The Training Ground

by Siegfried Lenz

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805009434
• ISBN13: 9780805009439
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 425 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

One of the best books I've ever read

Set in post-World War II Northern Germany, this powerful narrative portrays the life of a family resettled from Silesia, a once German-occupied region in present-day Poland, and their struggle for acceptance in the community (many resettlers encountered feelings that ranged from cold-shouldered to openly hostile). The story is told from the perspective of Bruno, a mildly retarded man adopted by the Zeller family. For 30 years he has been helping the family business, a successful nursery established on a former military training range. Conflict erupts when family members learn that the head of the family is planning to bequest a large portion of the nursery to Bruno. In his limited understanding, Bruno tells the story seemingly as an outside observer, yet in the reader's view he is a central figure. The conclusion of the novel nearly brought me to tears. As in many of his other novels, Lenz brilliantly uses a microcosmic story to portray the moods and circumstances of life in Germany, which IMHU makes him one of the most important contemporary German writers.