Postcards from No Man’s Land

Postcards from no

5 thoughts on “Postcards from No Man’s Land

  1. Aidan Chambers uses two generations telling their stories in parallel to create a real sense of discovering secrets that World War 2 has kept. We always hear about the number of lives lost and the horrible things people had to endure, however, what Chambers manages to do is explore the lives of both soldiers and civilians truthfully.
    Being deployed in a foreign country with very little chance of returning home is going to make most people do things they may not have normally done. The idea of wanting to feel alive and wanting to plan a future when death is all around you, seeking you out, is one that is prevalent throughout the novel. This idea relates to how a person’s story and emotions and feelings are lost during wartime. The relationship between Geertrui and Jacob shows how people, both civilians and soldiers, seek comfort and connection in one another, while also showing how details are lost in war; details which may be deemed as making the soldiers seem less like heroes and more like normal humans.
    Of course, the tragic details are not regarded as unimportant in Postcards from No Man’s Land. Chambers uses short and simple sentences when talking about various people dying to make it seem as though death is just another day to day thing. One soldier “left behind in his own country a young wife and baby daughter, whose photos he had often shown us”. This, along with many other short summaries of soldiers who died, sends a shiver up your spine when you think about what life could have been like for all the young men fighting and dying in World War 2.

  2. Two characters from a family go through a life in two periods of time. One family member that has a hard time protecting a British soldier, that had been wounded from the Nazis that had taken over Amsterdam. The other family member from another time period tries to uncover who he actually is in Modern Amsterdam. Both these characters go through growing up, friendship, and most of all LOVE. The two characters point of view clash and burn like wild fire! The book is gripping and shows the horror of the time when the Nazis had taken control of everything in Amsterdam that created fear. I really liked this book because of the action involved and the courage of helping someone who is an enemy, which is what made it really gripping with some more things. I would recommend this book to anyone who is 12 above. Enjoy readers.

  3. Postcards from No Man’s Land is a story that spans two different generations in the Netherlands, through a parallel storyline, one modern and one from the war torn scenes of World War II. Following the story of Jacob, one in the past and one in modern, one discovers the horrors and tragedies of war, and how it has repercussions in the modern day. It is a gripping tale of how both soldiers and civilians lived in wartime, and how someone can discover themselves even away from home and normal circumstances. Sometimes history can come back at the most unusual times.

  4. This story is set in to different generations in Amsterdam. One in modern times.
    And the other is set during the Nazis occupation of Amsterdam. The stories though different are the same in a way. This story once you start it you won’t be able to stop. This story shows how bad life was in Nazi occupied Amsterdam. this story will break your heart. Read it to find out more.

  5. A gripping story set in Amsterdam, where the reader gains a real insight into the horror of hiding from the Germans. Two parallel stories that span the generations come together in a surprising way….read this book to discover more.

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