Scan barcode
emilyb_chicago's review against another edition
1.0
This is the story of Hitler's Niece as an excuse to look at the early life of Hitler. It shows a really scary image of Hitler and a twisted story.
emilcha's review against another edition
1.0
I admit I only read the first 5 pages, but the writing was just not good enough to continue. I am committed to only reading/finishing books I enjoy this year. This is a big step. I just could not put myself through this, and I really don't suggest anyone over the age of 14 enters into this.
katscribefever's review against another edition
4.0
This novel is unnerving. It is every bit as horrifying as one would expect from a book about the Führer, but did surprise me in one way: I have seen countless discussions over the years of the importance of remembering that, when it came to those close to him, he was merely a beloved friend or relative. However, quotes included in this novel, which were taken from real accounts of people who were among those closest to him, make clear that (even as they were defending his nationalist extremism) they were intimidated by his wrath due to the power he held. He created that crippling fear and then exploited it, in every manner he could conceive, from enormous political decisions to the small trivialities of his personal life. A haunting but necessary reminder of the dangers that power can produce.
meiko's review against another edition
3.0
At the start of the book, I couldn't quite get into it. Then I found out this is the same author that wrote The assassination if Jesse James by the coward wotshisname, and I thought, shoot, another book I'd probably never finish...(i never did finish that movie, really not my cup of tea...didn't even touch that book).
The writing is fluent, the words he chose to use in German was not. Maybe it's to contribute exotic feelings, but (and I was born in Germany and lived there for 8 years, so technically it's my mother tongue and homeland) c'mon, what was ever exotic about Germany?
I spoke that language daily for the first 8 years of my life yet I found the ones inserted showy, most of them were unnecessary, and it made an already very history text book like novel even harder to swallow.
It does get better, like 30-40% in. I was constantly distracted by other novels and have finished two in the meantime, so was forcing myself to read on. After I broke that 35% barrier it did get a lot easier, maybe because it started focusing on Geli more.
Geli is, and will remain a mystery. Hitler has always been a subject that the Germans and Austrian allike would never try to mention willingly, that bit of history erased from their memory unless you actually go to historical sites. I heard things have changed in recent years, but you could never expect a person to lift his own scabs and reveal his wounds, that's just too cruel. Hitler mentioned by every other country seems to be less of a human being and more of a monster. As in this book.
Half way through reading, I looked up these people online. I found a photo of Geli, the one mentioned in the book. I also found photos of Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress and wife for less than 24 hrs. They seemed strikingly similar.
I'm a soppy person, so I have to admit that towards the end of Geli I shed some tears. Not because she seemed unhappy, that happens way too often. But because she seemed trapped. Whether it was as the book says or trapped by love though, I have no idea.
It's not a bad read, just not as enthralling as I expected the topic to be.
The writing is fluent, the words he chose to use in German was not. Maybe it's to contribute exotic feelings, but (and I was born in Germany and lived there for 8 years, so technically it's my mother tongue and homeland) c'mon, what was ever exotic about Germany?
I spoke that language daily for the first 8 years of my life yet I found the ones inserted showy, most of them were unnecessary, and it made an already very history text book like novel even harder to swallow.
It does get better, like 30-40% in. I was constantly distracted by other novels and have finished two in the meantime, so was forcing myself to read on. After I broke that 35% barrier it did get a lot easier, maybe because it started focusing on Geli more.
Geli is, and will remain a mystery. Hitler has always been a subject that the Germans and Austrian allike would never try to mention willingly, that bit of history erased from their memory unless you actually go to historical sites. I heard things have changed in recent years, but you could never expect a person to lift his own scabs and reveal his wounds, that's just too cruel. Hitler mentioned by every other country seems to be less of a human being and more of a monster. As in this book.
Half way through reading, I looked up these people online. I found a photo of Geli, the one mentioned in the book. I also found photos of Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress and wife for less than 24 hrs. They seemed strikingly similar.
I'm a soppy person, so I have to admit that towards the end of Geli I shed some tears. Not because she seemed unhappy, that happens way too often. But because she seemed trapped. Whether it was as the book says or trapped by love though, I have no idea.
It's not a bad read, just not as enthralling as I expected the topic to be.
skyring's review against another edition
3.0
I was a bit unsure about this book to begin with. I missed the fact that it was a novel and a few pages in I began to marvel at the writer's incredible sources, who apparently recorded conversations verbatim, even when Hitler was a young man.
Fiction, but based on a true story, and very credible.
Firstly, we get to see Hitler the young man. I read the book written by his friend in Vienna many years ago, and I can recognise the would-be artist, starving every time he went to the opera and wondering around the Ring.
As he develops and finds his niche as the fiery leader of a radical group, we learn about his comrades, his relatives, his underlings, his rich friends and his adoring fans. And his odd habits. Any photographs that showed him in an unflattering light were destroyed, the negatives personally smashed with a hammer.
His obsessions grow, and begin to impact on those around him, who find their lives fettered or changed.
Not least his young niece, gradually drawn into the web. Her thoughts, her freedoms, her body, revealed to the reader, and her fixated uncle.
Yes, they become intimate, and yes, she dies in the end, so much we know from the historical record, but along the way there are surprising twists and keen insights into what it must have been like in the close circle of this strange man.
I don't like to say that anybody is good or bad, and with Hitler it is certainly a struggle to find goodness, but perhaps the best thing to say of him is that he was driven by love - a perverted love, but he meant the best even if it was never going to work out that way.
I found this book a little difficult in places, but on the whole I enjoyed it for its close look at a significant figure. The reader may not crawl away refreshed and uplifted, but certainly better informed. Even if it is just a novel.
Fiction, but based on a true story, and very credible.
Firstly, we get to see Hitler the young man. I read the book written by his friend in Vienna many years ago, and I can recognise the would-be artist, starving every time he went to the opera and wondering around the Ring.
As he develops and finds his niche as the fiery leader of a radical group, we learn about his comrades, his relatives, his underlings, his rich friends and his adoring fans. And his odd habits. Any photographs that showed him in an unflattering light were destroyed, the negatives personally smashed with a hammer.
His obsessions grow, and begin to impact on those around him, who find their lives fettered or changed.
Not least his young niece, gradually drawn into the web. Her thoughts, her freedoms, her body, revealed to the reader, and her fixated uncle.
Yes, they become intimate, and yes, she dies in the end, so much we know from the historical record, but along the way there are surprising twists and keen insights into what it must have been like in the close circle of this strange man.
I don't like to say that anybody is good or bad, and with Hitler it is certainly a struggle to find goodness, but perhaps the best thing to say of him is that he was driven by love - a perverted love, but he meant the best even if it was never going to work out that way.
I found this book a little difficult in places, but on the whole I enjoyed it for its close look at a significant figure. The reader may not crawl away refreshed and uplifted, but certainly better informed. Even if it is just a novel.
suannelaqueur's review against another edition
2.0
I was a little disappointed in the book. The thought of Hitler being intimately involved with anyone is grotesque in of itself, but I thought maybe good writing could overcome the subject matter. It didn't. There was a lack of tension. It was as if the author couldn't decide if he was writing historical opinion or historical fiction. So it went between being overly distanced or overly maudlin. It was thoroughly okay.
toniobarton's review against another edition
3.0
Tries to explain weird relationship of HIlter and his niece and other woman. Shows some of Hitler's personality and society and culture of the time.
carolynmarie89's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful book, even though it was pure fiction. I mean, I'm sure some of it was true, but a great deal took advantage of literary license. Hitler was one messed up guy in this book, it made me really sad to think that there really are people out there like that.