Devin MurphyBesprekingen

Another WWII book, that has been compared widely with The Nightingale and All The Light We Cannot See. It is unquestionable that all three books show us a slice of the war from a European perspective; however, The Boat Runner is different in that the main character, Jacob Koopman is more of a combatant than the other books' protagonists, even if he was an unwilling one. This novel is also more gritty than the others and therefore felt more authentic as a war novel. Jacob's father is a factory owner in a small Dutch town, selling headlights to Volkswagen in the late 1930's. Jacob and his older brother are sent to a German indoctrination camp, but when the Nazi's invade, his family is wrecked, and Jacob joins his Uncle Martin, who seems to be a collaborator. When Jacob learns the truth, he joins the German war machine, earning distinction, and shortly thereafter, self-loathing, causing him to desert. On his way to freedom, his eyes are finally opened and his penance is both quite real and believable.

>Within the front matter of the book, it states, “This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.” For an author to write a book like Tiny Americans, one has to tap into the essence of real people. Devin Murphy captured the qualities of a dysfunctional family extremely well. He could have been writing about people I know. I am not sure what I think of the book. Read more

During a recent visit to the Off the Beaten Path Bookstore, I picked up The Boat Runner by Devin Murphy. This was based on the recommendation of the owner, Bob. I found the book to be a thought-provoking and enjoyable read. The setting is Germany occupied Holland during World War II. It focuses on the decisions the inhabitants must make in order to survive physically and morally. Read more

Started slowly. I liked it. I hated it. I liked it.
There wasn't enough "boat runner" story, but it really was more about Jacob's coming to terms with who he was and who he was going to be.
The Thump-Drag story at the end confused me at first. I thought... WHAT??? Then I went back and read it again and gave the book 4 stars.

ODD REVIEW, I know. But- read it.

There is nothing more interesting than a twisted family. Who will do what and when? This family is rendered asunder when three children are abandoned by their father and his odd push toward their hearing the heartbeat of trees and immersing themselves in nature in various ways. Despite their own scattered existence across the country, they all find solace in their own way with nature and within in themselves, and ultimately with their parents. Their drawing together at the end feels almost like watching a sunset. Beautifully written.

It seems to be a trend to use third person limited narration that rotates amongst two or more characters. It is less common, and perhaps a harder feat, to have those multiple points of view, all from first person narrative perspective. This means that each character's voice must be separate and distinct or the reader risks frustration and uncertainty about the "I" who is directing the story at that moment. In Tiny Americans, Devin Murphy's newest novel, he develops his characters beautifully, making the rotating first person narrative structure seem effortless in this poignant and well-written tale of a dysfunctional family and the roads they travel away from each other and then back again.

Opening in 1978 with Terrance Thurber's attempts to teach his children, Jamie, Lewis, and Connor, about the natural world while trying to get himself sober, the Thurber family's world will soon be altered and re-ordered forever by Terrance's eventual abandonment of home and family. Told in chapters alternating mainly between the 3 siblings, the novel examines how this seminal event made each of them who they are as adults, probes where each was broken by their family's dysfunction, and traces those broken echoes through their lives. It is an introspective study of family, searching, and forgiveness. Sadness leaks through the chapters, which span 40 years.

The narrative, primarily character driven, is chronological but spotted with intentional gaps. The chunks of missing time don't seem important though as the characters are fully rounded by the moments the narrative does spend with each of them, connecting them to each other even when they themselves are not in contact. From the siblings' early explorations into the natural world to the contrasting ways they each cocoon themselves after their father's leaving, Murphy has written this very carefully, very precisely, and very beautifully. The novel is intricately plotted in its move from one sibling to the next sibling either a year or several years further on. It is a slow and deliberate, intimate, ultimately touching story of a family that has lost its way trying to find equilibrium and connection again, to repair themselves, and to find forgiveness.

I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting novel about the Thurber family: parents Terrance and Catrin, and their children Jamie, Lewis, and Connor. The story opens in 1978, when Terrance takes his young children hiking in the woods of western New York state to teach them to appreciate nature. Terrance eventually leaves his family to move out west, and this book is an account of how this abandonment affects each Thurber family member through the years. It is a story of mental illness, addiction, guilt, and anger, told through the eyes of each Thurber. It is also about survival and redemption. Luminous, insightful writing. I was deeply touched by this book.

