Average customer rating:
- Slow build up with a Great finish
- A joy to read, but untimately tried to answer its own questions
- Great buddy novel fights the hyper-power
- Absolutely brilliant British thriller
- Absolutely Boring Friends
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Absolute Friends
John le Carre
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0316000647
Release Date: 2004-01-12 |
Customer Reviews:
Slow build up with a Great finish.......2007-09-03
I found this book to have a bit of a slow buildup, which was probably necessary in order to provide us the necessary background on the two main characters, Mundy and Sasha. Once the main storyline kicked into gear, the results were outstanding. I wouldn't call this book Anti-American. In fact, you could argue that this book is pro-American, in that it reflects the great American ideals of rebellion and challenging tyranny.
This book does oppose the opinions of the current presidential administration. It speaks to the neo-McCarthyism that existed at the start of the Iraqi War. I have to think though that today, in 2007, the vast majority of Americans realize what a bill of goods they were sold.
It was a very interesting read that also makes you think.
A joy to read, but untimately tried to answer its own questions.......2007-08-27
A story of two co-operatives, Edward Mundy and Sasha. They are cold war people who have also been also urban terror people back of the West German variety. They have complicated lives, but on the face of it no more complicated than most. Eventually they outlive their usefulness as operatives and so are set up as examples. After many years of service to both sides to spite the middle (or perhaps the other way round), they are set up by a CIA-inspired plot to create a political justification for the war on terror, and a political lever to force the position of central European states. The problem with the end of the book is that it was probably written before any of the preceding material was constructed. The problem with the final "setting up" project of the plot is that two hardened intelligence people would have smelled rats, coypus and copious other rodents in any escapade which apparently involved extensive charity of the monetary kind paid straight in to the pocket. In fact Ted takes the trouble to get his Turkish girlfriend and child back to Turkey before the denouement, but in the end it was all too convenient that things turned out that way. Beautifully written and superbly paced, the book was a joy until the polemic emerged.
Great buddy novel fights the hyper-power.......2007-04-24
A richly observed story of Mundy, a man coming into political awareness in radical late 60s Berlin but never coming to terms with who he really is. Except that he is best friends with Sasha. Yeah, it's a buddy novel and what guy isn't a sucker for one of those?
The Mundy character is a suberb fictional creation, absolutely right on. Well, except till the last chapters. Alas, that final section didn't ring true. The Mundy that Le Carre had created for me should've smelled the rat quicker and bailed. That Mundy would've rescued fragile Sasha from the brutal state, the way he had on the streets of Berlin in '68.
As for the politics, what struck me is how poorly put together is the alternative to the U.S. hyper-power. There's no counter-ideology, for example, just a collection of musty old "60s classics" like Frantz Fanon. So the opposition to Le Carre's accurately described near-naked U.S. imperialism (neoconservative evangelism is at best a jock strap) is an embarrassing parody, French snobbery it's only solid pillar. The world needs something much better.
Absolutely brilliant British thriller.......2006-11-08
This is not another spy-story. Far from it. It is a lot more. It is inspired political fiction. John le Carré goes back to 1947, or even slightly before, and he is haunted by Hitler and nazism (though he did not know at the time of his writing this book that Gunther Grass - page 381 - had been an enlisted member of the SS). He depicts a long film of events going from the British Empire to the War on Iraq, in successive tableaus that follow the Cold War - and its successive phases - and then the Fall of the Wall, and then the desovietization of the world, and then the monocentric world dominated by the US who consider, being in the hands of born-again fundamentalist evangelists, that they are right by essence, that they have God on their side by birth, and that they have to prevent terrorism by preventively waging a preventive war on aforesaid terrorism that should not have to be prevented since it is already there. But Le Carré is brutally clear on this preventive dimension : it enables the US to stage any kind of killing or military operation against existing or non-existing terrorists anywhere in the world in the name of prevention, which means in the name of US interests, such as oil and some other commodities, and furthermore call all those opposed to such ventures chickens, turkeys or other yellow-belly cowards. Le Carré goes even further in that trespassing of homogenized and standardized prudence. There could be a perfect de facto alliance - like in some kind of superbowl game - between that new shadowy anti-terrorist US invisible and