Friday, April 22, 2016

Look Who's Back / Timur Vermes / 352 pgs

I thought the idea of this book was so intriguing, but did not expect what I ended up reading. First of all, the Hitler in this book is a master of twisting people's ideas and thoughts to a point where he seems quite logical. It's almost no wonder that he was elected by the German people. I think it's an extremely poignant book to read considering our current election year. However, this book was first published in Germany in 2011 and was only translated and published in America last year. Because of this, there are a few German popular culture references sprinkled throughout that don't make a bit of sense to anyone who is not intimately familiar with current German popular culture. That said, the translator does do a good job of explaining those references at the end of the book, as well as giving small bios of all of Hitler's cohorts back in the 1930s and 1940s.

The premise of the book is that Adolf Hitler did not commit suicide in 1945, rather he wakes up in 2011 Berlin. The Berliners believe that Hitler is merely a very method actor/impersonator who is poking fun at the long-dead Fuhrer. He is given a spot on a variety show and quickly become a YouTube sensation. The book is definitely satire and is alternately, surprisingly funny but, most of the time, very chilling.

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