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HHhH

by Laurent Binet, Sam Taylor (Translation)

4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 · rating details · 3,214 ratings · 649 reviews

HHhH: “Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich”, or “Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich”. The most dangerous man in Hitler’s cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich was known as the “Butcher of Prague.” He was feared by all and loathed by most. With his cold Aryan features and implacable cruelty, Heydrich seemed indestructible—until two men, a Slovak and a Czech recruited by the British secret s...more

Hardcover, 330 pages

Published April 24th 2012 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux (first published 2010)

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Oct 08, 2012 Veeral rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: faschismus, world-war-ii, favorites, favorites-of-2012

Let me tell you a story. A true story. A story that you might know, but only in the passing.

This story took place in World War – II. To be exact, it was a mission. No, not a mission. Destiny, rather, of our heroes. Amongst numerous missions that were carried out in the War, this one should rank within the top 10 most important ones, in my opinion (And I have read about all the major ones).

So, let me tell you about this book.

Laurent Binet, the author, has named it HHhH.

What does "HHhH" mean?

It m...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Dergrossest rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have had my fill of books about Nazis, but this clever little title was irresistible. And thank heaven it was since this story about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich is absolutely brilliant. It was sort of a travelogue-type history in the manner of Tony Horowitz, although most of the travel in this book is through the author’s mind as he ruminates on the nature of historical biographies in general, wrestles with self-doubt as to whether he is up to the task of writing something original...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Elaine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

First, I wrestled with a considerable amount of guilt for reading this in English. I could at have read this in French, but it would have been much longer and harder. I know enough about translation to be uncertain of how closely what I read resembled the original. But in the end, it was better to have read this than to have missed this because of my own stupid pride about works in translation. (This sort of personal interjection is actually rather influenced by the style of the book).

Second, th...more First, I wrestled with a considerable amount of guilt for reading this in English. I could at have read this in French, but it would have been much longer and harder. I know enough about translation to be uncertain of how closely what I read resembled the original. But in the end, it was better to have read this than to have missed this because of my own stupid pride about works in translation. (This sort of personal interjection is actually rather influenced by the style of the book).

Second, the interplay between first person narrative about writing this book (and Binet's commenting about what he has written) with the historical story takes some getting used to. I found the beginning disjointed and perhaps overly intellectualized.

In the end, though, I found the commentary intensely thought provoking (especially the explicit dialogue with books I have read,e.g., Europe Central, or think I should read, e.g., Les Bienveillantes/The Kindly Ones (by my college friend Jonathan, which I have not read partly from laziness and more from envy, but which I think Binet has convinced me I need to read)). And the story is unmeasurably compelling, once you (and Binet and the book), give in to the flow of history and narrative and heroism. I have read countless books about the Holocaust and WWII, but Binet's succint prose -- whose disarming directness is all the better at conveying tragedy -- brings some of the horrors freshly home.

The main episode he recounts -- the amazingly heroic assasination of Reinhard Heydrich and the aftermath, both good and bad -- was relatively new to me. And there is something healing and redemptive about reading about such human bravery and goodness in the face of utter evil. Especially, as Binet is at pains to recount, the heroism of the countless people who helped the Czech Resistance at ultimate cost to themselves. In the final chapters, Binet lets go of his post-modern self-consciousness and gives in to the force of the story he's telling and the characters (in spite of himself) that he's created, and the result is a moving and worthy tribute to the men and women he says he's trying to thank with this book. For me, ordinary people like Aunt Moravec, real people, who chose to do the right thing day in and day out at immesurable personal cost and who died with honor fighting against evil, are what allow us to go on believing in humanity. Binet, with his post-modern hang ups and reservations, gives us a particularly honest and relatable entree into that world.