privatised army and, on the other hand the peddlers of the anti-US leftist trotskyist anarchist antiglobalist alter-mondialist alternative European-and-Arab-(not-to-say-Moslem)-centered evasively invisible forces. This leads to an absolutely psychotic vision of the world since a bunch or a cluster of less than a dozen people are ruling the world without having to give any account to anyone or any institution. Democracy is a lure. Freedom is a trap. These christian fundamentalists' conception is total submission and the immediate freezing of any thinking, even purely existential or survivalistic non-conceptual brain work that could hardly qualify for abstract mental creative thought. Here Le Carré is brilliant because he is British in mind, or if you prefer is British in mind because he is brilliant. He sounds at times anti-US, though he is not : he is not against Americans in general but against this small group of industrial military evangelistic bigots that have taken over the US, Washington DC, and plan to rule the world unopposed, unchallenged, un-anything-you-may-think-of. Le Carré goes as far as identifying this attitude to the old British - and probably French - imperialistic mood that died hard but with no possible return after WW2. The final irony of the book is that only the French would be able to resist this enterprise because they do not give a damn whether some crazy Americans pour Bordeaux or Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine in some drain or decide to call French fries Freedom fries : after all in that lexical-cleansing enterprise freedom is put on the grill to fry. The book is packed with action and even adventure at times, though the vision of East Germany, the GDR of old, is slightly untrue and aggravated. But that's a detail. History will correct such caricatural visions in due time. A last remark to say that the book was written in June 2003 and of course could not envisage the stalemate in Iraq, the impasse in Iran, the blind alley in North Korea and the invicible and unpreventable growth of this new geo-political power : Russia, India and China with half a dozen if not more smaller but natural resource rich countries around them. All that had not come out of the bush yet and was still in the undergrowth of the jungle into which some hundred thousand GIs started to jump and tread in march 2003. Brilliant British Bravado to be proud of even and especially if you are not British.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Paris Dauphine & University of Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne
Absolutely Boring Friends.......2006-05-31
This is LeCarre's most pedestrian work. It starts well, getting one involved with the two major characters. But then it seems to tread water for much of the remainder of the book, at times making very little sense. One character becomes a caricature and unlike some of LeCarre's main characters in other books, I found I didn't really care what happened to him. He behaved in unexplicable, erratic ways that simply were not convincing. The denouement at the end was equally unconvincing. Sorry I cannot be more positive, but this book was a real disappointment.
Amazon.com
Sometimes the universe produces a man or woman whose life seems ready-made for fiction: Joan of Arc, for example, or Robert Falcon Scott; John Brown, Martin Luther King Jr., or Jesus of Nazareth. Fiction writers are attracted to larger-than-life personalities and each of the above-mentioned luminaries have indeed appeared in fictional works. Now German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer joins their ranks in Denise Giardina's novel Saints and Sinners. Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 in Breslau, Germany. As a young man, he found his vocation in the church, and his theological education took him to England, Spain, and eventually New York, where he spent a year in post-doctoral studies at Union Theological Seminary. He returned to Germany imbued with both the ideals of ecumenicalism and of the Church's responsibility to participate in social and political debate. These ideals, unfortunately, were hardly compatible with the rise of Nazism in the Germany of the '30s and '40s. Bonnhoeffer, true to his beliefs, spoke out against the Nazi regime, and participated in Germany's small Protestant resistance. He was eventually arrested for helping Jews escape to Switzerland and was hanged in the concentration camp in Flossenberg in the waning days of the war.
Denise Giardina knows the stuff of drama when she sees it, and in writing this fictionalized account of Bonhoeffer's life and death, she has drawn heavily on his own writings. Though she sticks to the facts where chronology is concerned, she does introduce three fictional characters into her protagonist's life as a means of illuminating his most private aspects. There is Elisabeth Hildebrant, Bonhoeffer's Jewish lover; Alois Bauer, his Nazi nemesis; and Fred Bishop, a black American seminarian Bonhoeffer meets during his year in New York who serves to politicize and radicalize the German theologian. After reading Saints and Sinners, readers might want to take a look at Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison, written during the last two years of his life, for a taste of the real man.
