Christoph FischerRezensionen

Different Perspective on WWII

I found this book interesting in that it deals with an account of WWII from a different perspective than most. It is a fictional story of a real person, a Polish woman who left her farm in Poland and spent the war in Germany. It was not particularly dynamic, and could have used a bit more editing but perhaps this was due to translation issues.

I like a book that has me second guessing all the way through. It grabs hold and takes you on a wonderful journey. This book is exactly like that. I changed my mind as to who is wrong and who is right, who could be trusted and who couldn’t, from the start through to the finish.
The story tells of Erica, a successful advertising executive who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. After exhausting her options using conventional treatments, she seeks out a healer and convinces him to treat her. The descriptions of her treatments, her own attitude to them, and what happens afterwards, kept me chasing after the truth of that happened.
This book hooked my interest and at no point could I guess what was coming next. I can’t honestly say I warmed to any of the characters, but that was probably because it so was so well written I didn’t know who to trust at any given point. A great read, and I recommend it to anyone who likes a story full of twists and turns.

"As she expected, Ludwika missed her next period and was sure that she was expecting another child. She was delighted that Jerzy would have a sibling, although she couldn't believe how easily she fell pregnant. Almost every time she looked at a man it seemed to happen. At this rate there would be a whole bunch of them. Ludwika laughed at the thought - the more the merrier."

Ludwika was a real Polish woman who was moved to Germany after a soldier took a shine to her. After that, more men took a shine to her and she had several children out of wedlock. After the war, she married another refugee, settled in Britain and had more children. And that's the bones of what we know about Ludwika. Fischer has taken those bones and fleshed out a story though I can't say there's really much more to it then what I've already said. I didn't particularly enjoy reading about Ludwika, I didn't care for her at all. I thought she was quite simple, though, I don't know if she was actually that way in truth or if she was just written that way. I wonder if some of it was due to a male writing a female character. Not that they can't successfully do so, but sometimes that is an issue.½

Ludwika, a young Polish woman who was an unwed mother who was forced to give up her child, travels to Germany. She is separated from her family and loses all contact with them as the Reich gains momentum. At first she works for a German family. She sees her status changing, but it really changes when she becomes involved in an affair with the man for whom she works. She suffers an injury and is placed in a camp where she works in the kitchen. She continues to have children out of wedlock until the war is over. I'm skimming over much of the plot so I don't give away too much. While the story is interesting, it is far less so than other stories set in this time period. The author bases the plot on a real life person and comments on his liberties with the plot at the book's conclusion. I never really related to Ludwika and at times I did not really care for her character.

Author's guest post at my blog:
http://bookfare.blogspot.com/2015/05/foodfic-please-welcome-christoph.html

Christoph Fischer I am at awe!!! “TIME TO LET GO” is another remarkable book!!!
It is the 4th book I have read by Christoph Fisher and I am rendered speechless. In this novel, the author has elegantly and brilliantly guided me through the difficult moments in the life of a British family that is trying to cope with the complexity of the heartwrenching disease Alzheimer’s.

Walter Korhonen is a man full of principals. He fell in love and married Biddy, a capable, energetic and warm person and together they raised 3 children, Hannah, a flight attendant, Henrik and Patrick. Walter is now retired and taking care of Biddy who is battling Alzheimer’s.

Hannah is going through a crisis of her own due to an incident that took place on one of her flights. Hannah tried hard to revive a woman who was not breathing but the woman died. Her husband decided to sue the airlines for letting his wife die on their watch. Hannah is now on a leave of absence until the issue is resolved. She decided to spend time with her parents trying to get away from the phone calls and the intruding reporters.

The disease has now made her mother lose focus and slowly has turned her to a confused and helpless individual. Hannah knew that her mother did not recognize her any longer, but against her fathers protests, she tried to get her mother involved in doing ordinary things with her such as cooking, taking walks, and going to the grocery store.

Walter on the other hand, at the beginning of Biddy’s decline, he refused to accept the fact that her disease was progressing and something like that would definitely threaten their future together. Gradually he did consent that his wife had a clinical disease that would change their lives forever. Biddy’s decline was slowly taking pieces of Walter’s heart away, leaving him utterly heartbroken, but unwilling to let go and fighting to cope each and every day. I fell in love with each and every character in the story.

