Tag: WWII

Advance Review Copy, Fiction, History, Translation

Léon & Louise by Alex Capus (translated from the German by John Brownjohn)

Léon & Louise by Alex Capus, translated by John Brownjohn, is a sweet story where a lot occurs without seeming to. It touches on both World Wars and follows a fairly typical plot of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy (now married with children) finds girl again eleven years later. The two go their separate ways and… well the “and” is what make up … Continue reading Léon & Louise by Alex Capus (translated from the German by John Brownjohn)

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Audio, Fiction, History, Translation

HHhH by Laurent Binet (translated from the French by Sam Taylor, audio narrated by John Lee)

HHhH is the 2010 Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman award winning novel which tells the story of Operation Anthropoid:  the secret WWII mission to assassinate SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich. Heydrich was Nazi Germany’s golden child.  Chief among his many accomplishments was the development “the final solution to the Jewish question” – which he helped conceive and present to Nazi leaders at the infamous Wannsee … Continue reading HHhH by Laurent Binet (translated from the French by Sam Taylor, audio narrated by John Lee)

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Advance Review Copy, Fiction, History, Translation

The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller (translated from the original German by Philip Boehm)

The Hunger Angel was my introduction to the work of Herta Müller.  First published in 2009, the same year that she received the Nobel Prize, it is (like much of her work) deeply political.  Romania was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1958.   Müller’s novel deals with the time immediately following WWII when, as she explains in the book’s afterward: “In January … Continue reading The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller (translated from the original German by Philip Boehm)

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Fiction, History, Literary Awards, Review Copy, Translation

Daniel Stein, Interpreter by Ludmila Ulitskaya (translated from the Russian by Arch Tait)

The title Daniel Stein, Interpreter is loaded with meaning. The novel’s namesake and hero is a Polish Jew gifted with languages. He survived WWII by acting as an interpreter for the Germans, the Belorussians and Soviets. Each time the city of Emsk changed hands, so did Daniel. At times re-translating the same documents over again for each new occupier. It was through his position that … Continue reading Daniel Stein, Interpreter by Ludmila Ulitskaya (translated from the Russian by Arch Tait)

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Audio, Fiction, History, Mystery, Review Copy

Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel (narrated by Elizabeth Klett)

My most recent audiobook download from Iambik.com is Rebecca Pawel’s novel Death of a Nationalist.  Set in 1939, in the early days of Franco’s Spain, it’s a murder mystery that doesn’t shy away from the complexities of history. …The Spanish Civil War, often  considered a practice run for WWII, has only recently ended.  The short-lived Republic is no more.  The Nationalists, backed by Nazi Germany … Continue reading Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel (narrated by Elizabeth Klett)

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