Briliant!

This is an astonishingly good book: wonderfully written, craftily crafted and beautifully brutal. Firstly, that whole interwar period of the 1920's and 30's (especially in Germany) has always been a bit of a black hole for me, as history lessons in school were dominated by the World Wars, but here Ben Elton brings the Weimar Republic to life, with its extremes of poverty, decadence, violence and jazz. Secondly, it's also always been incomprehensible to me how the German public allowed the 'Final Solution' to actually happen, but as Ben Elton beautifully lays out here, it was a long, gradual, poisoning process that the nascent Nazi party put at the heart of its insane manifesto, and they took their time: small, ‘reasonable’ steps - all for the good of the nation - to bring it to its horrific conclusion. So the historical setting of the story had me from the very start, and so did the characters.



The family at the centre of the novel are wonderfully real (and having the twins being born on the same day as the Nazi party was officially formed was a genius touch). The cast of characters in the book range across the spectrum of classes in society yet everyone is drawn naturally and believably; they’re mostly people just caught up in the gale of the world, getting by as best as they can - none more so than the 4 children whose story we follow most closely. And the city too is used to reflect the changes each new era brings about: it brightens and comes to life in the boom years, then ages and darkens as Hitler’s spells wear off.



The plot is perfectly structured; it gives hints of things to come, while at the same time teasing you with false trails and dead-ends; this was that rare book that made me literally laugh out loud and cry in public (especially embarrassing as I’m a postie, and was listening to this on audiobook …).



So, overall, an incredible book - and beautifully narrated too - that’s going to stay with me for many years to come - thoroughly recommended!

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36 people found this helpful

An amazing book

I would of loved to hear Ben Elton read the book as he has done with prevues titles, although, it is well read.



As for the book itself, impossible to hit the pause button on. I was up late, sneaking chapters in at work and generally looking for any excuse to plug in my headphones and be transported into the gripping lives of these wonderful characters that I have fallen in love with. I have not been so fully absorbed by a book for a long time. A fantastic experience, one I did not want to end and highly recommended.

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18 people found this helpful

won't let you down - 5 OUT OF 5

I am a fan of Ben Elton and have read quite a bit of his stuff. I always find it hard to pick a book, always debating, will I enjoy this? So I went for another Ben Elton thinking, he doesn't let me down and he hasn't this time either. As always the writing is quality, easy to follow, engaging, witty, dark, emotive. To top it off the naration (nice job JOT!) is superb. His accents are great (no attempts at poor German accents), and the tone quality of his voice is amazing. This book is, well 5 OUT OF 5! A MUST HAVE

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12 people found this helpful

Brilliant

Loved this book totally gripping and Ben Elton writes with such detail. I loved the suspense of not knowing which brother was the narrator- very clever have recommended to everyone.

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9 people found this helpful

A Truly Brilliant Novel

A truly brilliant novel by Ben Elton. I don't mean to be patronising when I say it but I didn't think Ben had it in hm to write a novel like this one. It is Ben Elton being serious. It describes the horrors of Nazi Germany through the lives of a Jewish couple, their two sons and their two female friends. It brings home the evil of the Nazis on a more personal level. I like the way the story is told in two different time periods in parallel. There are a number of twists relating to the true identity of certain individuals. One individual, in particular, shows her cunning and survival instincts. This is elevated into one of my favourite novels. Highly recommended.

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8 people found this helpful

Keep Going

This was a little disjointed at the begining until the characters became established.

But it is REALLY WORTH continuing. It is a completly different take from the normal on WW2 a different perspective without negating anything.



A very moving and uplifting novel in one

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7 people found this helpful

Moving absorbing about real people 10/10

Where does Two Brothers rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top! Best book I have ever listened to (or read) about Germany post WW1 through WW2. Having said that please don't think oh too depressing or heard it before. Yes of course this is about Jews and nazis hyperinflation etc etc, yes it will yank at your heart strings and you want to yell why? More than anything this is about a family and real people warts and all! It's a cracking read I can't stress enough to anyone thinking should I try this? Yes, it's not about people being gassed it's about a family

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes I did cry in places I also laughed with them and I cared about them. The family who are German Jews were not shown as helpless people or really as Jews at the start, they were German people who all used different skills to improve the little they had.

Any additional comments?

I think this would be a far better book for older school children to read or listen to than a dry history book. I'm sure they would emotionally connect.

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3 people found this helpful

Heartbreaking and informative.

Extremely well written and well read. Hard to comprehend this was only 70 years ago

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3 people found this helpful

Fantastic read!

Loved this book, couldn't put it down & didn't want it to end. 1st Ben Elton I've read!

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3 people found this helpful

Enthralling

I was a little concerned as a review in Telegraph was not that complementary... But dismiss the negatives..this is a very very good novel... I listened and couldn't 'put it down'. It deals with the unpleasant lives of people trapped in a Germany under Nazi control... Those poor Jews ...

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3 people found this helpful