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 enlarge | Author: Danny Scheinmann
Publisher: Black Swan
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.90
You Save: £7.09 (89%)
New (48) Used (37) from £0.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 59
Media: Paperback
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 0552774227
EAN: 9780552774222
ASIN: 0552774227
Publication Date: January 1, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Amazon.co.uk subsidiary with same five star customer service and 30 day returns policy. Large cut on back. Large cut on pages. Large wrinkle or bend on back. Never read copy.
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| Customer Reviews:
 One of the most romantic titles around, but the content disappoints June 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ok, have to admit the book title itself deserves 5 stars, and I really wanted a good read about love, loss and emotional journeys - to the extent that I picked up only on the positive reviews, having seen other books I'd read and loved attract their own fair share of detractors.
However, it's been a struggle - the characters are strangely...I can only describe it as 'unevocative'. Some of the means employed to give insight into the wellspring of characters' emotions are almost clumsy, and the dialogue is another thing again - I could only imagine that the author must have lived through similar unfortunate tragedy, and is faithfully reproducing his true experiences under the guise of fiction, because as one of life's little ironies we know that truth exists in the phrase "If you wrote a book about it, people wouldn't believe you" - because I find the dialogue (only in the Leo episodes granted) thoroughly unbelievable.
The most interestingly drawn and lovingly described character is dead from the very get go, so you only get to see her through flashbacks and the occasional dream. You almost feel cheated, like you've just got to a wine and cheese party, and find that there's only the mild cheddar left.
As a reader, I found the storyline overly dependant on the book jacket's promise that "two men('s)...hidden connections are revealed in a stunning climax that lives long in the heart", because there is little if any poetic tension between the two tales in the book itself - if it hadn't been spelt out that there was going to be a "stunning climax" you'd think that it wasn't just the lorry and the bus - two books had also collided together and "Random Acts..." was the result.
I Really wanted to like this book, and I'm sure that some people will love it (just look at the real mix of reviews). My personal recommendation would be to borrow it from the library or a friend, so if you end up indifferent to its charms at least you won't resent being out of pocket too.
 Against The Grain May 31, 2008
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
OK I'm fighting a losing battle here, and I hold my hands up.
All the reviews of this book are great except perhaps mine.
I gave up after 100 pages because the writing style was not easy on the mind, and it didn't flow at all, almost as if the book had been translated from another language.
At this point I surrendered, finding the experience of this book annoying.
Perhaps I didn't give it a fair crack, as I'd just finished Ellory's A Quiet Belief In Angels - a book that simply left me stunned by it's magnificence.
 absolutely wonderful May 12, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
i came across this book truly by chance. i needed one other item to qualify for free delivery on amazon and i thought id treat myself to a book!!! and this certainly was a treat. everything else was pushed aside just so i could finish it. i was totally captured up in the emotions that are described so rawly and truthfully. i also loved the little notebook entries. these inspiring little facts, quotes and theories really added to the sense of being completely involved with Leo's story. i was in tears in some parts! very moving stories cleverly linked together in one book.
 Beautiful in parts, average in others May 7, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
After reading a little of this novel, I was not hugely impressed or intrigued by it unfortunately. But I wasn't going to give up on it, something spurred me on to continue, and on balance, I am glad I got to the end, and feel fairly rewarded for sticking with it.
I felt it really improved towards the end in both stories, but the sections which tell the story of Moritz and his experiences and courage during and after World War One are, to me, by far the stronger and more compelling part of this novel, and I was engrossed in them, willing him on in his journey. Whereas, in the sections with Leo, I felt that the style was a little 'basic', and could have been improved. The two men, separated by the years but linked as is revealed at the end of the novel, are both separated from the loves of their lives. I know little of physics but enjoyed the brief elements that were discussed in the novel, in interesting ways but never too complex for a beginner to grasp the ideas raised.
Lovely to read at the end that the author has used part of his own family history here.
A good debut taken as a whole, but could have been even more amazing.
The Enduring Power of Love May 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Sometimes you read a book that you want to tell the world about, so mind-blowing is the story. This amazing book encapsulates bravery, immense suffering and love: above all, the enduring power of love. It really makes you think about hardship - real hardship - and there are some harrowing episodes that I'd quite like to forget, but many that I will remember for a long time.
If you love someone, give them this book - with the warning that they must NOT look at the end in advance!
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