Compelling and worth reading.(less)

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Feb 02, 2013 Dem rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub-reads, recommended, war

Jan Book Club Read. 4.5 Stars

HHhH by Laurent Binet is a novel filled with historically correct facts and traces the planning, execution and aftermath of Operation Anthropoid, the resistance’s successful plot to assassinate Heydrich in Prague. The two heroes of the novel are Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis, two amazingly brave assassins, but the main character of this novel is the “Butcher of Prague “ Reinhard Heydrich”.
“All the characters in this book are real and all events depicted are true whic...more
Jan Book Club Read. 4.5 Stars

HHhH by Laurent Binet is a novel filled with historically correct facts and traces the planning, execution and aftermath of Operation Anthropoid, the resistance’s successful plot to assassinate Heydrich in Prague. The two heroes of the novel are Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis, two amazingly brave assassins, but the main character of this novel is the “Butcher of Prague “ Reinhard Heydrich”.
“All the characters in this book are real and all events depicted are true which makes this novel such a compelling read.

I love historical fiction but now and again I like to read a book like this which is so thorough in its historical facts that I am not actually having to check did that actually happen, is it fact or fiction. So for me that was a great book. I had never heard of the horrifying happenings in the town called Lidice and while I had read a lot of books on the Holocaust I had never read about this and it really made me so sad that a town was wiped out so brutally in the name of a Butcher.

While reading this book you become aware of the authors obsession with the story. Binet is desperately aware of the recurring thought that he won’t do justice to the heroism of Gabcik and Kubis, just two men in a vast resistance that stood up to the horrors of Nazism. What must it have took for two men to put themselves in this position and to know what would face them. I think Binet captures this time and events in history very well.
The book is marketed as a novel and much of it has a novelistic style, even though it is dealing with historic figures and events,

The author is obsessively concerned with the challenges of fictionalising a real life narrative and constantly writes about his anguish over whether he should or should not invent situations or dialogue to enhance the story. Throughout the first half of the novel I really wanted him to stop this distracting practice of analyzing his thoughts but I soon got used to his style of writing and his thoughts and while I found that it a little distracting in the first half of the novel it did slightly lighten what could have been a very heavy novel. I also think that the author felt that his personal telling of this anguish with writing the story would appeal to people who might not perhaps read the book otherwise.(Just a thought).It certainly does not take away from the story as the end of this book really will stay with you for a very long time.

This is a book which I would recommend to readers who have an interest in history and World War Two, and want to learn more about Operation Anthropoid and Reinhard Heydrich.

(less)

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Jul 10, 2012 Hadrian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, french, historical-fiction

What is HHhH? Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich, or Himmler's brain is called Heydrich.

This acronym, as chilling as it was, was not the author's first choice - he would have preferred Operation Arthropoid, the name of the covert action which occupies the majority of the book. But it was rejected as sounding like a Robert Ludlum, when this is a more meditative and sardonic bit of historical fiction.

Of course history is not always so neat and clean as it is in thrillers. There are still missing piece...more

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Oct 30, 2010 Petr rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Knihu cizince zabývající se naší vlastí čte člověk jaksi jinak: citlivě reaguje na věcné chyby, pozorně sleduje dojmy a hodnocení, je předem maličko naježen. Jen si vezměte, kolik emocí vyvolal Szczygiełův Gottland. Binet se na rozdíl od kriticky uvažujícího Poláka Čechům asi zavděčí, vždyť Praha je podle něj nejkrásnější město světa a Gabčík s Kubišem „strůjci jednoho z největších odbojových činů lidských dějin a nesporně největšího odbojového činu druhé světové války“. Řeč je o atentátu na Hey...more Knihu cizince zabývající se naší vlastí čte člověk jaksi jinak: citlivě reaguje na věcné chyby, pozorně sleduje dojmy a hodnocení, je předem maličko naježen. Jen si vezměte, kolik emocí vyvolal Szczygiełův Gottland. Binet se na rozdíl od kriticky uvažujícího Poláka Čechům asi zavděčí, vždyť Praha je podle něj nejkrásnější město světa a Gabčík s Kubišem „strůjci jednoho z největších odbojových činů lidských dějin a nesporně největšího odbojového činu druhé světové války“. Řeč je o atentátu na Heydricha.

