Random Acts of Heroic Love
Encyclopedia
Random Acts of Heroic Love is a semi-autobiographical debut novel
by the author and actor Danny Scheinmann. It follows the parallel stories of two unconsciously connected men in two different time eras motivated by the memory of love: Moritz Daniecki, a young Austro-Hungarian
soldier captured by the Russians during the First World War and sent to a POW camp in Siberia
, who decides to escape in 1917 and walk thousands of miles for the sake of his childhood sweetheart Lotte; and Leo Deakin, who loses his beloved girlfriend Eleni in a bus crash in Ecuador in 1992, and in his despair embarks on his own journey of discovery and self-reconciliation.
The novel is based upon the true story of Scheinmann's grandfather Moshe, who too was an Austro-Hungarian soldier captured by the Russians, and undertook a three year journey back to Europe to be reunited with his lover, also called Lotte. Leo's grief and bereavement of Eleni also reflect the author's personal experiences when he lost his late girlfriend Stella in a similar bus crash in South America in 1992.
The novel was nominated for the Galaxy British Book Awards in the 2008 reading list of the Richard and Judy Book Club. The author is also currently adapting the book for film.
In the novel Moritz is an older man dying of consumption
in his home in Berlin
(which he caught on his travels and never recovered from) and is recounting his experinces on his deathbed to his son Fischel, whom we later discover to be Frank Deakin.
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
by the author and actor Danny Scheinmann. It follows the parallel stories of two unconsciously connected men in two different time eras motivated by the memory of love: Moritz Daniecki, a young Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
soldier captured by the Russians during the First World War and sent to a POW camp in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, who decides to escape in 1917 and walk thousands of miles for the sake of his childhood sweetheart Lotte; and Leo Deakin, who loses his beloved girlfriend Eleni in a bus crash in Ecuador in 1992, and in his despair embarks on his own journey of discovery and self-reconciliation.
The novel is based upon the true story of Scheinmann's grandfather Moshe, who too was an Austro-Hungarian soldier captured by the Russians, and undertook a three year journey back to Europe to be reunited with his lover, also called Lotte. Leo's grief and bereavement of Eleni also reflect the author's personal experiences when he lost his late girlfriend Stella in a similar bus crash in South America in 1992.
The novel was nominated for the Galaxy British Book Awards in the 2008 reading list of the Richard and Judy Book Club. The author is also currently adapting the book for film.
1917
- Moritz Daniecki is a young JewishJewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
PolePolesthumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
born in 1896 in the village of UlanówUlanówUlanów is a town in Nisko County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, with 1,491 inhabitants .It has grammar and high schools along with 2 churches. One of the churches was set on fire in 2004, it was closed for a repairs and after about a year they opened the church again. Every year in June a...
on the banks of River SanSan RiverThe San is a river in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, a tributary of the Vistula River, with a length of 433 km and a basin area of 16,861 km2...
, on the fringes of the great Austro-Hungarian Empire bordering RussiaRussian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. He meets and falls in love with Lotte, but is subsequently conscripted into the army and fights on the Eastern FrontEastern Front (World War I)The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
in GaliciaBattle of Lemberg (1914)The Battle of Galicia was a major battle between Russia and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of World War I in 1914. In the course of the battle, the Austro-Hungarian armies were severely defeated and forced out of Galicia, while the Russians captured Lemberg and, for approximately nine...
and the Carpathian Mountains before surrendering to the Russians in 1915 and being imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp in Srentensk, SiberiaSiberiaSiberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Two years later he begins a hazardous escape journey back to Europe with former comrade Frantz Király, and returns to Europe in 1920 to claim Lotte's hand in marriage.
In the novel Moritz is an older man dying of consumption
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in his home in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
(which he caught on his travels and never recovered from) and is recounting his experinces on his deathbed to his son Fischel, whom we later discover to be Frank Deakin.
- Lotte Steinberg, the daughter of an affluent Jewish furrier in UlanówUlanówUlanów is a town in Nisko County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, with 1,491 inhabitants .It has grammar and high schools along with 2 churches. One of the churches was set on fire in 2004, it was closed for a repairs and after about a year they opened the church again. Every year in June a...
