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peter_fischer's review against another edition
5.0
This is the first book in the Wartesaal (Waiting Room) Trilogy. The main character is Martin Krüger, a public art gallery director in Munich, who makes himself unpopular by hanging controversial paintings in his gallery. Because justice has become purely an instrument of political power in interwar Germany and particularly in Bavaria, Krüger is subjected to a trumped up charge of perjury and is tried and imprisoned. For the next 900 pages (this is a very long novel!) his friend Johanna Krain does everything to try and influence the powers that be to retry him, grant him an amnesty, or otherwise free Krüger. Along the way, the reader gets to know many of the powerful and influential people of that time (the Weimar Republic) in Munich, only some of whom are fictional. However, those that aren’t are not called by their real names, but it is pretty easy to guess (or look up) who is who. The obvious one is Adolf Hitler, who is called ‘Rupert Kutzner’ in the book.
In many ways the narrative of the novel is secondary. What really counts is the way that Feuchtwanger shows us all of the ills that beset Bavaria and the Reich just after WW1, and that allowed and facilitated the rise of Hitler’s Nazis and German fascism in general. Especially relevant in this respect is the impossible burden of war reparations that was imposed on Germany by the allied victors of WW1, leading indirectly to inflation and eventually to hyperinflation, culminating with the humiliating occupation of the Ruhrgebiet (Germany’s main primary industrial area) by French and Belgian forces, in an effort to extract reparations in kind. Furthermore, Feuchtwanger shows graphically the decline of judiciary and governance standards, as well as the abject destitution of the general populace, in a formerly well-ordered country, after ordinary people had been led to believe by their duplicitous leaders that they could win the Great War, right to the end, when it had already become clear that they would lose, thus plunging Germany into societal upheaval and ruin.
Bavaria does not get off easily either, which Feuchtwanger describes as backward, narrow-minded, stubborn, xenophobic, and inherently antisemitic. He should know: he grew up in a Jewish family in Munich. By the way, the book ends with the failed Beer Hall Putsch of Hitler’s Nazis (in the book they are sarcastically called ‘Die Wahrhaft Deutschen’, the ‘True Germans’).
This is one of the most informative and at the same time entertaining books I have read in a long time. Feuchtwanger is a great story teller, using every device (including humour) masterfully. This book is a real masterpiece in my opinion! The other two books in the trilogy (‘Die Geschwister Oppermann’ and ‘Exil’) are also terrific (you can read my reviews if you’re interested).
In many ways the narrative of the novel is secondary. What really counts is the way that Feuchtwanger shows us all of the ills that beset Bavaria and the Reich just after WW1, and that allowed and facilitated the rise of Hitler’s Nazis and German fascism in general. Especially relevant in this respect is the impossible burden of war reparations that was imposed on Germany by the allied victors of WW1, leading indirectly to inflation and eventually to hyperinflation, culminating with the humiliating occupation of the Ruhrgebiet (Germany’s main primary industrial area) by French and Belgian forces, in an effort to extract reparations in kind. Furthermore, Feuchtwanger shows graphically the decline of judiciary and governance standards, as well as the abject destitution of the general populace, in a formerly well-ordered country, after ordinary people had been led to believe by their duplicitous leaders that they could win the Great War, right to the end, when it had already become clear that they would lose, thus plunging Germany into societal upheaval and ruin.
Bavaria does not get off easily either, which Feuchtwanger describes as backward, narrow-minded, stubborn, xenophobic, and inherently antisemitic. He should know: he grew up in a Jewish family in Munich. By the way, the book ends with the failed Beer Hall Putsch of Hitler’s Nazis (in the book they are sarcastically called ‘Die Wahrhaft Deutschen’, the ‘True Germans’).
This is one of the most informative and at the same time entertaining books I have read in a long time. Feuchtwanger is a great story teller, using every device (including humour) masterfully. This book is a real masterpiece in my opinion! The other two books in the trilogy (‘Die Geschwister Oppermann’ and ‘Exil’) are also terrific (you can read my reviews if you’re interested).
lealula's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
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