April 2012: Every Man Dies Alone (Fallada)

Post date: Apr 23, 2012 4:14:58 AM

A dozen alums who graduated in the 20th century (1946-95 and every decade in between) circled up in Martha's living room on April 17 to discuss Hans Fallada's Every Man Dies Alone. I think everyone was a little in awe and horror of what it was like for ordinary Germans in Germany in the late 1930's-early '40s. For some the book brought up memories of the time in history, when ordinary US Americans knew so little about what was really going on in Germany, and others brought their own experience of spending time in Germany (East and West and after the wall) at various times since WWII to their reading of the book. The author himself, who wrote the book in 24 days and died in 1947 in East Germany, was the subject of discussion given his life story (thank you Internet), and the group shared curiosity and speculation about the real-life couple upon whom this novel was based. Another mystery surrounding the book is that it was only translated into English in 2009. How was it found, and where had it been all these years? It did not have much acclaim in Germany either, was it perhaps squelched by the East-German government at the time, who may not have wanted the general population to get any ideas about post cards of resistance?

As the title indicated, it is not an uplifting book, but the characters were interesting and it was a perspective we don't often have. It was an engaging read, though a bit long in the warm-up, some found. The Good German by Joseph Kanon is a very different story, also exploring the non-Nazi German experience. Other related books readers mentioned during discussion include A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary by Anonymous and In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. The latter was suggested for book club to read, but for May we chose The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka.

Thank you to Martha for hosting!