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A review by rexlegendi
De Welwillenden by Jonathan Littell
5.0
What an excellent reading experience! Let me attempt to write a (more or less) concise review of this 1000 page novel that contains so many aspects and layers it has rightfully been compared to Leo Tolstoy’s [b:War and Peace|220859|War and Peace|Leo Tolstoy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516480304l/220859._SY75_.jpg|4912783].
To start, it’s worth doing some background research before reading The Kindly Ones (original title: Les bienveillantes), the novel that earned Jonathan Littell (1967) the Prix Goncourt and the Prix de l’Académie française. The title refers to Aeschylus’ [b:Oresteian Trilogy|16934899|The Oresteian Trilogy|Aeschylus|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439722593l/16934899._SY75_.jpg|2378], in which Orestes is pursued by goddesses who want revenge on him for his mother’s murder. Littell replaced the goddesses with two hard-nosed policemen who reminded me an awful lot of Tintin’s Thomson and Thompson, but that aside: what matters is the author’s incredible research work on the history of the Second World War and his skill in turning that history into a thrilling story.
Quotes are in Dutch as I read a translated version.
The story is about Max Aue, then director of a lace factory in France, who recounts his years in the service of the Schutzstaffel (SS). Before he starts, he tries to justify his actions and his reflection on them, resulting in a fascinating piece of writing and certainly the wryest I have ever read. In long words, Max argues that anyone – tu quoque, reader – could have done the same. He then continues about his first job gathering information, going from Ukraine to Stalingrad and from Berlin to Hungary, meanwhile witnessing the horrors of the front and the concentration camps.
It is possible to read The Kindly Ones as a dry report with facts and figures. For me, however, it was a novelised version of what Hannah Arendt ([b:Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil|52090|Eichmann in Jerusalem A Report on the Banality of Evil|Hannah Arendt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1404513286l/52090._SY75_.jpg|1023716], [b:The Origins Of Totalitarianism|34204370|The Origins Of Totalitarianism|Hannah Arendt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494080300l/34204370._SY75_.jpg|23497]) wrote about the Nazi regime. Littell portrays the bureaucrats from many angles: their ambitions and meticulous planning, their ‘mechanical’ view of atrocities, their tendency not only to obey laws but to act as if they had written them themselves, their culture to pass the buck and finally their frenzy towards the end of the war. After seeing the film The Zone of Interest, I was particularly interested in the appearance of Rudolf Höss, camp commander of Auschwitz.
Although Max initially does not stand out among his peers, except perhaps for his repressed sexuality, more signs gradually emerge that he is in fact
The Kindly Ones is an exciting, historically well-researched story. While reading, I had so many associations (from Primo Levi’s [b:Survival in Auschwitz|6174|Survival in Auschwitz|Primo Levi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414374949l/6174._SX50_.jpg|851110] to Józef Wittlin’s [b:The Salt of the Earth|41057278|The Salt of the Earth|Józef Wittlin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533561404l/41057278._SY75_.jpg|400868] and even Yann Martel’s [b:Life of Pi|4214|Life of Pi|Yann Martel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631251689l/4214._SY75_.jpg|1392700]) that I eventually stopped noting them. I appreciated the continuous ‘mindfuck’, the obligation to reflect on every word, the often plastic descriptions and the many references to classical music and literature. (Of course, Louis-Ferdinand Céline is well presented.) Sure, the novel is long, contains a lot of details and hops from heel to heel, but somehow I was too drawn into the story to bother.
To start, it’s worth doing some background research before reading The Kindly Ones (original title: Les bienveillantes), the novel that earned Jonathan Littell (1967) the Prix Goncourt and the Prix de l’Académie française. The title refers to Aeschylus’ [b:Oresteian Trilogy|16934899|The Oresteian Trilogy|Aeschylus|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439722593l/16934899._SY75_.jpg|2378], in which Orestes is pursued by goddesses who want revenge on him for his mother’s murder. Littell replaced the goddesses with two hard-nosed policemen who reminded me an awful lot of Tintin’s Thomson and Thompson, but that aside: what matters is the author’s incredible research work on the history of the Second World War and his skill in turning that history into a thrilling story.