Book Description
In the charnel house that was Europe in the Second World War, there were few instances of shining moral courage, let along secular sainthood. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and Nazi resister was the exception. This emblematic figure risked his life--and finally lost it--through his participation in a failed plot to assassinate Hitler and topple his regime. Saints and Villains gives us this exemplary life in a sweeping narrative that is bold in conception and utterly convincing in its power of imaginative reconstruction.
Customer Reviews:
Memorable.......2004-02-14
A powerful novel about an inspiring man. I read this book some time ago, but now that I'm an Amazon reviewer I wanted to revisit it -- her portrait of Bonhoeffer and his world, the courage in his spirit has stayed with me. This is not great art, but it is a fine historical novel, a compelling story, and a great example for the rest of us.
Got my interest.......2003-05-01
Like Schindler's story, Giardina's novel introduces to us a story that some of us may never have known before. This novel introduced me to a real figure who is very inspiring and very human. Too many historic "heroes" seem like myths or memories. Giardina cures this illness by making Bonhoeffer real, and making him exist once again. It is both an important and well told story, based on something terrifying and real. This is the novel that developed my interest in Bonhoeffer and his life.
Giardina teaches at West Virginia State College, the school that I attend. I have had the opportunity to take her Fiction Writing Workshop class. A friend recommened this novel to me. It remains my favorite Giardina novel. Serious, but entertaining. Touching and compassionate. This is one of the greatest books I have ever read.
"Cup of Wrath" is much better.......2003-01-12
Before I read this book I had just read "Cup of Wrath" by Mary Glazner and though the later was a much better portrait of Bohnoeffer, has friends and family, and was a much better written version of the German mindset during the Nazi rise to power. This book was fine, but the dialogue was very unprofound and seemed too-well scripted. Much of the words the author puts in Bohnoeffer's mouth felt ...unconvincing. Many of the scenes, such as the scene were Dietrich's black friend is refused service, come off overly-contrived and riddled with cliche. I also didn't find the writing to be incredibly sophisticated and the overall book didn't leave me thinking much. It almost seemed like it was written for more of a young adult audience? Overall: there is a much better product out there.
Wonderful account of one's man heroic response to hitler!.......2001-09-15
This book is several things. First, it is the story of a heroic man's struggle to do his part to fight the evil that he knew existed in Germany during World War Two. Second, it is a story of a boy growing into a man, imperfections and all. Third, it is about the development of one man's soul and sense of purpose. Finally, it is the story of Germany, of a country as it descends into an abyss.
The book is extremely well written. It introduces us to an "inside" view of Hitler's rise to power and Germany's response to it. We meet our hero as a boy, and watch as he grows into a man. We follow him through school, through his search for self and meaning. The main character is undoubtedly a hero, but not in a story-book sense. He is - like all of us - not a perfect being. He has trouble with relationships. He has fear - great fear. He has uncertainty. But that makes his heroism all the more striking.
Bonhoffer is from a very wealthy, famous German family. He is safe - had he sat back and kept quiet, there is little doubt that he would have made it through the war untouched. Yet, he rises to the occasion. The story is fascinating in its unique perspective - this man, from this very German family, gives us a glimpse of how Germany descended into insanity. We watch as he struggles with his own doubts, his own feelings of frustration and anger, and as he struggles with doing what is right versus fighting against his own country and government. It is simply gripping to read.
The writing is clear and crisp and filled with meaning. The story literally flows... you will find yourself unable to put the book down. Read this book and watch and as an incredible man faces danger and fear, and rises above it. A great read!
Making the Familiar New.......2001-01-17
I bought this book because I had some knowledge of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and because I've read several Ballantine's Readers Circle novels and found them all to be interesting, challenging, and worth my time. Saints and Villains has made me think again about Jews and their place in European history. I have known of the Holocaust since I was a small child, but this novel made me think about day-to-day life as Hitler grew from being a fringe leader (like Pat Buchanan), frightening no one, to the leader of a warring empire, sometimes seeming unstoppable. It's hard to imagine a time in which Hitler seemed unstoppable, but I think we all must, if we can, in order to understand how fear made average people do uncommonly evil things--and, like Pastor Bonhoeffer, uncommonly good.
Book Description
Everything You Need to See the Best of Germany by Car!