I found myself clinging to the book with tears running down my face. I had been on the exact crossroad with a member of my own family. Walter’s love and commitment to his beloved Biddy was heartwarming. Against his children’s advise to put Biddy into a home where they could take care of her, he decided to stand by her for better or worse, and try to enjoy every moment while sitting on the sofa in their own home holding her hand, until he couldn’t do it any longer.

The book is fantastic…There was a hint of romance between Hannah and a young paramedic Karim but it never came to flourish for various reasons. I could go on and on about this awesome book, but I don’t want to ruin it for the other readers. All I can say is that if you don’t read this book it will be a big mistake. I will highly recommend it to every person I know as an excellent written book with a lot of substance. Books like this one, keep my love for reading alive. Thank you Christoph Fischer for another outstanding novel.

Fantastic!!!!! This is another powerful book written by Christoph Fischer. It takes place in Vienna during the horrid days of WWII and the despicable atrocities that were thrust upon the Jewish people by the German Empire.
The main character of the book is a Sebastian, a young man just sixteen who had part of his leg amputated. He is a very strong individual filled with determination at such a young age that it leaves you utterly stunned. He is dealing with many complications from that amputation, but he does not let any of that become an abstraction to his goal. He suffers set-backs and wretched poignant incidents, but he does goes on. He is a very likable character and one of my favorites in this book.
He lives with his father Franz, who runs a grocery store under the same dueling they occupy, and his mother Vera who is quite ill. His best friend Oscar and his wife Rebecca live with them as well. The plot becomes very complicated when several other characters inter the seen. I found all the characters to be fascinating as they are so different and yet so involved in every aspect of the story. First is the young beautiful Ingeborg, then Eva, Sebastian’s first crush, Margit and her mother, Peroska.
Fischer introduces very cleverly amazing twists and turns to the plot blended with the right amount of transcendent facets, and séances. All that creates a large amount of chaos in characters’ lives, while the war is blasting in full force. I was absolutely glued to the pages. I could not put the book down. This is exactly what happened to me with the other two books in the trilogy “The Luck of the Weissensteiners” and “The Black Eagle Inn”.
Christoph Fischer has done a lot of research and provides a rich understanding of the events in Eastern Europe during that era.This is again an amazing book that is brilliantly written and I am a fan.
I wish there was another book that I could pick up and continue this amazing journey. I will recommend this book to everyone I know. These books are filled with information, that has been greatly researched, memorable characters that we will love, and it will provide a blend of emotions that will leave you astonished.Sebastian is a book that has to be read, but so are the other two books in the trilogy. I love them all and could not tell you which one is better than the other because they are equally great!!!!Christoph Fischer is a wonderful gifted writer and one of my most favorite authors.

Amazing book!! This book is amazing! The author Christoph Fischer is incredibly talented. He has a magical way of telling a story that keeps you drawn to the pages like a magnet. I could not put the book down, and when I had to walk away, the characters stayed with me until I picked the book back up.
I fell in love with Greta and Willhelm. Their romance was heartwarming. Fischer lets you see the power of love and what it can do for a human being. I could see that the author did extensive research in order to provide such an amazing detail on things that you would never find in a history book. I know it was an eye opener for me.
The suffering of the people during that horrid period of time was heart wrenching. It brought tears to my eyes and made me wonder how people can be so cruel. The author did a remarkable job in intertwining a lot of emotions in such a smart way, love, suffering, romance, survival, fear, distress, horror and kindness.
This book is worth 5 stars, and a must read. I have recommended it to all my friends. Please consider this book if you want to spend time with a story that will grab your attention from the very first page. I have become a true fan of Christoph Fischer.A