Binet dovede zaujmout na začátku, protože jeho přístup vypadá dost originálně: propojuje vlastní zážitky a pocity se zkoumáním historie. Vypráví příběh atentátu a přidává do něj spoustu odboček - kdy se rozešel se kterou holkou, jak učil francouzštinu na Letecké akademii v Košicích, jak se mu nechtělo platit dvě stě padesát euro za memoáry Heydrichovy ženy (ani se mu nedivím), ale nakonec je přece jen investoval. Uvádí spousty odboček, někdy zajímavých (plukovník Moravec po anšlusu jede vlakem přes Německo z Haagu do Prahy, Heydrich sestřelen se svou stíhačkou za sovětskými liniemi), jindy zkreslujících (osudy Tuchačevského). Jenže tohle čtenáře rychle omrzí, protože to nemá jednotící linku, jsou to prostě nahodilé výpisky z četby. A je tam moc superlativů, Heydrich je nejnebezpečnější muž, Weilova novela Na střeše je Mendelssohn je geniální a ovšem Československo je Binetova nejmilovanější země. V rámci té lásky neváhá adorovat prezidenta Beneše, kterého většina z nás vnímá přinejlepším dvojznačně. Německou kolonizaci českých zemí v raném středověku zas popíše jako „sněť, kterou sem před staletími naočkoval Přemysl Otakar II.“. - Ale je nakonec osvěžující, že i s politicky nekorektními názory můžete vyhrát Goncourta.

Vlastní příběh atentátu je v českém prostředí dobře známý, mimo něj bude působit napínavě. Z Binetova zjednodušeného líčení pěkně (a zcela podle pravdy) vyvstává, kolik chyb udělali sami parašutisté, jak málo věděli o konspiraci, jak naivně si vlastně počínali. V tom si nezadali se svým terčem: zastupující říšský protektor jezdil po Praze v kabrioletu a bez ochranky. V Praze zůstala válka na úrovni kovbojky, zatímco jinde tou dobou měla úděsně průmyslové měřítko. K čemuž Heydrich výrazně přispěl.

To byl ale frajer, co? Je zajímavé, kolik bezděčného obdivu k Heydrichovi projeví téměř každý, kdo o něm píše. Plavá bestie fascinuje dodnes jako hotové ztělesnění ďábla. Koho byste si taky mezi nacisty vybrali? Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Eichmann ani Göring tuhle roli zastávat nemohou, stačí se na ně podívat. Skorzeny, Rommel, Canaris, jejichž chování i vzhled imponovat někomu mohou, byli profesionálové nezmítaní vášněmi. Zato Heydrich působí jak učiněná postava severských mýtů. Binet mohl a měl rozebrat tenhle aspekt jeho pověsti, porovnat ji s realitou, jenže to udělal jen v malé míře. Aspoň otevřeně přiznal, že i jemu se tenhle satanáš jeví jako uhrančivý. (Já myslím, že to byla obyčejná svině, která dostala neobyčejnou příležitost.)

Když to dočtete do konce, máte pocit - melodramatu? Umělého sladidla? Odfláknuté práce, řekl bych. Autor je obratný v tom, jak dokáže ze své lenosti shánět a promýšlet fakta učinit postmoderní ctnost. Nejlépe mu jako pramen posloužil jakýsi neoficiální průvodce výstavou ve Vojenském muzeu na Vítkově, potom romány a filmy, pár populárních knížek. Běžná výbava běžného zájemce o historii. Přiznává to, protože tím apriori odráží kritiku. Vždycky může říci, že mu o věcnou správnost nešlo, že vnitřní pravda s fakty tolik nesouvisí. Nebo co. Několikrát vědomě napíše nesmysl, aby jej o pár stránek dále opravil - „to jsem si vyfantazíroval, tak to být nemohlo“. Když ho ta hra baví, proč ne. Mě začala dost brzy nudit. Tři hvězdičky za pěkný styl. Psát umí, téma si vybrat umí, třeba časem přestane být líný dělat to levou zadní.(less)

