Shadow and Light: A Novel
by Jonathan Rabb
List Price:
Our Price: $3.99
You Save: $22.01 (85%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Jonathan RabbEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-31
ISBN: 0374261946
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Book Reviews of Shadow and Light: A Novel
Book Review: "Without sound all you have is shadow and light. Flat, soulless, barren. Sound is the third dimension."
Summary: 3 Stars
According to the author, Berlin in 1927 is a difficult city to leave, even for the best of reasons. There's the Wannsee and its beaches in summer, the Ice Palast and Luna Park in winter, and the ever beautiful Unter den Linden, the Tiergarten, the Zoologischer Garten and multiple cafes with rich pastries all year round. Berlin is the city of divine decadence, (remember the movie "Caberet?"), and a thriving film industry. And Weimar Berlin still suffers from losers' blues, with a treasury depleted by war reparations it is not able to pay. The capital city is also where the reader gets a sense of how strong the NAZI Party has grown, from 27,000 members nationwide in 1925 to 108,000 in 1929. "Shadow and Light's" primary storylines surround the film industry and the Party. Movie director Fritz Lang and Joeseph Goebbels are characters here, as are actress and writer Thea von Harbou, actor Peter Lorre, the Tiller Girls and far right-wing media magnate Alfred Hugenberg.
Nikolai Hoffner, chief inspector in Berlin's Kriminalpolizei, is called in to check-out the apparent suicide of UFA studio's movie executive Gerhard Thyssen. But the suicide is a murder, our detective deduces.
Silent films are on the way out, but not quite. The future is in movies with sound. The Americans knew that UFA "was after sound" and had come up with a device "which would revolutionize the way films are produced." "Without sound all you have is shadow and light. Flat, soulless, barren. Sound is the third dimension." Leni Coyle, an American talent scout in the employ of MGM, a major rival of UFA, comes scouting for the device...and becomes Hoffner's lover while she's at it. Fritz Lang and crime syndicate boss Alby Pimm are somehow induced to assist Hoffner in the investigation, which takes them into much murkier realms than mere murder and the demise of silent films.
I first met protagonist Kriminal-Oberkomissar Nikolai Hoffner in Jonathan Rabb's "Rosa." There, Hoffner was a superb multi-faceted character, a consummate professional, and brilliant detective with a tremendous sense of irony. In "Shadow and Light," though still as savvy, Hofner is less tough, almost pathetic, and more much morose. Depressing, in fact. His drinking habit has progressively increased. but he is still driven to discover anyone and anything involved in this most complex of cases. This flawed man has allowed the skeletons in his closet to reach out and tap him on the shoulder too frequently. Wife Martha was murdered as a direct result of his sleuthing. Alienated older son Sasha is now caught up in the rising tide of fascism, and 16 year-old son Georg has left school to be a script researcher and gofer in the film industry. The detective may be a more interesting character for all this, but his is a tale that makes for a dark read, sometimes too dark even for noir.
I also found the plots, subplots and sub-sub plots convoluted and too difficult to follow at times, even for someone with lots of patience. I loved Jonathan Rabb's "Rosa," but "Shadow and Light" falls short. If you like German historical novels, you shouldn't miss this one - just borrow don't buy.
Jana Perskie
Rosa: A Novel
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.70
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Pale Criminal (Bernie Gunther)by Philip Kerr
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2005-06-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.07
Price in other shops:
Prague Fatale (Bernie Gunther)by Philip Kerr
A Marian Wood Book/Putnam; Published: 2012-04-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.03
Price in other shops:
Berlin Noir: March Violets; The Pale Criminal; A German Requiemby Philip Kerr
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1994-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.48
Price in other shops:
The Good German: A Novelby Joseph Kanon
Henry Holt and Co.; Published: 2001-10-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.35
Price in other shops:
Rosaby Jonathan Rabb
Orion Publishing; Published: 2007-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.92
Potsdam Stationby David Downing
Soho Press; Published: 2011-04-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.20
Price in other shops:
Field Grayby Philip Kerr
A Marian Wood Book/Putnam; Published: 2011-04-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
Rosa: A Novelby Jonathan Rabb
Crown; Published: 2005-02-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.72
Price in other shops:
The Second Son: A Novelby Jonathan Rabb
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2011-02-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.86
Price in other shops:
Silesian Stationby David Downing
Soho Press; Published: 2009-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.28
Price in other shops: