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A review by nick_jenkins
The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
5.0
Most of what has been said in criticism of this book has deeply misrepresented it: yes, there is horrible brutality well beyond simple war narration (which you will find in almost every post-WWI novel or non-fiction book). This brutality will disturb every reader (or should). Yes, some of the main character's sexual obsessions will make most readers squirm a bit even if they aren't exactly squeamish. But to read these elements as the basic character and most memorable aspects of the book is cherry-picking--it's not a question of poor interpretation but just poor representation of the actual experience of reading this book. The representation of bureaucracy and the rather Mann-like dialogues peppering the book are, I feel, much closer to the heart of the experience of reading the novel--this is what drives the book forward and this is what really finds a home in the reader.
I'm certainly not saying that everyone will find this book engaging, and I certainly dislike the attitude of some critics who are using this book to separate the wheat from the chaff, as it were. Asking anyone to read nearly a 1000 pages is a little presumptuous, and 1000 pages that contains maybe 75-100 extremely brutal and/or scatological pages even more so. I think the book justifies its inclusion of those 100 or so pages, and I think those 100 pages are critical to an understanding of the book, but I do not think they are, as they have been made out to be, the whole book, nor do they saturate the book. If you have merely been put off by the negative reviews, but were originally intending to read this book, please do.
I'm certainly not saying that everyone will find this book engaging, and I certainly dislike the attitude of some critics who are using this book to separate the wheat from the chaff, as it were. Asking anyone to read nearly a 1000 pages is a little presumptuous, and 1000 pages that contains maybe 75-100 extremely brutal and/or scatological pages even more so. I think the book justifies its inclusion of those 100 or so pages, and I think those 100 pages are critical to an understanding of the book, but I do not think they are, as they have been made out to be, the whole book, nor do they saturate the book. If you have merely been put off by the negative reviews, but were originally intending to read this book, please do.