Pic of Leopolds from Johnnylubber....Lin never made it here that night.


Lin and Karla worked together through the cholera epidemic. They seem to be getting closer, sharing more. Then Ulla approaches Lin for help late one night. Be at Leopold's at 1am......promise? she pleads. He leaves Karla to keep his promise.

He does......and he is arrested.

When reading this what roles did you think Karla and Ulla played in this? Would you have gone, if you'd been Lin? How did you feel when Ulla disappeared? How do you feel about it now?

I liked Ulla but at that point I thought she set him up and I think Lin did too but he didn't know why. Maybe he thought someone paid Ulla to do this knowing that once behind bars, they would figure out who he really is by his fingerprints and send him back to finish serving out his sentence.
That's why I thought Ulla disappeared, to hide.
But then, we find out later that she inherited money and was in Germany and then she came back to help Modena, so I think that was pretty decent of her.

And I was very surprised that after making love to Karla, Lin would just leave like that. But he was a man of his word so...
Can't say I would be as 'understanding' as Karla was in that situation!

I'm so happy to see an interior shot of Leopold's! Unlike the outside, it looks just the way I pictured it! I can almost see the characters sitting around the room! :)

Yeah, I fingered Ulla right away. She had that kind of flakey personality that would either consciously do such a thing, with no regard of the consequences, or would let herself be set up by others to such an end. One could claim that her love for Modena blinded her and caused her to make less than rational choices, but I'm not that much of a romantic.

And I'll never understand why/how Lin could leave Karla that night!! That, to me, was the weakest link in the story...his sudden need to honor his word to Ulla, who he knew to be less than stable or trustworthy. He opted to risk everything he'd always wanted with Karla to be there for Ulla, even though the whole thing sounded like a set-up from the get-go. What was he thinkin'??

Thanks for the picture, again, Johnnylubber...the interior is KIND OF what I pictured - but I had an overall impression of it being darker - along the lines of the dimmed lighting that you often see in restaurant/bars.

Once again, I am wishing this was my second time around with the book - I think the second reading would help with many of the impressions.

I wondered if Ulla really knew why Lin needed to be at Leopold's at 1:00 a.m. I don't put it past her to make a quick buck by getting him there, but I don't know if she would have played the part if she did know what the the end result would be.

Did Karla know what was going to happen and if so, did she make love with Lin to save him (if he is with me, he won't go to Leopold's) I certainly would not have been as understanding in her spot. But, I do think that it was in character for Lin to do what he did - he is an honorable man and as such would uphold a promise, even if it means leaving the bed of the woman you love to do so.

Am going to re-read the section today and see if I have any additional thoughts.

I'm not so sure that Karla had anything to do with the set up.

Ulla , was she still being controlled by the Mme. Zhou... why? she was out in the city afterall.

Lin, his decision was a wrong one. It doesn't make any sense why he would say no to Karla at the end of the book, and say yes to Ulla whenever. His loyalties...leave much to be desired.

As my mom once said, make a list of priorities!
Karla is getting the short end of the stick so to speak.