Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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191 of 208 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Tell her, brief is life but love is long" - Tennyson, 16 Jan 2008
RANDOM ACTS OF HEROIC LOVE is a fantastic debut novel by a very talented writer. Scheinmann spent six years writing his debut, and as you read, you can certainly see how it could be viewed as a labour of love. I think this book has been a cathartic experience for Scheinmann, and it just so happens to be a tremendous piece of work.
The book esentially follows two stories - one is of Mortiz Daniecki in 1917. As a survivor of the war, he is captured and put into a POW camp. Yet this is not where his story ends, for what keeps Mortiz fighting to get through the war and back home is the young love he has left behind there, Lotte. Before Moritz heads off to be a soldier, they share a kiss together and it is this kiss that spurs Moritz on; the memory of her sustains him and gives him reason to live. Once he escapes from the camp, Moritz then faces an arduous journey walking his way home, to his love and the life he had before.
The second story is set in 1992 and follows Leo Deakin. At the age of 25, Leo wakes up in hospital having survived a crash whilst travelling in South America. Upon waking, Leo discovers that his girlfriend Eleni did not survive the crash, but he cannot remember anything about it. As he struggles to rebuild his memory of what happened, whilst coming to terms with his loss, you follow him on this journey.
Through these two stories, Scheinmann has managed to explore the many issues of bereavement, love, survival, hope and travelling on physical aswell as philosophical journies in great depth and to great effect. Even if you have never lost a loved one, or been separated from your love, I am sure that you will be able to appreciate and understand the power of the emotions behind this extraordinary novel. What makes it even more so remarkable is that the journey Moritz makes across Russia was actually undertaken by Scheinmann's grandfather. Leo's experience of losing his partner at a young age is also another experience related to Scheinmann, so this knowledge shows just how much of his soul he has exposed within these pages.
I would recommend RANDOM ACTS OF HEROIC LOVE to anyone who believes in the power of love. This is a great book, it shall stay with you long after you have closed the pages.
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71 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Absorbing Read, 14 Feb 2008
I loved this book from the first page right through to the last. It is essentially two stories in one novel and I was totally hooked from the first page. Each story was thoroughly absorbing and appear to be completely separate from each other (one is set in 1917 the other in 1995, one is a Russian solider and one is an English student) and the ending is absolutely fitting in their conclusion. Brilliantly written - each of the two narrative voices remain seperate throughout the book and each are thoroughly convincing.
If you are a romantic person, or you are looking for some validation of your own love for someone or if you are just a plain old believer in the power of love this is the book for you. It is a love story that isn't a sex story and is passionate without being slushy. I would recommend it to romantics and hard-hearts alike.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Doesn't live up to the hype, 30 Mar 2008
Having read the rave reviews on this site, I've come to the conclusion that I must have missed something. The description of Moritz's trek across Siberia is admittedly pretty gripping, but unfortunately is relegated to second place by the modern day exploration of Leo's grief following the sudden death of his girlfriend. I'm sure there is something of value in terms of exploring the difficult subject of bereavement within the pages of this book, but it is buried beneath clumsy prose and a cast of paper thin supporting characters that it is impossible to care about. The 'physicist' spouting cod philosophy is particularly cringeworthy, and the renewal of the relationship between Leo's parents came a close second.
Incidentally, I'm quite confused as to how Leo gained the ability to understand Polish and read the letters in the space of a few days. I kept expecting this new found skill to be explained in the last few pages, but was left scratching my head at the end.
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