A review by silvej01
The Death of the Adversary by Hans Keilson

3.0

This short novel grows in its strength and power. Its subject is the emergence of Nazism as experienced by the nameless narrator who recounts his antipathy for his “adversary” – Hitler – beginning in his early childhood in the late 1920s and 30s. First published in the 1950s in the original German, Keilson was a German-Jew who hid out in the Netherlands following the Nazi ascendency and became active in the resistance. As the narrator grows into young adulthood, so of course does Germany come under Nazi rule. The narrator is trying (without success) to write cryptically about who exactly he is (a Jew). Similarly, he refrains from naming his great adversary – referred to as “B” – nor does he ever name the Nazi party. While his family – his father in particular – is keenly aware from early on of the terrible threat arising, the narrator also describes his discovery that many of his initial friends, associates, and potential girlfriends (who often don’t know that he is Jewish) are in fact adherents to B and his party.

I believe I might have enjoyed it more had Francine Prose not written:
“The Death of the Adversary and Comedy in a Minor Key are masterpieces, and Hans Keilson is a genius…. Read these books and join me in adding him to the list, which each of us must compose on our own, of the world’s very greatest writers.”

So, here is a yet another example of the disappointment that can come with very high expectations. While Keilson will not be on my own list of the world’s greatest writers, I’m nevertheless glad to have read this book. Without Prose’s endorsement, I probably would not have been aware of it at all (along with Keilson’s Comedy in a Minor Key,” which I liked more).