra); a seguir, um jovem rapaz vê a sua vida mudar rapidamente quando aceita entrar para os Serviços Especiais das Unidades Auxiliares (um organismo de resistência contra a invasão da Alemanha); por fim, cinco soldados alemães são incumbidos numa missão. E para além de possuírem uma arma, também são seres humanos com sentimentos.
Paira na rádio relatos de confrontos em Londres, mas as mulheres sentem-se seguras no vale, pois ali não há nada de interesse para um bando de soldados alemães. Mal sabem elas, que Albrecht e mais outros quatro soldados foram convocados pela SS para uma missão secreta naquele lugar…
É verdade que grande parte do texto se desenrola em tom de descrição, mas penso que os diálogos não tenham sido negligenciados pelo autor, pois este ritmo mais lento e introspectivo é a sua técnica de fazer o leitor entrar na história com todo o seu esplendor.
Os pensamentos e memórias dos vários personagens são um meio para conhecermos os mais variados cenários físicos e sociais daquela época: histórias pessoais trágicas, situações bizarras, todo o simbolismo da altura e o clima de guerra e conflitos que assaltavam a Europa e o Mundo. Agradou-me imenso todas as referências a organizações da época, ditos populares e outras referências culturais e históricas, que culminaram num cocktail cultural que enriqueceu em largos espaços toda a leitura.
Durante o desenvolvimento, o livro torna-se um pouco repetitivo e sem qualquer indicação dos capítulos uma pessoa pode perder-se, mas para compensar o texto está sempre pontuado com focos de interesse que fazem a história fluir e desta maneira, conhecermos ainda mais as personagens.
Perto do final, o ambiente adensa-se e dá-se uma ligeira mudança que é sentida pelo leitor e que o torna mais atento para tudo o que vai acontecendo. O vale vai sendo pouco a pouco um campo de mortos, deixando no ar um cheiro de incerteza em tudo e todos…
+ Descrições primorosas, nada chatas. São introduzidas muito suavemente em concordância com os vales serenos que retracta
+ Personagens que se complementam ao longo da trama. Retractam o papel e a personalidade dos soldados e das pessoas simples na Segunda Guerra Mundial.
+ Livro recheado de curiosidades e alguns segredos da época, enriquecendo desta maneira a nossa cultura
+ Enredo curioso por se basear numa possível intervenção da resistência inglesa contra a ocupação por parte do Exército alemão (que na realidade não foi necessária)
-------------------
- No início, o novo leitor é confrontado com mudanças repentinas de narração/personagens, confundindo um pouco. Mas depois de habituados, já não ficamos perdidos.
Em suma, é um livro sensível mas adulto, um romance histórico com uma pequena pitada de mistério, belas e calmas paisagens, sem grandes cenas de acção, mas com bastante movimento e pormenores deliciosos que fazem desta trama um livro encantador, e acima de tudo compulsivo!
Frase favorita:
“(…) O vale era belo, não havia como negá-lo. Sem tanques, sem abrigos e trincheiras, sem bocas-de-fogo da artilharia antiaérea a projectar-se de entre sacos de areia. Os poucos edifícios em ruinas haviam sucumbido ao tempo, tanto cronológico como atmosférico, e não às bombas e às balas. Era a natureza em toda a sua avassaladora certeza, desde a multidão de árvores que corria ao longo da base do vale à desafiante aridez do cimo dos seus montes.” Pág. 125
January 9, 2013
I really enjoyed Resistance; a re-imagining of the course and outcome of World War II. The Germans have the upper hand and during 1944 are able start their invasion on the south coast of England. Eventually the rest of Britain succumbs and city by city the Germans take over as the occupying power. The King, Churchill and the former government flee for Canada and form the Free British government in exile.
The backdrop of the story is cataclysmic world events, but the focus is on a group of women in a remote Welsh valley sandwiched between the Black Mountains. This physically and emotionally isolated community is 'invaded' by an advanced German army unit after all the local men have left as part of a pre-arranged plan for them to form a subversive and underground resistance movement.
Sarah Lewis is one of the women left behind and much of the story is told from her perspective. As the harsh winter of 1944 sets in and the realities of their desperate situation materialise, Sarah and the other women encounter the inevitable German unit sent to secure the area. Unknown to the women, this small military party is also searching for something else, something that Himler himself is keen to get hold of.
What follows is the growing mutual understanding between the two groups, a realisation that things will never be the same again for any of them, and that some form of accommodation has to be reached. There's a growing and inevitable closeness between Sarah and the unit's officer. For the most part I felt that the motivations and logic of the key protagonists was believable, all except the fact of the men's disappearance in the first place. We are told enough about their pre-conflict characters to realise that them leaving in the manner described just didn't ring true. And while you can expect some ambiguous elements to a story such as this, this is one aspect which I would have appreciated some form of explanation.
