Jonathan RabbRecensioni

Asia Menor, siglo VI. La secta maniqueísta desaparece.
Bosnia, 1992. Pearse, un estudiante de teología, mantiene una intensa relación con una joven croata.
Roma, hoy. Un manuscrito codificado llega a manos de Pearse. Llevado por su curiosidad, hace traducir el documento: el manuscrito contiene una oración maniquea. El maniqueísmo ha perdurado con el claro objetivo de eliminar al catolicismo e imponer una nueva fe.

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This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It’s breathtaking yet profoundly simple. The author truly makes you think about uncomfortable, complex social interactions. How on earth would you relate to or care for someone who survived something as hellish as the Holocaust? How do humans relate to each other while grieving different losses? How do factors such as race, religion, and socioeconomic status factor into such situations? I loved that although this book was not my normal “cup of tea,” I couldn’t put it down. The characters are well developed, the storyline is easy to follow and doesn’t derail into various subplots (as these types of books often do), and I found myself wanting more at the end. I would recommend this book and I will read it again myself, probably more than once.

The 1927 period detail in this novel was just as good as in Jonathan Rabb's previous novel in the series, [b:Rosa: A Novel|7118378|Rosa A Novel|Jonathan Rabb|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328771247s/7118378.jpg|1998722], to which I gave 5 stars. There is an attempt to make a unifying figure out of the film director, Fritz Lang, but this use of a real person doesn't work as well as in the first novel, which was built around the assassination of Rosa Luxemburg.

What made it difficult for me to finish the novel was its byzantine plot--around the German-American battle to master the technology of talking movies, and the haphazard characterisation of the novel's central character, Herr Kriminal-Oberkommissar Nikolai Hoffner. In spite of my disappointment, the great impression made on me by Rosa means that I will read other Jonathan Rabb novels.

Berlin: Some Light, Lots of Noir

Not Bad. 1930's Berlin Noir books usually explore questions of living (and dying) in an increasingly immoral, Nazified world. In Rabb's book, the thugs come from everywhere--the Nazis are just the new kids on the block. His detective has made peace with old school evils and now has to deal with the new guys--the big problem is not that they are bad; the problem is they are too ambitious (thats what the old rich Prussian says).

The book creeps thru Berlin's UFA film studios as Americans and right-wing Germans fight to take it over. Fritz Lang has finished Metropolis and it's a flop. Sound is on the way with Jolson and German porno competing. This is no Singing in the Rain. More like a wet blanket on any hope for the whole world. But you do find out who murders whom. But, of course, nobody gets punished.

I really like Yitzhak, quickly renamed Ike by his cousins. Conscious of the opportunity he has been given and a journalist by trade he is a quiet, but trustworthy observer and narrator of his new home. Through his eyes we see the America of pre Civil Rights where the women of the town are still trying to find their own way and the often painful parallels of his recent experiences and those of the African Americans in the story.

When he becomes friends with a widow who is a member of the Reform Temple (his relatives being members of a Conservative synagogue) we are also presented with a really interesting insight into the tensions between to 2 congregations. The distrust and even hatred between members of the two groups becomes petty in the extreme when presented to us through the eyes of someone with Ike’s recent experiences. This is the part of the book I most enjoyed a quiet but pointed social commentary with a really likeable lead.

What I enjoyed less was an extravagant sub plot pertaining to Ike’s cousins slightly shady business and expansion plans – I found this to be distracting in the extreme, it removed rather than took away from the novel

In this moving novel about a Holocaust survivor’s unconventional journey to 1940’s Savannah, Georgia, Rabb delves into questions of religious expression, racial identity, and cultural assimilation. Discomfort between members of a Reform Temple and a Conservative Synagogue surface. A Jim Crow southern society is exposed when a black employee’s son is viciously attacked and he writes “Here they kill us one at a time and that’s the difference”. Other political issues are also addressed when some of Savannah’s Jews show support for the development of the state of Israel. Jonathan Rabb has created a compelling look at Judaism in the deep south and the complexity of the postwar society.

