Rating: 
Summary: this will not be a long review
Review: I first experienced "Fatherland" as a made=for=cable movie on HBO. After seeing this, I was inspired to look for the original novel at the local library, which fortunately had a copy.I enjoyed both versions and recommend them both. Hitler winning the war, Joe Kennedy as president! Man, talk about "what if" at its best! you should read this book and rent the video you won't be sorry!
Rating: 
Summary: INCREADABLE
Review: A thought provoking look at the world that might have been.
Rating:
Summary: The best thing going in alternate history
Review: Two things about this novel. First, it is an excellent politcal thriller/murder mystery. In the tradition of Robert Ludlum, the main character races around Europe with a palpable, yet generally faceless menace stalking his every step. The writing is tight and fast, and will leave you breathless.The second thing about "Fatherland", and what sets it apart from Ludlum's works, is that it takes place in a masterfully realized alternate past in which the Germans are years removed from having won WWII. By deftly incorporating historical figures into his narrative, Harris both reveals a solid understanding of Nazi politics, and makes the story all the more sinister. In other words, the evil in the book doesn't have to be imagined, because we know all to well what it really was. Finally, I know there are some purists who would argue that from the moment Germany invaded Russsia, and certainly from the moment it declared war on the US, it was doomed. They may very well be right; but for the pruposes of this novel, it doesn't really matter. The mere fact that victory didn't seem inevitable in the dark days of '40-'42 makes this shocking alternate history viable, and all the more real. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: My name is Might-have-been.
Review: Wow! For some reason, I decided to read Robert Harris' novels in reverse order, starting with Archangel and ending with Fatherland. And I'm glad I did. Fatherland was by far Harris' best novel to date. I found that once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. The environment Harris constructs for the setting of the novel is amazing. The suspense is developed extremely well. Even though, deep down, you know what March, the novels protagonist, is going to discover, you are compelled to read. This book is just phenominal all around. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for an excellent suspense novel with numerous twists.
Rating:
Summary: The otimistic aspect
Review: I have gone through many of the reviewes and felt that all of them were missing a very important aspect - the relatively optimisitic view of this writer (relatively, of course,since this theme is inherently pessimistic dark by its nature). Harris makes it clear that the Nazi regime, despite winning the war, is in big trouble: The young generation in Germany no longer believe in Nazism (the young SS cadet, who is portrayed very belieably, is clearly no believer in the Nazi ideology); the students are becoming openly rebellious against the regime; the Beatles are there, even in this bleak world, and are too popular with the German youth to be suppressed (they also in our world started in Germany); the occupied peoples in East Europe are more and more bold in their rebellion, conducting attacks even in Berlin itself and Germany does not succeed in suppressing them; German setllers in the east are escaping back, not interested any more in lebensraum; the regime is weakening, divided into fueding factions; its last hope is the detente with the US - which is foiled by the hero's self sacrifice in the end and his last stand on the site of Auschwitz, while his American girlfriend is able to escape and tell the world the truth about the Holocaust; it can be assumed that the regime would not survive much longer past the death of the 75-year old Hitler. Harris' basic assumption is optimistic - even in the worst case of the Nazis winning the war, and even though millions of people who did susrvive in our world would have perished in this one, in the end the truth would have come out, and the Nazi regime would still have fallen. In this, the book is very different from Orwell's 1984, which is as dark and hopeless as can be in its outlook for the future, leaving the reader with not the slightest hope that anything will ever change for the better in this monstrous world. Orwell's Winston Smith, who dies totally broken and brainwashed, would have enormously envied Xavier March - to die in defiance of his enemeies and with knowlege that he had won, that he did lead his emnemies away from the woman he loves and let her escape and deal the regime a terrible blow. Even knowing that he is going to due, March is joyous in at last being able to throw away the SS uniform and openly confront his enemies; the ending is, for me, reminiscent not of "1984" but of Hemingway's "For whom the bell tolls" where the hero is also preparing to die with a feeling of fufillment and standing up to his convictions. Also, March has carefully chosen to have his last stand at the site of Auschwitz; choosing to get get killed on that spot is clearly an act of personal expiation for the deep guilt March felt since he found out what happened to the Jews. Even though it is not a conventional happy end - which would have been absolutely the wrong ending for this particular book and theme - the ending did leave me with a kind of glowing feeling, not the depressed and bleak feeling you have at the end of "1984". Harris not only takes this ultimately optimistic view - he makes it very belivable and coinvincing. In this, he does more than write a good thriller and a convincing alternative history; it is also a very moral book which gives an uplifting message about human nature. By the way - though I did not anywhere read Harris stating it in so many words, I am sure he was inspired by the example of Spain, where the Fascist regime did survive after the war and into the mid-1970's, General Franco was able to grow old and live out his life as an all-powerful dictator - but still, after his death Spain reverted to democracy. I think it is quite plausible to assume that - even in the worst and most terrible scenario - the same would still have happened with Hitler and Germany.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing audiocassette
Review: It almost doesn't seem fair to rate this audiocassette in the same pool with the book. I'm sure, after reading a sampling of the reviews, that the book is MUCH better. Something is lost in the translation and abridgement for audiocassette. Sure, the interesting premise is still there as is the big secret. But the page turning suspense is lost in the process. That's what I get for being cheap and checking it out of the library - right?
