Half-Blood Blues
Gail says:
The book opens with Sidney Griffiths witnessing the arrest of his friend by the Nazis in 1939. Hiero was German, but not a citizen since the Nazis had proclaimed Germans of African ancestry to be stateless. The Goodreads description makes it sound like there is some secret element of Hiero's arrest itself, but actually the "redemption" that Sidney is in need of is due to events from a few days earlier, which left Sidney vulnerable to discovery and arrest. The history in this book is great - the culture of Wiemar Germany, how Germany ended up with mixed race citizens, the chaos in the fall of Paris. All this scenery was actually a bit more interesting than the relationships to me, but Sydney's inner turmoil is well crafted. There is lots of great music as well, even before Louis Armstrong has a cameo. Still, the narrative dragged at times. I enjoyed it and would recommend it, but it isn't going to be a book that I reread.
silvija says:
When I first picked up this book I felt lik...e I was reading the ramblings of a sad old man. Within 50 pages I realized that it was much deeper than that. This is a wonderful story that jumps back and forth between the time leading up to and during the second world war and the early 90's. I grew to like these characters as well as dislike them. They each had their great attributes and their major flaws. I felt this novel had a very satisfying ending.I liked this book a lot but I didn't love it. I can't put my finger on what it was that made me choose the 4 star rating instead of 5 but it wasn't perfect for me.
Abc123 says:
Not my typical read, however, this book was recently given to me by a librarian I worked for my freshman year in college. This was a good read; I say this because I wasn't completely bored with it, it indeed kept my attention. It wasn't my typical read,because, I wasn't extremely anxious during times I wasn't reading, and it was not romance based. I read this during my 'book-a-week' splurge. The book was in old African American language, which I had to get used to, but it didn't take very long. I actually ended up liking that amenity to the book.
SheIsPerfect says:
3.25 starsMost of this book is set in 1939 and 1940 in Germany and France. It follows a group of boys trying to make a jazz record. The book does switch back and forth to 1992, as two of those “boys” are making their way to Poland to find one who had gone missing during the war. Not a very good summary, but then, I wasn't all that excited about the book, so am having a hard time coming up with a summary (and overall review!). I've been waffling between 3 stars (ok) and 3.5 (good). 3.5 because mostly it seemed interesting while I was reading, but as soon as I put it down again, I had no interest in picking it back up. Ok, so it's not a very helpful review...MoreLess
The book opens with Sidney Griffiths witnessing the arrest of his friend by the Nazis in 1939. Hiero was German, but not a citizen since the Nazis had proclaimed Germans of African ancestry to be stateless. The Goodreads description makes it sound like there is some secret element of Hiero's arrest itself, but actually the "redemption" that Sidney is in need of is due to events from a few days earlier, which left Sidney vulnerable to discovery and arrest. The history in this book is great - the culture of Wiemar Germany, how Germany ended up with mixed race citizens, the chaos in the fall of Paris. All this scenery was actually a bit more interesting than the relationships to me, but Sydney's inner turmoil is well crafted. There is lots of great music as well, even before Louis Armstrong has a cameo. Still, the narrative dragged at times. I enjoyed it and would recommend it, but it isn't going to be a book that I reread.
silvija says:
When I first picked up this book I felt lik...e I was reading the ramblings of a sad old man. Within 50 pages I realized that it was much deeper than that. This is a wonderful story that jumps back and forth between the time leading up to and during the second world war and the early 90's. I grew to like these characters as well as dislike them. They each had their great attributes and their major flaws. I felt this novel had a very satisfying ending.I liked this book a lot but I didn't love it. I can't put my finger on what it was that made me choose the 4 star rating instead of 5 but it wasn't perfect for me.
Abc123 says:
Not my typical read, however, this book was recently given to me by a librarian I worked for my freshman year in college. This was a good read; I say this because I wasn't completely bored with it, it indeed kept my attention. It wasn't my typical read,because, I wasn't extremely anxious during times I wasn't reading, and it was not romance based. I read this during my 'book-a-week' splurge. The book was in old African American language, which I had to get used to, but it didn't take very long. I actually ended up liking that amenity to the book.
SheIsPerfect says:
3.25 starsMost of this book is set in 1939 and 1940 in Germany and France. It follows a group of boys trying to make a jazz record. The book does switch back and forth to 1992, as two of those “boys” are making their way to Poland to find one who had gone missing during the war. Not a very good summary, but then, I wasn't all that excited about the book, so am having a hard time coming up with a summary (and overall review!). I've been waffling between 3 stars (ok) and 3.5 (good). 3.5 because mostly it seemed interesting while I was reading, but as soon as I put it down again, I had no interest in picking it back up. Ok, so it's not a very helpful review...MoreLess
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