It will be interesting to see how it all gets translated.) Read moreĪssorted characters meet on a ship sailing from Veracruz to Bremerhaven in 1931, a not uncommon plot device but unique in this instance in that on the ship of fools, there really are only fools. This reflects a little too painfully on the times we face today.But, even those insights were no match for how much I detested being a part of these people’s lives.(Mind you, that isn’t going to stop me from now watching the movie. And, it being a German ship, you can imagine just how much hatred is spewed for anyone who falls outside the racially accepted norms. And, upon the realization, I would again recognize that I just didn’t care.Perhaps the most interesting portions of the book are those that speak of the rampant racism that was occurring in the times this book was set – 1931, between the wars. (And I did invest my time trust me.) Occasionally, I would start to become interested in a story thread, and then realize that interest was of the “train wreck” variety.
They are pathetic, mean, spiteful…they are not characters I care enough about to want to invest my time. But I cannot care about any…any of these people. There is a build to what I saw as the climax (the night of the big party) that is slow, deliberate, inevitable, and revealing. The details and the characterizations are excellent. I suppose I understand why it is so revered. A bunch of horrible people take a transatlantic voyage from Mexico to Germany, treat each other horribly, and end the voyage nearly as horrible as when they first arrived.Okay, if you haven’t figured it out from my synopsis, I did not like this book.
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