Bonus: Once We Were Brothers

St. Martin's Griffin

Once We Were Brothers
Ronald H. Balson
2013

The Summary
"Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiswer when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek.  Although the charges are denounced as preposterous, his accuser, Ben Solomon, is convinced he is right.  Solomon urges attorney Catherine Lockhart to take his case, revealing that Otto Piatek was abandoned as a child and raised by Solomon's family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation.  But has he accused the right man?

"Once We Were Brothers is the compelling tale of two boys and a family that struggles to survive in war-torn Poland.  It is also the story of a young lawyer who must face not only a powerful adversary, but her own self-doubt.

"Two lives, two worlds and sixty years all on course to collide in a fast-paced legal thriller."

The Good
Once We Were Brothers has an intriguing premise:  two men, who were once as close as brothers, are suddenly separated by war and political ideology.  It certainly has the bones to make a good story, and I was definitely intrigued when I first set out to read the book.

For the most part, I liked Ronald Balson's novel.  I liked the way Ben began his story, sinking into his history, recounting his experiences and his environment.  And Once We Were Brothers is packed full of comprehensive information.  It gives you a vision of the enormity of the Holocaust, while simultaneously revealing the effects of Nazi occupation in Poland on individuals.  It shows the impact of World War II on an emotional, individual level and a larger, international level.

Moreover, Ben and Hannah's romance is spectacularly sweet.  I was constantly hanging on his words, wondering what would happen to him and Hannah, what would happen to his family after surviving the Holocaust and the war.  I never really expected the ending I received.

The Bad
When I'm reading Ben's words, listening to his tale along with Catherine and everyone else, I can sometimes sink into his story; however, after a certain point, I struggled with the tone of his voice.  I imagine him to have an accent, considering he lived in Poland for a very large portion of his life, and he slips in and out of it, but I can't focus for the interruptions.

Yes, I understand his narrative is an interview, but I don't need to be reminded each and every chapter.  I would like to hear his story in one, cohesive unit, not parsed into bite-size pieces with lots of legal jargon stuffed in between.

Furthermore, I wasn't ecstatic with the character development of Balson's novel.  Sometimes, I thought it seemed rushed, like Catherine's life.  Her story is condensed into a few, quick paragraphs and brief snippets of information, and I personally didn't see very much growth.  Any changes she underwent, any changes to her relationship with Ben always seemed abrupt.

The Ugly
The main story of Once We Were Brothers occurs during World War II.  With a Jewish family.  In Poland.

You can see where I'm leading with this.

Neverwhere

Avon

Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman
1998

The Summary
"Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk.  His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed.  There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them.  And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew."

The Good
Door is endearing and (most of the time) sweet, if only a little scary.  De Carabas is unusual, possibly dangerous, but always interesting.  And Richard Mayhew - well, you simply feel sorry for the poor sot who gets mixed up in all the madness.  Together, they have a very intriguing dynamic and an interesting story to weave.

All told, I enjoyed Neverwhere.  It has an intriguing blend of myth and urban legend, human error and horror, and a good versus evil dynamic - or, more accurately, an epic struggle for survival between good and evil, between survival and oblivion - that kept me coming back time and again.

Islington, the angel, was particularly interesting:  I wanted to know who he (or, more accurately, it) was and what he was planning and where he fit into the whole grand scheme of things.  He's an intriguing and intimidating character, and I was constantly curious to see where he would lead.

The Bad
Neverwhere was highly unusual.

Not a bad thing for the most part, but I wasn't quite sure what to make of it.  Laced with urban legends, myths, religious detritus, and horrors that can only come from the most terrifying nightmares, Neverwhere is a story that has no clear resolution.  It simply is what it is - and there's certainly more to it, but I'm just not sure what.

The Ugly
There is death involved, which is gruesome and disheartening on its own, but coupled with Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, it's downright bloody.  Moreover, I found the world under London to be incredibly frightening.  There's something inherently terrifying about the notion of an invisible world existing beneath our own, of getting sucked into it and being completely, utterly forgotten.

Total obscurity is a frightening thing.

The Rosie Project

Simon & Schuster

The Rosie Project
Graeme Simsion
2013

The Summary
"The art of love is never a science:  Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who's decided it's time he found a wife.  In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner:  a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.

"Rosie Jarman possesses all these qualities.  Don easily disqualifies her as a candidate for The Wife Project (even if she is "quite intelligent for a barmaid").  But Don is intrigued by Rosie's own quest to identify her biological father.  When an unlikely relationship develops as they collaborate on The Father Project, Don is forced to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie - and the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don't find love, it finds you."

The Good
The Rosie Project is an unexpectedly adorable romantic-comedy with endearing characters and hilarious situations that left me laughing.  Don is a wonderful narrator.  Socially awkward, but incredibly bright, Don weaves an intelligent and thoughtful story about the concept of friendship, family, and love.

Don is brilliant, an absolute genius, and he's such a quirky lovable character that his faults, such as they are, become part and parcel of who he is.  Moreover, he's candid, thoughtful, and oblivious to the obvious, but he's a stickler for the rules.

Until he meets Rosie.

I absolutely loved the dynamic between them - how they interact, how they manage to make the other laugh - and I loved that Rosie was able to coax Don out of his shell, that they were able to grow together in a relationship.  Don, in particular, undergoes a startling change in his efforts to help Rosie:  he's willing to break the rules and put social convention aside just for her.

It's romantic, it's sweet.  And, as they proceed with Rosie's Father Project, it's an epic adventure of comical proportions.  They get into some crazy situations (even going so far as to fly to New York City!), and they make mistakes; however, they develop and learn and discover - and, more importantly, they fall in love.

The Bad
Truthfully, I have no complaints.  Don is sometimes difficult to understand, seeing as how his IQ is rather astronomical and he's still learning "social protocols," but he's a wonderful character and an excellent narrator nonetheless.

The Ugly
Some aspects of Rosie's search are incredibly sad, such as the fate of her mother and Geoffrey Case. Similarly, Don's quest (i.e. his wife project) is silly, but sad at the same time.  Like Rosie, he's searching for a sense of belonging, a feeling of community and closeness - and love - that he's never quite felt.

It's a little heartbreaking.