A great book!!! This is the second book I read by Christoph Fischer. I really did not think that anything could be better than “The Luck of Weissensteiners” but I was terribly wrong. This book exceeded my expectations. This is an extraordinary story.
Bavaria is the location of The Black Eagle Inn. Germany is dealing with trying to overcome the shame of a horrible regime that has been finally brought to its knees. The people are trying to survive and get back to a normal life. But how can they regain a pride that has been dragged through the mud and how can they erase the atrocities and the dreadfulness that wreaked the lives of millions of people?
The author Christoph Fischer does an amazing job once again introducing the characters that pull you into the story. The Hinterberger family is an interesting one. Anna is the matriarch of the family and after her father’s death she takes control of the family properties and that includes large pieces of land (farms) and the Black Eagle Inn. Her life is overwhelmed with scandals, conspiracies, money and forbidden love.
Family members are fighting among them trying to be the ones to inherit portion of the Hinterberger fortune. Magdalena, Helga, Lukas, Otto Hans and Markus are characters that are unforgettable for various reasons. The author cleverly introduces a mixture of strength, weakness, success and failure.
Again I found myself glued to the pages. A mixture of emotions took over my thoughts. I felt like crying in many occasions, wince at others, taken over by contempt for actions that made my skin crawl and envy at the courage of others.
This is a book I will read again and I would recommend to everyone I know. What an awesome job by Christoph Fischer who is a very talented and gifted author. I now have to go an pick up the third book, “SEBASTIAN” because I feel that I need to complete this trilogy. I am absolutely speechless at the awesomeness of this author’s extraordinary writing ability.A

Brilliant!! I am a huge fan of this so talented and so gifted author. "Conditions" is about two estranged brothers Tony and Charles who are the main characters of the story. The death of their mother brings the two middle age men back in each other's life. Though brothers they are quite different. Tony is married with responsibilities, children and a good job. Charles on the other hand is single man that struggles with a serious mental illness.Christoph Fischer Is brilliant and once again he deals with a very sensitive subject in a way that keeps the reader glued to the story from the first page to the last. His characters are wonderful and very believable. The mixture of emotions is absolutely stunning. Sadness, envy, resentment, ignorance, fear, prejudice and so many more.The story brings you into the family circle and you feel like you are part of the plot. Some of the time I wanted to scream and shake some sense into one of the characters (the wife) and then I was left utterly stunned.I am not sure I can find a single word or a single sentence that I did not love in this book. I will take the book with me on the plane and read it again while going out west for Christmas. I am a true fan of Christoph Fischer and love all of his books. I would highly recommend this book to every person I know and to every person that would like to spend time with a great book and a story they will never forget.Bri

Christoph Fischer has written an important historical rendition of wartime Eastern Europe that will continue to haunt you for a long time after you finish reading it. The Luck of the Weissensteiners presents the spirit and horrific social conditions of Bratislava and the neighbouring countries during the Holocaust. The actual political figures of that era are embedded in the story but the slew of other characters are all strong fictional creations that give life and credibility to the historical backdrop.
It is a touching story of courage, love and heroic endurance in a time of abject cruelty and terror. War has the knack of bringing out either the best or the worse of the human psyche--both extremes are equally depicted in the novel.
The players in this drama are far from being two-dimensional; even the cold, unfeeling characters will at times show a glimmer of warmth. Greta and her Jewish family remain loyal to their compassionate and trusting nature throughout their terrifying ordeal. Her fate is sealed when she falls in love with Wilhelm, a charming German bookseller whose true colours as a calculating anti-Semite are revealed when the going gets tough.
Be prepared for emotional upheaval while reading this-- you cannot remain untouched.

Christoph Fischer���s newest novel, Time to Let Go, is a tragic story, which ends not with a violent death, but with the slow and deteriorating journey of a loved one���s battle with Alzheimer���s disease. The once vibrant and intelligent Biddy is reduced to being treated like a young child by her husband Walter, who although well intentioned, rages at how powerless he is to control the ravages of her disease: ���Dammit! Why can���t she remember?���
The story revolves around an emotionally dysfunctional family. Walter���s controlling and demanding attitude has alienated his three children and he finds himself alone to deal with his ailing wife. The eldest son, Henrik, as rigid and judgemental as the father, focuses solely on boosting his successful career, and only contacts his elderly parents when his business allows curt phone calls and cameo appearances to put them in line. Hanna, the only child to retain any emotion attachment, has succeeded in escaping her father���s overbearing attitude with a busy career with the airlines. The youngest son has given up completely on his father���s and brother���s criticism by embracing an altruistic approach to life: he chooses to spend his time with people who need his help rather than wasting it on a family who refuses it.
This is a well-crafted story with believable characters that keeps the readers enthralled on a highly emotional and intellectual level���definitely a must read.