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Aug 11, 2012 Cindy Knoke rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am addicted to reading about the history of WWII and I really wanted to like this book.
Binet's book however frustrated me. The constant insertion of the author into the text and his continuous use of the word "I" was incredibly distracting. Who was this book about precisely, the author or Heydrich? The purported topic, Heydrich was interesting, the author's pathos? Not so much.
His short chapter format consisting of 257 chapters, some of which were only a few sentences long, resulted in a cho...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Jonathan Norton rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First of all let's be clear that Nazism is a terrible and pretty stupid political creed, and that the Nazis did evil things. If you're one of those people who think it is silly to use words like "evil", because the world is awfully complicated, then I suggest you explore the more sophisticated viewpoint of Primo Levi's books, where it is shown that the world is awfully complicated AND ALSO it contains evil actions and events.

I have to make that clear as my position, to avoid any misunderstanding...more First of all let's be clear that Nazism is a terrible and pretty stupid political creed, and that the Nazis did evil things. If you're one of those people who think it is silly to use words like "evil", because the world is awfully complicated, then I suggest you explore the more sophisticated viewpoint of Primo Levi's books, where it is shown that the world is awfully complicated AND ALSO it contains evil actions and events.

I have to make that clear as my position, to avoid any misunderstanding of what follows. I think "HHhH" is a very bad book, and the acclaim it has received is simply incomprehensible to me. It may be that Binet is badly served by his translator, but I doubt that due to a point of detail, mentioned below. The writing is wretchedly cliched and inexpressive, lapsing in to fumbling overstatement when the author isn't using the fake-humility of a meta-fictional narration of his own limitations. He wants to emphasise his research and how it constrains his ability to tell the story, but there is no requirement to tell the story in the manner of a Hollywood hack, which is all Binet has the ability for. The metafiction is mere misdirection away from talentlessness. For example, his depiction of the Night Of The Long Knives is no better than the one in honest wartime propaganda films like "The Hitler Gang". He could have found a way to talk about these characters and events without turning their world in to a creaky wooden set, but there is no sign of any effort at that. Just the lazy appeal to the framing device, and dismissal of the works of others - which backfires, in this case, since he just makes me think Vollmann's "Europe Central" might be worth reading.

For example, despite the constant mugging about the problems of research, the retelling of Heydrich's plane crash on the Eastern Front is described as involving "a Yak" - no explanation that this is a Soviet fighter series, or exactly which model it was (a Yak-1? Yak-3? Who identified it?). In his excitement of a bit of simple thriller action Binet forgets his pretentions and leaves the narrative fidgeting out. He's not an unreliable narrator, merely an incompetent one.

The most telling failure of the narrator is one which he doesn't flag himself: in section 202 he refers to "Simone Weil, an Auschwitz survivor". But Simone Weil was never at Auschwitz, she died in Britain in 1943, working for the Free French. Presumably he got her mixed up with someone else, maybe the Nazi-hunter Simon Weisenthal. He never corrects this blunder, so he must be ignorant of it which casts a new light on his claims about the depth of his knowledge. It's in the paperback edition as well, so nobody bothered to edit this text properly. The grand authorial irony is that on the opposite page Binet is sententiously quoting Pasternak about the awfulness of "indifference to truth". [BUT NOW SEE COMMENT BELOW]

Because the story of Operation Anthropoid is fascinating in itself, this book is readable in spite of its author's best, or perhaps I mean worst, efforts, and not as unendurably tedious as "Wolf Hall", that other great overpraised disaster of award-winning pseudo-serious historical writing. It's hard to understand why Martin Amis is praising this, unless he's surrendered in the war against cliche. The only connection this book has with the work of Milan Kundera is that Kundera said he hated "kitsch, not communism". This book is kitsch. At one point Binet admits that, one of his many moments of feigned self-deprecation, where he unintentionally tells the truth.(less)