'The whole country seemed to offer up people made to feel small by one thing or another. Sun. Space. Each other . Tiny Americans everywhere.' I wondered where this title came from and I had to wait to almost the end of the book to find out. A story of a modern family or maybe a family years and years ago with the same theme. Parents who love their kids but have a problem with alcohol so their kids are the ones who suffer. The father leaves when the children are young so that plays a big part. It is a book about redemption and forgiveness though, which makes it a good book. One that would make a controversial book club selection.

"Tiny Americans" is the story of the Thurber family (husband, wife, two boys, one girl) that is coming apart at the seams despite the best hopes of all involved. As the three children helplessly observe the daily doings of their parents, it is soon apparent that nothing can keep their parents together forever. It is only a matter of time before the family will officially and legally become a broken one, but life has to go on in the meantime.

Sadly, this is a family that did not simply split into two parts. Rather, it shattered into five adults each in their own orbit, orbits that only very rarely ever intersected.

Author Devin Murphy has used an interesting construction to tell his story: separate chapters of 15-20 pages each that skip ahead five or so years while alternating between the points-of-view of each of the Thurbers. The reader gets to watch each of the Thurber children evolve into adults with their own adult problems (especially when it comes to relationships with the opposite sex) while also learning just how off the rails their parents will ultimately go before finally making some effort at getting themselves together. Redemption comes, just as it so often does in the real world, where and when one least expects it - and that provides "Tiny Americans" with a memorable ending.½

Tiny Americans is the picture of the dysfunctional family or is it the picture of the Modern Family...The Thurber Family is father, mother and three children. The parents have issues that carry through their younger years to their adult lives...Tiny Americans is the story of five lives and the decisions they make along the way. Are we able to escape the past or are we grown up versions of our past? I you like peering into the lives of an American family you will enjoy Tiny Americans..

Not a bad book to start off the New Year. Each chapter is a different character's perspective of their life and how it interconnects with each other's. Characters were likeable but unlikeable at the same time. Enjoyed how it ended and gave hope that more families could come to this type of conclusion. Definitely recommend

This book kept my attention throughout, which is more than I can say for a lot of books! What's interesting is that really the lives portrayed by the Thurbers aren't that unusual. Yes, the parents are wildly dysfunctional but so are the majority of parents. As I thought about the book after I finished, I thought what was the point? But realized that even though each of the characters had extreme difficulty in communicating they still marched forward through life. The end gave the reader hope that many of the open childhood wounds would be healed.

eaways

Devin Murphy is the author of The Boat Runner which I really like. I’m really not sure how I feel about this book. The Thurber family is close to being dysfunctional. The three young children love their parents but because of alcoholism and abandonment they eventually feel resentment and anger. Told over a period of 40 years in little snippets of their life they try to move on and not look back. Not easy to do. The author tells the story leaving blanks for the reader to fill in. The story focuses on reget and forgiveness and understanding the complexities of family. This book wasn’t for me but might be for you.

This wonderfully written book is about family - dysfunctional but still family. It's about love and forgiveness and finding yourself in the world. It is told in vignettes by each of the three children in the family over a 40 year time period. The author doesn't explain every little nuance over what is going on in their lives but gives hints and lets the reader use their imagination to fill in the blanks.

The Thurber family is made up of Terrance and Caitrin and their three children, Jamie, Lewis and Connor. As the parents' drinking escalates, the children began to pull away from their parents to live their own lives even though they still deeply love their parents and hope for a better life. One day, their father just leaves to move out West. As their anger toward their father and their distrust toward their mother grows, all three children head off into different lives. Jamie goes to college and gets married, Lewis joins the Navy and Connor goes to work, gets married and has a son. Even though they try not to look back, their tumultuous childhood has greatly affected the way they live their adult lives. Will these three grown children be able to become a family again dispite the upheavals of their childhood years?

This is a beautifully written book with fantastic characters. As the three children struggle to become adults, their struggles were very real and painful. I laughed with them and cried with them and felt their pain and insecurities. I loved the way the book was written and I know that this is a family in literature that I won't soon forget.

