Far to Go
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'Clean, crisp and unencumbered. Pick . . . creates small moments that are both lovely and frightening . . . It's very deftly structures and the storytelling is seamless'
( Globe and Mail )'Somewhere between a book and a miracle'
(Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Love in the Present Tense )'A nuanced and layered portrait of betrayal . . . An intriguing experiment in the art of storytelling'
( Montreal Gazette )'Expertly crafted in every sense'
(thestar.com )'Pick unties the dark knots of the past to imagine the stories that could never otherwise be known'
(Marina Endicott, author of Good to a Fault )Product Description
Longlisted for the 2011 MAN BOOKER PRIZE for Fiction, FAR TO GO is a powerful and profoundly moving story about one family's epic journey to flee the Nazi occupation of their homeland in 1939, and above all to save the life of a six-year-old boy.
Pavel and Anneliese Bauer are affluent, secular Jews, whose lives are turned upside down by the arrival of the German forces in Czechoslovakia. Desperate to avoid deportation, the Bauers flee to Prague with their six-year-old son, Pepik, and his beloved nanny, Marta. When the family try to flee without her to Paris, Marta betrays them to her Nazi boyfriend. But it is through Marta's determination that Pepik secures a place on a Kindertransport, though he never sees his parents or Marta again.
Inspired by Alison Pick's own grandparents who fled their native Czechoslovakia for Canada during the Second World War, FAR TO GO is a deeply personal and emotionally harrowing novel.
Pavel and Anneliese Bauer are affluent, secular Jews, whose lives are turned upside down by the arrival of the German forces in Czechoslovakia. Desperate to avoid deportation, the Bauers flee to Prague with their six-year-old son, Pepik, and his beloved nanny, Marta. When the family try to flee without her to Paris, Marta betrays them to her Nazi boyfriend. But it is through Marta's determination that Pepik secures a place on a Kindertransport, though he never sees his parents or Marta again.
Inspired by Alison Pick's own grandparents who fled their native Czechoslovakia for Canada during the Second World War, FAR TO GO is a deeply personal and emotionally harrowing novel.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This is the heartbreaking story of a Jewish family in 1938 Czechoslavakia. There is Pavel Bauer, his wife Anneliese and their young son, Pepik. Also, there is Marta, Pepik's governess, who has no home or family to speak of, outside of the Bauer's. The story is also told by the narrator, as someone looking for Pepik as an old man; although it is not until the end of the novel that we discover how the narrator and Pepik are connected.
As the war approaches, the Bauer's life begins to change. Pavel can no longer run his factory and Pepik is forced to face the back wall of his classroom, segregated and bullied. The anti semitism is corrosive and seeps into all aspects of the life in the small town the Bauer's live in. Anneliese wants to leave, although Pavel is keen that they stay. You can feel Pavel's disbelief about what is happening, his unwillingness to accept the way his life is changing, his sudden awareness of his Jewishness. His factory, his feeling of confidence in himself, is slowly stripped away, which is hard to read about. Eventually, the decision is made for Pepik to leave on the Kindertransport, with the hope that he will be safe until they can hopefully be reunited.
This was a very moving book. The author takes pains to show what people are capable of in such situations, which bring out the worst and the best of humanity. Ernst, who works with Pavel, and who sees an opportunity for himself. Marta, who both loves the Bauer's and yet feels jealous and abandoned. Pepik, the small and innocent child, so loved and adored. It must have been the hardest decision to send your child alone into a new world, when the unselfish urge to protect your child is stronger than the desperate need to be with them. This was an excellent novel and really thought provoking. It would be a great read for a book group, with lots to discuss and talk about and I am glad that I read it.
As the war approaches, the Bauer's life begins to change. Pavel can no longer run his factory and Pepik is forced to face the back wall of his classroom, segregated and bullied. The anti semitism is corrosive and seeps into all aspects of the life in the small town the Bauer's live in. Anneliese wants to leave, although Pavel is keen that they stay. You can feel Pavel's disbelief about what is happening, his unwillingness to accept the way his life is changing, his sudden awareness of his Jewishness. His factory, his feeling of confidence in himself, is slowly stripped away, which is hard to read about. Eventually, the decision is made for Pepik to leave on the Kindertransport, with the hope that he will be safe until they can hopefully be reunited.