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May 15, 2013 Rob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

An interesting narrative about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. The title comes from the SS phrase: "Himlers Hirn heisst Heydrich" ("Himmler's brain is called Heydrich"). Instead of telling the story as a straight historical narrative, Laurent Binet weaves himself throughout the main narrative. It becomes in parts a contrived post-modern mediation on truth, fiction, and the author. I want to give Binet points for trying to create a novel that possesses gravitas, is interesting, is tense,...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This should really be a 4 star book - story of Heydrich's assassination is fascinating and told in detail here together with other information on Heydrich's life and how the war affected Czechoslovakia. Heydrich was seen even by Hitler himself as his successor so this was a key event in the war, but the assassination had terrible repercussions for the Czech people.

The problem that I had with the book was the style of writing - it is written as if the author is chatting to you as he writes the b...more

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Jun 30, 2012 William rated it 4 of 5 stars

An upsetting and uplifting book, written with tons of heart, intelligence, and inventiveness, HHhH is the (amazingly true) story of Reinhard Heydrich, the " butcher of Prague" and the two men who parachuted into the city to assassinate him. An incredibly gripping and educational read.

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Feb 12, 2013 Joe Rowan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Wow. Absolutely incredible. The central story is fascinating, incredibly moving, and all the more gripping for being true, but what struck me is just how many other amazing stories are inextricably woven into the historical narrative. I understand Binet's almost paranoid desire to not let any of them go untold. This brings me onto one of my favourite things about the novel, apart from Binet's ability to inject new life into a very familiar historical period - his decision to write about the proc...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Jonfaith rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jean Echenoz's novel Lightning rested close to my mind's eye as I crept through HHhH. Much as Echenoz created an almost strophic life of Tesla which still hummed like one of the Serb's coils, Binet addresses the assassination of Heydrich in Prague during the Second World War. Binet begins his account with a constant rapping of the fourth wall and an incessant imploring of his disgust with description in novels, apparently Binet also loathes historical fiction; why shove dramatic words into real...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Larry Olson rated it 4 of 5 stars

HHhH by Lauren Binet, winner of the Prix Goncourt is an interpretation of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by a Czech and a Slovak resistance fighter in World War II. As H. Himmler’s second in command, the reprehensible Heydrich is an architect of the Final Solution and whose brutality and evil is at times difficult to read. Binet shares his observations on Heydrich’s personality, motivations and relationships with all the key players in the Nazi theatre. He also tells the story of how the...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Robert Intriago rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, historical-fiction

Even though the book is billed as the story of the assassination of the "Beast of Prague" Heydrich, it is much more. The book gives you an insight into the world of Nazism and it roots. There are a lot of personal stories and anecdotes of the main characters in the political life of Germany prior to and during WWII.

I also loved the format of the book in which the authors goes into detail about his sources and what is and what is not true. There are also references to movies that dealt with the N...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Johann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lu d'une traite et en un mot génial ! Le premier mot qui me vient à l'esprit c'est "honnêteté". L’auteur n'est pas historien, et il le sait, mais il s'est pris d'une passion pour les résistants tchèques responsables de l'attentat contre Heydrich. De fait, il a lu, vu, entendu un maximum de choses sur ceux-ci et a essayé d'en faire un roman, un infra roman comme il le confesse lui-même. C'est brillant. paradoxe du sujet, j'ai souvent souri, j'ai même ris aux éclats une fois, et me suis perdu dans...more

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Jul 10, 2011 Mazel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: histoire

objectif pal

Prague, 1942, opération « Anthropoïde » : deux parachutistes tchèques sont chargés par Londres d'assassiner Reinhard Heydrich, le chef de la Gestapo et des services secrets nazis, le planificateur de la Solution finale, le « bourreau de Prague ». Heydrich, le bras droit d'Himmler. Chez les SS, on dit de lui : « HHhH ». Himmlers Hirn heiβt Heydrich – le cerveau d'Himmler s'appelle Heydrich. Dans ce livre, les faits relatés comme les personnages sont authentiques. Pourtant, une autre g...more

