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emmamacdonald's review against another edition
4.0
“My head’s full of confused, random thoughts, like a ball of wool I must knit into words. I must knit a stocking of words.”
kclark's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Holy moly! This book was so good and really indicative of why I love German literature in the first place. There is so much packed into this little book, and it is a wonder to me that it is not more widely read and regarded. The prose is direct and simple, but full of thematic meaning. It seems like a book that would be fairly easy to teach and really relevant to a lot of issues today.
The book follows 19-year-old Sanna as she narrates two nights of her life: one following Hitler's August 3, 1930 speech in Frankfurt and the night immediately after at a party thrown for a member of her social circle, Dr. Breslauer, a Jew who is fleeing Germany. Sanna, a young woman who leads a life of relative privilege, sees would like to live a carefree life, separate from politics, but the culture of the Third Reich, and the culture of her progressive social circle. Throughout her struggle to accept her world as is is laced with memories and connections to people that show she is uncomfortable in the new Germany in which she finds herself.
The novel beautifully shows that complacency is a choice under a brutal, oppressive regime. And yet Sanna is not a character without flaws. We see how she is ready to accept her station in life and cast away her moral misgivings about the world around her. Ultimately her decisions at the end of this book leave you wondering if she made her choices as a rejection of Nazi Germany, or if she is seeking an uncomplicated form of privilege.
There is SO much to unpack here that I really don't have time to in a goodreads review.
The book follows 19-year-old Sanna as she narrates two nights of her life: one following Hitler's August 3, 1930 speech in Frankfurt and the night immediately after at a party thrown for a member of her social circle, Dr. Breslauer, a Jew who is fleeing Germany. Sanna, a young woman who leads a life of relative privilege, sees would like to live a carefree life, separate from politics, but the culture of the Third Reich, and the culture of her progressive social circle. Throughout her struggle to accept her world as is is laced with memories and connections to people that show she is uncomfortable in the new Germany in which she finds herself.
The novel beautifully shows that complacency is a choice under a brutal, oppressive regime. And yet Sanna is not a character without flaws. We see how she is ready to accept her station in life and cast away her moral misgivings about the world around her. Ultimately her decisions at the end of this book leave you wondering if she made her choices as a rejection of Nazi Germany, or if she is seeking an uncomplicated form of privilege.
There is SO much to unpack here that I really don't have time to in a goodreads review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
missmesmerized's review
reflective
5.0
Nachdem sie aus ihren Eifeldorf zur Tante nach Köln gezogen war und von selbiger mehr als schlecht behandelt wurde, lebt Sanna im Winter 1937 schließlich bei ihrem älteren Bruder Algin in Frankfurt. Am Nachmittag hat sie nach Monaten der Stille einen Brief von Franz erhalten, dem Cousin, den sie in Köln zurückließ und heiraten will. Am Abend werde er kommen, er müsse mit ihr reden. Bis dahin durchstreift Sanna mit ihrer Freundin Gerti Kneipen, wohnt dem Besuch des Führers bei und erlebt eine ausufernde Party bei ihrer Schwägerin. Ihre Gedanken springen zwischen Erinnerung und Gegenwart und dokumentieren das Leben in der Großstadt in der dunkelsten Zeit Deutschlands.
Anlässlich des Lesefests „Frankfurt liest ein Buch“ wurde Irmgard Keuns Exilroman „Nach Mitternacht“ neu aufgelegt. Der Erscheinungstermin fiel sicher nicht zufällig mit dem Holocaust-Gedenktag zusammen, gilt der Roman als eines der wichtigsten Dokumente des Alltags in der Naziherrschaft und gibt wie nur wenige andere literarische Werke Einblick in das bürgerliche Leben der Zeit. Keun verfasste weite Teile der Geschichte noch in Deutschland, veröffentlichen musste sie den Roman jedoch zunächst in den Niederlanden und Frankreich.
