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bagal's review
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bookishwendy's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars (I've bumped it up from the initial 4 because I can't stop thinking about it).
Despite its short length, I expected this to be a slow, dense, rather difficult read. It is "dense," I suppose, in the literary styling: free-flowing paragraphs, constantly-switching point of views, rich descriptions and devastating emotions (I kept thinking of [a:Bruno Schulz|142899|Bruno Schulz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1288553731p2/142899.jpg] in this regard, though his stories are quite different in nature and much more abstract). But ultimately I found this book to be neither slow nor difficult, and I read through it in 2 or 3 long sittings because I couldn't put it down.
Wolfgang Koeppen pays homage to Thomas Mann in this novel's title, epigraph, and final lines, and perhaps the similarities don't end there. I know I need to go read more Mann before I can do justice to any worthy comparison here, but a certain grotesqueness jumps out at me in both Koeppen and Mann (and, well, most post-war German writers, go figure). Death in Rome is an odd, intertwining novel about two generations of a (very) dysfunctional German family. The older generation (an ex-SS officer and a public official) still cling to Third Reich ideology ten years after the fall of Berlin, and though unrepentant in their culpability for many horrors, are adapting to the new order. Meanwhile the younger generation--the unfortunately-named Siegfried and Adolf--have rebelled from their parents to write degenerate music and join the priesthood, respectively. They all accidentally meet up again in Rome while pursuing a variety of personal vices...and in the course of it, someone dies.
But this plot is only a fraction of this novel's draw. The city of Rome itself is practically its own character come to life through the lush language, along with thousands of years of history that haunt the characters' every step. Apparently this novel was not very popular when it was published to German audiences, who must have found it far too uncomfortable back in the day, and Koeppen's work has only recently started finding a new audience since his death in 1996. I'm glad to now be counted among them.
Despite its short length, I expected this to be a slow, dense, rather difficult read. It is "dense," I suppose, in the literary styling: free-flowing paragraphs, constantly-switching point of views, rich descriptions and devastating emotions (I kept thinking of [a:Bruno Schulz|142899|Bruno Schulz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1288553731p2/142899.jpg] in this regard, though his stories are quite different in nature and much more abstract). But ultimately I found this book to be neither slow nor difficult, and I read through it in 2 or 3 long sittings because I couldn't put it down.
Wolfgang Koeppen pays homage to Thomas Mann in this novel's title, epigraph, and final lines, and perhaps the similarities don't end there. I know I need to go read more Mann before I can do justice to any worthy comparison here, but a certain grotesqueness jumps out at me in both Koeppen and Mann (and, well, most post-war German writers, go figure). Death in Rome is an odd, intertwining novel about two generations of a (very) dysfunctional German family. The older generation (an ex-SS officer and a public official) still cling to Third Reich ideology ten years after the fall of Berlin, and though unrepentant in their culpability for many horrors, are adapting to the new order. Meanwhile the younger generation--the unfortunately-named Siegfried and Adolf--have rebelled from their parents to write degenerate music and join the priesthood, respectively. They all accidentally meet up again in Rome while pursuing a variety of personal vices...and in the course of it, someone dies.
But this plot is only a fraction of this novel's draw. The city of Rome itself is practically its own character come to life through the lush language, along with thousands of years of history that haunt the characters' every step. Apparently this novel was not very popular when it was published to German audiences, who must have found it far too uncomfortable back in the day, and Koeppen's work has only recently started finding a new audience since his death in 1996. I'm glad to now be counted among them.
balladyna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
vioxvive's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
5.0
‘I do believe, but what I believe is the futility of everything.’
Death in Rome recounts a family reunion, of two generations of an extended German family, in post-war Rome. The present day events of the novel take place over a two day period, mostly at night. The four primary characters are Siegfried Pfaffrath, his father Friederich, his uncle Gottlieb Judejahn and Judejahn’s son Adolf. The story is told in a mix of first person (Siegfried) and third person. But who are these characters, and what is the significance of their meeting? What role does Rome play in this story? Siegfried is an avant-garde composer, rebelling against his family and their traditions. He is in Rome for a performance of his work. Friederich, once a Nazi bureaucrat is now a respectable mayor. Judejahn, a former SS general, has been sentenced to death in absentia, and travels under a false identity. Judejahn has found a refuge in the army of an Arab state where he has easily exchanged being a Nazi for being a mercenary. Violence remains his primary driver. Judejahn’s son Adolf is in training as a Catholic priest, but suffering a crisis of faith. In this novel, music, bureaucracy, arms and religion depict elements of the German soul. But distinctions between what might be good and bad within those elements cannot always be clear.
Siegfried exclaims: 'In my daydreams and nightmares I see the Browns and the nationalist idiocy on the march again.' Yes, I can understand why this book was ignored or criticized at the time it was published.
The interactions between members of this extended family, and their reactions to Rome, expose the extent to which they remain governed by the past. And not only their own individual pasts: each of the four elements (music, bureaucracy, arms and religion) has a past, as does Germany and Rome. Cultural collapse is a component of the novel but so, too, is the possibility of a different future.