This was a very moving book. The author takes pains to show what people are capable of in such situations, which bring out the worst and the best of humanity. Ernst, who works with Pavel, and who sees an opportunity for himself. Marta, who both loves the Bauer's and yet feels jealous and abandoned. Pepik, the small and innocent child, so loved and adored. It must have been the hardest decision to send your child alone into a new world, when the unselfish urge to protect your child is stronger than the desperate need to be with them. This was an excellent novel and really thought provoking. It would be a great read for a book group, with lots to discuss and talk about and I am glad that I read it.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
'Far to Go' is the story of the Bauer family, Pavel, Anneliese and their six year old son Pepik, along with Pepik's governess, Marta, they live a quiet life in Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia. Their lives are changed forever with the arrival of Adolf Hitler and his government in 1939, the Bauer family, who are Jewish but chose not to practice their religion believe they will be safe because of this. Pavel is outraged by the fall of the Sudetenland and the fall of the government but he still believes his family will be safe but as the situation becomes more frightening and Pavel's own views changing, he realises he must flee with this family while he still can but its too late for Pavel and Anneliese but not too late for their beloved Pepik, his parents and governess must be prepared to let him go on the Kindertransport, to go to Great Britain where he will be safe until he can return home.
I was very lucky to be able to read 'Far to Go' before its release on the 12th May 2011 and I recommend it highly.
The story is told from the point of view of Marta, Pepik's beloved governess, who stands by the Bauer family for different reasons but ultimately she stays because she loves the family. Marta's point of view is full of emotion, there is sadness, happiness, strength and love, emotions that are shown so well that you are immersed in the story from the first page. Marta is a well written and realistic character, she is a young girl, who at times is confused and makes wrong decisions.
Pavel and Anneliese are also well written characters, their fear as people and parents are heartbreaking to read, their frustrations and sadness, what they are facing, what they sacrifice to ensure their son's safety. Pepik is a lovely character, you can visualise a sweet, gentle little boy who does not understand the harshness of the world but quickly learns, which was sad to read because you want him to be happy.
The story interweaves between the past and the future, the aftermath of the Kindertransport and what it meant for so many children, some who were lucky enough to see their parents again and the children who did not see them again.
I enjoyed 'Far to Go', it was a powerful story and you can see the love and commitment that went into telling the story by Alison Pick, a story which is part of her own family history.
I was very lucky to be able to read 'Far to Go' before its release on the 12th May 2011 and I recommend it highly.
The story is told from the point of view of Marta, Pepik's beloved governess, who stands by the Bauer family for different reasons but ultimately she stays because she loves the family. Marta's point of view is full of emotion, there is sadness, happiness, strength and love, emotions that are shown so well that you are immersed in the story from the first page. Marta is a well written and realistic character, she is a young girl, who at times is confused and makes wrong decisions.
Pavel and Anneliese are also well written characters, their fear as people and parents are heartbreaking to read, their frustrations and sadness, what they are facing, what they sacrifice to ensure their son's safety. Pepik is a lovely character, you can visualise a sweet, gentle little boy who does not understand the harshness of the world but quickly learns, which was sad to read because you want him to be happy.
The story interweaves between the past and the future, the aftermath of the Kindertransport and what it meant for so many children, some who were lucky enough to see their parents again and the children who did not see them again.
I enjoyed 'Far to Go', it was a powerful story and you can see the love and commitment that went into telling the story by Alison Pick, a story which is part of her own family history.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I thought long and hard before writing this review. Other reviewers have all given it four or five stars (so far), and I wondered what I had missed, but in the end, I have to write what I feel. Four and five star novels are, for me, the ones I can't put down, and long to recommend to others, and this one doesn't quite make the grade. However, if I could have given the novel three and a half stars, I would have.
The novel tells the story of the Bauer family - Pavel, Anneliese and their small son Pepik, and Marta, his nanny. The Bauers are Czechs, and the Germans are invading their country. They are also Jews, and the persecution of Jews is getting under way. Because they are not practising Jews, Pavel feels that they are safe; his wife is not so sure. Marta, who is non-Jewish, is torn between the family she loves and, at the beginning of the novel, her Nazi lover, Ernst. As the net gradually closes around them, the painful decision is made to send Pepik to England and safety.