Die Handlung um Sanna, die auf die Ankunft von Franz wartet, ist dicht und tritt hinter die viel beeindruckenderen dokumentarischen Aspekte des Romans zurück. Getragen werden diese von den Figuren, die die ganze Bandbreite des Lebens repräsentieren. Sannas Freundin Gerti ist naiv und jung und nutzt das Begehren der Männer ohne etwas zu hinterfragen. Ihr loses Mundwerk ist gefährlich, doch immer wieder kommt sie damit durch. Sannas Bruder Algin spürt die Repressalien deutlich, als Autor kann er nicht mehr schreiben, was er möchte, die Zensur ist streng und von dem einst pompösen Leben nach seinen Erfolgen ist wenig geblieben. Tante Adelheid wiederum hat sich bestens mit den neuen Zeiten arrangiert und wacht in ihrem Haus wie eine Bulldogge über die Einhaltung der Nazi Ideologie.
Durch Augen des 18-jährigen Mädchens erlebt man den offenen Judenhass - man mag ja gar nicht glauben, dass die sogar ganz adrett aussehen und nett sein können - SA und SS Männer erscheinen mehr als trinkfreudige Dummköpfe, die man jedoch nicht unterschätzen sollte, wie sich im Laufe des Romans herausstellt.
Absurd geradezu die Inszenierung des Besuchs Hitlers - und dann offenbart sich, dass es eben nicht nur eine Angelegenheit von einigen wenigen Verblendeten war, die aktiv unterstützten, sondern dass sich die Ideologie mit ihrer Doktrin dessen, was gesagt und gedacht werden durfte, bis in die letzte Ecke des Privatlebens hineingeschlichen hatte. In ihren eigenen Wohnungen können sie nicht vor der Politik flüchten und auch wenn sie sich scheinbar teilen in die, die offen unterstützen, und diejenigen, die sich wegducken und wegschauen und nur ihr Leben in Frieden leben wollen, gemeinsam bleibt ihnen jedoch, dass sie sehen und genau wissen, was geschieht.
Ein beeindruckendes Zeitzeugnis, in dem unsagbare Dinge gesagt werden, die man heute plötzlich auch wieder hören kann. Hinter der Aktion „Frankfurt liest ein Buch“ steht die Idee, Literatur zum Gesprächsthema zu machen. Wenn dem Roman dieses Ansinnen auch nur ansatzweise gelingt, ist im Jahr 2022 schon sehr viel erreicht. Dass er zur Pflichtlektüre werden sollte, steht dabei völlig außer Frage.
in16rc's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
zibby's review against another edition
4.0
A searing and nuanced look at life under Nazi Germany in 1930s Frankfurt. Told from the perspective of a young woman the fear and the mistrust within communities, the daring of creatives to speak out and those that do not, as well as the ordinary lives of Germans who work within the regime to twist it to their advantage or else try to continue living and loving as freely as they can, but with potentially deadly consequences. Very much an unknown classic from a fascinating author.
branchingoutinjax's review against another edition
5.0
After Midnight took me a bit longer than I expected for a short read. That's not a bad thing, though. There is so much to absorb in this narrative. You must take into consideration that, although she may have been writing this as fiction, she definitely was writing from her own experiences of dealing with the Nazis' rise to power and the effect of it on her every day life. Absolutely 100% recommend.
fie07's review against another edition
3.0
"Please God, let there be a little sunlight tomorrow."
Aww, I'm emotional. That ending was so intense - Keun sure knows how to make her endings very action packed and emotional. This one was much darker than Gilgi... but I'm not sure I liked it as much mainly due to the crazy amount of characters - there were so many small plot lines that I couldn't really seem to get invested in any of them until the ending.
Aww, I'm emotional. That ending was so intense - Keun sure knows how to make her endings very action packed and emotional. This one was much darker than Gilgi... but I'm not sure I liked it as much mainly due to the crazy amount of characters - there were so many small plot lines that I couldn't really seem to get invested in any of them until the ending.
weblet's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Keun wrote this as an expose of the German Nazi government, published in 1937 and told through the voice of Sanna. It is not unusual for an author to create a narrator who is young and innocent thereby engaging us emotionally through the sad loss of their innocence. Keun has created a compelling voice in her narrator; engaging, charming and able to provoke sympathy in the reader. Sanna speaks in the voice of the newly ‘streetwise’, not long arrived in the city to live with her brother. She explains to us in a half excited and amused voice about the role she must play in the relationships of those around her. <As the dangers of arrest, violence and death increase so begins a form of breakdown.> I had not heard of this writer before but will certainly read more of her books.