Grandfather¿s Tale
First thing of all I should point out is that this is not real memoirs… This is a fiction book about Germans in WWII. If you want to read, and I would advise you to read a book about the German perspective then It would be “The Forgotten Soldier” by Guy Sajer. At least that book is not fiction. Even some people disputed it. (There will be always people who will dispute books about Germans on WWII. Jews and communists and allied fanatics will never be pleased and will never believe that there were good Germans, Germans who fought in the war because their country need them and they were ordered of course. And to them I would say something… but I won’t. I know story is written by the victors and victims. And the Germans were also victims. Before the war, in the war and after the war. Specially the soldiers. After the war ended the Germans soldiers who were capture (mostly) by the Soviet Union were or killed or put in the gulags. They executed more men in prisoner camps then in fields of battle. (This is a part history, if you just want to read the review just go to the end.)
check my blog to read a history lesson: http://perkunos.blogspot.pt/2007/08/grandfathers-tale-tale-of-german-sniper.html
That said let’s go to the book…If you want to read about a real person fighting in the WW2 then read The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer or one of the numerous books by Sven Hassel a Denmark volunteer that fought for the Germans or if you want snipers you’ve got the memoirs of real life WWII German sniper Sepp Allerberger, Sniper on the Eastern Front, written by Albrecht Walker and edited by Geoffrey Brooks. There are also other books by other authors that depicted the life of a German soldier. There is also an interesting book about an Waffen-SS. (a Verfügungstruppe) but unfortunally I can’t recall the name… If you search for the first book I said in Amazon website several others books about Germany in the Second World War will appear…First the story, then the discrepancies
Characters of current timeline:
Georg Frick, Main Character
Ingred Frick – Main Character’s wife
Ron Frick – Main Character’s grandson
George – Main Character’s great-grandson
Characters of WWII timeline
Ellis – Sniper, Veteran from WWI
Misha – Trainee at the same time of Georg (Soldat)
Konrad - Soldat that Georg met in the attack on Eben-Emael.
The story begins with George’s father telling him that he should listen to everything his great-grandfather said so his memory could endure.George, as a young kid after arriving in the farm he goes exploring were he finds a box with several Nazi emblems and medals. Afterwards Georg tells his great-grandson his story…It begins with the draft into the army (Heer/Werhmacht) in 1937. Here he excels in his training and goes to a special training of sniping. The first annexiation of Sudetenland occurs without bloodshed in 38. Chapter 4, begins in the Invasion of Poland in September 1939. The first kill. From this point forward we met several personages, one his mentor called Ellis also a sniper and Veteran from WWI and afterwards in Eben-Emael he meets Konrad which becomes his spotter and friend. He also receives training in parachuting and mine detection. The plot itself we already know from history, the Nazis lost in 1945. But this doesn’t mean that it’s less interesting. After reading Sven Hassel I had some good impressions of true war. Many books that are about war aren’t that real. Sven Hassel’s books are not only about war books but horror books. This book had some parts that remind me of the cruel aspects of Sven Hassel but it lacks something…
The book itself has no plot whatsoever and the characters are minimally described, adjectives are sparse and uninspiring, and phrases and sentences are unimaginative. Every day is the same for young George. He spends them listening to the same basic story set in slightly varying surroundings: Russian soldier spied, shot, killed, victim's ammo (weapons, rations) collected, grenade (bomb, tank shooting) sounded, meal eaten, reflected, slept. (Then it changes to Americans and British and then again Soviet soldiers. Young George is mesmerized by the graphic details.I know that war was like that…
There was plenty of action and everyday was the same, only the surroundings changed and the opponents.In the end after reading the book, there are several aspects you will dislike and others you like. The most annoying thought the reading process was to read the countless typos, grammar errors and redundancy. The end of the book didn’t feel like an plausible end. Alright, there were thousands of men that fought in Poland, Benelux, France, URSS, Italy and Germany. That I believe. And those men were either officials or true survivors. And I also know that when those men bound for a time those men became their shadow and more closely then brothers or wives. They depended on them and they lived because of them. A bounding/feeling incomprehensible to most people outside the scenery of war. I say this because those people would more likely sacrifice for their brother in arms than to the Fuhrer or their motherland. In the end, already in Siege of Berlin in April/May 1945 Konrad who had become Georg best friend was wounded and Georg left him behind in a hospital (he was shot after the soviets captured the hospital). I don’t think the main character or anybody would do it… I have seen relates than people fighting alongside others would never abandoned their brothers into the fate… It’s too cruel and unbelievable.
There were some discrepancies and for that I have loath the writer... First he made arms of one calibre fire with other calibres. Which we all know it’s impossible. Then 88mm flak tanks would never destroy dozens of T34’s in one single shot. Probably Great Bertha would do it, but never a 88mm. (But, It is know that they used them in anti-tank actions)Another thing that bother me was the rate kill. We all know that the Simo Häyhä has the all time record with 542 kills. Of course they are confirmed kills... So there is need it that a person (an officer) would have to be present to confirm and a couple of other soldiers. We all know that snipers in great part of their actions worked alone so I know that some soldiers have killed more than 542 kills. (I believe that Hayha has killed more than 542.)
It’s not hard to kill a man in combat... if you have sub-machine gun just fire away... but the problem is staying alive to make the numbers higher. But the numbers our writer gives us are complentely antonished. By Belgium or Crete (I don’t know which he had more than 1000 kills.)
If you thing that the invasion of Crete was between may and june of 1941. In Russia he killed them by the hundreds... I bet that he killed more than 3000 or 4000 enemies...
Alright!
At the end of the book Georg carried the following arms and ammo...He carried 4 rifles( Kar98k, BAR, M1,and a Tokarev along with a suppressed pistol and a 30 pound bag of ammo.)
For moments of the book I thought the named changed to Rambo, but in axis side. There are also other discrepancies about wars being fought and prisioners captured and even the number of the kills in specific battles.
Another thing that bothered me that most of his kills were shot between 700-1100 (as he said some longed for two seconds to hit the target, now just make the count for how long) and all head-shots. (The Russians were killed in their star.) Ahh, I forgot to said that in all shots I only read that he missed a few, I will not say numbers but I only remember missing 2.
Another interesting thing was when the enlisted soldiers salute other enlisted soldiers and call them "Sir.".
The title itself should be changed to Great-Grandfather’s tale.
There were other parts but I will stay here because as I remember some details I feel a bit of weary and feel regrets to wasting more time typing about a lousy book.
I will only advice this book for someone who wants to read a fast-paced novel that doesn’t care about characters, plot or anything else for that mattered. I would advise you all to just play Medal of Honor online and you will feel the same effect than reading it. Ahh, didn’t I tell you that he is a professional game-player? I wonder how the inspiration came…
