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Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Franck, Julia
Birthdate: 1970-02-20
Gender: female
Nationality: Germany
Birthplace: Oost-Berlijn
East Berlin, German Democratic Republic
Education: FU Berlin (law ∙ American studies ∙ German literature ∙ philosophy)
Occupations: Journalist
novelist
Relationships: Sehmisch, Jürgen (father)
Franck, Anna Katharina (mother)
Awards and honors: Marie-Luise-Kaschnitz-Preis (2004)
Roswitha-Preis (2005)

Members

Reviews

Rug aan rug by Julia Franck

Een opgroeiende broer en zus in de DDR proberen zich staande te houden als hun moeder hen aan hun lot overlaat.

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Vrouwenbibliotheek | 4 other reviews | Dec 30, 2024 |

De middagvrouw by Julia Franck

Na alle ontberingen van de 2e Wereldoorlog samen te hebben overleefd laat een vrouw in 1945 haar zoon alleen achter op een klein station.

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Vrouwenbibliotheek | 24 other reviews | Dec 30, 2024 |

De middagvrouw

Everyone seems to love this book. It's being compared with Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary, but I don't see it. The story was gripping, but I didn't like any of the characters, not even the little boy. I couldn't care less about this woman and I was angry that she repeated her own mother's faults. I did finish it because it was for my bookclub, but if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have finished it.
I really don't mind drama in a book, terrible things happen, but I at least want to sympathize with one character and there was just nothing to hold on to. I understand that that is the attraction for a lot of people, but not for me. A very depressing book....… (more)

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Eiketske1004 | 24 other reviews | Sep 18, 2024 |

The Blind Side of the Heart by Julia Franck

Some wonderfully realised characters, and a heartbreaking opening section. The author has successfully written an eyes-down and incurious protagonist, suffering a series of domestic and personal turmoils in WW2 Germany. Given the period it was set in, one occasionally craves a more eyes-up character, but it broadly works. For me, a couple of re-writes away from a classic.

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sometimeunderwater | 24 other reviews | Nov 2, 2020 |

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