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May 16, 2012 Diane S. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a very differently written type of historical fiction; a stream of consciousness novel where a narrator who happens to be writing a book about the assassination of Heydrich lets the reader in on all his thought processes, feelings, and personal life. In the beginning I found this fascinating as the narrator imparts many little known facts (at least by me) of Heydrich's early life and marriage, the forming of the Nazi party, Hitler, the Night of Long Knives and the forming of his securit...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Rebecca Huston rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 20th-century, 2012-around-the-world-in-52-books, wwii, czechoslovakia, fiction

A chilling, tightly written story of WWII, about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942 in Prague. It's a story that took me right from the start, and one that has stuck with me. Along with the historical story, there is also Binet's personal story about researching and writing the book. Taken together I found this to be a terrific novel and a must-read for anyone interested in WWII. Five stars overall, and recommended.

For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review ...more

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May 17, 2012 Larry Rogers rated it 4 of 5 stars

"HHhH" is billed as an historical novel about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Nazi SD and administrator in charge of coordinating the Final Solution. It is actually a largely nonfiction rumination about Heydrich's career and what it represented, then and now. Some of the most fascinating parts of the book are Binent's asides about the value of various historical sources, the veracity of widely known anecdotes, and the nature of the resistance to Nazism. It is a chatty book, v...more

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Jun 22, 2012 robxyz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished, on, jul, 6, 2011

Romanzo storico interamente costruito basandosi su un episodio cruciale della lotta partigiana al nazismo, ovvero l'attentato a Heydrich avvenuto a Praga nel 1942 che ne caus� la morte e la successiva, feroce rappresaglia messa in atto dalle SS ai danni della popolazione civile cecoslovacca. Conosciuta presso i servizi segreti inglesi con il nome in codice "Operazione Antropoide", al pari di molte altre vicende accadute durante il secondo conflitto mondiale la storia dell'attacco al gerarca tris...more

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May 07, 2013 Esther rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: No one

Il peggior libro del decennio!
Posso passar sopra alla scarsa caratterizzazione dei personaggi, che sono poco più che nomi, anche se Binet fa gran mostra di voler ricordare. La sua ricostruzione è più superficiale di "Assassination — Operation Arthropoid, 1941–1942" del Ministero della difesa Ceco. Posso accettare - anche se a fatica - l'ingombrante presenza dell'ego gonfiato di Binet - che ci informa doviziosamente delle sue faccende personali (compreso l'insulto quanto mai appropriato affibbiat...more

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May 05, 2013 Laia Bárber rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

HHhH

Laurent Binet

Por Laia Bárber

“Mi historia está agujerada como una novela, pero en una novela normal es el novelista quien decide la ubicación de esos agujeros, derecho que aquí he rechazado por considerarme esclavo de mis escrúpulos”, afirma Laurent Binet autor de HHhH. Partiendo de esta advertencia, quisiera comenzar la recomendación literaria haciendo una pregunta:

—¿Pueden la imaginación y la fidelidad histórica combinarse en una novela histórica?—

HHhH

HHhH del francés Laurent Binet ob...more

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Apr 28, 2013 James (JD) Dittes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, cool-writings

Before I begin my review, I think it's important to point out that the German pronunciation of the book title is "Ha-Ha-ha-Ha." I thought a lot of this as I read the book because of the levity that Binet brought to the telling.

