I wasn't sure what I thought of this book until two days after I had finished it. The very stylized narration distracted me somewhat throughout the book, but in the end it was only a mild distraction. The stories (for there are stories within the story) and the characters were so compelling that what I remember about the book now are the stories and characters. I hadn't ever read a book set inside Natzi Germany and what life was like for the lower class Germans who were not members of the Natzi party. It was enlightening, interesting, devastating, and, in a way, beautiful. Oh, I should also mention that the narrator witnessing and telling all of this is Death. And he is not quite the greedy, scythe-carrying vision that is often portrayed and he is haunted by his own mysteries.
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