Rating:
Summary: sparse but very good
Review: This is a very enjoyable, albeit highly disturbing spy thriller. There are enough twists and turns here to keep one reading into the night, and Harris is fully in control of this serpentine yet endlessly engaging narrative. Xavier March, the 'asocial,' is an exceedingly likeable hero. His ally, the American journalist Charlotte Maguire, is equally attractive. Their amusing banter and growing love for each other forms much of the heart and conscience of the story. What I truly admire about this book are the lack of fetishism with regards to SS behavior and paraphernalia, and the unthinkable, sickening probability of a victorious Third Reich. Thank God National Socialism in Germany was crushed.
Rating:
Summary: Thumbs up from a guy who doesn't read many novels
Review: There are already 70 some reviews of Fatherland, but I thought I'd give my two cents. I don't read many novels, I mostly read non-fiction, when I read at all. BUT, I really enjoyed this book. A German friend recommended it to me. I am interested WWII history, and have travelled all over Europe, so I found this "alternative history" novel quite interestsing. There are really two elements to this books. The actual story of a burned out Berlin police detective, which was good, but not especially fresh. But, it's the environment in which this story takes place that really gets you. Hitler won the war, and he rules most of Europe. Berlin is a glittering world capital, and of all things, Joseph P. Kennedy is the President of the US?? Oh well, it's all a good read, and you will not be bored with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting premises spoilt by inept & implausible plot
Review: Harris' work is deeply intriguing in the way a body totally infested with carcinoma FASCInates (no pun, this!) and fixates the human attention. What if Uncle Adolf won WWII? Harris obviously did his research, and offers the transfixed reader a rare vision of the Hitlerian society had Nazi Germany existed till 1964. But b-a-a-a-a-d plotting flawed this novel. No character acted with conviction in the story. Much better if Harris had expanded this rather thin novel into a Dune-size novel with proper character-development. Harris could not explain plausibly the motives of Nebe, the Head of the nazi police, in aiding Sturmbannfuhrer Marsh, the leading flatfoot in this futuro-nazi whodunnit. Perhaps he could have stirred in a plot by top Nazis to exploit the scandal of the Holocaust to stage a supremely cynical putsch against Hitler and install a more "acceptable" liberal/progressive band of leaders acceptable to the civilized world (eg USA) with which alliance Germany is trying to enlist against the much-reduced USSR. Lotsa lost opportunity here. Pity. Read it once to discover the promise that was not.
Rating:
Summary: Great alternative history book...
Review: I love World War 2 stuff...Actual, fictional, it doesn't matter. But in this book, the Germans have beaten England and are in a stalemate with Russia. The "Cold War" between the U.S. and Nazi Germany is about to end with the face-to-face meeting of President Kennedy (JFK's father) and Hitler...but what terrible secret could jeopardize it all? Outstanding! I could not put this book down and it got me right into reading other books by Robert Harris. I highly recommend to anyone that likes any of the following genres: alternative history, mystery, thriller. It will keep you up at night!
|
