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Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
When Johanna discovers that her grandfather's company--and her family's wealth--was founded on injustice due to the anti-Semitic laws of the Third Reich during the Nazi regime, she must make a life-altering decision.
207 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
8 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Mirjam Pressler
261 books38 followersGerman writer Mirjam Pressler is the author of several novels that have won awards in her native Germany and also received high praise from critics after being translated into English. In Malka and Halinka Pressler focuses on young Jewish protagonists who have been forced by fate to endure the Holocaust, while in Shylock's Daughter she returns readers to fifteenth-century Italy as she attempts to answer haunting questions surrounding the motivations of characters in a popular play by William Shakespeare. While receiving notice for her novels, Pressler is most well known for her work revising the diaries of Jewish Holocaust victim Anne Frank, and she is considered an expert on Franks's life and writings. In addition to translating Frank's famous diary from Dutch into German, Pressler has edited The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition and has also authored Anne Frank: A Hidden Life for younger readers. Winner of the 1994 German Youth Literature Prize for her work, Pressler divided her time between homes in Bavaria and Israel.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 4, 2023
So yes, after trying to read Mirjam Pressler’s young adult novel Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde (which is called Let Sleeping Dogs Lie in English translation, and no, I have not tried Let Sleeping Dogs Lie nor am I planning to) for more than a decade and never really getting very far, and never really being able to in any way consider Pressler’s narrative as all that readable and the featured characters relatable and in any manner appealing, I have now decided to abandon Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde and to rate it with a one star and will not be finishing designation. Because even though I do indeed feel more than a trifle guilty only considering one star and not deciding to continue with a story that has as its main (and important to contemplate) theme a modern German entrepreneurial family discovering that their considerable wealth, that their successful clothing emporium in fact has its origin in that the patriarch, that the deceased grandfather Riefenschneider “bought” the business from a Jewish industrialist in the mid 1930s prior to the latter and his family escaping from the Nazis to Israel and not for money in fact but just for some bread (and which of course then does clearly demonstrate that Mr. Levin was in fact callously robbed, that this all was actually and totally a case of blatant and opportunistic officially by the Nazi government sanctioned thievery), I just personally cannot stand how Miriam Pressler has written her narrative, that I do find quite a major part of the content of Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde at best majorly problematic in oh so many many ways (and no, not actually because of the National Socialism scenario and contents either).
For one, I do consider it a rather cheap and annoying plot and narration device for Miriam Pressler to oh so conveniently have Grandfather Riefenschneider commit suicide right at the beginning of Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde, in order to, I guess, force the entire story and all of the encountered issues of Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde onto the shoulders of his son and his grandchildren. And yes, it does indeed kind of majorly infuriate me that Pressler’s text basically allows with the grandfather’s oh so convenient act of self destruction for him to actually (and in my opinion) seemingly escape most condemnation and really all repercussions and consequences for his actions, for his sadly “legal” and in Nazi Germany acceptable robbing of a successful Jewish entrepreneur, whose business the grandfather was allowed and able to obtain (to purchase) without even needing to pay the owner any cash and basically seems to focus almost the entire guilt for this squarely on the grandfather’s descendants, who really have NOTHING whatsoever to do with what happened in the past but are somehow being depicted by Mirjam Pressler as majorly tainted by mere genetics and family ties and according to my personal feelings even seemingly considerably more so than the so conveniently dispatched early on in Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde grandfather (but who really was and should be seen as the main so-called mover and shaker).
And for two, I also do have to say that I have equally kind of found ALL of the featured characters in Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde not really appealing enough for me to keep on reading. Johanna (the main protagonist and granddaughter and who does try to make amends for what happened to the Levin family at the hands of her grandfather) is definitely a positively enough depicted entity, but is also rather massively lacking in depth and equally also much too willing to consider herself as somehow personally majorly guilty of what the grandfather himself did and should indeed be answering for (and quite frankly, that Mirjam Pressler seems to rather be of that same mindset as well, this really does rub me, as a German person who was born decades after WWII and National Socialism, the wrong proverbial way). But yes indeed, even more vile and really not for any reasons I for one consider legitimate, that the Levin grandson basically seems to think that he should obviously and somehow have the “moral” right and the opportunity to physically force himself onto Johanna and that she also kind of accepts his sexual assault and abuse of her as a legitimate sacrifice for his grandfather losing his business to her family, to her grandfather, this really has made me totally sick to my stomach and to quit reading Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde with but a one star ranking (and a feeling of both disappointment and quite a bit of flabbergasted anger).
