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The Kindly Ones (2006)

by Jonathan Littell(Favorite Author)

3.98 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0061353450 (ISBN13: 9780061353451)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Harper

review 1: Littell had the chance to have written something extraordinary...if onlyThe goodIt's not very often that we get to see the german side of WWII, so i really enjoyed that to begin with. The Nazi fall is particularly interesting, and the best part of the book is without a doubt the fall of Berlin. Then, I really liked reading about the bureaucratic side of war, about the so called "paper" soldiers. I know a lot of people complained about that, but it's fascinating how important it was for the germans to make all actions to at least seem/look justifiable and more than that legal. But what i really liked about the book (also because I'm quite fascinated with WWII) was that i felt right in the middle of the conflict, which brings me exactly to what I didn't like about the book.T... morehe badI hated that he takes us off the fall of Berlin, right in the middle of the action, in the best chapter of the book, for a completely ridiculous chapter in the house of his brother-in-law. I hated how he goes light on Stalingrad, again right in the middle of it (he's shot and then we have pages and pages of dreams). But what i disliked the most was Aue's connection to his sister. I've found to be highly unnecessary,ridiculous, distracting and quite annoying to tell you the truth.
review 2: I expected this to be disturbing considering the setting (Eastern front WW2, and from the German perspective) but it went waaaaaay beyond war atrocities. I'm not sure if it was pure garbage or a depraved masterpiece, but it made me thoroughly offended, disgusted, uncomfortable, sickened while also being vastly compelling. I'm sure a second reading would help me grasp things better but there's no way I'm reading this thing again. less

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