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Das war ich nicht

By Kristof Magnusson

(3)

| Mass Market Paperback | 9783442474592

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1 Review

A thoroughly enjoyable, if not always plausible, read about three lost souls who crossed paths under peculiar circumstances, developed unlikely affections, found new goals in life and brought about a global financial crisis in their wake.
Even though the plot isn't always convincing (how the Germa ... (continue)

A thoroughly enjoyable, if not always plausible, read about three lost souls who crossed paths under peculiar circumstances, developed unlikely affections, found new goals in life and brought about a global financial crisis in their wake.
Even though the plot isn't always convincing (how the German translator just decided to go all the way to Chicago to find the missing American Pulitzer laureat, how the German trader could just manipulate the accounting system of his bank and directly cause the bankruptcy of his bank etc.), in between the major veins of the story, the author did conceive pretty brilliant and often quirkily funny anecdotes that connect three lives, drive unlikely romances and reveal trivial but endlessly human aspects of our nature.
The writing is good- focused and neatly clipped, efficiently establishing the very different plights and mindsets of the three characters, from there on it's a joy to watch how they find, stumble into and mess up the lives of one another. I especially enjoyed the combination of constant suspense and lighthearted fun that the inter-cutting narratives create. Sometimes you get to see the same scene from various perspectives and realize the confusion/frustration of the people involved all the better.
What hurt this novel is, besides the implausibility that handicaps some joints of the story, also its last part, which feels especially strained and stretched. You get the sense that the author has used up all there is to say about these three characters and is reluctantly going in circles. Not a very satisfying end to a story that showed quite a lot of promise.

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Tony Su said on Feb 5, 2012 | Add your feedback