For one, I do consider it a rather cheap and annoying plot and narration device for Miriam Pressler to oh so conveniently have Grandfather Riefenschneider commit suicide right at the beginning of Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde, in order to, I guess, force the entire story and all of the encountered issues of Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde onto the shoulders of his son and his grandchildren. And yes, it does indeed kind of majorly infuriate me that Pressler’s text basically allows with the grandfather’s oh so convenient act of self destruction for him to actually (and in my opinion) seemingly escape most condemnation and really all repercussions and consequences for his actions, for his sadly “legal” and in Nazi Germany acceptable robbing of a successful Jewish entrepreneur, whose business the grandfather was allowed and able to obtain (to purchase) without even needing to pay the owner any cash and basically seems to focus almost the entire guilt for this squarely on the grandfather’s descendants, who really have NOTHING whatsoever to do with what happened in the past but are somehow being depicted by Mirjam Pressler as majorly tainted by mere genetics and family ties and according to my personal feelings even seemingly considerably more so than the so conveniently dispatched early on in Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde grandfather (but who really was and should be seen as the main so-called mover and shaker).
And for two, I also do have to say that I have equally kind of found ALL of the featured characters in Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde not really appealing enough for me to keep on reading. Johanna (the main protagonist and granddaughter and who does try to make amends for what happened to the Levin family at the hands of her grandfather) is definitely a positively enough depicted entity, but is also rather massively lacking in depth and equally also much too willing to consider herself as somehow personally majorly guilty of what the grandfather himself did and should indeed be answering for (and quite frankly, that Mirjam Pressler seems to rather be of that same mindset as well, this really does rub me, as a German person who was born decades after WWII and National Socialism, the wrong proverbial way). But yes indeed, even more vile and really not for any reasons I for one consider legitimate, that the Levin grandson basically seems to think that he should obviously and somehow have the “moral” right and the opportunity to physically force himself onto Johanna and that she also kind of accepts his sexual assault and abuse of her as a legitimate sacrifice for his grandfather losing his business to her family, to her grandfather, this really has made me totally sick to my stomach and to quit reading Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde with but a one star ranking (and a feeling of both disappointment and quite a bit of flabbergasted anger).
February 26, 2010
I like the concept of the plot, but somehow the way it is written does not urge me to keep turning pages. I can't put my finger on it...except for a couple of scenes that grabbed my attention, the word that comes to me is "plain". I just trudged steadily through the book, compared to a story like Octavian Nothing where I just can't put the book down unless I absoluteley have to.
February 27, 2011
WASTE of my overdue book fee!
What was most disappointing about this book, was that it had all the great parts of a plot: Nazi grandfather, bold/brave granddaughter to blow the whistle, tragic past, feuding family members, money, mystery, etc.
I kept waiting for the real story to start. It never did. Every time it began to take flight, the author would bring it right back down to boring. Really sad too, because like I said it had all the plot elements to create great drama.
First of all, there were too many flash-ins and flash-outs. I usually like those kind of stories, where they go from the present to the past and things like that, but in this case, they were hard to follow and I had to keep going back and re-reading things to make sure I was keeping up. That was annoying.
My other problem was with the fact that for all that flashing back she did, she never really gave a good look at what was going on. I got glimpses of what had taken place, but not a real idea of who or what I was supposed to feel for these characters. None of them were well developed.
When writing a book like this, you really need to give me a main character who I care about. Johanna was boring. I didn’t care about her feelings. I didn’t care about her stupid relationship with her lame boyfriend. I didn’t care about her. There was no real setting for me either, and I kept forgetting that the events were supposed to be taking place in the late 90’s.
Overall, I would have rather seen Ms. Pressler take all these elements and retell the story from a more passionate point of view. As righteous as Johanna was, in the end she just sounded like a brat who wanted to whine about her family. Nothing was even accomplished. It began to read like a boring romance novel from the 80’s.
great plot elements but no story.
What was most disappointing about this book, was that it had all the great parts of a plot: Nazi grandfather, bold/brave granddaughter to blow the whistle, tragic past, feuding family members, money, mystery, etc.
I kept waiting for the real story to start. It never did. Every time it began to take flight, the author would bring it right back down to boring. Really sad too, because like I said it had all the plot elements to create great drama.
First of all, there were too many flash-ins and flash-outs. I usually like those kind of stories, where they go from the present to the past and things like that, but in this case, they were hard to follow and I had to keep going back and re-reading things to make sure I was keeping up. That was annoying.
My other problem was with the fact that for all that flashing back she did, she never really gave a good look at what was going on. I got glimpses of what had taken place, but not a real idea of who or what I was supposed to feel for these characters. None of them were well developed.
When writing a book like this, you really need to give me a main character who I care about. Johanna was boring. I didn’t care about her feelings. I didn’t care about her stupid relationship with her lame boyfriend. I didn’t care about her. There was no real setting for me either, and I kept forgetting that the events were supposed to be taking place in the late 90’s.
