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What Members Thought
Lyrical and well-researched, Half-Blood Blues, tells the compelling story of a multi-ethnic jazz band in Germany and France on the brink of WWII. The story is narrated by Sid, a light-skinned bass player from Baltimore and we learn of the other characters and events through his eyes. The soft-spoken jazz-inspired language immediately pulls you into the story, showing a human side of WWII about ties that bind us together and the choices that rip us apart. The storyline moves smoothly between the
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I gave up on this - a pity, the subject matter sounded interesting and I'd expected a lot, but I found the writing style boring and decided life was too short to keep going. I've had a few Booker-related disappointments lately, and am not sure if it is me or if the sort of novel chosen for the shortlist has changed.
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I've read a large number of novels set in WWII over the years and yet this one managed to be completely different from all of them -- I can see why this was winning so many awards.
Although I had my moments where I thought the dialect was too much, overall the writing was vivid. At one point the three characters were trying to cross the border from Germany to France in 1939 and I could practically feel their fear and tension. This is all despite the fact that all three characters were in the very ...more
Although I had my moments where I thought the dialect was too much, overall the writing was vivid. At one point the three characters were trying to cross the border from Germany to France in 1939 and I could practically feel their fear and tension. This is all despite the fact that all three characters were in the very ...more
Take a trip on your couch! This book transports you to the sexy, smoky world of jazz as Hitler denudes the European musical landscape. Brilliantly rounded characters take your hand, leading you into scene after scene as the tension mounts. Set in Berlin & Paris, this story is one you hurry to finish but wish would go on forever. Loved it!
Definitely one of the best books I've read this year. Highly recommended!!!! I loved the complexity of the characters -- nothing was totally easy and a lot of the choices characters made were imperfect but so, so real. I loved the writing style too -- it was like sinking into a soft bed to open this book up.
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Sep 10, 2011
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