Let Frommer's Take You To:
- The magnificent Gothic churches, ancient castles, and bucolic vineyards of the Rhine Valley
- Leipzig—the one-time home of Bach, Friedrich von Schiller, Mendelssohn, and Schumann
- The wild and unspoiled beauty of the Bavarian Forest
- The world-famous Baden-Baden spa
- The rolling foothills of Thuringia
- Berlin and the historic Bradenburg Gate
- And much, much more!
Inside You'll Find:
- 25 distinctive, easy-to-use itineraries—all fully illustrated with beautiful full-color photos
- Recommendations on the best hotels and restaurants along each route
- Exact directions, distances, and driving times for each route
- All the sights along the way—with highlights for history buffs, nature lovers, and families traveling with kids
- Scenic side trips, special moments, and recommended walks
- Detailed, accurate full-color route-planning maps—plus a new atlas section
Customer Reviews:
Ok, but there are better guides.......2007-05-18
I bought this book because we are planning a trip to Munich and will be taking daytrips by car almost everyday. This book does not go into great detail about anything. There are several driving tours that last 2-3 days, however, no mention of how much time to expect spending in each location. Almost every driving tour does not start from a base city like Munich, Frankfurt, or Berlin either (like most people would start from and want to return to). I would rather recommend Earl Steinbicker's Daytrips Germany. That is a great book and gives you vital information about each location.
Excellent guide to seeing Germany from behind the wheel.......2006-02-10
This review is for the 5th edition, 2002 printing. A newer edition is coming out: 7th edition to be released on March 20, 2006.
Excellent guide to seeing Germany with a sports car or a BMW motorcycle. You will enjoy some great driving tours and routes through this historical region of Deutschland.
Frommers has recently come out with more "Best-Loved Driving Tours" series ... guides that are not very inexpensive, but are very well researched and quite comprehensive. One will have plenty of driving tours and routes to chose from, whether you like arts and museums, scenic roads and breathtaking views, urban towns and shopping, or just want to experience a regione's culture and life.
Unlike the other Frommer guides that are fatter and heavier, this little book gives you not too many specifics on lodging or eating. It is geared strictly for the person behind the wheel and her or his passengers.
I have had a great experience using this guide and will recommend it to anyone who can afford it. Also, you might want to check to see if your library carries it and check it out for the duration of your visit abroad.
When I backpacked 4 months through Europe I had a copy of the Lonely Planet for Europe (a thick and heavy book) because it covered more cities and esoteric towns, a ripped chapters of all the international youth hostals Europe of the countries I visited, and as primary guide for nominal cities and capitals I used Frommers (ripped the book and kept only chapters of countries planning to visit - so I can keep the weight down).
Good info, but lacking details.......2003-12-29
This book has lovely photos and some good suggestions for driving to places not listed in every guidebook. It also talks a bit about the various towns and cities along the routes, which makes it easier not to miss something that you otherwise would not have known about. And descriptions do not start out in the center of each town, by the train station, very useful if you are driving, rather than traveling by train. However, the actual driving directions themselves are a bit sparse - you need a good recent map of Germany to accompany the book. And there are no suggestions in this book for places to stay or to eat - unfortunate - as sometimes the book takes you to off the beaten path locales, and suggestions on where to grab a bite or a bed would be helpful.
A better planning book than guide book.......2000-10-22
I've just returned from my first trip to Germany, and the Best-Loved Driving Tours was among the three books I toted along. This book was an excellent tool for planning our trip -- the photos are beautiful, and the tour layout helped us figure out where we should go and what might be worth seeing. Its short descriptions of each stop helped us grasp what a place was about, and as a result we budgeted about the right amount of time for each stop.
As a tour book to take along, though, it's not nearly as helpful. On the plus side, it's the only book I encountered that imagines you might actually be *driving* through Germany (the rest of them start describing a city beginning with the train station, with no clue for car drivers on how to get downtown). Also, most of the other books don't quite grasp that you might explore outside the big cities; this one does just the opposite, which I appreciated. However, the directions from place to place are a bit sparse, and it provides almost no useful information about lodging or dining.
This is a good guide book. But don't let it be the only one you carry.