Overall, I would have rather seen Ms. Pressler take all these elements and retell the story from a more passionate point of view. As righteous as Johanna was, in the end she just sounded like a brat who wanted to whine about her family. Nothing was even accomplished. It began to read like a boring romance novel from the 80’s.
great plot elements but no story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2009
this book was boring too i read the first chapter and the epilogue and then i stopped
January 22, 2012
I thought this story was going to be much better than it actually was... Something was lacking, and it was confusing with all the flashbacks... It perhaps was the translation...
January 5, 2026
Este libro es un drama familiar ambientado en etapa moderna, pero con reminiscencias de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. La historia gira en torno a Johanna, hija y nieta de los propietarios de una importante tienda alemana. La vida de Johanna da un giro de 180ª cuando el abuelo de ella se suicida, ahorcándose. A partir de ahí la historia gira en torno a dos tramas principales: el dolor del duelo que vive Johanna ya que estaba muy unida a su abuelo. Y por otra parte, el descubrimiento del propio pasado familiar, Johanna debe hacer un trabajo sobre unas mujeres, cuya vida estuvo marcada por la Segunda Guerra mundial, una de las cuales de Levin. E contacto con esas mujeres trae de golpe a Johanna y su familia un pasado, que el padre y abuelo de ella trataron de olvidar y es que Johanna pronto va a empezar a cuestionarse la base en que la que se basa la riqueza familiar y eso va a ocasionar serios problemas a la estabilidad familiar.
Desde la perspectiva de una estudiante de alemán, el libro se lee se de forma sencilla y comprensible para estudiantes de B1 y comienzos de B2.2. Y aunque ciertas palabras relacionados con la época nazi y con la gestión de una tienda, el contexto en sí se entiende. Utiliza muchos verbos con preposición fija, verbos separables, y preguntas retóricas. La historia es sencilla y se entiende fácilmente.
En cuando a la narración y estilo, sencillo. La historia se cuenta en primera persona desde la perspectiva de Johanna, quien empieza a indagar sobre su pasado. Por eso la historia juega con flashbacks del pasado de Johanna y su relación con su abuelo, en los primeros capítulos. Y a partir de ahí va tejiendo la conexión de ella con los otros personajes y cómo se cuestiona su mundo.
Una novela que explora cómo muchas familias de clase media-alta estuvieron involucradas en la política nazi e incluso tuvieron un rol activo en hundir económicamente a los judíos para poder quedarse con su dinero y riquezas.
Desde la perspectiva de una estudiante de alemán, el libro se lee se de forma sencilla y comprensible para estudiantes de B1 y comienzos de B2.2. Y aunque ciertas palabras relacionados con la época nazi y con la gestión de una tienda, el contexto en sí se entiende. Utiliza muchos verbos con preposición fija, verbos separables, y preguntas retóricas. La historia es sencilla y se entiende fácilmente.
En cuando a la narración y estilo, sencillo. La historia se cuenta en primera persona desde la perspectiva de Johanna, quien empieza a indagar sobre su pasado. Por eso la historia juega con flashbacks del pasado de Johanna y su relación con su abuelo, en los primeros capítulos. Y a partir de ahí va tejiendo la conexión de ella con los otros personajes y cómo se cuestiona su mundo.
Una novela que explora cómo muchas familias de clase media-alta estuvieron involucradas en la política nazi e incluso tuvieron un rol activo en hundir económicamente a los judíos para poder quedarse con su dinero y riquezas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2020
Die achtzehnjährige Johanna ist behütet in einer kleinen Stadt aufgewachsen, das Leben der Familie stand stets im Zeichen des traditionsreichen, familieneigenen Modehauses.
Mit ihrer Geschichts-AG reist Johanna nach Israel, um dort acht Frauen zu besuchen, die bis zur Nazizeit das Gymnasium besucht haben, auf das Johanna heute geht.
Nach dieser Reise ist nichts mehr so wie früher, denn Meta Levin, eine jener acht Frauen, hat hasserfüllt von Johannas Großvater als „verdammter Nazi“ gesprochen. Erhard Riemenschneider, Johannas geliebter Opa, soll sich am Leid der jüdischen Familie bereichert haben und für ein Butterbrot das Modegeschäft von Frau Levins Eltern gekauft haben, das die Grundlage für seinen heutigen Reichtum bildet.
Johanna ist entsetzt. Sie versucht sich mit diesen Tatsachen auseinanderzusetzen und gerät dabei auch mit ihrem Vater in Konflikt. Wer war ihr Großvater wirklich? Sie versucht Nachforschungen anzustellen und mehr über diesen Mann herauszufinden, der anscheinend ganz anders war als der Opa, den sie kannte…
Eine berührende, unaufgeregt erzählte Auseinandersetzung mit der deutschen Nazivergangenheit, die nur an einer Stelle etwas zu sehr mit erhobenem Zeigefinger daherkommt.