Owen Sheers paints a vivid and largely believable landscape, with the physical elements of this Welsh environment being extremely well drawn. It's a dense and detailed read, and one which is a real pleasure.
© Koplowitz 2013
The backdrop of the story is cataclysmic world events, but the focus is on a group of women in a remote Welsh valley sandwiched between the Black Mountains. This physically and emotionally isolated community is 'invaded' by an advanced German army unit after all the local men have left as part of a pre-arranged plan for them to form a subversive and underground resistance movement.
Sarah Lewis is one of the women left behind and much of the story is told from her perspective. As the harsh winter of 1944 sets in and the realities of their desperate situation materialise, Sarah and the other women encounter the inevitable German unit sent to secure the area. Unknown to the women, this small military party is also searching for something else, something that Himler himself is keen to get hold of.
What follows is the growing mutual understanding between the two groups, a realisation that things will never be the same again for any of them, and that some form of accommodation has to be reached. There's a growing and inevitable closeness between Sarah and the unit's officer. For the most part I felt that the motivations and logic of the key protagonists was believable, all except the fact of the men's disappearance in the first place. We are told enough about their pre-conflict characters to realise that them leaving in the manner described just didn't ring true. And while you can expect some ambiguous elements to a story such as this, this is one aspect which I would have appreciated some form of explanation.
Owen Sheers paints a vivid and largely believable landscape, with the physical elements of this Welsh environment being extremely well drawn. It's a dense and detailed read, and one which is a real pleasure.
© Koplowitz 2013
February 16, 2009
This novel was a very beautiful character study with a twinge of suspense. It speculates the state of England had the Nazis succeeded in invading during WWII. Though the story at times examines the national reaction, the focus is really on a small group of women living alone in the Welsh borderlands. Their husbands have left without warning to join the resistance in fighting the Nazis. Within weeks, a patrol of Nazi soliders comes to their remote valley and establishes themselves for a covert mission. When an unexpected and heavy snow comes, the soldiers and women are left cut off from the rest of the area.
The intensity of the emotions, confusion, and anguish really struck me. Sheers did a fantastic job of establishing those shades of grey between enemy and ally, love and loss, survival and loyalty. I particularly loved the last few pages, which presented an ending that I was not at all expecting. It was a beautiful and graceful denouement that, itself, remained loyal to the tale Sheers was telling.
The intensity of the emotions, confusion, and anguish really struck me. Sheers did a fantastic job of establishing those shades of grey between enemy and ally, love and loss, survival and loyalty. I particularly loved the last few pages, which presented an ending that I was not at all expecting. It was a beautiful and graceful denouement that, itself, remained loyal to the tale Sheers was telling.
May 17, 2013
First let me tell you how much I loved this book. I adored every second of it and had it not been for those weird German translations then this would have been a five star rating.
So I loved the setting, the interesting and unique characters, the pacing, the great cover, everything. So why did no one check the German sentences?!
Just one of the many possible examples:
"Güten tag, Steiner." (page 134)
Really? Just because it's German doesn't mean that you should put Umlaute in there. Don't get me started on the usage of capital and small initial letters...
So if you don't speak German I can definitely recommend this book to you without any problem at all. Some of the scenes in this book are just gorgeous, the characters are not off the rack and I loved that the story is told from both perspectives (the women of the valley and the German soldiers).
So I loved the setting, the interesting and unique characters, the pacing, the great cover, everything. So why did no one check the German sentences?!
Just one of the many possible examples:
"Güten tag, Steiner." (page 134)
Really? Just because it's German doesn't mean that you should put Umlaute in there. Don't get me started on the usage of capital and small initial letters...
So if you don't speak German I can definitely recommend this book to you without any problem at all. Some of the scenes in this book are just gorgeous, the characters are not off the rack and I loved that the story is told from both perspectives (the women of the valley and the German soldiers).
April 23, 2008
What if the D-Day Invasion failed, and the Germans counterattacked successfully? In the remote Welsh countryside, the men have left to form counterinsurgent cells without any notice to their wives. The wives carry on with the planting, gardening, and sheep tending until a German patron stumbles into their valley. The small group of German soldiers becomes unwitting over-winter residents when an early snowstorm closes the mountain pass. As the bitter winter closes in, the women and the soldiers rely on each other to survive.
Because it is set on such a personal level – there are no generals or tanks or battalions in the book – the story is not at all a revisionist war fantasy. It is a book of trust and relationships between people on different sides of a war.
Because it is set on such a personal level – there are no generals or tanks or battalions in the book – the story is not at all a revisionist war fantasy. It is a book of trust and relationships between people on different sides of a war.
May 13, 2010
The story is summarized elsewhere, so let me just say this is a beautifully written, poetic study of the lives of a few women and a few German soldiers, all human, all tragic. The writing is superb. Well worth the read.
