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Group Portrait with Lady
Group Portrait with Lady | Heinrich Boll, Leila Vennewitz
6 posts | 6 read | 8 to read
Leni Pfeiffer is a war widow who, with her neighbors, is fighting the demolition of the Cologne apartment building in which they reside. Leni and her illegitimate son Lev become the nexus of Cologne's counterculture; they spurn the prevailing work ethic and assail the dehumanization of life under capitalism.
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review
BookwormM
Group Portrait with Lady | Heinrich Boll, Leila Vennewitz
Mehso-so

#Reading1001 apparently I didn‘t review this when I read it and now I really can‘t remember much apart from the fact that I struggled to get through it.

review
andrew61
Group Portrait with Lady | Heinrich Boll, Leila Vennewitz
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Pickpick

#readingeurope2020 Germany
An author goes in search of the story of Leni through the accounts of individuals who have known her. Leni, is 16 in 1938 so her life in cologne spans the rise and fall of nazism, sheltering and loving in a bunker amid carpet bombing, thru to emerging capitalism finding her at risk of losing her home in 70. Told with dark humour + love of the German people this is satirical poignant and political writing at it's best.

36 likes1 stack add
blurb
Leniverse
Group Portrait with Lady | Heinrich Boll, Leila Vennewitz
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#Riotgrams day 9. Character that shares my name. That would be the character I was named after: Leni in Heinrich Boll's Gruppenbild mit Dame.

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Moray_Reads
Group Portrait with Lady | Heinrich Boll, Leila Vennewitz
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#Topreadsof2016 part 2. Another amazing group, from the mysteries of the universe to family drama. Group Portrait With Lady was my favourite fiction of the year but Moonglow was a close second. #SeasonsReadings2016

Reviewsbylola I want to read Moonglow and Wives and Daughters in 2017! 7y
Moray_Reads @Reviewsbylola Both wonderful! 7y
50 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Moray_Reads
Group Portrait with Lady | Heinrich Boll, Leila Vennewitz
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I couldn't find a #bestblurb so here is my favourite note in a secondhand book. "Bria! This is a really funny book, you should read it. German humour, anti-religious, with depth, strong feministic ties and lots of pseudoerotic stories about nuns. Thought of you when I read it. Happy birthday, 30 is a good age, love Jan." I feel like I could be friends with Bria and Jan. #SeasonsReadings2016

merelybookish So fun! 7y
I-read-and-eat This is why I love seccond hand books! Great picture as well 😍 7y
RealLifeReading Love that! 7y
See All 11 Comments
Moray_Reads @merelybookish @I-read-and-eat @RealLifeReading I have to say, it isn't the description that immediately leaps to my mind. There's humour but I don't think of it primarily as a funny book. Spot on about those nuns though 😉 7y
Moray_Reads @I-read-and-eat Thanks, you wouldn't believe how long it took my to finish that cushion (about two years!) 7y
I-read-and-eat @Moray_Reads You made that? I am so impressed! I can't even stitch on a button 😂 7y
Moray_Reads @I-read-and-eat My mum is a dressmaker and dad when to art school. I inherited a bit of the ability but not enough of the perseverance 😂 7y
Cinfhen That note is hysterical 😂 7y
LeahBergen I love inscriptions in books ❤️ 7y
Moray_Reads @Cinfhen @LeahBergen I particularly appreciate since I'm 30 in two weeks myself *gulp* 7y
Cinfhen Definitely something special and relevant in you getting that particular book with the inscription 💗happy early birthday 🎉 7y
49 likes1 stack add11 comments
blurb
Moray_Reads
Group Portrait with Lady | Heinrich Boll, Leila Vennewitz
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This book. The narrator tells the complex story of Leni Pfeiffer's life in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s through interviews with those who know her, love her, hate her, judge her. The documentary style is unusual and at first feels a little distant but it unspools beautifully. It's a masterful work full of empathy and understanding #recommendsday

Leniverse This is the book where my parents found my name. :) 7y
Moray_Reads @Leniverse That's amazing! Your parents have fantastic taste. How cool to be named after such a great character 7y
Leniverse Thank you. 😊 It was a strange experience for me when I read the book. I kept comparing myself to the main character, trying to find similarities. There are some, but not too many. For instance, I hate driving. 😂 7y
31 likes3 comments