The winner of the Prix Goncourt in 2006. A monumental debut novel* written in French by an American. A publishing sensation in several countries. A subject of surprise, shock and admiration. A cause of immense uproar on the right and on the left, by historians and critics, gentiles and jews. Why? Be
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The winner of the Prix Goncourt in 2006. A monumental debut novel* written in French by an American. A publishing sensation in several countries. A subject of surprise, shock and admiration. A cause of immense uproar on the right and on the left, by historians and critics, gentiles and jews. Why? Because it is clear since the beginning (i.e. since the long prologue titled "Toccata") that Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones aims to be the supreme and definitive novel on Nazi Germany and the extermination of Jews. Of this ambition -this hubris that defies all previous literary works on the subject- I have had a direct experience lasted many days. To read The Kindly Ones is to become the stunned witness of an overflow: drop after drop, trickle by trickle, the river gets swollen with data, anecdotes, memories, dreams and citations - the water rises on the sides until it breaks out. We arrive on the Russian front pushed by the current, the enormous wave wipes out whole cultures and countless lives until it impacts with the unpredicted, inexplicable resistance at Stalingrad. The stalemate hollows out a hole in the life of the main character, SS officer Maximilien Aue... The complete review is here: http://www.wumingfoundation.com/english/outtakes/the_ki…
The Kindly Ones
The winner of the Prix Goncourt in 2006. A monumental debut novel* written in French by an American. A publishing sensation in several countries. A subject of surprise, shock and admiration. A cause of immense uproar on the right and on the left, by historians and critics, gentiles and jews. Why?continue)
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The winner of the Prix Goncourt in 2006. A monumental debut novel* written in French by an American. A publishing sensation in several countries. A subject of surprise, shock and admiration. A cause of immense uproar on the right and on the left, by historians and critics, gentiles and jews. Why?
Because it is clear since the beginning (i.e. since the long prologue titled "Toccata") that Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones aims to be the supreme and definitive novel on Nazi Germany and the extermination of Jews.
Of this ambition -this hubris that defies all previous literary works on the subject- I have had a direct experience lasted many days. To read The Kindly Ones is to become the stunned witness of an overflow: drop after drop, trickle by trickle, the river gets swollen with data, anecdotes, memories, dreams and citations - the water rises on the sides until it breaks out. We arrive on the Russian front pushed by the current, the enormous wave wipes out whole cultures and countless lives until it impacts with the unpredicted, inexplicable resistance at Stalingrad. The stalemate hollows out a hole in the life of the main character, SS officer Maximilien Aue...
The complete review is here:
http://www.wumingfoundation.com/english/outtakes/the_ki…