The Dark Room

An interesting and intense novel of three self contained parts. The first describes World War II through the eyes of a young man with a crippled arm who experiences the war through his camera lens and through his attempts to record details about people movements. The second part is a story about five children who have to walk the entire length of Germany to find their grandmother. This happens at the very end of the War, when Russian, American and British forces advanced into the country, began to divide it into sectors, and imposed barriers to movement. The children are led by their resourceful oldest sister and are assisted by a mysterious adult they meet along the way. The last story describes the attempts of a post war generation German to understand, and come to terms with, the actions of his late, beloved grandfather during the war.The three parts are stand-alone and only connected by their setting in Germany in WWII. This is therefore not a novel in the traditional sense, it is rather three themed novelettes. The first part was of interest to me, because it contains almost no dialogue at all, yet it is still a good read.I feel this novel is worthy of its accolades and recommend it for anyone who has a connection with or interest in how ordinary people were affected by WWII during the war and even a generation later. I understand this is not a factual book, however, there is no doubt that it is based on facts. I found the book a very absorbing and thought provoking read that resonated with many, many things my German parents (who were children during the war) told me about.

I thought all three stories were very compelling though the third one was a bit long. The transitions from place to place or scene to scene were very abrupt and often confusing in the second and third stories. It was particularly confusing in Lore. Her language is very spare and I generally appreciated her style but I think her editor should have encouraged her to add a bit more transitional detail. In the Lore story, one minute they were camping in the forest, the next they were in a town with no explanation as to how they got there. However, all in all, still a highly recommended read.

The Dark Room is structured as three separate novellas. Each story looks at the pain of war and it's aftereffects in different ways. To me the structure of this novel amplifies the effects of war by building on the reactions of the protagonists. The third novella could have used some editing, but overall these stories were moving and show the pain that war causes among generations.

This is less a novel than a triptych of novellas each of which deal with World War II and its aftermath on German citizens. The novellas are arranged chronologically so that as we move along, we get further and further away from the war. The second installment "Lore" was recently filmed, but my favorite installment is the last one. This is an important book that poses important questions about morality and avoids glib answers; I found the structure of the book one of the most important things about it.

The headline to this review says it all. Rachel Seiffert has taken what I understand is a unique approach to the role of Germans in World War II. Ostensibly, there are no heroes in this book apart from the (extra)ordinary people. I was attracted to the book via the movie Lore, which it turns out is the story of the middle character in this trilogy of three main characters. To read The Dark Room is the enter a world most people would rather put aside - how would I react and live in a world dominated by evil events? Indeed, it is a book for these times when evil events seem to abound. I love the way she has drawn the characters - buy this book!

Got inside the experience of World War II. Not an easy read but worth the effort. One wonders about everyones morals.

Was hard to read at times and heart wrenching.

I've read just the first of these stories, Helmut, and have begun the second, Lore, on which the film is based. Ms. Seiffert is, in my opinion, an exceptional writer. One has simply to Look Inside on Amazon and read a paragraph or two to know what I mean. I could hardly put my Kindle down!. It's WWII Berlin as you have never seen it in writing before.

I thought the three stories had great potential but it was lost somewhere down the line. None of the stories ended with a concrete conclusion - they just seemed to drift off into outer space. I couldn't believe the weakness of Micha in the third story who fails to ask questions, fails to research more and fails to chase leads when he's in a prime position to do so. Some of the characters in the book deserved more detail and there’s a fine line between a clever author giving you enough information to come to your own conclusion and one who just leaves you in mid-air. I would love to have seen a connection between the stories – some characters who overlapped or were referred to but it was essentially a book with three short stories in it. Fortunately I bought this second hand through Amazon for a penny (plus postage). I’m glad I didn’t pay more.

This novel must be one of the most powerful and emotional I have ever read. The context is the second world war from a German perspective and it explores accountability and guilt. I found both the characters and the plot wholly convincing. I gained so much from reading it and very much recommend it to those wanting a serious but rewarding read.

The cover features an actual case - That of a German released from being a prisoner of war in 1946. He has found that all of his contacts have been killed in the bombing. It sets the scene quite well for the narrative.

The central story of the three in this book was filmed in 2012 as the German language film Lore. The film received good reviews, but is very much an art house film: lots of sunlight through leaves and at times incomprehensible. The film and the book make an interesting comparison. There are minor changes in plot detail, but the major difference is in the tretment of the enigmatic Thomas, who assists the children in their journey across 1945 Germany. I feel few people seeing the film realised who he was; I certainly didn't till I read the book.The book is written in the dramatic present tense, which makes for a tiresome read; it works best as a companion to the film.

Extraordinary how this account of the characters and their actions is achieved in such gripping fashion, when all occurs in the same place in the wastes of Poland in WW2. The story, very short and really a novella, focuses on the minutae of how each of the three central characters - German soldiers, thinks and acts, in the most evocative fashion.