Make no mistake. This book is about a monster: a piece of human-shaped scum who rivaled Adolph Hitler in mendacity and brutality. But rather than one, long, ominous "hummmmm," Binet gives us "Ha-Ha-ha-Ha," breaking into the narrative to admit parts that are made up. Referr...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Steven Z. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recently I read Robert Gerwath’s HITLER’S HANGMAN: THE LIFE OF HEYDRICH. It was an amazing biography of a person described as “Himmler’s Brain.” Reinhard Heydrich was the Chief of the Nazi Criminal Police, the SS Security Service and the Gestapo, also the ruthless overlord of Nazi-occupied Bohemia and Moravia during World War II. In addition he was the leading organizer of the “Final Solution” until May 27, 1942 as well as the “host” for the Wannsee Conference that many believe set up the infras...more Recently I read Robert Gerwath’s HITLER’S HANGMAN: THE LIFE OF HEYDRICH. It was an amazing biography of a person described as “Himmler’s Brain.” Reinhard Heydrich was the Chief of the Nazi Criminal Police, the SS Security Service and the Gestapo, also the ruthless overlord of Nazi-occupied Bohemia and Moravia during World War II. In addition he was the leading organizer of the “Final Solution” until May 27, 1942 as well as the “host” for the Wannsee Conference that many believe set up the infrastructure for the Holocaust, quite a resume! Heydrich was one of the most important figures in the Nazi hierarchy and quite possibly would have worked his way up to be Hitler’s successor had he not been assassinated by a Czech and a Slovak as part of a British secret service plot in May, 1942. Since Heydrich was such an important historical figure I was fascinated by Laurent Binet’s remarkable book, HHhH translated from French into English by Sam Taylor and published last year. Binet’s work is a combination of historical fiction and historical narrative, a process he describes as an “infranovel.”

This book is an unusual combination of impeccable historical research and prose. The author seems to meditate over his material as he presents it in the form of a conversation with himself. His application of subtle sarcasm exists throughout and his descriptions of his characters are hauntingly accurate. The first half of the book presents the background in the form of a bio-fiction of Heydrich’s life and then the author moves on to discuss his main concern the assassination of the “Butcher of Prague.” The reader is provided an interesting portrayal of Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis the British trained assassins, who are parachuted into the Prague area in May, 1942. The reader is taken for a chilling ride with these partisans as they carry out their mission, the Nazi reprisals resulting in the massacre of the Czech town of Lidice, their own deaths and the eventual extermination of all individuals who are linked to the plot by the Germans. Binet is irreverent in his descriptions, be it social situations or ideological debates to the point that some of the scenes seem farcical. The author’s blend of historical accuracy and fictional musings draw the reader in with his commentary, i.e.; in dealing with Anglo-French sellout of Czechoslovakia in September, 1938 he states, “at this level of political stupidity, betrayal becomes almost a work of art.” The book is truly an accurate portrayal of history presented as a novel. As a historian I wish he could have provided footnotes and a bibliography!
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Apr 28, 2013 Stoic rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: History buffs and writers

Shelves: experimental, holocaust, memoir, war

"I think I'm beginning to understand. What I'm writing is an infranovel."

Amazing. I went in expecting a straightforward historical fiction novel about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich-- the Butcher of Prague-- by a pair of paratroopers, one Czech and one Slovak (an excellent story in its own right). What I did not expect was having the process of writing the novel woven into the novel itself, seamlessly, with Binet-- a teacher by profession-- detailing his neurotic fidelity to known, prova...more

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Apr 26, 2013 pinknantucket rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My history is pretty terrible, so this account of the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich, one of Hitler's right-hand men and one of the primary men behind "the final solution", was somewhat of a revelation. I don't think I'd ever really heard of Heydrich before, which now seems impossible given his impact on world events. Goebbels & Goring, yes, Heydrich no. A great re-telling, perfectly illustrating the complexity of Europe at that time - and how events could still be influenced by...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Fiona Robson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The novel follows the history of the operation and the life of its protagonists – Heydrich and his assassins Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš. But is also interlaced with the author's account of the process of researching and writing the book, his commentary about other literary and media treatments of the subject, and reflections about the extent to which the behavior of real people may of necessity be fictionalised in a historical novel

The title is an acronym for Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich ("Him...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Greta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, general-non-fiction

