Ray's Reviews > Little Man, What Now?

Set in Germany in the great depression of the 1930s, this is a simple yet effective story. It involves the trials and tribulations of a couple setting up a life together and starting a family at a time of great hardship. It features the dreary monotony of the constant struggle to try and make ends meet, and the slow inexorable slide to penury. It all sounds very depressing, and yet at the same time there is a nobleness of spirit and a determination not to give up which I found very moving.

The sheer hopelessness of the situation, with wages at very low levels and 42% unemployment, was daunting yet somehow the couple get by. We also see cameos by assorted relatives and colleagues that add colour and spice to the mix. The author uses these to provide light relief, showing us a cross section of Weimar society - a drunken carpenter, a naturalist menswear salesman "suits you sir", a Nazi work colleague and an accommodating mother in law who may just be a Madam.

There is a role reversal through the course of the the book as the husband becomes progressively disillusioned whereas his wife shows her mettle as she slowly metamorphoses into the main breadwinner. By the end of the book the couple have reached a sort of precarious equilibrium, just about managing, and it even ends on a positive note as it looks as if the wife has worked out how to increase their meagre income a little.

In the background there are ominous undertones as a certain monotesticular Austrian corporal is on the march.

The tone of the book is light - even comic at times - despite its bleak subject matter, and it has a really contemporary feel for a book that was written eighty years ago. I enjoyed reading it and I can certainly see why it was a hit pre war.