Customer Reviews

Flights of Love: Stories

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first book I have read by Bernhard Schlink. Based upon this initial exposure to his work, I look forward to reading other books he has written that are being translated for publication in the USA. "Flights Of Love", is not a collection of sentimental love stories. None of these 7 tales qualify as a Hallmark Card Moment. All 7 stories have males at the center of the issues/conflicts, and the concepts of love that are explored vary widely. Several of the stories are about the lack of love, love that has missed its opportunity because of active or passive neglect.

The situations Mr. Schlink explores are at times extremely volatile. One of the best stories, and the more traditional, centers on a relationship between two young people. Beyond this one fact the author lights a match and holds it precariously close to a very short fuse. The young man is German and Christian, while his girlfriend is Jewish with a family that lives in New York that was directly and savagely victimized by The Holocaust. Fifty years have passed since the end of the war, but time will never heal this wound, and this couple is in the middle of conflicting philosophies. The idea that sons should not be held responsible for their father's or grandfather's sins is an idea that is embraced in theory. However in practice, her family and friends see him as German first just as his family notes she is a Jew, and rapidly wind up in conflict between the necessity of never forgetting, and the feeling that they are forever cursed as Germans. This all sounds very familiar until the boyfriend makes the decision to convert. He also makes a decision to have a procedure that any adult male would visibly wince at the thought of. This decision and the events that follow make the story unique and worth reading.

"Girl With Lizard", may sound a bit odd as a title. However the author takes you through decades of strife that is caused by the painting that is the title of the story, and brings it to a conclusion that is poignant without appearing to be just a clever sleight of hand. In, "Sugar Peas", the author again takes the familiar concept of a love triangle and literally changes its shape, abruptly interrupts the narrative, and then delivers an ending that I don't believe most readers will see coming. I do believe most readers will find the ending a satisfying one.

These are great stories of varying length that all are worth reading, and will likely cause you to add a new author to your list of people to read.

It may be a cliche, but Bernhard Schlink is a master storyteller. These stories surprise and fascinate in the same way as *The Reader*. Schlink creates real characters facing difficult moral and personal issues. His prose style is spare and elegant and he takes up large and important themes. This collection is not to be missed.

I totally fell in love with this book. I seemed to like each story better than the last.... "Girl With Lizard" would have been my fave though, if I had to pick just one. I definitely plan on recommending this book to friends when they ask me if I have read any good books lately. Don't miss this one! This is one to be read over and over.

Bernard Schlink has done it again: created a small masterpiece, with this group of seven short stories. Their strength derives from the rigorous psychological self examination that each of his middle-aged or older male protagonists is forced to undergo. Most of the stories are set totally or partially in modern day Germany, some against the post Holocaust or post reunification backdrop, but all against the universal backdrop of human relationships. I would argue that the common thread is less about love, despite the title, and more about the search for self authenticity. My choice for the best of the seven are "Girl with Lizard" and "The Circumcision", but if you're going to read one, you should read all of it. The stories are unusual, original, and powerful with lots of layers, and worth several re-readings.

Schlink seems to ask himself, "To what strange places might love drive a person?" His writing is distinctly un-American: poetic, deeply intimate, concise, and above all unashamed. The overall effect is provacative and thought provoking. Each story is unique and unattached to the next, but still focuses on the premise of people driven throughout their lives by love. The book shows the many different ways that love can effect a person: in one story, love brings them together, in another drives them apart, in another it causes infidelity, in another it sends a man looking after the man that the dead wife had an affair with. With his Kundera-esque writing style, I was riveted to Schlink's book. Subjects covered: war, religion, art, travel, infidelity, circumcision, lies, sex, falling out of love, family relationships, Jewish prejudice against a German. The "flights" seem unconcious and inevitable, each resulting conflict the believable outcome of the characters personality. Each story flows naturally, and yet, the conflict and resolution are unexpected. If you like this, you may really like "Searching For Intruders" by Byler or "Kissing in Manhatten" by Schlinker.

