Liebesnächte in der Taiga

by Heinz G. Konsalik

Liebesnächte in der Taiga - bk331; Weltbild Verlag; Heinz G. Konsalik; pocket_book; 2005

Genres: Romance

768 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 1966

About the author

Heinz G. Konsalik (pseudonym of Heinz Günther) was a German novelist.

Many of his books deal with war and showed the German human side of things as experienced by their soldiers and families at home, for instance Das geschenkte Gesicht (The Mutilated Face), which deals with a German soldier's recovery after his sledge ran over a personnel mine and destroyed his face, and how this affected his relationship with his wife at home. It places no judgment on the German position in the war and simply deals with human beings in often desperate situations, doing what they were forced to do under German military law.

Der Arzt von Stalingrad (The Doctor of Stalingrad) made him famous and was adapted into a movie in 1958. Some 83 million copies sold of his 155 novels made him the most popular German novelist of the postwar era and many of his novels were translated and sold through book clubs. He is buried in Cologne.

Reviews

[Veronika · Rating 5 out of 5]

5* weil Bezug zu der Geschichte und den Ländern. Unterhaltungsliteratur.
Es war ein eintauchen in einen Zeitabschnitt der damaligen Sowjetunion. Es war unterhaltend und das beschriebene Leben in Sibirien, die Natur, die Jahreszeiten lies mich Sibirien vermissen.
Das Buch ist schon etwas älter, deshalb auch etwas aus der Zeit gefallen.
Es gibt genug zum kritisieren und nachdenken. Dennoch ist es ein Buch, wie ein Romance Film.

[mirela Darau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es schien mir zu uebertrieben. Einerseits sterben fast alle die Semjonov und seiner Frau helfen, anderseits lieben die zwei sich ohne jedwelche Zwischenprobleme. Es geben nicht viele Aenderungen der Gestalten, und in einem Punkt beginnt die Erzaehlung monoton zu sein. Und der konstante Dialog mit dem Leser ging mir ein bischen auf die Nerven...

[Ronel Spies · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read an old Afrikaans translation of this book with the title ‘Die voortvlugtige spioen’. Translated by Albert Crafford and published by Tafelberg-Uitgewers. Not sure if it was due toe the Afrikaans translation, but not the most exciting book to read, although a nice enough, yet predictable storyline, and in my opinion not a great translation. I suspect the translation may have included some interpretation of some of the scenes - not very descriptive, and suspect very often downplayed. Language used was quite repetitive, and sometimes a bit boring.

[Inês · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Nico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich bin zweisprachig, und daher konnte ich dieses Buch auf Deutsch lesen, und gut verstehen. Ich werde mein Review aber auf Englisch schreiben, weil es ein bisschen einfacher fuer mich ist.

This is the 3rd Konsalik book I've read. I read them to keep up with my German comprehension skills, and also I generally enjoy them. I think Konsalik does a good job with picking interesting geographic locations, and creating a "thriller" kind of setting. As one reviewer pointed out, indeed, most everyone who helped the antagonist and his wife bit the dust…. except for 1 female character. It actually surprised me that her fate was not the same as the others who helped the antagonist. But, that's poetic license.

Something that repeatedly stands out for me with Konsalik is that his most of the characters are developed into a type of "cartoonish" caricature. The antagonists/heroes in all 3 books I've read remain the strong, intelligent, super-hero type. The antagonist's wife must endure becoming a caricature as well: once a prominent persona in the Russian military, she becomes a weak, cooing, little bird…who sometimes gets her military-style groove back at times. But, mostly, her development changes where she is emotionally and physically dependent on the antagonist. I didn't find this convincing at all.

I do like the variety of geographic settings, and it seems that Konsalik is well-versed with these regions. Something I do enjoy is the type of fiction where one can travel and "see" different locales.

Well, it's a Konsalik novel, the 3rd I've read. He is creative, and the German is not too too easy, and not too too hard for me. I'm glad to be able to read these books, and I was happy to read this one. This one was a bit longer than the other 2, and the print was quite small. I would recommend it because it is interesting, maybe to be taken with a grain of salt.