Mit ihrer Geschichts-AG reist Johanna nach Israel, um dort acht Frauen zu besuchen, die bis zur Nazizeit das Gymnasium besucht haben, auf das Johanna heute geht.
Nach dieser Reise ist nichts mehr so wie früher, denn Meta Levin, eine jener acht Frauen, hat hasserfüllt von Johannas Großvater als „verdammter Nazi“ gesprochen. Erhard Riemenschneider, Johannas geliebter Opa, soll sich am Leid der jüdischen Familie bereichert haben und für ein Butterbrot das Modegeschäft von Frau Levins Eltern gekauft haben, das die Grundlage für seinen heutigen Reichtum bildet.
Johanna ist entsetzt. Sie versucht sich mit diesen Tatsachen auseinanderzusetzen und gerät dabei auch mit ihrem Vater in Konflikt. Wer war ihr Großvater wirklich? Sie versucht Nachforschungen anzustellen und mehr über diesen Mann herauszufinden, der anscheinend ganz anders war als der Opa, den sie kannte…
Eine berührende, unaufgeregt erzählte Auseinandersetzung mit der deutschen Nazivergangenheit, die nur an einer Stelle etwas zu sehr mit erhobenem Zeigefinger daherkommt.
August 18, 2008
Can children be blamed for the actions of their parents, their grandparents, any of their ancestors? Even if they can't be held responsible, must they still shoulder the guilt of past behaviors? This is the premise behind this thought provoking novel of modern day Germany. Johanna discovers that her family's wealth and business success are all stolen, not earned as she once thought. Her family's clothing business used to belong to a Jewish family, conveniently run out by Nazi practices. This is the story of her coming to terms with this past and the way she must now view her grandfather.
One thing that struck me in this novel, is the way sex is used as a weapon and a tool. I found it very powerful, and almost as much a part of the story as the Nazi plot line. However, this may make the book more appropriate for older teens.
One thing that struck me in this novel, is the way sex is used as a weapon and a tool. I found it very powerful, and almost as much a part of the story as the Nazi plot line. However, this may make the book more appropriate for older teens.
February 15, 2008
Complex, sophisticated and extraordinary. Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winner for Teen Readers. Starred review in January 2008 Bulletin of the Center for Chilldren's Books. On a class trip to Israel, eighteen-year-old German Johanna discovers her grandfather's Nazi past and that her family's business and wealth are the result of thefts, murders and lies--the "Sleeping Dogs" of the title. Pressler was the winner of the 2004 German Book Prize, among many other honors. Highly recommended.
March 4, 2009
I had a hard time getting into this book. I'm not sure if it was the translation or what made it a bit of a difficult book to get through. For a serious issue book, I think it would have been a much better book if it was told in the first person. Being written in the third person omniscient made it hard for me to care about the main character as much as I might have if it was written in the first person.
Some of the serious issues regarding Johanna, the main character, and her family's history regarding the Nazis in World War II weren't explored as deeply as I expected them to be. I think I was just expecting more from this book than I got.
Some of the serious issues regarding Johanna, the main character, and her family's history regarding the Nazis in World War II weren't explored as deeply as I expected them to be. I think I was just expecting more from this book than I got.
August 21, 2010
By presenting the troubles of German descendants, a different view to the much covered Holocaust is offered. This would be a great book to read in conjunction with any Holocaust book that presents the Jewish side of things. Some of the themes are understated, therefore I think it would be best read by those 14 and older.
September 30, 2011
I rated it 4 out of 5 because it was cunfusing. the books strengths are that its a very dramtic book so it pulls you in. the weaknesses of the book is that there were too many flashbacks when something else was going on. yes i would read another book by the same author because even though the book was cunfusing its still a good book and i wonder if his other books are good.
July 15, 2008
German girl finds out her grandfather's store had been a Jew's store in the 1930s and he had gotten it under less than right circumstances. I thought the book was too choppy. I found it hard to follow. maybe the translation? But i wanted to like it more.
April 25, 2008
An interesting book (similar to a German film of the '90s) about a teen girl who discovers her own family's involvement in Nazi politics and the persecution of the Jews and then ends up having to deal with her feelings of guilt and responsibility. It was actually better than I make it sound.
Want to read
March 26, 2008Recommended at the March WASHYARG meeting. Holocaust issues story - girl's grandfather benefited from buying a Jewish store at a rock bottom price.
July 17, 2009
This book is really depressing, but it's realistic and surprising
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews