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adam_mcphee 's review for:
Wolf Among Wolves
by Hans Fallada
Corruption and weakness in the German countryside.
The book treads lightly around political topics, unsurprising given that Fallada wrote it 1937 when the Nazis were in charge. The novel is set in 1923, during the Weimar Republic's period of rampant inflation, a sort of safe topic given that it was a period no one in Germany recalled fondly.
The novel is huge. Any one of the seemingly dozens of supporting characters could be the protagonist of their own novella. My favourites: Rittmeister Herr von Prackwitz, a Homer Simpson or Ignatius Reilly of the Weimar Republic who is doomed to failure and obliviousness, most the book's action stems from his inability/refusal to run a farming estate leased from his father-in-law; Black Meier, a farming bailiff turned rogue; Lieutenant Fritz, whose secret arms cache is known to everyone in the village and whose Putsch is doomed to failure; Kniebusch, the aging forester who just wants the respect due his age and a stable currency that would allow him even a sham of a retirement; Sophie, a scheming former handmaid who helps orchestrate her lover's escape from prison; The mad baron and the doctor in charge of him, I forget their names but their antics in Berlin and a Sanatorium are quite memorable.
I was a little bit disappointed that Petra and Studdman seemed to become less important characters over time. I'd have liked to see more of the Rag and Bones and Sanatorium businesses.
Perhaps my favourite scene in the entire novel is the Rittmeister's walk in the forest with his daughter, where they encounter the lieutenant. Each of the character's motives are completely at odds with the others, but they're all so wrapped up in themselves as to be unable to see what's going on. It's hilarious.
Also I can't help but wonder if the moralizing widow (or spinster?) who lives with the Geheimerat is a thinly-veiled self-criticism. She speaks mostly in parables and references to fables, and most people ignore her or don't take her seriously. Fallada had tried to avoid criticism and undue attention after the Nazi's rise to power by writing only fables and children's stories, which were never popular.
All in all, I think it's my second favourite Fallada novel, after Every Man Dies Alone.
The book treads lightly around political topics, unsurprising given that Fallada wrote it 1937 when the Nazis were in charge. The novel is set in 1923, during the Weimar Republic's period of rampant inflation, a sort of safe topic given that it was a period no one in Germany recalled fondly.
The novel is huge. Any one of the seemingly dozens of supporting characters could be the protagonist of their own novella. My favourites: Rittmeister Herr von Prackwitz, a Homer Simpson or Ignatius Reilly of the Weimar Republic who is doomed to failure and obliviousness, most the book's action stems from his inability/refusal to run a farming estate leased from his father-in-law; Black Meier, a farming bailiff turned rogue; Lieutenant Fritz, whose secret arms cache is known to everyone in the village and whose Putsch is doomed to failure; Kniebusch, the aging forester who just wants the respect due his age and a stable currency that would allow him even a sham of a retirement; Sophie, a scheming former handmaid who helps orchestrate her lover's escape from prison; The mad baron and the doctor in charge of him, I forget their names but their antics in Berlin and a Sanatorium are quite memorable.
I was a little bit disappointed that Petra and Studdman seemed to become less important characters over time. I'd have liked to see more of the Rag and Bones and Sanatorium businesses.
Perhaps my favourite scene in the entire novel is the Rittmeister's walk in the forest with his daughter, where they encounter the lieutenant. Each of the character's motives are completely at odds with the others, but they're all so wrapped up in themselves as to be unable to see what's going on. It's hilarious.
Also I can't help but wonder if the moralizing widow (or spinster?) who lives with the Geheimerat is a thinly-veiled self-criticism. She speaks mostly in parables and references to fables, and most people ignore her or don't take her seriously. Fallada had tried to avoid criticism and undue attention after the Nazi's rise to power by writing only fables and children's stories, which were never popular.
All in all, I think it's my second favourite Fallada novel, after Every Man Dies Alone.