This is a very reader-friendly, informative guide........2000-01-17
My wife and I know Germany pretty well, but this guide was an excellent addition for our next trip there. It is very upbeat and informative, with just the right amount of detail.
Product Description
This guide covers all of Germany in detail, from Berlin to Dresden, the Black Forest to Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Bavaria. How to get special discounts (some 20 for train and bus travel alone), with tips for saving on gas, on hotels, on museums insights only an insider would know. The best shopping, the foods and wines what to look for and where to find it. All the places to stay described in detail, from guesthouses and hostels to the most luxurious hotels. Germany has the worlds largest Gothic church at Cologne and more medieval castles than any country in the world. Hundreds of small towns are barely changed from the Middle Ages. The author guides us through all of the best castles, churches, museums and other historic sites. Rhine cruises, wine tours, concerts, theater, town and country walks, canoeing and kayaking, cycling its all here.
Customer Reviews:
Good Information .......2007-09-10
The information in this book is good but the organization is problematic when you are on the go. Having to look up cities by region was confusing to me. It is also a bit big for carrying around.
Lovely guide.......2006-09-18
Of the three Germany guidebooks I used, this one was the most useful and not only because it covers so many places that the others simply ignored. Although you never get 10% off for showing this book, it has enough sensible advice on how to shave unnecessary expenses off the budget without ever feeling or acting like a cheapskate.
I enjoyed the author's explanation of Germany's complex history but others may like the "History Cheat Sheet" that reduces six pages of history to a half page summary. Although the author has the ability to focus on the essentials, he (she?) drops enough fascinating tidbits to keep it interesting. I also love the explanation of major trends in German culture, arts, music, and literature.
The author clearly has opinions but never treats the reader like an idiot or writes down to you in any sense. As a non-German speaker I also loved the way all German terms are translated throughout the guide not expecting me to suddenly remember what is a kirch or Schloss halfway through the book.
The accommodation lists are very useful especially as it focuses on the around 80-120 per night middle to upper class hotels that suit my tastes. However, even the lower priced hotels all have private bathrooms, which to me is rather essential when on vacation.
Comprehensive guidebook with great coverage of the former East German regions.......2006-07-21
Great to see a guidebook on Germany in English by an author who realizes that Germany is more than Berlin, the Rhine, and Bavaria. Not that the well-known areas are neglected but I particularly enjoyed the wide coverage on the former East German regions.
The two great Saxon cities Leipzig and Dresden are covered in detail but even more impressive is the coverage of the lesser-known sights in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The guide has all the information needed to arrange a trip to see the Romanesque architecture in Saxony-Anhalt and the marvelous brick Gothic on the Baltic Coast. I also enjoyed the half-timber houses in the Harz region - can't decide whether Quedlinburg or Hildesheim were the more impressive. And the author was right, we never saw or heard another English speaker for days while touring these regions.
This guidebook is thick but not too heavy. It is packed with tightly written information in an easy to use format. I liked the numerous small black-and-white photos that go with the text even more than the color inserts. A great and useful guide.
Book Description
The author, a travel journalist, was born and lives in Germany. Covers every part of the country, from Berlin to Dresden, the Black Forest to Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Bavaria - with the kind of inside detail that only a resident can provide. Hundreds of small towns are barely changed from the Middle Ages. We visit the best ones. The author provides innumerable tips on special discounts available for travelers (some 20 on train and bus travel alone) and tells how to save on gas (cheapest on Mondays, most expensive on Wednesdays), as well as virtually everything else, with inside information on getting the best hotel rooms at the best prices, the best deals and the best food at restaurants. For every area of the country, full information is supplied on how to get around, the best shopping, the foods and the recommended places to eat, where to stay, from charming guesthouses, hostels and campsites, on up to the most luxurious hotels. Includes town and country walks, cycling, fishing, canoeing & kayaking, Rhine cruises, wine tours, concerts and other cultural events - it's all here! As a Pocket Adventure Guide, it shows you how to experience everthing the country offers more intensely and directly than most travelers know how to do - seeing the place close-up through adventures, both cultural and physical, including in-depth encounters with the people. Other guides lack our level of detail, our adventure perspective and our emphasis on direct experience of the country. We provide an insider's knowledge that you won't find in other guides.
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