At times the descriptions create a distance from the characters and the action, though rich in imagery and expression. But perhaps this makes an unbearable situation bearable.
At times the descriptions create a distance from the characters and the action, though rich in imagery and expression. But perhaps this makes an unbearable situation bearable.
June 15, 2022
This novel requires the reader to enter a world that is not only speculative fiction, but more importantly, a place that is remote, rugged and beautiful. It is a very personal account of women, in a time of war and abandonment. There is no artifice here, none.
July 8, 2017
Really liked this book, but it didn't end the way I expected. All the more reason for you to read it. The writing is exquisite.
December 15, 2020
Not a lot of action here but a good account of the tensions that arise between an occupying force and the locals. Quietly satisfying.
7/10
7/10
March 24, 2017
This book is about the lives of several groups of people under a different outcome of WW II. Evocative, taut and slow-moving, this story is about the lives of farm women in a secluded valley in England under NAZI occupation whose husbands left silently in the night as the NAZIs are invading to join an assumed hidden resistance army hidden in the mountains. It's about a small group of German soldiers occupying the area and eventually working with the women for their mutual survival during a brutal winter. It is about several others who have agreed to work in secret to resist the NAZI occupiers. It explores the complexities between collaboration, resistance and survival. Human characteristics of courage, yearning, self-deception, fear, and sense of duty are all entwined in this visually-stunning, well-written novel.
August 16, 2022
This may well be the first alternative history novel I have read. Halfway into it I began to wonder (and worry) how it would end. How do you, how can you, turn fantasy into reality, end it on a satisfying, credible note?
Owen Sheers does it fairly well: the ending is OK as it is. However, the plot is flawed. The Germans' motives are questionable. The reader is never told what the patrol's task was and how they ended up in the Olchon valley in the first place, let alone stay so long. Or was I told somewhere and just missed it?
However, never mind the vagaries of the plot (and most of the time the plot works) - this is an absolutely beautiful novel about Wales, its countryside, hard work, horses, birds and the sky. I'm often critical of modern writers who have seemingly taken a creative writing course by overloading their texts with adjectives, but Owen Sheers does it right naturally: he just knows about the power of words. He is after all a poet.
Much recommended.
Owen Sheers does it fairly well: the ending is OK as it is. However, the plot is flawed. The Germans' motives are questionable. The reader is never told what the patrol's task was and how they ended up in the Olchon valley in the first place, let alone stay so long. Or was I told somewhere and just missed it?
However, never mind the vagaries of the plot (and most of the time the plot works) - this is an absolutely beautiful novel about Wales, its countryside, hard work, horses, birds and the sky. I'm often critical of modern writers who have seemingly taken a creative writing course by overloading their texts with adjectives, but Owen Sheers does it right naturally: he just knows about the power of words. He is after all a poet.
Much recommended.
May 21, 2023
Not for me. I don’t mind alternative WWII stories - Fatherland comes to mind - but they have to be convincing to be believable. I found myself, well, resisting Resistance.
May 21, 2018
Ever since I saw the movie's trailer back in 2010/11 I had been excited to read this novel, but I've had never got round to watch the movie or read the novel. Seven years passed, a lot of novels have been read and somehow while I was browsing between the shelves of a second hand bookstore I came upon Sheers' debut novel. The concept is genius: it's 1944, D-Day failed, the Germans have invaded Britain and the countryside is silently anticipating the appearance of German soldiers. The war is depicted, remarkably. as an inevitable force, having a course of its own, that one can hold off for awhile but cannot alter entirely. The characters are multi-faceted and the plot is fascinating throughout most of the book. Moreover, most of the twist and turns are not necessarily expected.
One thing for which I am thankful for is how every character in the novel has redeemable qualities. Instead of showing a binary scale of good Allies/bad Axis the narrative chooses to offer people, whose stories, are separate but affected by the larger narrative of the nationalities they were assigned to from birth.
Yet, I felt towards the end that the novel has been writing itself for the last fifty pages of the book and since the novelist could not control what has been happening, he suddenly stopped writing. The ending is ambiguous, which is surprising, considering how many of the plots point have been spelled out for the reader previously (sometimes uselessly).
Alltogether, this is a extraordinarily thought-provoking novel about the function and influence of war within a person's life. I heartily encourage everyone to give it a chance, I ceartainly am under the influence of it (even though I try to figure out the ending for myself:)
One thing for which I am thankful for is how every character in the novel has redeemable qualities. Instead of showing a binary scale of good Allies/bad Axis the narrative chooses to offer people, whose stories, are separate but affected by the larger narrative of the nationalities they were assigned to from birth.
