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A review by chromiumboron
The Investigation by Peter Weiss
4.0
First off, I didn't realize this was the same guy who wrote Marat/Sade. Kind of cool.
This book made me think. A lot. It was horrible and graphic, and it was very hard to read at times, but it also provoked a lot of introspection. Over and over again, the Accused would say "I had to do this" or "It was my duty." All I could think was "If I was told to do that, I would say no. No matter what, I would say no." But then I read where Witnesses who worked in administration thought that Boger or some of the other Accused were nice to them and treated them well. These people who tortured many treated their employees well and were kind people. Does the fact that they tortured others make them bad people? If they believed that they were going to be killed or that their family would be endangered unless they did their "duty", does it make them bad people for what they did? My first instinct was to say yes, but if people of the race that they tortured said that these Accused were capable of being kind, then I'm inclined to think about it more. I can think to myself all I want that I would never treat other people the way that the Accused did, but when it comes down to it, I will never know the answer to that because I've never been in that situation. So can we really blame them? And if we can't, who do we blame? Where does the problem begin?
I don't know the answers, but any book this thought provoking deserves a good review.
This book made me think. A lot. It was horrible and graphic, and it was very hard to read at times, but it also provoked a lot of introspection. Over and over again, the Accused would say "I had to do this" or "It was my duty." All I could think was "If I was told to do that, I would say no. No matter what, I would say no." But then I read where Witnesses who worked in administration thought that Boger or some of the other Accused were nice to them and treated them well. These people who tortured many treated their employees well and were kind people. Does the fact that they tortured others make them bad people? If they believed that they were going to be killed or that their family would be endangered unless they did their "duty", does it make them bad people for what they did? My first instinct was to say yes, but if people of the race that they tortured said that these Accused were capable of being kind, then I'm inclined to think about it more. I can think to myself all I want that I would never treat other people the way that the Accused did, but when it comes down to it, I will never know the answer to that because I've never been in that situation. So can we really blame them? And if we can't, who do we blame? Where does the problem begin?
I don't know the answers, but any book this thought provoking deserves a good review.