I've read a lot of books, both fiction and non-fiction, set in this time period and this just failed to pack a comparable punch. The premise was good and the ideas for characters were good, but the characters themselves were one-dimensional. I didn't feel much for any of them, which is pretty unfortunate in a Holocaust tale. I also didn't care at all for the structure of the book. It was told in flashback from the point of view of the central character, but the author chose to do this with constant quotes, which got annoying. There were quotation marks everywhere in this. In addition, I found a lot of the dialogue either unbelievable or just clunky. The author is trying to teach the reader about the history, which is important, but in doing so, he makes one of his characters seem horribly uneducated about the most basic of details. This would be fine if the character were 12, not 39. Many of facts presented read like Wikipedia entries rather than plausible dialogue. Structurally, I think it would have been much better to start the narrative in Nazi Europe, giving all of the necessary details, and then bring us to the present chronologically, culminating with the lawsuit. Or even a non-linear structure would have worked better. The chosen style just made the whole thing fall a little flat for me, which is too bad, because I really liked the idea. "Once We Were Brothers" seemed to have such promise. It is a compelling story idea. A Polish Jew and a German, raised as brothers in pre World War II Poland. The German becomes a Nazi, war crimes are committed. Years later, 2004 in Chicago, the surviving Jewish man believes that he recognizes his once German brother as one of Chicago's elite and influential citizens. He is determined to seek justice. The story covers the war and present day Chicago.Ultimately, the book disappoints. For me, the tension was never really there. And the characters seemed one dimensional. So I was not pulled into the story in a way that would fulfill the promise. Others may feel differently, but this could have been a much better book.
Do You like book Volevo Solo Averti Accanto (2014)?
Really good. Not a huge Nazi WWII genre fan, but the story was great. Easy read.
—Cheryl
A wonderfully written book! Absolutely loved it! Highly recommend!
—Lehcrazy
almost a 5. great narration and a good story.
—seansocal
