Skeletons at the Feast
by Chris Bohjalian
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Book Reviews of Skeletons at the Feast
Book Review: the long walk west
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is something of a departure for Bohjalian, since it doesn't take place in the northeast United States of today. Instead, it takes place during the end of WWII in Europe. As in his other books, though, Bohjalian is not afraid to ask difficult questions in subtle but inescapable manner.
Through the eyes of the daughter of a Prussian aristocratic family fleeing the Russian advance, a Scottish POW, and a German Jew who is masquerading as a German soldier, Bohjalian explores the nature of revenge and collective guilt. Interspersed with the story of their trek west through Germany, is the story of a group of women being marched in the same direction from a Nazi labor camp, through which Bohjalian explores hope and survival.
This book is not a romance, no matter what the publisher may claim. But it is a compelling and well-told story about the relationships that can develop between people who initially think they're on opposite sides of a war.
Book Review: Preposterous premises
Summary: 1 Stars
Based on his previous works which I enjoyed immensely I was expecting yet another superb novel but what I got instead was more akin to a historical romance and a rather farfetched one at that.
A Prussian Junker who doesn't notice right under his nose that his teenage daughter has taken as a lover a Scottish POW sent to work as a laborer on their farm?!
Said Prussian Junker and his son abandon his wife, daughter and youngest son in the care of the Scottish POW while escaping to the West so they can do the noble thing and go back to suicidally fight the advancing Red Army?!
A Jewish man escapes from a train to Auschwitz, beats two SS men to death with a poker, and then dons one of their uniforms and identity to go travelling around the Third Reich undetected and unmolested by the most efficient secret police organization in the world at that time?!
I had to give up and put it down after 75 pages.
Book Review: A lovely piece of work from an excellent story teller
Summary: 4 Stars
One of my favorite authors. Bohjalian is usually writing about his native and obviously beloved upstate area of VT/NH. This time he had to do some major research as he writes about the Holocaust and the families who were a part of the war. His characters are well defined and the reader can sympathize with a variety of reasons for actions taken during the war.
However, I do not think this is one of his best books, but it is extremely interesting and well written, as usual.
I believe it should sell well. I also believe it is the kind of novel whereby the reader keeps going and cannot stop well into the wee hours of the night. While I listened to it on audio and got an even better perspective, I also read a part of it and felt as though it was excellent.
I could see it as a film as well. (Perhaps Scarlet Johanson as the farmer's daughter?)
An excellent piece of fiction for any reader.
Book Review: Unforgettable...
Summary: 5 Stars
Chris Bohjalian rebounds after a somewhat disappointing THE DOUBLE BIND with SKELETONS AT THE FEAST, a beautifully written, unforgettable story of survival during the last days of World War II.
While on the surface, the book seems a bit atypical for Bohjalian, he incorporates a great deal of the types of themes he has used in other books (love, family) and does so quite effectively by creating such rich, well-defined, intriguing characters.
This is a dark story, but there is hope in it. Yes, there are some disturbing things in this book, but these things are written to bring to life the true horrors of WWII and to give credence to the story. After all, war is not pretty.
Bojalian is one of my favorite authors and I recommend this book highly. If your unfamiliar with his other books, I also recommend THE BUFFALO SOLDIER.
Book Review: Unrelenting
Summary: 4 Stars
The reading journey thru Skeletons At The Feast is as unrelenting and brutal as the journey fictionalized in this book. Based on a diary from that time of what actually happened in Germany in the winter/spring of 1945.
We come to know all the characters very well and as in all absorbing books we think of them as friends.
There is no soft selling of details here. Gruesome as they are I am sure they are based on true facts drived from intense research.
The author does not spare our feelings in the what happens to some of the main characters we come to like and admire. He is as cruel in his treatment of them as real life is.
I am a huge fan of both real and historical fiction from the Nazi era.
This novel is one of best I have read.
I also recommend Those Who Save us by Jenna Blum.