All That I Am
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
Award-winning author Anna Funder delivers an affecting and beautifully evocative debut novel about a group of young German exiles who risk their lives to awaken the world to the terrifying threat of Hitler and Nazi Germany. Based on real-life events and people, All That I Am brings to light the heroic, tragic, and true story of a small group of left-wing German social activists who mounted a fierce and cunning resistance from their perilous London exile, in a novel that fans of Suite Francaise, The Piano Teacher, and Atonement will find irresistible and unforgettable. “An intimate exploration of human connection and our responsibility to one another.” —Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin
Reviews with the most likes.
I found the events of this book fascinating (true story!) and I've never read a book from this perspective before - German's trying to warn the world about the intentions of their newly elected leader - Adolf Hitler.
I received this book from the Goodreads First Reads program
I was originally really excited to receive this book, as I have always had a deep-seated interest in learning about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. However, once I started to read the book I was disappointed to learn that it was less historical in nature than I had originally thought. While I realize this is a work of fiction (but still loosely based off of real people), I still had hoped for more historical depth to the story.
The book revolves around four main characters: Dora, Ruth, Hans, and Ernst, and the story is told from the alternating perspectives of Ruth and Ernst Toller. Two notes on this – I found Ruth's perspective much easier (and more interesting) than Toller's, but I completely hated that I could never quite tell at which point in time (year-wise) the story was taking place. I found it incredibly confusing to try and differentiate between two or three points in time, and for me I think it took away a lot of the enjoyment I might have received from reading this story.
That being said, I give Anna Funder a lot of credit for taking the story of people that actually existed and wrote them into a believable story. I just wish that the story might have been written a little differently!
