Helpful Score: 1
Well, I DID make it through the 975 pages, and I'll be honest, it wasn't always easy. Let me start by saying, it's truly a work of art; I can't conceive of how ones is able to write such a book. Not only is there an insane amount of research required, but to write in this style is amazing. That's not to say I enjoyed the book... the subject matter is difficult and there were times that the stream of conscious style of writing, especially for a person whose mental status is in question for much of the book, was a chore to wade through and process. This book was a best seller in France, yet I just can't imagine THAT many people reading it.
Helpful Score: 1
A historical novel of WWII told from a Nazi officer's perspective that presents a very meticulous accounting of the war, but also presents an increasing serene and flippant recounting of the horrors that are occurring around him. At times he muses that he is becoming inured and needs to try to regain the initial shock he felt when first hearing & seeing the atrocities occurring. He tries to justifies his actions and those of his fellow officers in the first chapter by saying: "I am a man like other men. I am a man like you. I tell you I am just like you!" And indeed, that may be the crux used to describe mankind's inhumanity throughout the ages.
Overall, I felt like I was being drug through some kind of surreal hell trying to read this book. It became increasingly overwhelming for me and I finally laid it aside without finishing it.
Overall, I felt like I was being drug through some kind of surreal hell trying to read this book. It became increasingly overwhelming for me and I finally laid it aside without finishing it.
