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| Springtime for Germany: or How I Learned to Love Lederhosen: Or How I Learned to Love Lederhosen | 
 enlarge | Author: Ben Donald
Publisher: Little, Brown
Category: Book
List Price: £11.99
Buy Used: £3.27
You Save: £8.72 (73%)
New (31) from £4.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 37112
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 0316732478
EAN: 9780316732475
ASIN: 0316732478
Publication Date: June 14, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Excellent condition-has withdrawn stamp-despatched within 2 days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
Mischmasch November 17, 2008
This book is a hotchpotch of the well-researched and the banal. Ben Donald takes aspects of stereotypical Germany and the Germans, as seen by the British, and attempts to test the truth of these. In the process he tries to reveal some little-known corners of German life and characteristics. These aims are admirable but the format is irritating. The travel mentor "Manny" (did he really exist?) is a diversion from the basic premise. Yes, he provides guidance but he limits the author's own curiosity, ingenuity and sense of exploration. The writing style relies too much on the repetition of the "towels on sunbeds" and other cliches.
Under the surface there is a potentially very good insight into the Germans and their country just crying to get out. It's a shame that the author did not approach it in a less convoluted manner.
 Simply awful October 23, 2008
Awful, truly awful, building on all the ghastly stereotypes portrayed in the tabloids. As another reviewer said, Ben Donald's agent did him absolutely no favours, not the least because he simply isn't remotely funny. The only saving grace was that I was fortunate (??) enough to pick this up very cheaply in a charity shop, so didn't waste too much money.
Why is it so difficult to find a decent travel lit book in Germany (in print, at least)? Three that I've found currently on the market, all bad, but this one possibly the worst. Admittedly, I did have my doubts beforehand given the variety of reviews here, but I couldn't believe quite how bad it would actually be. No, I didn't finish it, it didn't warrant the time, nor did it go back to the charity shop - I couldn't possibly inflict this rubbish on anybody else as misguided as I was, so straight to recycling in the hope that the pulp would be better used.
This review may seem over the top, but I can't recall trying to read a worse book: certainly the first I've wanted to give zero stars to.
Unusual piece of travel writing about a unique country July 13, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
When I read some of the other reviewers' entries I was surprised that there was so much negative feeling about this book. I enjoyed it and think that writing a travel book about Germany was a novel (from the lack of similar books) and interesting idea!
I am British and it is hard to judge how accurate the author's comments about Germany are, not being a country or people I know well or have much experience of. That is a pity since all the Germans I have met have been very pleasant and polite and although stereotypes are amusing, the Germans I've met are quite unlike their national stereotype!
The book itself was mostly good and added quite a lot to my knowledge about Germany (for example I hadn't realised that most fairytales had a German origin or that there were more old castles in Germany than Spain). However, there were parts of the book that went into too much philosophical detail and, for the general reader, I think these parts are a bit dull and the book would be better without them. It is quite an unusual piece of travel writing as, unlike Bryson or Theroux, the author doesn't meet that many locals (at least not in any level of depth); I think the book suffers for this lack of direct human interaction
Still, definitely one worth reading and it certainly increased my knowledge of Germany (if not so much of the Germans themselves).
Possibly the worst book I've ever read July 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
How did this ever get published? Selling itself as a"humorous" travel book could surely make it liable for prosecution under the Trades Description Act. I gave up counting the "ho ho ho" references to sun-loungers when I reached 20 and I hadn't even read that many pages. Whoever gave Ben Donald the idea that he was in any way a wit has done us all a great disservice. Tim Moore this is not.
Somebody else wrote a review here saying they wouldn't even give their copy to a charity shop, this struck a chord as I had come to the same conclusion. I briefly contemplated returning it to the publishers and demanding my money back, (with every feeble sun-lounger crack underlined) but life is too short. So mine went in the bin.
Despite the large number of similarly dismayed reviews here on Amazon I notice the book has been given an average of over 4 stars. This appears to have been a result of a number of 5 star reviews, all written in a suspiciously similar style (not in the least bit as amusing as they clearly think they are). Baffling behaviour as I doubt even the author's mother could love this book.
Mixed bag of cliches and good stuff ! May 3, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Having just read 'Springtime in Germany' I am not surprised to see all the previous negative comments about it. Yes this book is a very odd mix of near insults and occasional declaration of love. The artificial device of 'Manny' the travel doctor and mentor is just that : artificial and dreadful and nearly stopped me reading the book. Yet I persisted and indeed considering how few are the travel writing books on Germany, it is quite worth reading. If lots of stuff come through as 'cliches', it is difficult to deny there's always some part of truth in there. Ben Donald managed to be sometimes genuinely amusing , and on the whole, if one has never been to Germany and want to have some feel for the place in advance, I suppose one can read Donald for want of a better equivalent.
But I agree that if I were german, I would feel rather insulted by the crass cover and the overall condescending tone of the book.
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