, is Moritz Daniecki's lover. Her parents disapprove of her enduring affection for him however and attempt to arrange a marriage between her and a wealthy lawyer in Vienna whilst Moritz is away from home.
- Jerzy Ingwer is Moritz's best and childhood friend. They serve together in the Austo-Hungarian Army but Jerzy freezes to death during the Austrian winter campaignSiege of PrzemyslThe Siege of Przemyśl was one of the greatest sieges of the First World War, and a crushing defeat for Austria-Hungary. The investment of Przemyśl began on September 24, 1914 and was briefly suspended on October 11 due to an Austro-Hungarian offensive...
in the Carpathian MountainsCarpathian MountainsThe Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
.
- Frantz Király is a cynical, pessimistic and ever-complaining Hungarian in Moritz's unit whose selfish mannerisms lead to his capture along with Moritz by the RussianRussian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
Army. Despite their differences however, the two form a grudging friendship and together the escape across the Siberian wilderness until Király's deteriorating condition means he decides to stay behind, in IrkutskIrkutskIrkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
.
1992
- Leo Deakin is an EnglishEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
PhDPHDPHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
zoologyZoologyZoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
student at University College LondonUniversity College LondonUniversity College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. He was the boyfriend of the late Eleni, who died in a bus crush near LatacungaLatacungaLatacunga is a plateau town of Ecuador, capital of the Cotopaxi Province, south of Quito, near the confluence of the Alaques and Cutuchi rivers to form the Patate, the headstream of the Pastaza. At the time of census 2001 Latacunga had 51,689 inhabitants, largely mestizo and indigenous.Latacunga...
, EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. He blames on his own rash misjudgement. He is a rational, intense character, whose loss drives him to depression, delusion and obsessive compulsive tendencies as well as comfort in the quirks of quantam physics. Ultimately he finds solace in his enduring friend and confidante, Hannah.
- Eleni was Leo's girlfriend of two years, whose preceding death initiates the emotional journey that Leo goes through during the book. They had met in Camden whilst Eleni was a fresher at UCLUniversity College LondonUniversity College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. Eleni was a compassionate and carefree character, shown by her work for AmnestyAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
. She was Greek and from the island of Kithos; her parents Georgios and Alexandria are divorced.
- Frank Deakin is Leo's father. Orphaned at a young age, Frank is a reclusive, sensitive character whose childhood experiences have a profound effect upon him and his relationship with others. After the death of Eleni, watching the change in his son's personality prompts him to be more open about himself. Later we discover that he lived in Berlin as a child just before the Second World War and that he used to be called Fischel Daniecki. He was sent to England by his mother Lotte via the kindertransportKindertransportKindertransport is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig...
and was bullied by his peers for being German. After the war, upon hearing that the rest of his family had been murdered in the Holocaust, he took on a new identity as an Englishman in an attempt to escape his traumatic past.
- Hannah Johnson is one of Leo's best friends. They met on their first day of university and gradually forged a dogged friendship. She is a lively character whose extroverted personality hides her own grief from the loss of her mother to cancer at the age of ten. Hannah stands by Leo during his mourning and remains supportive despite consequent problems and strains in their relationship. Later in the book she becomes an orphan when her father passes away, and her emotions are reciprocated by Leo's father Frank who went through a similar experience. In the end Leo and Hannah grow to love one another in respect of their personal bereavements.
- Roberto Panconesi is a young ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
man who works as a lecturerLecturerLecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
in the philosophyPhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
of physicsPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. He is popular, especially with female students, and noted for his eccentric theories and individual teaching style. A liberal and open-minded character, his opinion and description of quantam physics awes and inspires the grieving Leo, who finds a way of seeing and understanding love and the world around him through Roberto's words. Roberto also suggests that Leo writes down anything remarkable and personally relevant to him in a notebook. The novel is interspersed with a collaboration of quotes, scribbles and images on love and life depicting this notebook.