Skeletons at the Feast
by Chris Bohjalian
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Book Reviews of Skeletons at the Feast
Book Review: Not One of Bohjalian's Better Efforts
Summary: 1 Stars
I am usually a huge fan of Chris Bohjalian, but Skeletons at the Feast: A Novel seemed like a written-for-the-Oprah-crowd book. This is a shame, because he obviously did a lot of research on it. I managed to slog my way through it, but I was constantly derailed by too-histrionic moments and the anachronistic dialog and actions of the characters. (I don't think that they spoke Valley Girl back in wartime Germany.)Book Review: A Killing in the Real World
Summary: 5 Stars
In my opinion, Skeletons at the Feast is Chris Bohjalian's best novel to date (and I've read all eleven!). It's a page turner in the best sense- an intriguing story with unforgettable characters, as well as being skillfully written and thought provoking. I couldn't put it down.
After being just a little flummoxed by the unexpected ending of The Double Bind, I was pleasantly surprised by the masterful conclusion of this novel. This should be on everyone's must-read least for the upcoming summer.
Book Review: A Page Turner
Summary: 5 Stars
A Page Turner
This novel is a narrative. A historically well researched tome. A bird's eye view of the last months of WW II as experienced by a German family. It makes one cry, laugh and be proud to be a member of the human race. A trek on foot, across snowy, frozen Germany in the last months of the war. With dangers lurking behind every tree and inside every barn. A tale of heartbreak, loss, love and resilience of the human spirit.
Gunta Krasts Voutyras
Book Review: Disjointed, awkward, and stilted
Summary: 2 Stars
Having read The Double Bind and enjoyed the story, I began reading Skeletons. I persevered but never got pulled into the story. It felt disjointed and awkward in descriptions of the horrors the charcters lived, the stumbling sex scenes, and the dialogue. The author's telling of the story felt self-conscious, as though he were wearing someone else's clothes in an inauthentic and therefore awkwardly self-conscious story. Regret purchasing the book--and giving hours of my life to reading it.Book Review: History Comes Alive in this Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel has great credibility, in great part because it is based on a real-life account, but mostly because it keeps alive a history we should never forget. Mr. Bohjalian's brillant use of the novel format as a means of teaching history cuts through dry, history-book bordem. The horrors the characters succuumb to are more revealing than a general portrayal of history. Skeletons of the Feast should be a required reading, particulary at the high-school and college levels.