Fatherland

Rating:
Summary: Read this book.....Now
Review: "Fatherland' is stylish, disturbing, and depraved. It is a masterpiece of noir fiction.

The plot is an historical "What if." What if Germany won the war? What if Joseph Kennedy became President, not JFK? What if the world never found out about the Jewish exterminations that took place at German concentration camps? All scary prospects to be sure; but Harris does a fine job with the story and details, and truly makes the reader feel that, not only is it plausible, but could have very easily happened.

The first part of the book is a murder/conspiracy mystery, and then when the mystery is solved, the second half hinges on suspense. While reading 'Fatherland", I could not help but feel like I was reading an important piece of fiction. That may not have been the case, but I am sure that I was reading one of the finest alternative histories ever written or imagined.

If you like historical fiction, or if WW2 fiction interests you, then do not miss this fine novel.

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: A compelling reading of a well thought-out mystery
Review: The audio cassette reading of this abridgement of _Fatherland_ is read by two-time Emmy Award-winning Werner Klemperer (who won twice for his portrayal of Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the former Television show, "Hogan's Heroes.") His fluency with the German language makes one feel as is one is in the middle of Germany right along side the detective Xavier March, the main character of the story.

I thought that perhaps the alternate history component of the novel--namely, that Germany won World War II--would be a larger part of the story; however, the murder mystery actually has its origins in the 1930s, during the rise to power of Hitler. As March uncovers clues spanning three decades--the action takes place in the mid 1960s--one feels linked not only to the story itself, but the days of a horrible past gone by.

One such clue is a series of diary entries by a visitor to one of the concentration camps the Germany ran to destroy the Jews. The reading of the diary sneaks up on the listener and suddenly the listener is aware that this novel isn't just fiction, but contains a chilling historical account of the life and death of the victims of the Jewish Holocaust by Nazi Germany.

Toward the end of the novel one genuinely wants Marsh and his investigative reporting American ally to succeed in their efforts to uncover the conspiracy and bring the truth to the world. If they succeed it would bring this alternate history closer to reality--in that the real world knows what actually happened to the Jews, that they had not just "disappeared" as this alternate world believes.

The running time of this audio abridgement is three hours. I wish it had run longer as I was hooked into the plot and characters by the novel's end.

I highly recommended this story, but for mature listeners only. This story contains foul language (in English and German!), as well as graphic descriptions of violence and death.