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By: COOKS 001
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2025-05-26 10:28:39 |
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Interesting to learn more about Germany advancing into Russia from a historical perspective, and very clever writing including a range of moral questions. |
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By: DUNED 004
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2025-05-07 13:21:34 |
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Well-written. Thought provoking insight into a different aspect of WWII. |
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By: WAIKA 013
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2025-03-31 13:07:56 |
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A well-written book which the majority of members really enjoyed. Good descriptive characterisations with the necessary tension in the relationships. |
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By: ROTO 014
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2024-12-18 13:39:30 |
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This was a well-written book, and as a group we enjoyed it immensely. |
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By: WHANG 003
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2024-12-02 14:51:37 |
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Mixed reviews for this group. One member really enjoyed the many strands within the book, but some did not like it at all. It did however promote vigorous discussion of war. |
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By: HUNTLY 001
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2024-10-16 12:09:46 |
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4-4.5. A good read. Interesting to read about WWII from the perspective of a German, but without in any way lessening the horror of what the Nazis did. The Tolstoy link added interest. |
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By: AUCK 050
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2024-08-29 14:23:25 |
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A wonderful read which encouraged much discussion in the group. |
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By: TAUR 016
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2024-08-07 10:24:00 |
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Overall opinion was 5/5. Very well-written and the best book we have read for a long time. |
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By: AUCK 224
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2024-06-20 09:45:07 |
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Definitely not like any other war story. Well-written with wonderfully rounded characters. Surprising, exciting, sad and satisfying. |
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By: NELS 040
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2024-05-06 12:25:38 |
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The group all enjoyed this book. Good to see the subject viewed from a different perspective. |
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By: RAUM 001
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2024-04-17 11:57:22 |
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Engaging and showed a different point of view of the war. |
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By: WHANG 008
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2024-03-06 12:00:32 |
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The book drew us in until we were gripped by the story. It shed light on a time and place we knew very little about. A very satisfying book to read. |
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By: ALEXA 013
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2024-01-11 13:38:48 |
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We all really enjoyed this, even though a few of us wouldn't ordinarily read this genre. Someone read it in a day or so as was so enthralled. |
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By: WELL 153
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2024-01-10 14:31:07 |
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Generally positive response to this book. The visceral descriptions of medical procedures in the challenging conditions of war were difficult to read. The love story was compelling, and many wanted to read 'War and Peace' after this. The strong Russian female character was appealing. Historically this was interesting as it was from the German viewpoint for a change. Recommended for all readers - especially those with a medical interest. |
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By: CHCH 481
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2023-12-14 14:00:58 |
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Engaging - gave us chills (literally!) about the German-Russian war. Well drawn characters and portrayal of soldiers during war time. |
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By: CHCH 503
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2023-11-01 12:35:43 |
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Quite a different insight into the 2nd World War. We enjoyed the variation of this book. A bit slow in the middle. |
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By: WHANG 023
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2023-09-23 23:14:18 |
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Everyone that read it, really liked it. |
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By: AUCK 065
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2023-09-13 14:24:01 |
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We all found the book fascinating and two of us are going to read 'War and Peace' again. We had a very interesting discussion about learning from our mistakes - men and war and guns. |
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By: AUCK 009
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2023-08-21 13:51:00 |
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Unanimous verdict. 5/5. We all loved this book and couldn't put it down. So beautifully written, so descriptive, so clever. Some of our group have been stimulated to re-read 'War and Peace'. |
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By: NAP 023
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2023-08-21 12:38:21 |
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Everybody loved this book - one of the best we have read! Characterisation is superb and storyline very strong! |
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By: FEILD 006
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2023-08-10 14:00:19 |
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A wonderful sad love story with an insight into a period of history we knew little about, the German invasion of Russia. They were so confident of winning in a climate and terrain they were ill prepared for. The circumstances surrounding this love story prevented it going far, but some beautiful writing of feelings and overcoming political adversity. |
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By: NAP 017
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2023-07-31 11:25:45 |
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Enjoyed by all members. Quite eye-opening about details of war/soldiers in Russia ( Germans). Learned much about Tolstoy's background which was interesting to all. |
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By: QUEEN 006
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2023-06-01 14:45:00 |
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Once settled into reading this book all our group found it thoroughly engrossing. The characters, the storyline, the style of writing, the setting - all so well portrayed and developed. Notes and questions very good too. |
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By: UPHU 002
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2023-05-18 13:22:46 |
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All at our discussion group enjoyed the book - well written and all agreed they could feel/see the conditions in the Russian winter of '41 at Tolstoy's estate. The main character, Paul Bauer, was sincere and dedicated to his role as a surgeon. |
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By: NELS 015
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2023-04-13 12:13:03 |
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This book was enjoyed by all members of the book group. More than a couple were tempted to tackle 'War and Peace' after this story. They found the glimpse of life at the front very real and it was a very well told story. |
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By: AUCK 069
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2023-03-22 12:45:50 |
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Liked the story, some loved the medical/surgical descriptions and others didn't. We found the main character 'not very German'. The letters were a bit of a jolt, but some really liked them. |
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By: WELL 041
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2022-11-17 10:34:08 |
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We all decided that this beautifully written book was definitely the best we read this year. Carefully crafted, wonderfully detailed characters - we just loved it. A joy to read. |
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By: NAP 005
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2022-09-10 15:46:38 |
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This was a bitter sweet novel of war, love and literature and we all rated it very highly. There were horrifying accounts of the numbing cold, the unpreparedness of the German army, the pointlessness of war and the varying ways that individuals deal with it all. Tolstoy's estate and War and Peace somehow brought it all to life. |
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By: WELL 001
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2022-09-07 14:45:05 |
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The group enjoyed the book. The characters were well drawn and the descriptions of surgery in the field hospital very vivid. The most disagreement in our discussion was over the use of the later letters which interrupted the historical sequence of the narration, and whether they should have been left until the end. Recommended. |
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