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A review by nisanatreads
Der Nazi & der Friseur by Edgar Hilsenrath
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Nazi and the Barber was originally published in English before later being translated back to German because the author couldn't find a German publisher willing to print the book. A lot of people didn't find it funny, they found it rather tasteless. I was actually one of the few, if not the only person in my class who thought it was a masterpiece of satire and historical/societal analysis, while many of the other students called it disturbing.
The novel tells the story of Max Schulz, who grows up to become a perpetrator of the Holocaust, but later uses the name of his deceased childhood friend and Jew, Itzig Finkelstein, to escape prosecution. From the outset, it is clear that all the familiar stereotypes of Aryans and Jews are reversed. Itzig looks like the perfect Arian ideal, while Max looks exactly like what people thought all Jews looked like.
As he shifts between identities throughout his life, he turns to different narratives that emerged after the Holocaust, and I think that's where Hilsenrath's genius really shines: it's a perfect depiction of the perversity of the arguments used by Germans to justify their actions on the one hand, but also by Jews to stake their claim to a state of their own on the other.
The story combines the hilarious with the serious, and it's a rare quality in an author to be able to do both in one book, taking it to the extreme.
Find me on Instagram @nisanatreads
The novel tells the story of Max Schulz, who grows up to become a perpetrator of the Holocaust, but later uses the name of his deceased childhood friend and Jew, Itzig Finkelstein, to escape prosecution. From the outset, it is clear that all the familiar stereotypes of Aryans and Jews are reversed. Itzig looks like the perfect Arian ideal, while Max looks exactly like what people thought all Jews looked like.
As he shifts between identities throughout his life, he turns to different narratives that emerged after the Holocaust, and I think that's where Hilsenrath's genius really shines: it's a perfect depiction of the perversity of the arguments used by Germans to justify their actions on the one hand, but also by Jews to stake their claim to a state of their own on the other.
The story combines the hilarious with the serious, and it's a rare quality in an author to be able to do both in one book, taking it to the extreme.
Find me on Instagram @nisanatreads