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A review by jayshay
The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
4.0
I hovered between three and four stars for The Kindly Ones and decided on four just because the book is so ambitious and disturbing (gratuitously perhaps in places). There was something (I'm not sure what) in the negative review in the New York Times that made me want to give it a try, which says something for a 900+ page book.
The portrayal of the endless policy meetings and debates and interdepartmental fighting was fascinating to me because it showed how the rational, professional tools of a great European power were turned for the purposes of the most irrational and racially savage hatred. So as a way of putting across history I found this effective -- I don't know if that qualifies as 'art'. Much of the time characters launch into long reports to tell us about procedures and rationalizations, or conflicting goals of the various factions in the Nazi government. It is a great info dump, but does seem more didactic than artistic.
Initially I was disappointed that the book did not fulfill what I saw as Max's reason for writing his story: "I tell you I am just like you!" But perhaps it is that desperate, manic tone that should have alerted me. For certainly what follows shows that while the majority of the people who carried out Hitler's plan, were just like us, Max himself is more akin to a sociopath - a la The Talented Mr. Ripley. The sickness, murderous rage, incest, and the lost father combined with the overlay of rationality, efficiency, and aesthetic expression (for even in translation this is written wonderfully) are supposed to mirror the state of the German soul of the time, but I can't say that I thought Littell succeeded in this ambition. Max is addled by his madness and endless dreams (which feel like a bit of writerly cheat when overused) and in the end they addled the book.
The Holocaust is a monumental subject to take on for a novel - one that can swallow even the greatest of writers. I look forward to reading his next book, perhaps where I can get a better look at the author.
The portrayal of the endless policy meetings and debates and interdepartmental fighting was fascinating to me because it showed how the rational, professional tools of a great European power were turned for the purposes of the most irrational and racially savage hatred. So as a way of putting across history I found this effective -- I don't know if that qualifies as 'art'. Much of the time characters launch into long reports to tell us about procedures and rationalizations, or conflicting goals of the various factions in the Nazi government. It is a great info dump, but does seem more didactic than artistic.
Initially I was disappointed that the book did not fulfill what I saw as Max's reason for writing his story: "I tell you I am just like you!" But perhaps it is that desperate, manic tone that should have alerted me. For certainly what follows shows that while the majority of the people who carried out Hitler's plan, were just like us, Max himself is more akin to a sociopath - a la The Talented Mr. Ripley. The sickness, murderous rage, incest, and the lost father combined with the overlay of rationality, efficiency, and aesthetic expression (for even in translation this is written wonderfully) are supposed to mirror the state of the German soul of the time, but I can't say that I thought Littell succeeded in this ambition. Max is addled by his madness and endless dreams (which feel like a bit of writerly cheat when overused) and in the end they addled the book.
The Holocaust is a monumental subject to take on for a novel - one that can swallow even the greatest of writers. I look forward to reading his next book, perhaps where I can get a better look at the author.