Yet, I felt towards the end that the novel has been writing itself for the last fifty pages of the book and since the novelist could not control what has been happening, he suddenly stopped writing. The ending is ambiguous, which is surprising, considering how many of the plots point have been spelled out for the reader previously (sometimes uselessly).
Alltogether, this is a extraordinarily thought-provoking novel about the function and influence of war within a person's life. I heartily encourage everyone to give it a chance, I ceartainly am under the influence of it (even though I try to figure out the ending for myself:)
January 2, 2009
Resistance by Owen Sheers is based on the premise that D-Day failed and that Germany invaded Great Britain. The author, a poet, grew up in the area where the story takes place and this shows in the writing. It is highly descriptive and quite beautiful, weaving the history of the land, a valley on the Welsh border, with the lives of it's people. It is also a description of an occupation and the consequences of war.
There are many ways that people can resist, and Sheers layers his well-written, lyrical novel with several of them. This is a story of people under siege, and of their responses to occupation. It is also a story of the invaders, at least a small group of them, and their protective commanding officer.
Resistance follows the lives of a group of women left by the men of their village. They are left to cope with their farms and their livestock alone. The men have gone to join the "resistance", without a word to their wives and loved ones. How can the women cope? We hear from Sarah, a women of 26, who has been deserted by her husband without understanding why. She and the others are joined by a group of German soldiers sent on a mission that is never really explained until close to the end of the story. Overcoming their initial resistance, the women accept help from the soldiers and they all struggle through a difficult winter, cut off from the rest of the world. Come spring, when the world invades their valley, there are choices to be made, and the consequences of those choices. Sheers does not take the easy way out and the results, for me, where unexpected but satisfying.
There are many ways that people can resist, and Sheers layers his well-written, lyrical novel with several of them. This is a story of people under siege, and of their responses to occupation. It is also a story of the invaders, at least a small group of them, and their protective commanding officer.
Resistance follows the lives of a group of women left by the men of their village. They are left to cope with their farms and their livestock alone. The men have gone to join the "resistance", without a word to their wives and loved ones. How can the women cope? We hear from Sarah, a women of 26, who has been deserted by her husband without understanding why. She and the others are joined by a group of German soldiers sent on a mission that is never really explained until close to the end of the story. Overcoming their initial resistance, the women accept help from the soldiers and they all struggle through a difficult winter, cut off from the rest of the world. Come spring, when the world invades their valley, there are choices to be made, and the consequences of those choices. Sheers does not take the easy way out and the results, for me, where unexpected but satisfying.
April 27, 2015
MY HEART. IT HURTS SO MUCH.
(Also Goodreads deleted the first review I wrote for this book boooo)
This book is so fantastic, even though it's been several weeks since I read it, it still gives me feelings whenever I think about it.
Resistance is set in an alternate historical time line of a theorized Nazi invasion of Britain. The story takes place in a small, remote Welsh valley where all of the men have seemingly disappeared overnight. Thinking that their husbands must have left to join the underground resistance movement, the women band together to keep their farms and their families afloat. However the onset of winter traps them in the valley with a group of war weary German soldiers on a secret mission. The need to survive drives the soldiers and the women into uneasy relationships that test both their personal and national loyalties. But when the snow finally melts, bringing them back into contact with the war that has been raging beyond their mountains, they must face the dramatic consequences of their choices.
The writing in this book is breathtaking, Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet from the area where the novel is set. As a result the descriptions of the landscape and the people are incredibly vivid and realistic. It did take me a little while to get into his writing, however once I did there was a wonderful flow to his narration.
The narrative of this book switches between several of the characters, which may or may not be a little jarring at first but once you get used to it adds so much depth to the characters and the story.
This book is so beautiful I would highly recommend it.
(Also Goodreads deleted the first review I wrote for this book boooo)
This book is so fantastic, even though it's been several weeks since I read it, it still gives me feelings whenever I think about it.
Resistance is set in an alternate historical time line of a theorized Nazi invasion of Britain. The story takes place in a small, remote Welsh valley where all of the men have seemingly disappeared overnight. Thinking that their husbands must have left to join the underground resistance movement, the women band together to keep their farms and their families afloat. However the onset of winter traps them in the valley with a group of war weary German soldiers on a secret mission. The need to survive drives the soldiers and the women into uneasy relationships that test both their personal and national loyalties. But when the snow finally melts, bringing them back into contact with the war that has been raging beyond their mountains, they must face the dramatic consequences of their choices.
The writing in this book is breathtaking, Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet from the area where the novel is set. As a result the descriptions of the landscape and the people are incredibly vivid and realistic. It did take me a little while to get into his writing, however once I did there was a wonderful flow to his narration.
The narrative of this book switches between several of the characters, which may or may not be a little jarring at first but once you get used to it adds so much depth to the characters and the story.
This book is so beautiful I would highly recommend it.
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