Homecoming

by: Bernard Schlink

Published by: Vintage International

Reviewed by Diane A Brown

Homecoming is usually a memorable and happy experience, however this journey is one filled with so many twist and turns I found myself lost on several occasions.

The story starts out simple enough. Young Peter travels across the German/Swiss boarder to visit his grandparents during the summer. The descriptions here are well done and easy to visualize. The stories were interesting.

Peter becomes infatuated with a story his grandparents are editing and is frustrated when he can’t find the rest of the story pages. Growing into adulthood, his life focuses on finding more information about a specific P.O.W. featured in the story and what has become of him.

There are several long quotes from the P.O.W.’s story inserted into the text and to me they were very distracting. Other stories were quoted from as well that seemed to only confuse rather than enhance.

Peter lives an unsettled life and goes through a number of women after he is dumped by a woman he had deep feelings for.

Over all I did not care for the organization of the book. It was too disjointed to keep a realistic flow and forward motion. It seemed to go left and right and left then a step forward and even a circle.

If you enjoy applying detective work to your reading or like solving involved mysteries, then you may find this book enjoyable.

I enjoy reading about people’s lives. The challenges, the trials and the happy times often inspire. But with Homecoming, the challenge was reading the story.

Armchair Interviews says: Heed this reviewer’s comments.