Hello all!
It has been over a year since my last post and I apologise. I started this blog when I was in a position to tend to it daily and give it the attention it deserves. Alas, that situation did not last. So here I am a year later, apologising. I hope you accept.
I started to write this post a year ago. It was going to be my next entry, but I got distracted. And I remained distracted until now. So I've decided not to move on until I present this to you as I initially set out to do.
I don't know if it's just me, but I go through phases where I like different genres of books. I have no voluntary say in this; my being just decides what it'd like to be entertained with at the time and I have to obey. There are times I really NEED a romantic, sappy story and must have it. Then at other times I ache for a bit of war and the chaos of human existence. It was during one of the latter a few years ago, that I came across this novel. Unfortunately, I do not recall by what agency it came to my notice as I would like to thank whoever was responsible.
Mr. Scheinmann took six years writing this, his debut offering, and he does not dissappoint in the least.This story follows two young male protagonists. One is introduced to the reader in 1917 at the cusp on the first world war. The other in 1995, having just woken up from a bus crash in South America to realise that his girlfriend had not survived the accident.
We go on Leo's journey through grief and healing after bereavement and we are right beside Moritz as he makes his way across the vast snowy plains of war torn Russia experiencing the unmentionable horrors of war. It explores the lengths a person could go to for love but it also shows the strength that love could bestow upon said person to help them withstand the most unfavorable odds.
And if the compelling drama unfolding isn't enough to keep you turning page after page, Danny Scheinmann has littered nuggets of wildlife trivia as introductions to each new chapter. These are like little gifts that he has laid out along the way thanking you for keeping with the story so far. Does it all get tied nicely together in a photo finish or are you left guessing? You have to make the journey to find out!
Like every book I thoroughly enjoy, I make sure to foist it on the next unsuspecting person who appears to me to be without a book to occupy them at any given time. Through this active endorsement, I was able to create two new fans for Mr. Scheinmann- including my brother who had groaned loudly when he first read the title of the book. He'd deduced from that alone that it would be just the standard love story which he tended to avoid like the plague's meaner older sibling. Luckily for him,though, he had me to gently nudge him along and a few days later he reported, with a contented grin, how glad he was to have given it a chance.
If you haven't, do. It will warm places in your heart you thought were already sufficently cosy.
