Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Jugend ohne Gott

A few years ago, I listened to an audiobook version of Youth without God, and this is my first re-read since then. To be honest, I had better memories of this novel, but the message is relevant more than ever and was especially brave for the time it was published. Like always, I struggle a bit with writing reviews for classical books, but I tried my best.

The main character of this novel is the nameless teacher who’s sure that the youth aka the class that he’s teaching is corrupted. His more liberal world view clashes with the authoritarian way the students should be taught so that they’re ready to go to war when the country wants them to (by the way, when von Horváth wrote about the World War, it made me realize that he never experienced the Second World War and hence will never know about it which left me with a weird feeling). I really liked this anti-war and anti-authoritarian message, and there are other interesting motifs in this novel, like the one about the fish, but I was honestly too tired to interpret them more lmao.

There’s not much to say about the plot itself, but I forgot most of it and fully believed that

the teacher would be wrongly accused of the murder which made me a bit nervous, but this didn’t happen. Instead, he realizes that the youth is not as bad as he thinks which was such a nice moment. The ending itself was okay, I guess, even though I find it a bit unsatisfying that T killed himself since I would’ve loved to see a confrontation with him and the teacher

What I can say positively about this novel is that it’s quick to read since the language is not too complicated. Some passages had a stream of consciousness vibe to them which I really enjoyed. Of course, this book is almost hundred years old and very different values were considered normal back then, but the bad depiction of women still annoyed me, and the fact that the teacher apparently falls in love with an underage girl, I think, and that he watches her and one of his students having sex which was just disgusting.

But we also need to talk about the elephant in the room: the extensive use of the N-word. As a white person, it’s obviously not my place to talk about this, so I leave it with this: I definitely think that the word could be exchanged with a less offensive one and the messaging would still be as strong. Some will complain that this is censoring, but I don’t think that basic respect is censoring – but like I’ve said, it’s not my place to discuss this topic.

So, I’m left with an ambivalent opinion of Youth without God. Its messaging is great but the rest not so much. The teacher isn’t a likable character (I think he’s not supposed to, but still), and some of it aged very poorly, to put it nicely.

Content Warnings

sas_ram's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I'm not sure what I expected but for sure not this. I have to admit that the title kept me away for awhile but oh boy I was surprised.
It's safe to say this book isn't for everyone. But fans of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 will enjoy this.
It's a lesser known classic in compairison to the books of the big names (Goethe, Schiller, Hesse...).
This book dives into a world where the individual is not important, this is taken literally because the characters in this system are labled by letters and their profession rather than names. The characters that step out of the system bear actual names.
It was really fascinating especially considering it was written in the early years of the Nazi regime.
And honestly books like this are timeless and always tell us something relevant, give us something to think about.
Now to end this review my favourite quote (in german):

"Wenn kein Charakter mehr geduldet wird, sondern nur der Gehorsam, geht die Wahrheit und die Lüge kommt. Die Lüge, die Mutter aller Sünden."

A rough translation :
"When character/personality is no longer tolerated, only obedience, truth goes and lie comes. The lie, the mother of all sins."

Content Warnings

josina's review against another edition

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challenging reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

Content Warnings

sunriseat0519's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

+ Ergreifender Einblick in die Beeinflussung Jugendlicher vom NS-Regime
+ Intensive Auseinandersetzung mit der Frage nach Wahrheit und Wirklichkeit
+ Erschreckendes Bild der Fähigkeiten manipulierter Jugendlicher
+ Angenehm schnell zu lesen u.A. aufgrund der flüssigen Sprache
- Seltsam pädophile Gedanken des Lehrers
- Obsessive Verwendung des N-Wortes (historischer Kontext, Veröffentlichung des Romans im Jahr 1937)

Content Warnings

marleen02's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense

4.0

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natthahlyh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

paulines_reading_journal's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

sherbertwells's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A country schoolteacher witnesses the rise of fascism through the disturbed consciences of his students. The chilling and contemplative grandfather of The Secret History, with a translation that only slightly misuses racial slurs.

“On the last day of our camp came God. His coming did not take me by surprise” (89)

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