*** I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sebastian is Christoph Fischer's second novel in his 'The Three Nations Trilogy', thematically connected to his first book, but can, without a doubt, stand on it's own. It depicts a powerful historical image of Vienna, during and after WW1 and the pain and suffering of the people living during that difficult era. Within this harsh and cruel reality blossoms a touching love story of the crippled, self-conscious young student, Sebastian. Conditioned at a young age not to expect to experience true love because of his condition, he muffles his emotions and sensuality behind his persona of dedicated student and teacher. Rejected and betrayed by his lovers, he turns all his passion into the success of his students.
The characters in this story are naturally shaped by the turbulent times; and take on such a hold on the reader that they seem real enough to be our neighbours and family. It is a coming of age for many of them, especially for Sebastian and Margit who eventually must come to terms with their own expectations of love. A book to be reckoned with, and to be placed on the required reading list of all teachers of young adults.

Stories entertaining the lives of Jews in Eastern Europe prior to the advancement of Hitler have always fascinated me. You find yourself wondering if they had some inkling that something was coming. In the case of Fischer's "The Luck of the Weissensteiners". some of those questions are answered.

Greta Weissensteiner, in particular, is charmingly naive. Her love for Wilhelm, a German, is forthright. It takes her father asking her what Wilhelm thinks about her being a Jew for her to even address the thought.

Fischer's tale weaves around Greta and Wilhelm's trials and tribulations with their love affair doomed by both time and circumstance. I do not want to spoil the story, but I will say that Fischer has constructed a heck of a story.

I'll be looking forward to reading his other books.

This book may be Fischer's best yet. I read it in one afternoon and literally could not put it down.

Buddy is a sweet woman dealing with the effects of Alzheimer's disease. We get a sense of her views of her plight through the memories of her husband, Walter.

Walter is simply devastated by his wife's illness and deals with it any way he can- even when his children don't approve.

When his daughter, Hannah, comes to visit after a problem at work, his life is turned upside down, and as a result, is forced to face the reality of Buddy's illness in a way he hadn't before.

I loved this book for its heart. It is a must read for anyone looking for something a little different.

Christoph Fischer has done it again with Sebastian. This is a story of love, heartbreak, and war.

Sebastian, at the beginning if the tale, is a weak child who allowed an infection take hold of him so badly in his leg that he ended up with an amputation. His equally weak mother, Vera, makes mistakes that jeopardize his health.

Again as t the odds, Sebastian is able to live a full rich life. Full of colorful characters and extensive historical accuracy, this is one to add to your historical fiction shelves.

Fischer has such a talent at portraying family dynamics. Having read all three of his books niw, I consider myself a fan.

The Black Eagle Inn, again portraying Germany's history, deals with the trials and tribulations of a country family who own a farm and inn. What is different about this book us that Fischer approaches the issues of foreigners in Germany post World War II and the acceptance of homosexuality in Germany.

As usual, Fischer approaches these subjects with poise and class.

Christoph Fischer has written another wonderful, heartfelt story. This time, he explores the effects of bipolar disorder through the eyes of a family. Charles and his illness is painful to read. You can just imagine how difficult his life is, but he somehow pushes forward through his mother's death and funeral.

Charles' brother Tony, however, chooses to think Charles is lazy because of the way their mother treated the both of them growing up. Sadly, this comes to a head with his wife being obsessed with finances.

Charles' group of friends are very interesting, but out of them all, I really want to know what makes Simon tick.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in mental illness, wonderful stories, and a love for literature.

As an avid history buff, I was excited to read The Luck of the Weissensteiners on the recommendation of a friend. Christoph Fischer delivers a powerful and intense look into the lives of several connected families living in Czechoslovakia before, during, and after WWII. There were several factors that made this novel particularly enjoyable to me. First was the author’s writing style, which presented itself as though it was being told by a great storyteller to its listeners around a fire, much in the same way family stories were passed on from generation to generation in the days before widespread literacy. Fischer wove the stories of each of the story’s characters together seamlessly in such a way that I could truly feel how closely connected their lives became as the narrative progressed. However, what I found most captivating was the beautiful way Fischer told the stories of the people who are never mentioned in a typical Holocaust account. Movies, documentaries, and other novels are quick to share the bold tales of families dragged to concentration camps and soldiers on the front lines. Very rarely have I encountered a story that so poignantly portrays the realities of those people who were simply ordinary citizens attempting to live peacefully in the small rural communities throughout Europe. I found myself wondering how I would have reacted in the characters’ situations as they were forced to live through circumstances that were many times beyond their control. What I would have initially deemed as unforgivable, when perceived from a different perspective, became far more understandable. To initiate this level of self-reflection is a testament to Fischer’s ability as an author. I am looking forward to reading more novels by this author and would highly recommend Luck of the Weisensteiners to anyone who enjoys great historical fiction.

