Vienna: Roman - Geschenkausgabe

Vienna is Menasse's first novel. Set out as a series of vignettes, it covers experiences and characters from a half Jewish family in Vienna from the 1930s through to the present day.At times richly funny, at other times dryly anti-semitic, each episode helps to build a picture of a sprawling family struggling to ascertain its religious identity in modern Vienna. While some episodes and characters are definitely more compelling than others, the novel is fascinating for its refusal to be drawn into Austria's Nazi era, lingering instead on the post war experience of accommodating or exposing former Nazis. It makes for a new twist on literature touching on World War 2 and is all the more effective for it. Though long, this is worth the read.

This was a good purchase as my father knew the authors father as a child when he was evacuated to England during World War II and the book mentions my local area.