Bernhard Schlink created a devoted following with the translation of his first novel THE READER. Opinion was divided among critics and readers as to whether or not this author was playing on simplistic heart-string tuggings or whether he really had somthing new to say and an equal talent to say it. Being part of the camp of readers who were caught up in the story of 'The Reader' and waited eagerly to see just where this writer would/could go, I am happy to say that FLIGHTS OF LOVE is substantial proof that Schlink is a very fine storyteller. This book of seven short stories, while a bit uneven, at least shows that the author can relate tales of interest, of introspection, of intrique, and in general can keep his reader flowing with his thoughts to the somewhat open-ended conclusions. "The Other Man" is deftly told and has much more of a universal appeal than the isolated story would indicate. 'Girl with Lizard' is a mesmerizing tale based on a man's relationship to a painting! One of the unifying elements in Schlink's creative mind is examining how internalized perceptions, when maintained in the prison of an individual's mind, can alter the manner in which we live through relationships, ways that could have been more constructive had communication of these altered perceptions occurred. Sounds simple, but the way Schlink uses this tool to alter his characters reaction to not only each other but to everyone and everything in their lives is touching and rings true. If at times his writing seems detached or cold, I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that we are reading translations. Despite any of the negative points mentioned, here is a collection of short stories that merit attention and make us eager for the next full scale novel to come along.

Bernhard Schlink's FLIGHTS OF LOVE is a curious, uneven, confounding and sometimes brave assemblage of stories, none of which has anything whatsoever to do with actual "flights" of our most treasured and elusive emotion. DIVES OF LOVE would have been considerably more accurate. But that's not a criticism. Schlink delivers some fine swans and at least one Triple-Lindy. My favorite has to be the opener, GIRL WITH LIZARD. There is a strange redemptive quality here, and, as with all of Schlink's fiction, a definite chill in the air. He is playing to his strength when he maintains a good distance from his characters, revealing slowly all the hidden gross machinery that drives them to do what he has them do. When Schlink fails, he does so just as grandly, God bless his Nordic soul. Best example of that, I think, has to be THE CIRCUMCISION, a miserable, too-long, improbable, atmospheric polemic about cold-blooded posturing, hair-trigger sensibilities, and not much else. When Schlink attempts a much warmer author/character relationship, the results are strained, frozen, and never very good. Stories like GIRL WITH LIZARD, SUGAR PEAS, and THE OTHER MAN really go a long way toward saving FLIGHTS OF LOVE from becoming one of the sloppiest diving teams anyone ever saw.

When I finished THE READER, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I was convinced that the book was autobiogrpahical and that Bernhard Schlink had done what may writers do; tell the one story they have to tell and write several poorly done works hoping to capitalize on the success of their first book. So it was with spepticism that I began FLIGHTS OF LOVE. I was delighted to find that I was wrong, at least on the second point.

Schlink has compiled a wonderful selection of short stories with ironic twists and surprise endings. As he does in THE READER, he deals with relationships and the web people spin for themseles in dealing with lovers and spouses. I felt the strongest of the stories were THE OTHER MAN and THE CIRCUMCISION. In THE CIRCUMCISION and THE GIRL AND THE LIZARD, Schlink revisits the theme of THE READER in terms of deling with Germany's past and the acceptance of it by contemporary Germans. The conflicts between the characters in THE CIRCUMCISION, while specifically dealing with German/Jewish relations are universal and could involve interracial couples as well as couples from different cultures. In THE OTHER MAN Schlink marverls the reader with his incites into the life of a grieving widower and the fact that his wife has had an affair yet maintained a healthy relationship with him.

I felt that THE SON was the weakest of the stories and seemed to have been drawn on themes more common to V.S. Naipaul. I suspect that some of these stories will show up in the movies some day, especially THE OTHER MAN. All in all the stores are well done, provacative and readable. I only look forward to Schlink's next work.

Love is not easy: not only attaining it, winning the heart of your loved one, but, most difficult and most important, keeping it. Too many, once they "won" the love of somebody, take love for granted, as an acquired boon. They're wrong. This book explains why.This book is all about the self-centeredness, the pettyness, the fear of loving that prevents love to take flight. But it's a recommended reading if one wants to avoid errors. Beware young lovers, where ever you are! Love is a many splendored thing...handle whit care!

Wonderful, elegantly written collection of short stories about men and love, the gravitation toward it and the flight from it, all based in East Berlin. I love this author and especially this book.