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| Source: Amazon.com |
From the book’s cover:
Fatherland is set in an alternative world where Hitler has won the Second World War. It is April 1964 and one week before Hitler's 75th birthday. Xavier March, a detective of the Kriminalpolizei, is called out to investigate the discovery of a dead body in a lake near Berlin's most prestigious suburb.
As March discovers the identity of the body, he uncovers signs of a conspiracy that could go to the very top of the German Reich. And, with the Gestapo just one step behind, March, together with an American journalist, is caught up in a race to discover and reveal the truth -- a truth that has already killed, a truth that could topple governments, a truth that will change history.
Synopsis:
I finished reading this last week, and so (as usual) I’m a bit forgetful of all the details, especially some of the more salient ones. I’ll try to give you a brief overview though. It should be noted that I forgot what sort of book this was before I actually put it on my player, as I obtained it some while back and had thought it was just another documentary-type book on Nazi Germany during the War. The book is, in fact, a hypothetical timeline-based mystery novel in which someone is killing high-ranking Nazi German Party members. The lead character, Detective Xavier March of the German Police (his actual job title is complex, so you’d have to read the book to figure it out better) is thrown into the task of solving this mystery, and he quickly gets in way over his head.
It all starts simply, with just a drowned body on a lakeshore in a sooty part of Berlin and a single witness who won’t tell exactly what he saw. Things get terrifically more complicated soon thereafter, and our protagonist is left wondering who he can trust. I’ll try not to spoil the plot twists for those who may be interested in reading this one (and besides, as I said, I don’t remember all the details). Needless to say, for someone who isn’t much of a mystery book reader, I found the whole plot to be intellectually stimulating and fun, though sometimes complex to the point of confusing. I’d have to attribute that to the stress I’ve been under lately and my lack of familiarity with mystery novels. Harris certainly does an admirable job of painting the scene and giving the reader something to chew on.
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| The author, Robert Harris / Source: SimonAndShuster.com |
An interesting idea. How would Europe, and the greater world in general, have been different had the Nazis won the European conflict? Harris did good research on the background that props up his story. The material is engrossing and the alternate history seems fairly plausible to me, though I must confess that I am not an expert on the Third Reich.
On the story side of the coin, the characters that Harris creates are interesting and move the plot along well enough. Though I am not an aficionado of mystery fiction, Fatherland was certainly not boring, nor did it push the bounds of credulity too far. There were a few points that I didn’t see coming, including the ending, which actually fit my estimation of what was a fair compromise for the protagonist and his love interest. But I won’t spoil it by giving it away, should you intend to read Fatherland for yourself.
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| A map that depicts the hypothetical political bolundaries in Harris's novel. This doesn't do the situation justice though, as a lot of the nations not labeled are under Nazi "protectorate" status. Scary. / Source: WKP.Maluke.com |
It is hard to base your opinion of a “surprise” that is in reality a historical fact. I’ll give this particular detail away seeing that the event is fact. Since it is factual, it doesn’t have quite the impact that it might have otherwise. In the world of Harris’s alternate timeline, the so-called “Final Solution” that condemned over six million Jews and other undesirables to ethnic cleansing is not well known. The full scope of the thing is a secret held by only certain high ranking people. Oh darn, I’ve given more away than I meant to. Well it’s not to be helped, I suppose.
The lead character finds out the details over the course of the book’s plot unraveling to its climax, and... well I guess you could say, it wasn’t as shocking to me as it would have been to him, and therefore the impact seemed somewhat lessened. All along you are reading the book and wondering what the big secret is, and it in the end it turns out to be something we all read about as having happened.
I’m not saying there was no gut reaction. I suppose it might have been a result of the fact that I am not regularly a reader of mystery-type novels, so when I got the idea that this thing I was reading was actually a mystery/detective novel, I thought to myself “oh, hey! There’ll be some cool secret that the lead character is supposed to work out! Boy, this’ll be exciting.” But the Holocaust, despite the horrors of it and the way Harris paints the terrible scene for us when the “big reveal” comes on, is not what I was expecting. I couldn’t get far enough out of reality to buy it as “the big deal of the book,” I guess.
What I learned, if anything:
I’d say I learned that Robert Harris is quite a talented writer, for one. And also I took a new perspective on mystery novels. Last, I’d say I gained a little bit more of an appreciation for the devastation that the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” might have had if the Allies had not intervened in Europe. Combining this knowledge with my recent readings in The Ghost Mountain Boys and the fact that the U.S. sided with Great Britain in a “Germany-First” approach which led to untold hardships for the boys in the South Pacific theater of operations, I see the events of World War II in better perspective. Then again, who can ever really understand a thing, even if they were there to witness it (which I was not, thankfully).
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| Fatherland isn't this extreme, but the idea of Nazi Germany running European affairs instead of going down to defeat at the combined hands of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union is a scary thought. Nice photoshop job, by the way. / Source: AltHistory.wikia.com |
I’d say yes, I recommend this one. For content: The language is fairly tame, though there are a couple of “f-bombs” in there. There is some implied sexual relations between the lead character and the female lead, but thankfully it isn’t too graphic to cause discomfort in most people, I’d guess. You get as bad on American national TV. The violence is not over-the-top. There is a baseball bat smashing a hand toward the end, which made me wince, but Harris doesn’t dwell on it in minute detail, thankfully. And then you could count the descriptions of the gassing of a group of Jews at Auschwitz - a historical record from an eyewitness by the way, retold for the benefit of painting the scene near the end. This retelling alone makes this book in the mature audiences category, but which I feel is not something that should be glossed over and so was appropriate for the moment it was used.
The story itself is well thought out and keeps the thing interesting, even in a few places where I lost a bit of my initiative to read. The idea of Hitler winning the war and the ramifications alone are worth the price of admission. Want to see how one author paints the world of a victorious Nazi Germany in the 1960s? Read Fatherland.
The parting comment:
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| Source: LolSnaps.com |
I think the point of this comparison can be easily conceded. Ever really listen to Bohemian Rhapsody? It's not just that song they used in Wayne's World, that's for sure. Kinda deep stuff there. Then again, in the looks department, Beyonce wins hands down. Sorry Freddy.
For me, reading any form written about the Holocaust is disturbing, including your review. I am feeling a bit weepy even now. The whole thing makes my soul grieve. I am grateful to know all those deaths led to them being in a better place.
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