Christoph Fischer tells a tale of World War 2 that hooks you from the beginning.

The story is well written and the characters are compelling and believable. I was fascinated by their shifting attitudes when choices were made over family and loyalty. It is difficult to know how you would react in similar situations, we'd all know how we'd like to think we'd react.

At the and I was thankful that the struggles the characters have gone through most of us will have never had to deal with in our lifetime.

Before I talk about the quality of the writing, let me outline the story in Time To Let Go. Having witnessed an incident on a plane, Hanna Korhonen, a flight attendant, comes to realize how quickly life can be over. Which brings to mind her parents, who are almost 80 years old. She come home to them, with the hope of running away from her own difficulties at work—only to find herself facing a much more daunting problem. Her mother, Biddy, who used to be such an energetic woman, is now in the grip of a terrible disease that destroys the mind and that will eventually leave just an outer shell of her. The entire family is affected: her father Walter, who is courageously taking care of his wife, and her brothers Henrik and Patrick.

With admirable sensitivity to the graveness of Alzheimer’s and to its ravages on the family, Christoph Fischer tells a deeply moving story. It is a complex yarn to weave, because it is underpinned by profound, hard questions. How would each one of them deal with this new, painful reality? Would they deny it or accept it? Would the progress of the disease strain them to the point of bringing about their own decline? Given their different approaches to treating Biddy, how do they negotiate a common strategy? Along the way, will the familial bond be weakened or strengthened? How do they deal with each tumble down, every time Biddy loses ground to the disease? Having put in place a rigid frame of rules, meant to brace her from further deterioration, how will they react when her mind continues to crumble? Can they hope to control her destiny? How do they let go, when it is time to do so?

Trying to find herself ensconced in the warmth of Home as she remembers it, the new reality become a test of maturity for Hanna. Will she find the inner strength needed to withstand it? In the words of her brother, Henrik, “Can you really see her as the Samaritan who gives up her career to clothe the poor and nurse the wounded, for the rest of her life? She is in shock right now and she is making a hurried, rash and stupid long term decision she will never be able to reverse.”

Finally, a few words about the cover design, which I love. Here is swan just starting to rise from the water and spread its wings, its feathers delineated diagonally across the cover. It is a dynamic, elegant icon, a symbol of the aspiration we all have to rise into purity, into our better selves. With its subtle shades of white, the design has some of the feel of The Three Nation Trilogy (the author’s historical fiction series.) However, with the cool greenish hues which infuses the entire image and the title font, this image extends in a different direction, a more contemporary one. And so does this book.

Five stars.

Although Alzheimer’s disease plays a major role in this wonderful novel, this is not a book about Alzheimer’s disease. Sometimes it takes a crisis to reunite a family and when air stewardess Hanna suffers a traumatic experience at work, this is exactly what happens, although not for the reasons she had initially anticipated. As one of Hanna's brothers explains, people react differently to stress and trauma in their lives and how each of the characters in this story react to the stresses in their lives and how they impact others in their social circle is precisely what's going on here. As a response to her stressful situation, Hanna reacts by retreating to what she thinks is a family that will comfort and support her in the rural countryside. However, her father Walter is dealing with the stress of his wife's mental retreat from him and the world into a seemingly no-man's land of confusion and forgetfulness, characteristic of Alzheimer's. Interestingly, whereas his wife is bereft of memories from the past, Walter immerses himself more fully into his as he chronicles his family history as if fearing that if events from his past are not recorded, they may be lost for good, almost as if they had never happened to begin with. As they are pulled back into a family dynamic, Hanna's brothers must also face the stressful memories of their past, both actual and imagined and are each given perhaps a final opportunity for family reconciliation, secrets to be finally revealed, etc., which they both respond to differently and tellingly for their very disparate personalities. A very interesting scene recounts a situation where under hypnosis, a war veteran patient suffering memory loss was able to remember events prior to the trauma that in his normal consciousness, he had no recollection. This suggests that the mind, in the role of shielding us from painful memories may be also preventing the recall of the happy memories, as well. Luckily for Hanna, however, this is not her plight and she faces her traumatic past and her stressful present/future with courage and fortitude, allowing for all possibilities both wished for and feared. In so doing, the universe opens doors before her where she herself could only see brick walls.