The narrative, told largely from the pont of view of Marta, is punctuated by a present-day first person narrative, and it is not for some time that the identity of this narrator is made clear. One of the problems I had with the novel was this narrative; I felt that it was unnecessary - it provided a framework for the story, but was not essential to it - and it interrupted the main narrative. I also found it irritating not knowing who was speaking.
As to the main story itself, it is well researched and told, but I somehow never really felt drawn in; never feared for the protagonsists or felt their pain as I have in other novels about the Second World War, and I was disappointed. It was all there; the fear, the uncertainty, the pain when Pepik is finally taken from his family onto the Kindertransport, but I wasn't gripped as I had expected to be. We know from early on in the novel that Pepik's parents die in the concentration camps, so any tension as to their fate is pre-empted.
An interesting novel, and a well-written one, but I'm not sure that I would recommend it (although there are plenty who would).
The novel tells the story of the Bauer family - Pavel, Anneliese and their small son Pepik, and Marta, his nanny. The Bauers are Czechs, and the Germans are invading their country. They are also Jews, and the persecution of Jews is getting under way. Because they are not practising Jews, Pavel feels that they are safe; his wife is not so sure. Marta, who is non-Jewish, is torn between the family she loves and, at the beginning of the novel, her Nazi lover, Ernst. As the net gradually closes around them, the painful decision is made to send Pepik to England and safety.
The narrative, told largely from the pont of view of Marta, is punctuated by a present-day first person narrative, and it is not for some time that the identity of this narrator is made clear. One of the problems I had with the novel was this narrative; I felt that it was unnecessary - it provided a framework for the story, but was not essential to it - and it interrupted the main narrative. I also found it irritating not knowing who was speaking.
As to the main story itself, it is well researched and told, but I somehow never really felt drawn in; never feared for the protagonsists or felt their pain as I have in other novels about the Second World War, and I was disappointed. It was all there; the fear, the uncertainty, the pain when Pepik is finally taken from his family onto the Kindertransport, but I wasn't gripped as I had expected to be. We know from early on in the novel that Pepik's parents die in the concentration camps, so any tension as to their fate is pre-empted.
An interesting novel, and a well-written one, but I'm not sure that I would recommend it (although there are plenty who would).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Utterly compelling
Canadian author Alison Pick has set her novel in a very particular and traumatic historical time and place which draws upon the experience of her own grandparents on the eve of the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by R. Darlington
Beautifully written
This is a beautifully written, haunting book telling the story of a Jewish family living in Czechoslovakia during the 2nd World War and the way in which their six year old son,... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lynn M
One of those books that comes along only once in a while
I've never been moved to write an Amazon review before, but having finished Far To Go, I've found myself urging as many people as I've come into contact with to buy and read the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by robinsonhp
Far to Go
Far to Go is on a dismal and dispiriting subject; that of the plight of Jewish families in Czechoslovakia in the run up to WW2 and the decisions that have to be made, and the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by daisyroots
Thought provoking and moving!
I virtually read this book in two sittings. I didn't want to put it down. The story of a Jewish family Pavel, his wife Annelise, their young son Pepik and their maid Marta living... Read more
Published 2 months ago by ik_49
Too sad for me, and rather muddled
This book has confounded me by its popularity. The story is basically of the Bauer family who were secular Jews living in Czechoslovakia in 1938. Read more
Published 2 months ago by elsie purdon
A beautiful book
This book is absolutely wonderful, totally absorbing from start to finish. I read it in a couple of days. Read more
Published 2 months ago by BN
Far to Go
I would recommend this book as a really interesting and informative read. In fact I purchased this to give to a relative for a birthday present as I had read it earlier. Read more
Published 3 months ago by JoH
Doesn't do what it says on the tin
Far To Go tells the story of the Bauer family, there is a connection to the true life story of the family of Alison Pick who escaped Czechoslovakia for Canada during the war. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. A. Davison
Far to go - Alison Pick
'Far to go' is set in Czechoslovakia, 1938, the beginning of World War II is approaching; the future of Germany and the population is indefinite. Read more
Published 5 months ago by LauraS
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