Review: Jacob besluit lief te hebben, Catalin Dorian Florescu

This is the story of Jacob Obertin. Born in Triebeswetter in Romania his story covers the years from the early twenties to the early fifties. It tells the family story of the Obertins. How they in search for a piece of land for themselves undertook a dangerous journey. Betrayed by his own father and loosing the girl he loves Jacob is facing a life full of struggle for recognition and getting what he deserves. During his journey he learns how there are always people who are willing to help to put you on your next path

Catalin Dorian Florescu was born in Timisoara, Romania in 1967. He fled the country with his family to Switzerland in 1982. He studied psychology and psychopathology in Zürich. He has won several awards with his books.

This book was a struggle in more than one way. It was hard for me to connect to the characters, I felt they were very need driven and selfish. The story was a bit depressing, there was not much room for happiness.
While Jacob is growing up he is a weak child, having a lot of health problems. It is clear that this does not fit his fathers view for a son and Jacob is treated like that. It is clear this hurts Jacob and he tries his best to make up for it all. Even though Jacob did not do anything bad I was not really connecting to him. He missed a spark, something that made me want to cheer him on. I believe the grandfather did have good intention though he did not really fight for his right either. Same with Jacobs mom who was just letting things happen. The most impressive character was Caspar who did all the bad things to get what he felt was his.
The development in the story is done great though. The atmosphere encloses you until you are just as depressed as any of the characters. There are interesting situations with the German invasion and the Russian invasion and how that influenced the area. I liked the history of Caspar and Frederick and how they came to that area.

Jacob besluit lief te hebben
Author: Catalin Dorian Florescu
Publisher: Signatuur
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 9056724207
ISBN-13: 9789056724207
Original title: Jacob Beschließt Zu Lieben
Signatuur: eBook | Hardcover

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