Phyllis’s review of Kairos > Likes and Comments
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Phyllis - this has been on my radar screen - particularly since it won such a big prize. I always value your thoughts and would love to know more if you are open to sharing.
Ann, this is the first of Erpenbeck’s books that I have read, and I liked her distinctive style. It was the two storylines that I had trouble with. The primary personal story is of a predictably doomed affair between a 19-year-old single woman and a 53-year-old married man. That is never my cup of tea in fiction, and particularly I did not enjoy it in this novel where the man was boorish and unacceptably domineering. The second story line is that of Germany, covering a time from before World War II and up through a few years after the fall of the Berlin wall and the joining of east and west Germany into a single country. I enjoyed that part of the novel more, but I felt like there was so much insider baseball going on that I did not understand well enough to appreciate it. All in all, the book just did not cohere for me.
Phyllis - thank you so much for your thoughts. The relationship between an old domineering man and very young woman would not be my choice for a storyline either. I do have a great deal of interest in the fall of the Berlin wall - but it sounds like I should look for that in another novel! Thanks again.
Ann, I have seen where several reviewers of this novel recommended other books they thought did an excellent job of Germany’s history, but without the mess of an affair thrown in. I intend to look back through those reviews to gather some recommendations.
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Ann
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May 27, 2024 03:44PM
Phyllis - this has been on my radar screen - particularly since it won such a big prize. I always value your thoughts and would love to know more if you are open to sharing.
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Ann, this is the first of Erpenbeck’s books that I have read, and I liked her distinctive style. It was the two storylines that I had trouble with. The primary personal story is of a predictably doomed affair between a 19-year-old single woman and a 53-year-old married man. That is never my cup of tea in fiction, and particularly I did not enjoy it in this novel where the man was boorish and unacceptably domineering. The second story line is that of Germany, covering a time from before World War II and up through a few years after the fall of the Berlin wall and the joining of east and west Germany into a single country. I enjoyed that part of the novel more, but I felt like there was so much insider baseball going on that I did not understand well enough to appreciate it. All in all, the book just did not cohere for me.
Phyllis - thank you so much for your thoughts. The relationship between an old domineering man and very young woman would not be my choice for a storyline either. I do have a great deal of interest in the fall of the Berlin wall - but it sounds like I should look for that in another novel! Thanks again.
Ann, I have seen where several reviewers of this novel recommended other books they thought did an excellent job of Germany’s history, but without the mess of an affair thrown in. I intend to look back through those reviews to gather some recommendations.