Thanks to librarything for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Set during the Second World War this is a saga of a young Dutchman watching family, country and society collapse. That might sound very grim, but the book is highly engaging, superbly written and hopefully accessible. I'd just finished "Katalin Street" by Magda Szabo which describes similar devastation in Hungary. While the former is not the towering literary achievement of the latter (the interiority of that novel is incredibly tightly psychologically wound) "The Boat Runner" is very evocative from the narrators perspective and distinguishes itself by showing explicitly that targeted minorities would ultimately not be the only victims of Hitler's empire.

This is a coming-of-age novel which could never convince me that our protagonist took the path to join the Hitler Youth. He was such a sensitive young man that, even given his young age, I didn't think he would fall into line when he began seeing the abuses and cruelty. I had to force myself to turn pages, but couldn't believe the central premise.

I wasn't totally enamored of this book. It was readable but, for my part, it's not going up with All Quiet on the Western Front or even All the Light We Cannot See as an example of war fiction. I had two fundamental problems with the story.

First, it's a coming of age story. Unfortunately, the focus on Jacob, the boy in question, is lost amidst the overwhelming recounting of the horrors of war. From cover to cover the story is an assault of death, torture, mutilation, etc. There's nothing inherently wrong with a story about the horrors of war...but then the author needs to own the fact that he's writing that kind of book and not freight that message on the back of a rather insipid boy growing a little backbone in the final 50 pages.

Second, the book is written as a retrospective from later life, yet the tone of the book has none of the maturity of age nor the mood of recollection about it. Given the ending, I would have expected a tone of, "I was a mindless sheep of a boy with dreams of glory until...," to permeate from the very beginning. It didn't. Most of the story is told almost as if it's present-day action. And, there is something about the short, choppy sentences that seems like a youth talking, even though I'm well aware that youth tend more toward run-on sentences.

Readable but not memorable.½

Gritty and heartbreaking coming of age story set in World War II occupied Holland. Jacob Koopman and his family were caught between two sides amid the tragedies and horrors of war. It is young Jacob’s harrowing wartime journeys that leads to his loss of innocence and a childhood cut short. Incredibly intense and unforgettable story of this boy’s survival and redemption.

This coming of age war story is a powerful page turner. While it successfully deals with Holland’s invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany and the loyalty struggles the Dutch were faced with, it also addresses the unspeakable human savagery that takes place during war. As I read this book, I was reminded of a statement I heard on Ken Burns' ongoing Vietnam documentary (paraphrased): "Tigers kill, but only to eat, where humans kill simply to murder." No one wins during war, as this novel aptly reveals. A worthwhile read.

A powerful story of a young Dutch boy coming of age at the beginning of WWII. Through Jacob's eyes we see the attraction of the Nazi's story and why he chooses to do many of the things he does as his family disappears one by one. Once he realizes the true horror of the Nazi's goal to purge the world of all the people they consider unfit, he searches for redemption and a way to come to terms with the devastation of the war both to Germany and to the rest of the world. Jacob is not easy to like and the author does not make a hero of this boy. The choices he makes are often thoughtless and cruel, but throughout his journey he recalls over and over the power of stories and how these stories bind us together and help us get through the dark times.½

The book takes place in Denmark before and during the German occupation. The main character is a young man on the brink of adulthood. After his brother drowns (he believes thru his fault) and his father flees (after sabotaging a factory), he is emotionally mixed up. Before his father dies he sends the boys to a German boys camp (preparing them for combat). After the father leaves the boy questions who is causing all the problems. Then his mother is killed in a factory explosion and he decides the Allies are to blame and joins the Germany navy. His uncle is a secretly killing Nazi soldiers and doing whatever he can to stop the invasion. The problem is that his personal journey becomes to full of thoughts and words. You knew where it was all leading but became too lengthy for my liking.

Thank you librarything.com for sending me as an Early Reviewer, advanced reader’s copy of Boat Runner by Devin Murphy in return for an honest review.

The Boat Runner was a well-written, well-researched, engaging historical novel, but it was also incredibly intense. This was not an easy story to read; it was heart-breaking in fact, and the characters endured such grief, tragedy and heartache that this reader was left numb.

