Not being particularly knowledgeable about either regular history, or art history I spent the entire time I read this book wondering if a) There ever was an Amber Room and b) What it would look like if there actually was.
Actually, being as uninformed as I am I didn't even know what Amber was. I mean, I realize that it's what you often find ancient mosquitos stuck in, but that's about it. To imagine an entire room made out of that yellowish plasticy looking stuff, sounds...well disgusting actually. But, it was described as being this beautiful, breathtaking thing. So I wonder, and imagine, and try and create a picture of it in my mind.
The book has been billed as something for people who enjoyed the DaVinci Code. I haven't read that. In fact, it's entirely likely that I never will. I always find when a book has been hyped to the point where you'd think it had been written on golden pages, that I don't enjoy it very much. Case in point, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. It was enjoyable, but in my opinion, not everything that it was touted to be.
So, as the story goes, there was all kinds of art stolen by the Nazis during the second world war. This I know to be true. The story in this book is that Hitler and his number 2 guy ( I can't remember his name) were bitterly competitive about their collections, and fought over acquiring the best pieces. Somehow the Amber Room got lost. Lost in the caves in the mountains.
The first glimpse we see of the story is of a man they call 'Ears', in a German concentration camp. He's called ears because he is the only Russian in their area who understands German. For this reason he's routinely chosen to go on...errands (for lack of a better term), so that he can instruct the others what to do. On one of these errands he sees Hitler's number 2 guy (still don't remember his name), interrogating some of the men that transported The Amber Room to it's hiding place. He stripped them naked, tied them to wooden posts, and poured water over their heads until they froze to death. None of them talked. And they froze to death, naked, tied to their wooden posts.
In Europe there is a group of private collectors. Their collections are vast, and most are top secret. They employ people to go out and recover the pieces for them. The race to these treasures sometimes gets heated, and people die.
It's entirely likely that I am not explaining this well. It's a book I really enjoyed. If you've heard about anything else I've ever read, you'll know that it's not exactly the type of book I'm drawn to. Generally the light and fluffy variety is what catches my attention. However, this one was fantastic. If the Davinci Code is this good, maybe I should read it. I'm quite sure I won't, but maybe I'm missing out.
Posted by Michelle at October 14, 2004 10:08 AM