twists + turns — film, sex, greed, lies — in Berlin after WWI — building to Hitler
WWII — so knocked down by reporters

Berlin, between the two world wars. When an executive at the renowned Ufa film studios is found dead floating in his office bathtub, it falls to Nikolai Hoffner, a chief inspector in the Kriminalpolizei, to investigate. With the help of Fritz Lang (the German director) and Alby Pimm (leader of the most powerful crime syndicate in Berlin), Hoffner finds his case taking him beyond the world of film and into the far more treacherous landscape of Berlin's sex and drug trade, the rise of Hitler's Brownshirts (the SA), and the even more astonishing attempts by onetime monarchists to rearm a post-Versailles Germany.

A Holocaust survivor is sent to Savannah Georgia, which has a large population of Jews. Not only does the reader learn about the complexity of the Savannah Jewish community, but comes to realize that after surviving a concentration camp, returning to life in a new country is not easy, especially in a community where hate of the negro is strong.

I requested a galley of this book because it revolves around the Jewish community in Savannah, Georgia. Since the main character is a Holocaust survivor you may think the book is about the Holocaust. Well, not really… It is about a survivor who has to adapt to a culture so vastly different than what he knew.

Yitzhak Goldah (Ike), the survivor, comes to Savannah to live with his distant cousins, the Jeslers. Trained as a journalist he is a keen observer. While he is immediately accepted into the Jewish community, he learns that the Jews of Savannah have mostly assimilated into the culture around them. But there is still a sharp divide between the Reform and Conservative congregations. This is a major issue as the Jeslers are Conservative, and Ike falls in love with a Reform lady. Ike also learns the fine distinction of privately being friendly and caring about the African-Americans who work for the Jeslers, but keeping them at a distance in public. This story takes place about 20 years before the Civil Acts Movement.

Mr. Rabb expertly took me into the mind of Ike, making me feel like I was seeing through Ike’s eyes. I could feel Ike’s reactions to the drama, the fear, the love, the confusion, the uneasiness. I was happy because things seemed to be going so well for him, but then devastated when someone from his past threatened his new life.

This book made me think about attitudes in general. When you have been through a devastating event, it shapes your outlook on life. Previously serious issues now seem so petty, so trivial. This is what Ike wrestled with. I was impressed with the strength to be on his emotional rollercoaster yet to outwardly remain calm.

The book has no “action scenes”; rather it is a look at day-to-day life. It was certainly a different read – in a good way.

Thank you to Net Galley, and Edelweiss for the advance galley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Rabb deftly captures the atmosphere of 1920s Berlin, particularly the decadence for which this period is famous. He does have one blooper of a factual error -- one of the characters was to take a transatlantic flight to go from Germany to the USA, something which was not possible in 1926. Other than this, an entertaining read with a terribly flawed protagonist.

A good book that held my interest, set in a very interesting time. The author could have done a bit more research, however -- he refers to the Wehrmacht, which did not come into existence until 1935 (the story is set in 1919), and talks about the "Defense Ministry", when in fact all defense ministries at the time were called "War Ministries". These nitpickings notwithstanding, Rabb paints a colorful picture of the modern world before telephones and automobiles became ubiquitous. A good, atmospheric read.

Sant Llorenç

Frankly, it was fine but somewhat predictable. The agent and the innocent fall in 'like' or 'love' by the end. Blah.

Really enjoyed this. A good detective story and great historical fiction in a rarely written about period.

I felt it captured the mood of 1919 Berlin very well, especially the political atmosphere.

Un peu confus dans la construction, mais reste intéressant.

Good mystery story set in Berlin. Rabb builds his mysteries around historical facts, makes for interesting reading.

