Helpful Score: 4
Every Man Dies Alone is a thoughtful meditation on the age-old if a tree falls in the forest question during wartime Nazi Germany. Rudolph Ditzen, writing as Hans Fallada, chose to retreat as an internal immigrant rather than flee Germany when the Nazis rose to power. Wrestling with maintaining artistic integrity throughout their rule, he wrote this story in three months when given a Gestapo file soon after the end of the war.
The fictionalized working-class couple Otto and Anna Quangel began a defiant postcard writing-and-distributing campaign to wake others up to the horror of their government upon learning of their only sons death in the invasion of France. Other characters, not necessarily typical German citizens, round out this suspenseful cat-and-mouse game as the authorities are desperate to nab the troublemaker. Fallada manages to combine captivating story-telling with making a strong statement about the moral importance of resistance, even if futile, in this poignant story. It is a story about fear as a crippling, inertial force, but one that can be overcome with strength, faith in another person, and courage.
The fictionalized working-class couple Otto and Anna Quangel began a defiant postcard writing-and-distributing campaign to wake others up to the horror of their government upon learning of their only sons death in the invasion of France. Other characters, not necessarily typical German citizens, round out this suspenseful cat-and-mouse game as the authorities are desperate to nab the troublemaker. Fallada manages to combine captivating story-telling with making a strong statement about the moral importance of resistance, even if futile, in this poignant story. It is a story about fear as a crippling, inertial force, but one that can be overcome with strength, faith in another person, and courage.
This is a very compelling book about Germany during WWII.
Since it was writen by a German author immediately following the war, the story rings so true. The book is a based on a true story of one couple's attempt to resist the Nazi's in their own small way.
Since it was writen by a German author immediately following the war, the story rings so true. The book is a based on a true story of one couple's attempt to resist the Nazi's in their own small way.
Helpful Score: 1
A compelling book - a remarkable saga of Nazi inhumanity.
Eye opening book about life for Germans in Berlin during WWII. If you didn't belong to the "Party" then you were suspect. It was a time of fear and paranoia. In this setting, a couple decides to write anonymous anti-Nazi postcards. This simple activity was grounds for execution. Suspenseful novel built on these facts (based on a true story).
A little depressing in places, but educational - what life was like under a dictator.
A little depressing in places, but educational - what life was like under a dictator.
