A Small Revolution in Germany

Like a darker and more complex version of ‘The Rotters club’, although characters and plot are more schematic. Always enjoy the Sheffield details as spent a lot of time there in my youth.

Difficult to know what to make of this. It's neither the level of his finest (Northern Clemency) nor his most pompous (Emperor Waltz). It's readable enough and is about a disparate gang of sixth formers at the factional left of politics and how those views either change or don't as they progress through life. Spike, the central character, is in the don't change bracket, witnessed by his midlife tendency to revolt against the arrival of Foxtons in his neighbourhood by throwing a brick through their window. The segment when the teenagers visit East German before the fall of the wall and discover the reality of socialism is probably the most interesting part.

Glory be, yes! Here is that rare thing, an intelligently written novel of ideas - not so much about extreme politics and the compromises of middle-age, though using that as the framework - but about the way we relate to people (or not) when young, and how (or not) that changes as we become older, if not wiser.Moving easily from Sheffield to East Berlin, Oxford to Saxony, Hensher takes us and his compact cast of characters through experiences of life, love and political involvement over nearly forty years, ending bang up to date in our own, British political present. For me, the book's teasing hints of 'roman a clef' (one of the characters has a fair amount in common with our current Prime Minister) and its plot (which creaks rather in the last section) are much less important than the multitude of brilliant - often witty - apercus on the journey.And in Spike, he has created a wryly "anonymous" narrator of the most dryly engaging kind. I was moved, amused and mentally stimulated by this excellent novel, and will explore more of Hensher's books.

I have struggled with several of Hensher's previous novels. Not so much because they are dull or not worth reading, but rather because they are self-consciously literary. I think this novel is different, with Hensher taking a lighter touch. He is particularly acute on university life. I have to say that I am approximately the same age as the main characters, which probably made it easier to get on with the book, but there is much of interest in the consideration of how the optimism and idealism of a certain sort of youth can change over time.

A wonderful book about growing up, about politics, about why one might choose to do both or neither. Great on youthful friendship, at times slyly very funny, and with a very distinctive voice.

I was drawn to this book as someone around the same age as the key characters having, like them, also grown up north of London in the UK and gone on to get a reasonable education. I've not been able to get into a book for many months - "readers block" had hit me hard. I read this over a weekend and what a joy to be re-introduced to the joys of quality fiction. Hensher takes us back to the 1980s while avoiding clichés and sentimentality and reminds us that while politics was and is everywhere - not all of us choose to be political. Many of those who choose a political path evolve their thinking to match their ambitions. Great characterization, thoughtful and well researched observations of town and country in pre and post "Berlin Wall Germany" and the UK - and a few unexpected plot twists to keep the pages turning. Highly recommended.

This is a novel with many themes running through - integrity and being true to yourself, determinism and the role of chance external events on the course of a life - against the background of the changing political landscape in the UK and Germany from the 1980s to the present day (ish). It’s the story of one man’s social, political and emotional development from late teens to late 50s.It took me a while to get into the novel - the characters at the start are all pretty obnoxious, there’s not a lot of structure in terms of chapters or breaks, and there are a few weird dream sequences where I thought my Kindle had packed up! But it all picked up for the better as I went along - and interestingly, I realised I would have avoided the main character as a teenager, but would have enjoyed a beer or two with him today.There’s some excellent social observation and insight - I’m slightly older than the main character, but the early sections took me right back to the 1980s , pretentious philosophical and political discussions and the oddball collection of “trendy lefties” I knew at that time. Tracy’s metamorphosis into a party girl in 1980s Oxford and London rang a few bells too. The present day German scenes were credible and made a refreshing change from UK authors’ obsession with Berlin, as if it was the only German town or city that existed.I like the author’s unusual turns of phrase:“They were only four or five years older than us. They were separated from us by the lifetime of a pair of Y-fronts.”“There was a smell in Berline in those days that you never smell any more, a smell of flesh long steeped in beer, and of what happens to clothes when they are deposited in an old-clothes shop.”The relationship between Spike and Joaquin rings so true as the two grow into middle age together - this is a touching portrayal of real soul-mates.The novel is evocative of time and place, nostalgic and thought-provoking - I’m so glad I stuck with it.