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John Anthony's Reviews > Memoirs of an Anti-Semite
Memoirs of an Anti-Semite
by
by
3.5*?
I liked the way this was structured – a novel in 5 stories, although the last “story” was devoid of dialogue and meant I had to concentrate extra hard on this concluding part of the novel. Here, however, was some of the finest writing in the novel:
“She (a Russian nonagenarian) presented him with the colourful plunder of her memories, with which he could then garnish his own memories more vividly, like someone adding an imaginative touch to his home with objects purchased at the flea market”.
The novel spans the narrator's life – it is his loosely written autobiography. Born in 1919 and set principally in the lands of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, typically Austria, Roumania, latterly Italy and some to-ing and fro-ing Third Reich-wards.
As the title suggests the Jewish question is the predominant theme throughout. The anti-semitism is matter of fact and deeply ingrained and seems, quite natural here. Hitler merely had to rant at the already converted. This, I feel, makes it an historically important novel (first published 1969 I think) though I can't say I exactly enjoyed it. The narrator Gregor/Arnulf (6 or more given forenames so he could be as schizoid as he wished!) is very hard to like, for me at any rate..
Recommended to anyone interested in this period of European History and in particular as background reading to the Jewish Question and the “Final Solution”. Very interesting in that regard and an important commentary.
I liked the way this was structured – a novel in 5 stories, although the last “story” was devoid of dialogue and meant I had to concentrate extra hard on this concluding part of the novel. Here, however, was some of the finest writing in the novel:
“She (a Russian nonagenarian) presented him with the colourful plunder of her memories, with which he could then garnish his own memories more vividly, like someone adding an imaginative touch to his home with objects purchased at the flea market”.
The novel spans the narrator's life – it is his loosely written autobiography. Born in 1919 and set principally in the lands of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, typically Austria, Roumania, latterly Italy and some to-ing and fro-ing Third Reich-wards.
As the title suggests the Jewish question is the predominant theme throughout. The anti-semitism is matter of fact and deeply ingrained and seems, quite natural here. Hitler merely had to rant at the already converted. This, I feel, makes it an historically important novel (first published 1969 I think) though I can't say I exactly enjoyed it. The narrator Gregor/Arnulf (6 or more given forenames so he could be as schizoid as he wished!) is very hard to like, for me at any rate..
Recommended to anyone interested in this period of European History and in particular as background reading to the Jewish Question and the “Final Solution”. Very interesting in that regard and an important commentary.
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