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.

The boy in the striped pyjamas by John Boyne.

Mandar's book review (24th March 2014)

Completed "The boy in the striped pyjamas" by John Boyne. This book has sold more than 5 million copies.

The story takes place in 1943. This book is the world of a nine year old boy called Bruno. Bruno lives in Berlin in a huge five storied house with his parents and an annoying elder sister.

One day Fury (Fuhrer or Hitler) comes to his house for dinner and his father is transferred to Outwith (Auschwitz - a Nazi concentration camp) as Commandant. He does not like the new place. He is intrigued by people wearing stripped pyjamas on the other side of fence near his house.

He meets a boy who lives on the other side of fence called Shmuel. They strike friendship, each remaining on his side of the fence, chatting with each other. He find out that Outwith is actually in Poland and not in Germany.

Can the friendship blossom? Would someone play spoilsport? Can they play together? Can they be on the same side of the fence?

Bruno doesn't understand why the waiter in their house was a doctor and is not a doctor any more? Why the soldiers treat the people from other side with contempt? Why he has to keep his friendship a secret? Why one of the lieutenant is transferred suddenly? Why Shmuel is always hungery?

There is no violence in the book but there is a strong undercurrent of something sinister. The atrocities on and deaths of Holocaust victims appear to be downplayed deliberately in order to keep the  focus on Bruno's world.

Small Bruno doesn't understand world politics. He does not understand that his father runs a concentration camp. He always thinks of him as a hero. He doesn't understand why mother and father talk in raised voices. Why grand mother is ashamed of his father, her son.

The book leaves a big pit in your stomach at the end.

It's a good book and is only 256 pages long. Recommend reading.

The tenth unknown by Jvalant Nalin Sampat.

"The tenth unknown", a debut novel by Jvalant Nalin Sampat. This is a historical fiction.

Samrat Ashok discovers 9 books in royal library. These books  contains secrets about warfare that includes propaganda, weaponery, rocketery, aeroplanes, space travel, communication without using a messenger etc. He entrusts 9 individuals to hide the books, in 232 BC,  and pass on the responsibility to next generations because of the importance of information and to prevent it from falling in wrong hands. He also makes them promise that their loyalty will be only to humanity and not to any king or kingdom. He calls them the 9 unknowns.

It's 1938, Hitler's Nazi forces accidentally unearth the first book and using its contents Hitler garners public opinion of the nation in favor for war. Now he wants remaining books from British India. British come to know this and want the books for themselves.

The clue to location of next book is to be found near the previous book, hence the books can only be found in sequence. The present day 9 unknowns come to know of the German and British interest and decide to find the books before them. The onus is on young Prithvi Rathore, a rich care free and intelligent man, whose grand father is the head of 9 unknowns.

The chase begins all over the world. The books are located in various parts where Hindu or Buddhist religion had reached. Will Prithvi get the books? Can he match the might of British and Nazi empires? How long does it take? Does this impact the outcome of world war? Who is the 10th unknown?

The book shows that Americans get hold of two books and that enables them to manufacture atom bomb and send man on moon. Fascinating idea, isn't it?

Although the story takes place few years before independence, the author has not used period language. He has used modern language of today in a story of yesteryears. I think by doing this author has missed a great opportunity to create the impact and atmosphere of that time.

The book takes the readers on a roller coaster ride. The backdrop of world war is used intelligently. Some of the real incidents and characters are used to supplement the fiction very well.

Rather than publishing this as a pocket book, Niyogi Books (the publisher) has used large page size, good font and adequate spacing to make the reading experience better.

The author refrains from specifying what happens to the recovered books at the end and how they were hidden again. This may be a seed for a sequel.

A good book. Recommend reading for a change.