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Cargando... The Boat Runnerpor Devin Murphy
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Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. Another WWII book, that has been compared widely with The Nightingale and All The Light We Cannot See. It is unquestionable that all three books show us a slice of the war from a European perspective; however, The Boat Runner is different in that the main character, Jacob Koopman is more of a combatant than the other books' protagonists, even if he was an unwilling one. This novel is also more gritty than the others and therefore felt more authentic as a war novel. Jacob's father is a factory owner in a small Dutch town, selling headlights to Volkswagen in the late 1930's. Jacob and his older brother are sent to a German indoctrination camp, but when the Nazi's invade, his family is wrecked, and Jacob joins his Uncle Martin, who seems to be a collaborator. When Jacob learns the truth, he joins the German war machine, earning distinction, and shortly thereafter, self-loathing, causing him to desert. On his way to freedom, his eyes are finally opened and his penance is both quite real and believable. ( ) During a recent visit to the Off the Beaten Path Bookstore, I picked up The Boat Runner by Devin Murphy. This was based on the recommendation of the owner, Bob. I found the book to be a thought-provoking and enjoyable read. The setting is Germany occupied Holland during World War II. It focuses on the decisions the inhabitants must make in order to survive physically and morally. Read more Started slowly. I liked it. I hated it. I liked it. There wasn't enough "boat runner" story, but it really was more about Jacob's coming to terms with who he was and who he was going to be. The Thump-Drag story at the end confused me at first. I thought... WHAT??? Then I went back and read it again and gave the book 4 stars. ODD REVIEW, I know. But- read it. Set during the Second World War this is a saga of a young Dutchman watching family, country and society collapse. That might sound very grim, but the book is highly engaging, superbly written and hopefully accessible. I'd just finished "Katalin Street" by Magda Szabo which describes similar devastation in Hungary. While the former is not the towering literary achievement of the latter (the interiority of that novel is incredibly tightly psychologically wound) "The Boat Runner" is very evocative from the narrators perspective and distinguishes itself by showing explicitly that targeted minorities would ultimately not be the only victims of Hitler's empire. This is a coming-of-age novel which could never convince me that our protagonist took the path to join the Hitler Youth. He was such a sensitive young man that, even given his young age, I didn't think he would fall into line when he began seeing the abuses and cruelty. I had to force myself to turn pages, but couldn't believe the central premise. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
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In the tradition of All The Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale, comes an incandescent debut novel about a young Dutch man who comes of age during the perilousness of World War II. Beginning in the summer of 1939, fourteen-year-old Jacob Koopman and his older brother, Edwin, enjoy lives of prosperity and quiet contentment. Many of the residents in their small Dutch town have some connection to the Koopman lightbulb factory, and the locals hold the family in high esteem. On days when they aren't playing with friends, Jacob and Edwin help their Uncle Martin on his fishing boat in the North Sea, where German ships have become a common sight. But conflict still seems unthinkable, even as the boys' father naively sends his sons to a Hitler Youth Camp in an effort to secure German business for the factory. When war breaks out, Jacob's world is thrown into chaos. The Boat Runner follows Jacob over the course of four years, through the forests of France, the stormy beaches of England, and deep within the secret missions of the German Navy, where he is confronted with the moral dilemma that will change his life-and his life's mission-forever. Epic in scope and featuring a thrilling narrative with precise, elegant language, The Boat Runner tells the little-known story of the young Dutch boys who were thrown into the Nazi campaign, as well as the brave boatmen who risked everything to give Jewish refugees safe passage to land abroad. Through one boy's harrowing tale of personal redemption, here is a novel about the power of people's stories and voices to shine light through our darkest days, until only love prevails. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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