The Kindly Ones

By: Jonathan Littell

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 39 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

"Oh my human brothers, let me tell you how it happened." So begins the chilling fictional memoir of Dr. Maximilien Aue, a former Nazi officer who has reinvented himself, many years after the war, as a middle-class family man and factory owner in France.

Max is an intellectual steeped in philosophy, literature, and classical music. He is also a cold-blooded assassin and the consummate bureaucrat. Through the eyes of this cultivated yet monstrous man, we experience in disturbingly precise detail the horrors of the Second World War and the Nazi genocide of the Jews.

During the period from June 1941 through April 1945, Max is posted to Poland, the Ukraine, and the Caucasus; he is present at the Battle of Stalingrad and at Auschwitz; and he lives through the chaos of the final days of the Nazi regime in Berlin.

Although Max is a totally imagined character, his world is peopled by real historical figures, such as Eichmann, Himmler, Göring, Speer, Heydrich, Höss, and Hitler himself.

A supreme historical epic and a haunting work of fiction, Jonathan Littell's masterpiece is intense, hallucinatory, and utterly original. Published to impressive critical acclaim in France in 2006, it went on to win the Prix Goncourt, that country's most prestigious literary award, and sparked a broad range of responses and questions from readers: How does fiction deal with the nature of human evil? How should a novel encompass the Holocaust? At what point do history and fiction come together and where do they separate?

©2009 Jonathan Littel (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

A Dance of Evil & Fugue of Plagues

"I live, I do what can be done, it's the same for everyone, I am a man like other men, I am a man like you. I tell you I am just like you!"

This is a hard book to review. It is like walking out of a David Lynch movie and feeling brain raped by the artist. How exactly to you attempt to explore the depths of Nazi Germany without feeling dark, abused, and sick afterwards? From conversations I've had with those who've hated this novel (and British critics I've read) there is far too much shit, incest, anal sex and death. Certainly. But how exactly do you descend into the depths of Nazi hell without pushing through gouts of madness, clumps of wickedness and wads of depravity? You don't.

Littell uses Obersturmbannführer Maximilien Aue (a "cultured", SS Zelig) to explore how an unrepentant rationalist, a bureaucrat, an intellectual could participate in, defend, and justify the extermination of a race. Aue doesn't wrestle any Jewish angels. No, he wrestles himself, his country, his ideology, his sanity. The slow decent of mad Max is a way for Littell to explore the absurd and tortured NAZI self-justifications for their actions.

Littell also uses Max to incriminate us all as a species. How close are we to those in Germany during WWII? We like to think we are better, more moral, kinder, respectable, innocent. Are we? Or are we simply blessed by chance because we don't find ourselves surrounded by madness, wickedness, and final solutions? Does circumstance and chance really make us better? Does the fact that we find ourselves, by fate's mad roll, distant from both victim AND victimizer give us any room to think we exist in a field that really separates us from the horrors of Germany (or Nigeria, or Sudan, or Afghanistan, or Somolia, or Serbia, or Cambodia, or Burma, or North Korea)?

Again, this is not a novel for the faint of heart (or my mother). It doesn't have a happy ending. Hell, it doesn't have a happy beginning, middle, or single clean signature. It is a cold book sewn together with sick corruptions, musical madness, and omnipresent death. It is a dance of evil, a fugue of plagues, a bile-filled nightmare on every page. Yes, I'm glad I read it, but I'm also sure as f#&k glad it is finished.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that J. Littell's dad is one of the greatest (not quite le Carre or Greene) spy novelists of the Cold War. If you haven't read any Robert Littell go and check him out if you think this tea is going to be too strong for you.

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I have, in the last three years, read almost a hundred books of fiction. I can quite easily list the three bodies of work which were the most enjoyable, instructive, and otherwise influential to me. In order they are: 1) the entire 21 book series of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin historic naval literature (probably the best series of books I have ever read), 2) the three books of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and the System of the World), each book being better than the previous one, and 3)
Gregory David Roberts novel, Shantaram.
Now I add a fourth; The Kindly Ones.

Intriguing portrayal of National Socialism

I read several reviews of this story and am glad I went with the audio version as it sounds like the written version can be daunting due to the format. The reader was excellent and definitely brought Max Aue to life. The historic detail in this tale is beyond incredible - minute attention to detail creates believable characters and scenes. I enjoyed the inclusion of famous individuals and thought this added to the overall appeal of the book. The only complaint is towards the end in cheaters 52 and 53 (?) where Max is alone at his sisters deserted house. These chapters added nothing to the story and if anything took away from what had transpired earlier . The detailed descriptions of being thought of as an ideal national socialist is a topic few have touched on and the author excels on this throughout the story.

Nazis, Defecation, and Incest - Oh My!

Disclaimer: I am a Holocaust and Genocide Studies PhD student.

I purchased this book because I thought it would be an interesting, fictional take on something that I have long been interested in and am currently studying. While the Holocaust portions of the book are extremely interesting. However, the amount of time spent fantasizing about sex with his sister, anal sex, and the various descriptions used for fecal matter completely leaves the listener questioning what the hell is wrong with Max. I hung in there until the last two and a half hours - the portion titled "Air" - it was the description of Max having anal sex with A FREAKING TREE IN THE WOODS that made me seek a refund.

Avoid this book unless you've got an incest or tree fetish.

Yuck!

A terrible book, unless you are overwhelmingly titillated by incest and homosexuality. It is a portrait of a marginal psychopath in the midst of WWII. There are important and interesting facts (like the concept of defining race in terms of language) that would be better presented in a non-fiction essay. The author does not prepare the reader for the long expositions that contain these important facts. In addition, there are LONG segements of dreams and/or hallucinations that do nothing except exemplify the twisted mind of the narrator – and not in an interesting way.

I made it to the third Audible part of the book and realized it was making me depressed.

I appreciate the idea of presenting a personal and fictionalized (intimate) account of how the atrocities of WWII could have taken place, but I kept wishing I was listening to a book written by Ken Follet.

In for the Long Run?

Any additional comments?

This book is in serious need of editing. While on topic, it successfully allows us into the mind of this distasteful character, but too much of the time we have to slog through prolonged, tedious pedantic dissertations on such topics as cultural anthropology and linguistics. It’s often like reading multiple esoteric doctoral theses. The author obviously possesses a high I. Q., researches indefatigably, and reveals an admirable erudition. But you better be committed if you purchase this novel--it’s a marathon.

disapointed

What three words best describe Grover Gardner’s performance?

Grover Gardner is always great, but I don't know how he made it through this book.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really. It seemed to be well researched with lots of military detail.

Any additional comments?

I am so disappointed that I wasted a credit on this book. It was broken into five parts and I only made it through the first two before I just gave up. I never do that and I only made it that far because I enjoy Grover Gardner's reading voice. It was seemingly pointless and boring. I usually love WWII, historical fiction, a little horror, etc. and hoped this would give a different perspective as well as historical details that are usually left out to spare people's feelings. I don't know what this was.

A boring sewer dump ---

My first review. Unless you like Nazi officer ranks verbalized in German, repeated descriptions of bodily functions and waste, and other revolting details, do not buy this book. I could not listen for more than the first hour.

Don't buy. Waste of time.

Would you try another book from Jonathan Littell and/or Grover Gardner?

No i would not.

What could Jonathan Littell have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not bore me with unessasary details.

How could the performance have been better?

The book could have been better.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

nope

Any additional comments?

This book was too long for no reason. I thought that it was going to be better but the going on and on about nothing was really bad.

Good Grief

Excellent book regarding the main character's war, could not finish it due to explicit serial content.