Slow starting and not very enticing.

The story opens by very briefly introducing a young man thinking about his love and then quickly shifts focus to his comrades around him and then suddenly they’re advancing into Warsaw. Then they’re describing the grim fate of the city and the abandoned, destroyed streets they’ve found, and then suddenly we’re hearing about their past memories and the orphanage that is, presumably, the focus of the story later on. The next chapter flies us 6 years back in time but takes on an odd and clumsy present voice. A new character is briefly introduced, the ‘good doctor’ himself and our previous character is forgotten. He is briefly introduced and we get a scattershot of stories about his recent activity. He gives a short and bizarre lesson to some pupils and then he’s off again and we’re back to the original character before he joined the army and left Warsaw. He sees a girl. He likes her. He doesn’t say hi. The sentences are short.

There wasn’t really anything in the first impression that made me want to read on. As the young man advanced into Warsaw I was drawn in to a bit of suspense and was expecting the tension and atmosphere to build up. Instead the tension was quickly diffused and two of the characters started talking about the town as if it wasn’t horrifically devestated around them. And that feeling of disappointment and nothing really happening continued into the second chapter. I don’t think I’ll be picking up a copy of this book if I happen to see it on the shelves anytime soon. It seemed to lack focus and drama and failed to draw me in to it in any way.