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• From the cover and the initial blurb I was expecting this book to focus on the Kindertransport aspect of the story and the story of Pepik, a young Czech boy, in his new home but in reality I found the book concentrated on the moving story of why a loving family would send away their child to another country ... FAR away. The story is mainly told by Pepik's nanny, Marta, a flawed but very credible voice who is dealing with past and present demons as she makes choices and decisions that affect the whole family. Interspersed with Marta's narration of the family life with Pavel, Anneliese and Pepik there appear to be 2 other strands: one is a set of letters from friends, family and related characters from Pepik's world with the stark dates of deaths in concentration camps that touch you with their simple teling of the magnitutude and horror of that time; and then there is a modern storyline that initially frustrates as you try to work out its relevance and who is speaking [I even needed to go back and re-read bits to try to work out context and relevance to the story arc] but gradually this aspect came into clearer focus and I feel it does add to the overall story's conclusion despite my initial confusion.I think the story of the family feels very real with great human touches that enable us to feel we know them and the reality and brutality are conveyed in a matter of fact way that makes the situations they face even more poignant. When Pepik eventually leaves on the Kindertransport we feel his desolation and hurting because of the slow build up and his treatment in the UK made me want to explore how credible that depiction was. This is a well-told tale that is enlightening and thought-provoking about a tough period of recent history.

  4.00 out of 5

  arkgirl1

• This is the first book I've picked up from the 2011 Booker Prize longlist. By the end of the Kindle sample - where I usually decide whether I want to keep reading or not - I really wasn't into the story, hadn't figured the characters out and wasn't especially bothered about keeping reading. I went against my own judgement however and carried on. And got captivated by the family story. In retrospect it is hard to understand why all Jewish families weren't taking every opportunity to flee from Nazism in 1938. This book does a great job of painting the picture of a pretty ordinary family in Czechoslovakia, with Jewish heritage but not really practising Jews, seeing jobs and opportunities taken away from them, being betrayed by friends and still not really getting how bad it was going to get. As is pointed out in other reviews, the decision to send children to safety on the Kindertransport is central to the story, and I thought the "contemporary framing story" (phrasing stolen from Fleur) was necessary to show the after effects of the Kindertransport and made this into a 21st century book rather than one that could have been told anytime post-World War II. I completely agree with Fleur that it was an excellent decision to tell the main story through the eyes of the non-Jewish non-family member nanny though, Marta had just enough distance from the main characters to tell the story objectively whilst still being involved in the story. A good book, that doesn't get five stars from me because I found the beginning confusing, but I thought it was well worth a read and a Booker longlist place.

  4.00 out of 5

  nocto

• Far to Go is written by a Canadian writer , who based her book on her grandparents escape from Czechoslovakia during the second World War.Alison Pick, the author, not only based her book on her grandparents' experiences, but also has done quite a bit of research on the topic of Czechoslavakia during WW11, and also on Kindertransport.Far to Go by Alison Pick is quite broad in scope, covering the time period leading up to WW11 and also the early days of WW11 in Czechoslovakia . She covers the topic of Kindertransport . Kindertransport, which I'd not been aware of before reading this book, was a rescue mission that took place about 9 months before the outbreak of WW11. The Kindertransport mission involved the transport of about 10,000 children from Nazi Germany, Poland, Austria and Czechoslovakia to the UK, where the young children were placed with UK foster homes, hostels, and farms. The vast majority of children survived the Kindertransport , but few of the children were reunited with their parents after WW11, because the vast majority of the parents were killed during WW11.Anyway, although Far To Go involves the topic of Kindertransport , as well as getting into modern day feelings of one child who was a part of Kindertransport effort, the story tells so much more.Although relatively broad in scope - it's also a very personal story, focusing on one family, a relatively secular Jewish family in Czechoslovakia in 1939. Annelise and Pavel Bauer are a fairly affluent young couple , with one child, Joseph, or " Pepik" as he is nicknamed , and they employ a non - Jewish nanny named Marta Mueller.It was so interesting to read about the personal reactions of each of these people as war threatened. One of the members of the family is nearly ready to denounce the Jewish Religion - another embraces the traditions and Jewish Religion more strongly then ever in the face of the war on the Jewish. The denial or lack of denial as to what is happening in Czechslovakia is also very interesting as it varies from person to person. The impact the of threatened was on the marriage is very realistic and the reaction of the young child to all of what is happening is also explored. Marta, the nanny, is both an observer and participant to all of what is happening. I found it to be a eye opening and insightful reading. It was a sad truth to see the Bauer family decieved by close friends who were a part of the Nazi movement.I did not find the use of a present tense narrator along with the events taking place in 1939 to be confusing at all. In fact it added an element of both mysterty and eventual elightment.This is a wonderfully written, engaging story from which I learned much about Czechoslovakia during WW11 . I found it to be a real page turner - such is the mystery of what will happen next. I found myself very involved with the family making choices and suffering during pre WW11. None of the characters are perfect , but all are sympathetic to some degree.All in all - a wonderful read. 4stars. Far To Go is Long Listed for the 2011 Man Booker prize .

  4.00 out of 5

  vancouverdeb

• I chose to read this book because it was long-listed for the Booker Prize this year. It was with some misgiving that I began reading. Here are my shameful thoughts presented to you in all honesty..."Not another book about the Holocaust...How many do I have to read?" My Jiminy Cricket conscience tells me - "Never enough". After all, I only have to read the stories, don't I? And perhaps it might be a good idea to tell them to my children - even though they are well beyond bedtime stories. And this is not the stuff of bedtime stories.Do you wonder, as I do, how memories/history will change once our slim connection with the past evaporates? As the generation before you dies and you are pushed to the front line? What orders should you give ? What philosophy should you bequeath to the next generation? My children perceive me as ancient, of course. The way I perceived my mother as ancient. The 1940s to my young eyes were so funny and old-fashioned in terms of dress and hopelessly romantic love songs (think "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when"). And yet they were only 30 years ago when I was a teenager. Now my kids are close to 20. It's hard to imagine that they must see the 1970s as funny and old fashioned. What must they think of WWII and the Nazi atrocities? It must seem very far away and hard to believe. And so, yes. Reading Far to Go wasn't easy - and yes, to a degree, we all know how it will end. But I didn't know about the Kindertransport. So it is a story from a different angle. And the angle is further fractured and complicated by the author's own connection to the tragedy which she chooses to present at this point in time in a fictionalised form. It is a story about making difficult decisions. About trying to read "history" as it happens. About deciding what to pack. About sacrifice.It is ultimately a story about identity. And what is identity but a jumbled up mass of stories that people have told you about yourself or you have told you about yourself. What if someone questions your identity? What if your identity becomes dangerous to own? What if you thought you were something and then you are told years later that in fact you are something else? How does that change you? Which bit of you is real? It is a good story. And one that leaves many questions. The best kind really.

  4.00 out of 5

  alexdaw

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