That being said, It was a fascinating, emotional read about the invasion of the Nazis into Holland and the impact WWII had on the Dutch Communities, their residents, and the young boys who unwittingly became part of the Nazi campaign. Be prepared for a brutal, violent, devastating read. Recommended

Jacob Koopman is a very young fourteen year old living in Delfzijl, Holland, in 1939. By the end of the novel Jacob is a very old twenty year old. His small town is across the estuary from Germany so there are many local ties to that country. His father owns the major business in the town, a light bulb factory, which supports its economy. He is trying to get an exclusive contract with Volkswagen to supply headlights for all their vehicles.

When Mr. Koopman decides to send Jacob and his sixteen year old brother to a Hitler Youth Camp for four weeks, his wife bitterly opposes him. But, he argues, it would be good for business by showing the Germany government that his family is invested in Germany’s future. He does not advocate the Nazi doctrine; he is just a businessman with many responsibilities to his family and town.

Jacob thoroughly enjoys the experience; the shooting and hand-to-hand-combat lessons, the team-building games and races, the marches and songs. He admits that his Jewish teacher does not look like the Jews in the movies the boys watch at night, but the movies are exciting. He really seems unaware of the ideology behind the activities.

At some points I became frustrated with Jacob because he was so naïve. But that is what the author wanted to show…how people could be exposed to Nazi philosophy and have it really not sink in. When the Germans occupy the Dutch town, at first nothing seems too different Only when the Allies’ bombing raids cause too many personal tragedies in his life, does Jacob join the German navy. He sees the Allies, not the Germans, as the people who destroyed his secure life.

Jacob’s journey from an innocent boy to young man who faced with evil redeems himself is a journey worth following. Another strong aspect of this novel is the response of the Dutch people to the crisis. Many tried not to think about it until it affected them personally. When the Germans invaded, they cooperated in order to keep their lifestyles and, later, just to keep their families safe. Some actively collaborated but most kept going through the motions in an attempt to survive. Others, like Jacob’s fisherman uncle, were a part of a resistance who risked their lives to help Jews and other "undesireables" to escape to England. War turns ordinary people into heroes and villains.

A four star novel.

A fantastic debut novel. It is 1939, Jacob is 14 years old, his father owns and runs a light manufacturing plant in their Dutch town. He looks up to his brother Edwin, and adores his mother, respects his father, who has made a very decent living for this small family. This begins to change with the arrival of the Nazis, his father trying to curry favor in the hopes of landing the large and profitable Volkswagen contract. He even sends Jacob and Edwin to the junior Nazi camp. Jacob's, Uncle is a fisherman with a large boat, his experience in the North Sea, and in an effort to save his family, goes to work for the Germans. He is, however, doing much more than is apparent.

This is a coming of age story, a book about conflicting loyalties, and about a family trying to stay alive, while overcoming profound grief. A different aspect of the war, another book that adds additional information to the WWII canon. It is Jacob though, who we follow as he reacts in startling ways to the events as they unfold. He grows up during this war, quickly as many had to, watches and observes, though at first he reacts foolishly. He finely sees, and in the end will make the right, albeit dangerous choice. Some people he encounters are as need as him, some help and are invaluable to his survival.

Such an interesting and well written book. It felt very honest, very authentic. While I can't say I enjoyed some of this book, the realities of that time being particularly harsh, but I did like how Jacob changed, grew up, and never gave up hope. A very good first novel.

ARC from library thing.

Told from the first person perspective of fourteen year old Jacob Koopman. He lives in a Dutch town during the early stages of World War II with his artistic older brother, Edwin, light bulb manufacturer father and musician mother, Drika. His father, in an attempt to build better relations with the Germans for their Volkswagon business, sends Jacob and Edwin to an SS training camp where they learn different aspects of warfare through fun and games. It seemed innocent enough until all hell breaks loose. It starts with a forbidding crack. Suddenly their quiet town is overrun with soldiers imposing curfews and taking over Father Koopman's factory, then Edwin goes missing and Uncle Martin starts running ammunition and supplies for the Germans. When the Allied bombs begin to fall Jacob's life changes forever. This is a tragic story of loyalty and survival; of doing whatever it takes to take your next breath.
I thoroughly enjoyed Murphy's style of writing. There were certain angular sentences that really stuck out to me. You couldn't help but catch your breath on their sharp corners. I still have scars...