The Director

De: Daniel Kehlmann

Narrado por: Nicholas Boulton

A New York Times Notable Book • An NYPL Best Book of 2025 • A Washington Post Notable Book

A Late Show with Stephen Colbert Book Club Pick

“Nothing short of brilliant.” —The Wall Street Journal

From “a surpassingly gifted storyteller” (The New York Times), a visionary novel inspired by the life of film director G.W. Pabst, who fled to Hollywood to resist the Nazis only to return to his homeland to create propaganda films for the German Reich.

An artist’s life, a pact with the devil, and the dangerous illusions of the silver screen.

G.W. Pabst, one of cinema’s greatest directors of the 20th century, was filming in France when the Nazis seized power. To escape the horrors of the new and unrecognizable Germany, he fled to Hollywood. But now, under the blinding California sun, the world-famous director suddenly looks like a nobody. Not even Greta Garbo, the Hollywood actress whom he made famous, can help him.

When he receives word that his elderly mother is ill, he finds himself back in his homeland of Austria, which is now called Ostmark. Pabst, his wife, and his young son are suddenly confronted with the barbaric nature of the regime. So, when Joseph Goebbels—the minister of propaganda in Berlin—sees the potential for using the European film icon for his directorial genius and makes big promises to Pabst and his family, Pabst must consider Goebbels’s thinly veiled order. While Pabst still believes that he will be able to resist these advances, that he will not submit to any dictatorship other than art, he has already taken the first steps into a hopeless entanglement.

Kehlmann’s latest oeuvre explores the complicated relationships and distinctions between art and power, beauty and barbarism, cog and conspirator.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"The impact of this powerful novel is heightened by Golden Voice narrator Nicholas Boulton’s keen understanding of its author’s purposes. Kehlmann’s episodic multi-perspective imagining of the wartime career of Austrian director G.W. Pabst is technically a satire, but it registers as more of a horror story. Pabst, a leading European director, discovers Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks. But when he immigrates to Hollywood, he is misused and rejected. Returning to Vienna just as war breaks out, Pabst and his family become trapped, and are menaced by a succession of well-rendered Nazi zealots and toadies. Captured most memorably is Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, a monster of dominance and self-regard. This is not a narrative for lengthy or casual listening—or one easily forgotten."

Absolutely Superb Novel and Performance

This is a wonderful novel that is superbly performed. The translation is outstanding. A fascinating reimagining of the life and times of
the film director W G Pabst and his family, friends, and colleagues from the 1930s through World War II and beyond. Absolutely unforgettable. After reading this book, I must now go watch his films and I am also fascinated with the life of the actress Louise Brooks.

An excellent and atmospheric portrayal of the arts in an authoritarian regime

The writing was excellent even though time shifted from the late 20s and 30s to the present day. It was easier to follow.

The sharpness of the story, utterly convincing characters, and the moral focus

The timeless questions raised and pursued. The sharpness of the story, utterly convincing characters, and the moral focus of the plot.

The relentlessness of fascism, and how it seeps into the soul with barely any resistance.

This is a terrific book, very well narrated. Standouts are the dark humor, the internal dialogues, the filming of the theater scene, which was shocking. The chapter where Goebbels dominates him with his raw power, and Pabst’s astounding acceptance without any resistance. The old Hollywood chapters are also memorable, as well as the film scene with Leni Riefenstahl. The chapters featuring his son are heartbreaking. This would make an interesting movie. Some parts remind me slightly of The Shadow of the Vampire, in the Directors single minded pursuit in completion of a movie.

Slow and boring

I kept waiting for the story to get meaty all the way to the end. It didn’t come. Whose recommendation was this?

Excellent

Good literature and an excellent story are still being written. This is both with narration this brilliant work deserves!!

Wow

This story will stay with me for a long time. There's so much to think about. The events were awful, but the writing was flat and unemotional and wonderfully descriptive and spellbinding. I listened to it twice, each time almost in one sitting. The second time it made more sense because of the way the story is told.

The narration was also very good.

Highly recommended.

the drama in the first of war

character development key quality, in the risk undertaken in the quest for excellence in a challenging milieu

Wanted so much more.

I love history but this story was not for me. Except for a few parts it dragged.