smark1342 's review for:

Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas by Christian Kracht

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Took a bit to get fully into but I wound up thinking this was pretty extraordinary on every level. Felt picaresque in some ways but I'm not sure it was-badically follows the real life engelheart as he founds his little cocovore fiefdom as he curdles and grows mad, and the various characters in the German south Pacific he meets along the way. I think ultimately it's unique as historical fiction in that it shows how an engelheart type is not a one off but comes from a discernable semi-cohetent (to me at least) cultural context that would have also produced Einsteins, Freuds, and as you're continuously reminded, Hitlers. I particularly enjoyed englehearts allegory about the ant on the chocolate bar and the

ships journey through rough seas and the governors hit order.

I think it makes sense to talk about an author not caring about his characters or being needlessly cruel to them only when they're good enough writers to make it matter and this might be a case where that's a fair thought. It does contribute to a certain atmosphere of madcap tropical dread