The Luck of the Weissensteiners is a portrait of a family is drawn against a backdrop of world gone mad during wartime. The father, Jonah, is a weaver of fine carpets, and so, in a different way, is the author: when thinking about Christoph Fischer, I note that the weaving of this story is done with a hand that is fine, and movements that are wonderfully measured, striving to achieve balance even when events tease the yarn, and jerk the characters way out of their comfort zone. There is drive and intention in the design, and a strong element of luck to the survival of this family.

At first, Jonah and his daughters Greta and Wilma, and his son Egon, barely give any thought to their Jewish background and traditions. The story opens in pre WWII Bratislava with a budding love between Greta and Wilhelm, a young German bookseller. A burst of love is a powerful way to hook us to the story, and it is a fiery emotion that will be tested to the limit, forge the hearts of some characters and break others. Later, the story then takes us to Carlsbad, Aschaffenburg and finally to post-war Frankfurt, reviving the era in well-researched detail. It is only when we near the end of this epic story that we notice how the characters—and we—have gained perspective of their lives.

“It was not as if Greta felt any more Jewish now than she had before the war or wanted to be included in their company. But she was a victim of the same fascist criminals and had somehow hoped for sympathy or solidarity. Sadly there was too much fear amongst the survivors to allow such openness to outsiders and the Weissensteiner clan was left isolated.”

Five stars.

I see this story as an lesson in a human’s tendency to lose themselves along the way. The dangers of going too far with power, religion and self-discipline can make for a miserable life. Each of these causing prejudices, hate, self-importance and revenge. There is much more involved in The Black Eagle Inn that Fischer wishes express. He has a deep realization of what drives people, not only in Heimkirchen, but throughout the world. This is not an easy task to put into words, but with each character, through their lifetime, was able to display many of the faults of everyday people.

Fischer perceives human actions and results below the surface, where most people tend to put little effort into understanding. I gave him a 4-star for trying and succeeding.

I would have loved more color with the characters and setting. The characters were interesting, but I needed a face of some kind to relate to. I have been to Bavaria and it is very beautiful. I wanted to see that also.

When a book opens before you, you expect to enter into a new reality--here, it is dropped upon you with a rarely seen immediacy. From the very first sentence, when the Serbian doctor tells Vera, "I am afraid I won't be able to save his leg," you understand in your bones how hard she tries to remain composed, so as not to frighten her son. Having stepped on a rusty nail, Sebastian has been hiding his injury from her, which is about to cost him dearly: the amputation of his leg, and the blow to the way he perceives himself at this sensitive age, both of which will eventually drive him to find his bearings, as he must. And not only he must overcome the limitations of his handicap, and come into his own--so must other characters: his frail mother, and the girl he loves, Margit. The war brings them together. The war separates them. It is a powerful player, that forces all of us to grow up. In its presence, all of us must find our inner power.

The author, Christoph Fischer, has drawn life in Vienna with vivid detail, illustrating the intricacies of the pre-World War I era with great imagination, which is underpinned by careful research of historical aspects. As the father leaves for war, Sebastian is charged with being the man in the family; not an easy task for any young man, and it is even more of a challenge for Sebastian. His is an imbalanced, stilted world, controlled by the women left behind, both his mother and the mother of his beloved Margit, who makes her daughter leave him and follow her to Galicia, in search of her father. I was reminded of several women in my own family, and smiled with awe and affection at the amazing (if sometimes annoying) power and initiative of Jewish mothers...

I am yet to read the first part of The Three Nations Trilogy, The Luck of the Weissensteiners. But to tell you the truth, sometimes I like reading one volume of of a trilogy out of order, to see if it holds on its own. Sebastian does.

Highly recommended. Five stars.