Notice how I put this book on my fiction AND non-fiction shelf. That's because it's a bit of both. What I liked about this book was that it was written by a French guy, the translation was modern but you could detect a bit of a foreign accent, and the reading of the book was like sitting down with this guy over several late-night pots of coffee and him telling you this most incredible and amazing true story. Or at least as much truth as he could find out in his several years of obsessive researc...more

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Apr 15, 2013 John Frazier rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm sure that I'm not the only reader of World War II literature who enjoys it for this very reason: It seems that everywhere you look, in every theater of war, in every branch of military and for every country involved there is an amazing tale of heroism, each of which seems to demonstrate more bravado, deceit and cunning than the last. Such is the case with "HHhH," which studies the assassination of Gestapo head Reinhard Heydrich in occupied Czechoslovakia.

Perpetrated by two London-trained spe...more I'm sure that I'm not the only reader of World War II literature who enjoys it for this very reason: It seems that everywhere you look, in every theater of war, in every branch of military and for every country involved there is an amazing tale of heroism, each of which seems to demonstrate more bravado, deceit and cunning than the last. Such is the case with "HHhH," which studies the assassination of Gestapo head Reinhard Heydrich in occupied Czechoslovakia.

Perpetrated by two London-trained specialists (one from Slovakia, the other from Czechoslovakia) who parachute to earth outside of Prague in the dark of night to avenge the capture of their countries and to stop the incessant and increasing slaughter of fellow citizens, this is a well-researched look at the men, their mission and their target, who never met a person he wouldn't willingly and gladly kill on behalf of the Third Reich. Perhaps the most monikered tyrant of the war, Heydrich was working on nothing less than the Final Solution at the time of his demise.

But "HHhH" is more than a good war story. It's also about the author's search for and obligation to the truth, as Laurent Binet intersperses his struggles to stick to the known facts and avoid interjection and postulation wherever possible. The few times he fabricates one side of a conversation or one set of circumstances, he does so only while admitting as much. To Binet, there is no story more compelling than the truth, even at the expense of a more dramatic or suspenseful narrative, and there's something quite commendable about that. No reader would likely be any wiser had he employed his "artistic license" to fill in a few blanks, but that clearly goes against his grain, and it's refreshing to share his struggle for the facts with him.

A very quick read broken more into paragraphs than chapters, "HHhH" is honest, engaging and about as riveting a war/spy story as I've read. As far as I'm concerned, we can never know too much about Hitler, his hooligans and the war to hold them and their allies accountable, and this is one lesson well worth learning.(less)

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topics	posts	views	last activity
21st Century Lite...: HHhH - An unreliable narrator, or a comment on human nature?	14	38	May 12, 2013 08:24am
21st Century Lite...: HHhH - Read Along Comments for Part 2	5	18	Apr 19, 2013 07:57am
21st Century Lite...: HHhH - "My genre"	9	27	Apr 18, 2013 07:33pm
21st Century Lite...: HHhH - "I am too corrupted by literature"	11	29	Apr 13, 2013 05:13am
21st Century Lite...: HHhH - Truth vs Fact	4	19	Apr 11, 2013 02:37am
21st Century Lite...: HHhH - "Another story I could write a whole book about…"	6	18	Apr 11, 2013 02:36am

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About Laurent Binet

Son of an historian, he was born in Paris, graduated from University of Paris in literature, and taught literature in Parisian suburb and eventually at University. He was awarded the 2010 Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman for his first novel, HHhH.

Laurent Binet est né à Paris. Il a effectué son service militaire en Slovaquie et a partagé son temps entre Paris et Prague pendant plusieurs années. Agrég...more

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“Een jonge vrouw die op Natacha lijkt staat op de brug, haar handen op de verschansing, een opgetrokken been dat met de zoom van haar jurk speelt, en ik, misschien ben ik daar ook wel.” — 2 people liked it

“Il me fallut attendre deux ou trois ans pour réellement prendre conscience de ce que j’avais toujours soupçonné : que cette histoire dépassait en romanesque et en intensité les plus improbables fictions.” — 2 people liked it

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