Quotes are in Dutch as I read a translated version.
Ik heb nergens spijt van: ik deed mijn werk, meer niet; en ik maak zelf wel uit hoe er moet worden geoordeeld over mijn familieaangelegenheden, die ik misschien ook nog ter sprake breng; verder zal ik tegen het einde wel over de schreef zijn gegaan, maar in die fase was ik ook niet echt meer mezelf, ik wankelde en trouwens, om mij heen kantelde de hele wereld, ik was niet de enige die zijn hoofd verloor, dat zult u toch met me eens zijn.
The story is about Max Aue, then director of a lace factory in France, who recounts his years in the service of the Schutzstaffel (SS). Before he starts, he tries to justify his actions and his reflection on them, resulting in a fascinating piece of writing and certainly the wryest I have ever read. In long words, Max argues that anyone – tu quoque, reader – could have done the same. He then continues about his first job gathering information, going from Ukraine to Stalingrad and from Berlin to Hungary, meanwhile witnessing the horrors of the front and the concentration camps.
It is possible to read The Kindly Ones as a dry report with facts and figures. For me, however, it was a novelised version of what Hannah Arendt ([b:Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil|52090|Eichmann in Jerusalem A Report on the Banality of Evil|Hannah Arendt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1404513286l/52090._SY75_.jpg|1023716], [b:The Origins Of Totalitarianism|34204370|The Origins Of Totalitarianism|Hannah Arendt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494080300l/34204370._SY75_.jpg|23497]) wrote about the Nazi regime. Littell portrays the bureaucrats from many angles: their ambitions and meticulous planning, their ‘mechanical’ view of atrocities, their tendency not only to obey laws but to act as if they had written them themselves, their culture to pass the buck and finally their frenzy towards the end of the war. After seeing the film The Zone of Interest, I was particularly interested in the appearance of Rudolf Höss, camp commander of Auschwitz.
Zijn vrouw hield zijn arm vast en liet nu en dan een harde, schrille lach horen. Ik keek naar haar en dacht aan haar kut, onder haar japon, genesteld in het kanten broekje van een jonge, knappe jodin die door haar echtgenoot was vergast. De jodin was al een hele tijd geleden verbrand, met kut en al, en als rook naar de wolken getrokken; haar dure onderbroekje, dat ze misschien speciaal voor de deportatie had aangetrokken, sierde en beschermde nu de kut van Hedwig Höss.
Although Max initially does not stand out among his peers, except perhaps for his repressed sexuality, more signs gradually emerge that he is in fact
Spoiler
anything but a trustworthy narrator, if not an outright psychopath. Truth and fantasy intertwine to such an extent that the reader cannot help but question everything, notably the existence of the rather comical Clemens and Weber.The Kindly Ones is an exciting, historically well-researched story. While reading, I had so many associations (from Primo Levi’s [b:Survival in Auschwitz|6174|Survival in Auschwitz|Primo Levi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414374949l/6174._SX50_.jpg|851110] to Józef Wittlin’s [b:The Salt of the Earth|41057278|The Salt of the Earth|Józef Wittlin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533561404l/41057278._SY75_.jpg|400868] and even Yann Martel’s [b:Life of Pi|4214|Life of Pi|Yann Martel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631251689l/4214._SY75_.jpg|1392700]) that I eventually stopped noting them. I appreciated the continuous ‘mindfuck’, the obligation to reflect on every word, the often plastic descriptions and the many references to classical music and literature. (Of course, Louis-Ferdinand Céline is well presented.) Sure, the novel is long, contains a lot of details and hops from heel to heel, but somehow I was too drawn into the story to bother.
Toen men na de oorlog probeerde te begrijpen wat er was gebeurd, is veelvuldig gesproken van ‘onmenselijkheid’. Maar neemt u me niet kwalijk, onmenselijkheid bestaat niet. Er is alleen het menselijke, niets dan het menselijke, en deze Döll was daar een goed voorbeeld van. Wat was Döll anders dan een degelijke huisvader, die zijn kinderen te eten wilde geven en gehoorzaamde aan de regering van zijn land, ook al was hij het er diep van binnen niet helemaal mee eens?