Saints and Villains

Rating:
Summary: Making the Familiar New
Review: I bought this book because I had some knowledge of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and because I've read several Ballantine's Readers Circle novels and found them all to be interesting, challenging, and worth my time. Saints and Villains has made me think again about Jews and their place in European history. I have known of the Holocaust since I was a small child, but this novel made me think about day-to-day life as Hitler grew from being a fringe leader (like Pat Buchanan), frightening no one, to the leader of a warring empire, sometimes seeming unstoppable. It's hard to imagine a time in which Hitler seemed unstoppable, but I think we all must, if we can, in order to understand how fear made average people do uncommonly evil things--and, like Pastor Bonhoeffer, uncommonly good.

Rating:
Summary: Masters the difficulty of fictionalizing real characters
Review: I wanted to read something that portrayed a German who lived through World War II and took action against the evil of his time. This book does a good job of portraying the difficulties Hitler's German opponents faced. They couldn't get assistance from the British (and were actually disdained as traitors!) and found the early German military victories, one after another, made Hitler more and more popular and harder to dispose of. Bonhoeffer was a human saint, principled yet afraid. This book is a good introduction and made me want to learn more about Bonhoeffer. I am now reading his "Letters and Papers from Prison".

Rating:
Summary: Got my interest
Review: Like Schindler's story, Giardina's novel introduces to us a story that some of us may never have known before. This novel introduced me to a real figure who is very inspiring and very human. Too many historic "heroes" seem like myths or memories. Giardina cures this illness by making Bonhoeffer real, and making him exist once again. It is both an important and well told story, based on something terrifying and real. This is the novel that developed my interest in Bonhoeffer and his life.

Giardina teaches at West Virginia State College, the school that I attend. I have had the opportunity to take her Fiction Writing Workshop class. A friend recommened this novel to me. It remains my favorite Giardina novel. Serious, but entertaining. Touching and compassionate. This is one of the greatest books I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Got my interest
Review: Like Schindler's story, Giardina's novel introduces to us a story that some of us may never have known before. This novel introduced me to a real figure who is very inspiring and very human. Too many historic "heroes" seem like myths or memories. Giardina cures this illness by making Bonhoeffer real, and making him exist once again. It is both an important and well told story, based on something terrifying and real. This is the novel that developed my interest in Bonhoeffer and his life.

Giardina teaches at West Virginia State College, the school that I attend. I have had the opportunity to take her Fiction Writing Workshop class. A friend recommened this novel to me. It remains my favorite Giardina novel. Serious, but entertaining. Touching and compassionate. This is one of the greatest books I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: A Powerfully Moral Book
Review: One of the best novels I have read in a while, and I have read many great books recently, Underworld and Jack Maggs to name a few. I only hope Denise Giardina gets the acclaim she deserves for such a powerful novel. Keep the faith!

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but remember it is fiction
Review: The author's fictional overview of Bonhoeffer's life is enjoyable, but I had some issues with the image left readers. The author seems to have him reflect her own theological and social convictions a bit too much. The character doesn't seem to accurately reflect a firmly Lutheran theological view in her work regarding salvation by faith alone. His own theological take on this Lutheran precept is alluded to with no depth, and this may leave readers misinformed regarding his great theological mind and body of work. In the end, Bonheffer is portrayed as somewhat a bumbler and rather flat. Her fictional characters add to the possible misperceptions of the real Bonhoeffer's world view. Recognizing Bonhoeffer was human, I still think it was perhaps taking too much license creating a fictional, openly sexual love affair for the character. At the least, the author could have better reflected the struggle with Christian orthodox teaching such a relationship would have created within a person like Bonhoeffer. His affiliation with a fictional black minister also reflects the author's long interest with mining issues and social justice. This is not a bad thing in itself, but people should recognize the author in it rather than the real Bonhoeffer. For better historical understanding of the real Bonhoeffer, one should read his writings or a good biography. For a very detailed bibliography of Bonhoeffer, I suggest the one by Bethge. As for this book, it is an enjoyable story, but one should remember it is not an adequate reflection of the historical man.

Rating:
Summary: I stayed up until 5 am reading it.
Review: This book blew me away. The key to its riveting style, I think, was the author's portrayal of the brokenness and vulnerability of Bonhoeffer, someone I always had on a pedestal. I literally could not put it down and stayed up the entire night reading!

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written and inspiring.
Review: This book does a really great job of enfleshing and enlivening an individual who is usually seen as a modern day saint. In this book, the author protrays Dietrich Bonhoeffer, warts and all, and still shows him to be someone who inspires the greatest admiration. Additionally, Ms. Giardina truly captures the essence of the Hitler regime and its effect on both the innocent and the less than. She also provides a seemingly realistic view of WWII from a rarely seen perspective, those Germans who loved God and their country but despised their leader. The parallels of America's dealing with race relations of that time with Germany's treatment of the Jews was another interesting aspect of the novel. One wonders how he or she would respond in the same circumstances. Don't shy away from it because of it's religious subject matter. This is a great book for all, religious persuasion notwithstanding.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring historical novel - moves right along
Review: This book has much of the life of Bonhoeffer in it which is woven into a fast-moving, exciting description of what life was like in Nazi Germany.

Rating:
Summary: "Cup of Wrath" is much better
Review: This book is several things. First, it is the story of a heroic man's struggle to do his part to fight the evil that he knew existed in Germany during World War Two. Second, it is a story of a boy growing into a man, imperfections and all. Third, it is about the development of one man's soul and sense of purpose. Finally, it is the story of Germany, of a country as it descends into an abyss.

The book is extremely well written. It introduces us to an "inside" view of Hitler's rise to power and Germany's response to it. We meet our hero as a boy, and watch as he grows into a man. We follow him through school, through his search for self and meaning. The main character is undoubtedly a hero, but not in a story-book sense. He is - like all of us - not a perfect being. He has trouble with relationships. He has fear - great fear. He has uncertainty. But that makes his heroism all the more striking.

Bonhoffer is from a very wealthy, famous German family. He is safe - had he sat back and kept quiet, there is little doubt that he would have made it through the war untouched. Yet, he rises to the occasion. The story is fascinating in its unique perspective - this man, from this very German family, gives us a glimpse of how Germany descended into insanity. We watch as he struggles with his own doubts, his own feelings of frustration and anger, and as he struggles with doing what is right versus fighting against his own country and government. It is simply gripping to read.

The writing is clear and crisp and filled with meaning. The story literally flows... you will find yourself unable to put the book down. Read this book and watch and as an incredible man faces danger and fear, and rises above it. A great read!