Look who's back by Timur Vermes

"Look who's back", debut novel of Timur Vermes, translated from German by Jamie Bulloch. This book is published by Maclehose press Quercus in Apr 2014 and has 352 pages.

This is a fiction with fantastical theme, an outrageous idea. What's the idea? Hitler wakes up ..... in 2011, in Berlin. He finds his country changed completely. Nobody recognizes or salutes him. Everyone thinks that he is an actor impersonating Hitler.

Hitler realizes that he woke up after more than 60 years and realizes that destiny has chosen him over everyone else because he is the only one capable of bringing the revolution single handedly. He keeps behaving like Hitler and other keep thinking that he is deliberately taking the impersonation to the limit. He is offered a TV show. Hitler takes it as an opportunity to mobilize support for the revolution that he is destined to bring. His first telecast goes viral on YouTube. The TV channel creates Hitler's webpage. That attracts millions of hits. He becomes a celebrity, loved and hated at the same time. Some see his racial insinuations as humor, some find it in poor taste, some are outraged and some are enamored.

Can Hitler bring another revolution? Will people take him seriously? Why did he come back?

The book is narrated by Adolf Hitler in first person. Author has depicted him as a self centered and pompous chap who thinks for the good of Volk, but HE decides what is good. Hitler's amusement at volk picking up the crap of their dogs, internet, computer, modern language etc is humorous.

When a man wakes up after more than half a century without knowing it, he is expected to be in denial mode for a longer duration and is expected not to accept reality easily. In this book Hitler comes out of denial mode and accepts reality within minutes of waking up. A bit strange! Author has also not explained why and how he wakes up after more than 60 years.

The book has flashes of brilliance. Hitler's interpretation of modern day world, behavior and reactions of modern people is too good. However some of the parts are boring like the one when Hitler surfs the TV channels or visits national party headquarters. The book becomes uninteresting on a number of occasions.

While reading this book I was always curious of how author would end it. When I reached the end, it appeared incomplete. The book should have been shorter by about 50-100 pages. Then it would have become more effective. A fantastic idea not executed equally well.

An OK book. Read it for a change.

The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman

"The Pianist" by Wladyslaw Szpilman. This book is published by Picador USA in 2000 and has 224 pages.

Wladyslaw Szpilman Worked as a Pianist on radio in Warsaw, Poland. This story is of the time when Hitler's Germany invaded Poland, the days of brutality and holocaust.

Occupying German forces forced the Jews, including the author to stay in ghetto, within Warsaw, for almost two years but his memory of the time is like a flash as if it happened in a single day. He can not identify the incidents date wise or in chronological order. Hence this section of the book is in the form of memoir but not written chronologically.

The story shows how the rights of Jews were first infringed, then restricted. How all the Jews were confined to a Ghetto within Warsaw - Poland. How Jews were sent to labor camps. How they were left to die. They took days to remove corpses that were left on pavements wrapped in paper (Their precious cloths taken off). Half a million people lived in ghetto that was for a hundred thousand.

Author lost all his loved ones. His father, mother, brother Henryk, sisters Regina & Halina were killed in has chamber. He did not even see their corpses. A number of his friends and acquaintances were brutally murdered.

Author lived under Nazi rule in Ghetto for about two years. Then he managed to escape from ghetto and lived in Warsaw in hiding for another four years. He was helped by non Jew Polish friends, other kind hearted Poles and even a German officer called Captain Wilm Hosenfeld. He came within a whisker of death a number of times and survived miraculously every time. It's a heart wrenching description.

Atrocities of German Gestapo: Shooting, labor camp, gas chamber, asking people to run and then chasing them in vehicle and shooting them down, throwing men from balconies to ground, killing for not saluting, for not getting out of the way and even for no reason at all. It is a story of horrendous killings and senseless waste of life. It shows naked picture of inhumane behavior of Nazi's.

The Jews lived in an atmosphere of constant fear and terror. Not knowing if they will be alive the next day and having seen the deaths of their near and dear ones. A huge uncertainty hung over them and they did not know whether to consider themselves lucky for being alive or unlucky for not having escaped suffering through death.

This memoire was written by the author. His daughter found it and published it. Although author was at the receiving end of gross injustice, his narration is unusually factual and dry. There is no emotion of revenge or hate. It appears as if he reached the limit of his sufferings. After the war was over he went on to compose a number of tunes for the radio and movies.

This book also contains extracts from diary of Captain Wilm Hosenfeld. This adds depth to the book. Length of this book is ideal. Longer and it would have been an overdose, shorter and it would have been curtailed.

A good book. If you have a strong heart, read it.