‘You’ve outlived yourself, you’re out of power.’
Wolfgang Koeppen (1906-1996) wrote three novels between 1951 and 1954. Death in Rome is the third of those novels, but the first that I have read. I’ll be looking to read the other two. This is a powerful novel, one which I’ll need to reread in order to appreciate it more fully. I wonder whether (and how) Wolfgang Koeppen’s world view changed after writing this novel. Perhaps it became less bleak. Perhaps the younger generation (represented by Siegfried and Adolf) have exceeded expectations.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Death in Rome recounts a family reunion, of two generations of an extended German family, in post-war Rome. The present day events of the novel take place over a two day period, mostly at night. The four primary characters are Siegfried Pfaffrath, his father Friederich, his uncle Gottlieb Judejahn and Judejahn’s son Adolf. The story is told in a mix of first person (Siegfried) and third person. But who are these characters, and what is the significance of their meeting? What role does Rome play in this story? Siegfried is an avant-garde composer, rebelling against his family and their traditions. He is in Rome for a performance of his work. Friederich, once a Nazi bureaucrat is now a respectable mayor. Judejahn, a former SS general, has been sentenced to death in absentia, and travels under a false identity. Judejahn has found a refuge in the army of an Arab state where he has easily exchanged being a Nazi for being a mercenary. Violence remains his primary driver. Judejahn’s son Adolf is in training as a Catholic priest, but suffering a crisis of faith. In this novel, music, bureaucracy, arms and religion depict elements of the German soul. But distinctions between what might be good and bad within those elements cannot always be clear.
Siegfried exclaims: 'In my daydreams and nightmares I see the Browns and the nationalist idiocy on the march again.' Yes, I can understand why this book was ignored or criticized at the time it was published.
The interactions between members of this extended family, and their reactions to Rome, expose the extent to which they remain governed by the past. And not only their own individual pasts: each of the four elements (music, bureaucracy, arms and religion) has a past, as does Germany and Rome. Cultural collapse is a component of the novel but so, too, is the possibility of a different future.
‘You’ve outlived yourself, you’re out of power.’
Wolfgang Koeppen (1906-1996) wrote three novels between 1951 and 1954. Death in Rome is the third of those novels, but the first that I have read. I’ll be looking to read the other two. This is a powerful novel, one which I’ll need to reread in order to appreciate it more fully. I wonder whether (and how) Wolfgang Koeppen’s world view changed after writing this novel. Perhaps it became less bleak. Perhaps the younger generation (represented by Siegfried and Adolf) have exceeded expectations.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
kingkong's review against another edition
5.0
Judejahn ordering the wrong food several times because he doesnt speak Italian and then having to down wine to stomach it was very cool
gh7's review against another edition
4.0
Rome in the post war years where the diehard older generation of a Nazi family have convened. Unbeknown to them two members of the younger generation are there too. The patriarch is a wanted war criminal, a Nazi bigwig who is now, under a false name, a military advisor in some unnamed Arab country. The fabulously named Gottlieb Judejahn is a brilliant character and the dark star of the novel. He is the warrior Nazi who wants to carry on the killing. His brother-in-law was a powerful bureaucrat during the war and is again ascending the rungs of power in post-war Germany. His son is a composer of dissonant music and is about to have a work performed in Rome; Judejahn's son is training to be a priest. So the older generation is as fervently nationalistic, racist, murderous and opportunistic as they were during the war while the younger generation scrabbles for atonement for the sins of their fathers (and mothers). And it all takes place in a foppish and licentious Rome.
If the entire novel was as inspired and brilliant as certain passages you can't help feeling it would be widely acclaimed as a literary masterpiece. It's difficult for me to put my finger on why it doesn't quite thrill in its entirety. Perhaps it's because the bureaucrat and the priest fall way short of the SS psychopath and the composer as compelling and thought-provoking characters. Women play only a minor role in the novel but the wife of Judejahn and the Jewish wife of the conductor who performs Siegfried's music were also richer characters than the more prevalent bureaucrat and priest. That said it's a novel that plumbs the depths of Germany's temporary descent into insanity with inspired perspicacity and admirable artistry and certainly deserves a lot more attention than it seems to receive.
If the entire novel was as inspired and brilliant as certain passages you can't help feeling it would be widely acclaimed as a literary masterpiece. It's difficult for me to put my finger on why it doesn't quite thrill in its entirety. Perhaps it's because the bureaucrat and the priest fall way short of the SS psychopath and the composer as compelling and thought-provoking characters. Women play only a minor role in the novel but the wife of Judejahn and the Jewish wife of the conductor who performs Siegfried's music were also richer characters than the more prevalent bureaucrat and priest. That said it's a novel that plumbs the depths of Germany's temporary descent into insanity with inspired perspicacity and admirable artistry and certainly deserves a lot more attention than it seems to receive.
marvesel's review against another edition
3.0
Since I am studying German literature I had to read this for a project. This book is pretty good for a classic. Interesting and not too dense. I have to be honest though, I didn't read the last twenty pages because I know what happens in the end and because I had a deadline.
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