Comments on: “The Worst Book I Have Read in the Past Three Years”

By: Helena C

Helena C — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:06:50 +0000

I’ve been reading the Kindly Ones, and I can’t say I have a great knowledge of the Holocaust (I’m a highschool student) and I’m just taking the book as it is (a work of fiction); not being quite so history-savvy I’m finding it to be a very good character study, and generally, a pretty interesting story.

I haven’t got a problem with the narrater, he’s obviously romanticized (or the opposite, in this case), but he’s an interesting person, so I’m not adverse to hearing his side of things.

Anyway, even if you did not enjoy the book, you have to admit, it’s extremely well-written.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:46:46 +0000

Wow. You my friend are a total hack. Put down the thesaurus and say something.

By: harold borges

harold borges — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:09:24 +0000

Someone needs to give Mouschi his dinner.

By: Dan Wickett

Dan Wickett — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:43:19 +0000

I’d guess the answer to David’s question is a thin novel by a Canadian author he read for the LBC.

By: Steven Augustine

Steven Augustine — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:42:43 +0000

In the review you link to we find:

“Littell repeatedly shows how the Nazis are, in essence, fooling themselves — most obviously when Himmler tells Aue:

I’m beginning to know you. You have your faults: you are, excuse me for saying so, stubborn and sometimes pedantic. But I don’t see the slightest trace of a moral defect in you.

Aue is, of course, a walking moral defect — specifically in the way Himmler means it (most notably — but certainly not solely — as a homosexual who has also slept with his sister !).”

So, having *Heinrich Himmler* say to a deeply depraved character, “I don’t see the slightest trace of a moral defect in you” is the sort of joke the reviewer doesn’t get, then.

By: David

David — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:55:48 +0000

What did you read three years ago that rivaled The Kindly Ones in badness?

Do tell!

By: markcen

markcen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:06:27 +0000

900 page Holocaust novel translated from the French. Based on those three things, I wouldn’t read it. I do, however, have ADD. And I’m patriotic. Patriotic in that I hate the French openly and secretly hate all the Jews. I’ve seen Schindler’s List, though. It was OK.

By: Your #1 Fan

Your #1 Fan — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:54:49 +0000

Ed, you have a very pleasant, deep, rich, resonant, dulcet voice. You ever thought of working in radio?

By: JF Quackenbush

JF Quackenbush — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:30:38 +0000

good review, i thought this might be the book. i quite liked the review in the new republic as well because it answered the question of what Aue is supposed to represent that a lot of the reviews i’d read had missed and had occurred to me as a possible saving grace. turns out it’s not the case: http://www.tnr.com/story_print.html?id=cdf618b2-f36b-49e0-a8e1-bd6bcae5f5e2

By: Dennis Bell

Dennis Bell — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:49:07 +0000

The narrator is a “doctorate of law” who is “recused from rumination”? What book were you reading? The novel seems to me to be an honest attempt to understand why cultured people (whether germans, cambodians, sudanese, american) do despicable things in wartime. The question of how otherwise reasonable individuals rationalized genocide is pertinent.

By: Arthur Durkee

Arthur Durkee — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:54:44 +0000

I saw the video. It was one of the better moments in lit crit I’ve encountered in a long time. A kind of honest sheer gut reaction one doesn’t get, because even if the reviewer had this reaction they’re rarely so blunt in their actual written reviews.

So I had wondered what book your video had been about. Now I know. It confirms my intuition, when browsing some time ago in Borders, to steer clear of that one.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:27:35 +0000

You’ve totally convinced me to pick this up.

Really. What would you rather read: something mediocre-to-good, or something so shit-your-pants bad it caused a relatively knowledgeable palate to recoil in horror?

I fully expect your assessment of this thing to be accurate, but honestly, if I was the author of this book, I’d put this stuff in the press kit right beside whatever positive copy I managed to cadge out of my immediate relatives and whoever I was schtupping.

Thanks for the tip.

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:41:47 +0000

I think I’m going to have to read this one, though I usually abjure books receiving a lot of attention till all the fuss has died down. I’m fascinated by the differences of opinion, especially because I thought Daniel Mendelsohn wrote a very insightful review:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22452

By: Chris Robbins

Chris Robbins — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 20:23:17 +0000

that was truly a riveting video. I hope it goes viral and leads to a Nickelodeon sitcom starring you and the kid who played urkel.

Honestly though, it was great to put a video with the voice.