Thursday 11 April 2013

HHhH by Laurent Binet

Back at the Copa on a very rainy night we convened to discuss HHhH an unusual non-fictional account of the assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich.  Unusual because the author discusses how he found his evidence, how he struggled with what to include and exclude and also because of his extremely short chapters.  In one sense his narrative technique drew the reader into the story, it wasn't just dry historical facts or fictitious conversations, it was funny and intriguing but did we really need it?  We all found the history interesting, none of us were really aware of what happened in Prague during the Nazi occupation and the characters were well written and dramatic.  Some found the short chapters irritating but I found they made me feel as if I was flying through the book (I was in a hurry to finish).

Concept: 6/10
Plot: 6/10
Ending: 8/10
Cover: 5/10
Page Turner: 8/10
Who to Slap: Curda who betrayed them and also the boss who handed in the letter which lead to the massacre at Lidice
Where's the Cheese: The last chapter/page, the author went totally nuts

Overall: 6.5/10

We chose our next book from the following:
  • After the Party by Lisa Jewell
  • Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  • Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
 We randomly chose 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn which we will be reading for our June meeting.

Next meeting is at Lisa's house on Wed 8th May, 8pm.