The Second Son is the third (and at the moment) the last book of Nikolai Hoffner's series. This is a nice read, a mix between a historical novel and a thriller, that takes place in Germany and Spain during the first months of the Spanish Civil War (1936). The start is compelling: Georg, Nikolai's son, was in Spain to film the People's Olympiad when the war broke out and he was missing. However, I felt quite detached reading the central and the last part of the novel, because the dialogues sounded unrealistic to me (as if the characters were always hinting to something left unsaid), there were too many coincidences and a huge historical mistake (see spoiler alert ).
It isn't a depressing book for me, but doesn't match up with Night Soldiers or with Bernie Gunther's series .½

I have given up on this 40% through. While Jonathan Rabb is very good at evoking the spirit of a time and place, in this case post First World War Berlin, I found the story too dull and slow moving to hold my interest. None of the characters appealed at all, either. 2.5/5½

Excellent detective story set in post WW I Germany. Lots of historical material, strong protagonist.

This is a really tough read. Way too much information and not enough story.

I never had any interest in reading the Da Vinci Code, and if I'd heard about this, I might not have been interested in it, either. But somehow I picked up a damaged copy of it, and got terribly interested but it was in such bad shape that there was no way to go on reading. I found that I had to request it from the library, and as soon as it arrived I started over at the beginning. I've read it in chunks since then.If I'd read this book when it was first released, back in 1998, I'm sure it would have been much more chilling. It was quite effective, even in 2011. I can easily remember the public figures who are echoed in Rabb's books - there are certainly similar ones in the news every day right now (some of them the same ones!)I did, however, enjoy The Overseer for what it was. I didn't find myself chafing at the flaws other reviewers here have mentioned. Yes, government agents in such thrillers have to be nearly superhuman, and the protagonist, in order to survive, has to learn new rules very quickly. But the reader also has to suspend her disbelief, or she has no business reading such things. If the hero is an idiot, I'll accept that he's a slow learner and likely to die - but then he wouldn't be the hero, would he?All in all, a decent read if you enjoy thrillers.

Kurzbeschreibung bei Amazon:
Das gefährlichste Buch, das je geschrieben wurde, muss gefunden werden. Doch die Zeit wird knapp. Denn der brisante Plan des machtbesessenen Mönchs Eisenreich aus dem 16. Jahrhundert ist in die Hände einer Verschwörergruppe gelangt die Welt steht am Rande des Abgrunds. Die amerikanische Regierung setzt die erfahrene Agentin Sarah Trent und den jungen Wissenschaftler Alexander Jaspers auf die Spur der Verschwörer. Eine atemlose Verfolgungsjagd quer durch Italien, Deutschland, England und die USA beginnt?
3.0 von 5 Sternen Gute Ansätze und Ideen, 26. Februar 2007
Von
J. Hameister "hameister"
Rezension bezieht sich auf: Die Eisenreich-Verschwörung (Taschenbuch)
In dem Buch geht es um ein Manuskript das von dem Mönch Eusebius Eisenreichen im 16. Jahrhundert geschrieben wurde. In ihm wird beschrieben, wie man die Weltherrschaft erlangen kann. Eine Gruppe von Leuten bereitet im Geheimen die Umsetzung Eisenreichs Plan vor. Der junge Wissenschaftler Alexander Jaspers und die Agentin Sarah Trent versuchen dies zu verhindern. Es beginnt eine Jagd nach dem original Manuskript durch halb Europa...

Es werden viele interessante Ideen verarbeitet, wie man die Macht durch gezieltes Chaos in einem Land übernehmen kann. Dies ist teilweise zwar interessant und auch tiefgründig, aber auf Dauer doch zu langatmig. Der Funke will nie so richtig überspringen. Man kann sich nie wirklich in die Akteure hineinversetzen, wodurch dann auch nie richtige Spannung entstehen will.

Too depressing. I just can't read any more books about Nazis.

Excellent Weimar-era Zeitgeist. A police-procedural cum detective-noir with German silent film stars thrown in...