As readers, we are accustomed to reading stories of war and injustice from the victims’ point of view, sympathizing with their plight. In ...
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reviews
Jan 08, 2009
Andrés
rated it: 
I was lucky enough to run into this book in Budapest. I have to say that this book was surprising and refreshing. The plot itself is not what one would call original, however the story development is truly ingenious both in structure and content. The author builds up to a big and surprising climax and when it is finally reached the reader will see how the world created by the characters crumbles in his or her hands like dirt in the most profound and exhilarating way. Such a brilliant anticlimax
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Nov 15, 2009
Lauren
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 03, 2011
Kris
rated it: 
Antonio Martens was a member of the secret police in a dictatorship in an unspecified Latin American country. Now that the dictator has been overthrown, Martens is in prison facing trial for the torturing and killing he took part in. He asks for paper and pen to write with in his cell, and proceeds to relay the events surrounding the surveillance, torture and death of two prominent members of the nation's society - not as a means of atoning for his misdeeds, but in order to set the record stra
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Sep 02, 2009
Brian
rated it:
1. A man is escorted into a building. The security camera captures him entering. He is questioned over some sort of alleged corruption in the government. Questioning is a physical process. Early the next morning he is found dead. The security camera did not capture his death.
2. A blogger writes about the government's wrong doing and backs it up with documentation. In the early morning hours the secret police enter his house and he is thrown in jail. No trial. No questions.
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2. A blogger writes about the government's wrong doing and backs it up with documentation. In the early morning hours the secret police enter his house and he is thrown in jail. No trial. No questions.
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Feb 07, 2012
g026r
rated it:
I've always found Kertész somewhat interesting, in that stylistically there's frequently little that strikes me as terribly interesting about his writing. Which is not to say that it's stylistically poor, but rather that it's workmanlike in the most flattering way possible that I can apply that term — it does what it needs to do, and no more.
In Detective Story this winds up being a bit of a problem, as nameless South American country feels more than a little undeveloped, as if he's not More...
In Detective Story this winds up being a bit of a problem, as nameless South American country feels more than a little undeveloped, as if he's not More...
Sep 17, 2009
Stephanie
rated it:
I've been putting off writing a review for Detective Story, by Nobel-Prize winning author Imre Kertesz, from Hungary, because I'm having a very hard time coming up with a cogent response to the book.
This is a very short book, only 100 pages or so, and I should have been able to finish it no time at all. But it took me weeks. The writing is good, and I felt sympathy for the characters: the privileged, hot-headed young man and his tragically protective father. I even felt a little More...
This is a very short book, only 100 pages or so, and I should have been able to finish it no time at all. But it took me weeks. The writing is good, and I felt sympathy for the characters: the privileged, hot-headed young man and his tragically protective father. I even felt a little More...
Sep 05, 2011
Greg
rated it:
From http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/2011/08/...
Imre Kertész is a Hungarian novelist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2002, for his fiction on the Holocaust. However, he also wrote a book about Latin America, Detective Story, that was originally published in 1977 but translated into English in 2008. It is narrated by Antonio Martens, a police detective who became involved in torture in an unnamed Latin American dictatorship and now in the postauthoritarian period is on tria More...
Imre Kertész is a Hungarian novelist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2002, for his fiction on the Holocaust. However, he also wrote a book about Latin America, Detective Story, that was originally published in 1977 but translated into English in 2008. It is narrated by Antonio Martens, a police detective who became involved in torture in an unnamed Latin American dictatorship and now in the postauthoritarian period is on tria More...
Sep 16, 2009
Veterini
rated it:
En à peine plus d’une centaine de page ce « Roman policier » raconte l’histoire d’un membre de la police secrète et de ses collègues, celle d’un étudiant révolté par le totalitarisme, de ses parents, de sa petite amie et de ses relations. Irme Kertesz passant de l’un à l’autre avec une fluidité absolument admirable et une prose magnifique.
« Tu es une fille intelligente, Jill, je t’envie. Tu ne gémis pas sous la griffe de fer de la tyrannie, tu ronronnes, dit Enrique, du moins selon More...
« Tu es une fille intelligente, Jill, je t’envie. Tu ne gémis pas sous la griffe de fer de la tyrannie, tu ronronnes, dit Enrique, du moins selon More...
Mar 29, 2011
Mark
rated it:
I know good writing when I read it, but that doesn't mean I necessarily understand it. Detective Story offers an existential view of a policeman in a police state. He knows it's wrong, but he doesn't feel bad about the crimes he commits, he just feels guilty. Well, it's existential fiction. Imre Kertesz,an Auschwitz survivor who won the Nobel prize in literature, knows how to open windows to the psyche--and in doing so exposes some of his own soul.
Aug 15, 2010
Cball
rated it:
One hundred and ten pages of Wow. This piece of fiction could easily be used in a ethics course, courses of war and dictatorship as well as philosophy classes. I know *I* would have been an attentive student if this was woven into my classwork.
A story of interrogations in a newly founded dictatorship, this cautionary tale is told through the eyes of an interrogator *instead* of the victim. It also ventures into the question of "what would you in a similar situation"?
A story of interrogations in a newly founded dictatorship, this cautionary tale is told through the eyes of an interrogator *instead* of the victim. It also ventures into the question of "what would you in a similar situation"?
Mar 22, 2011
Natalien
rated it:
Imre Kertesz is the author of this novella about a lawyer who has published a book of his convict-client who sometimes quotes a diary of a man.
Although it is a short novella (my favourite kind;) it explores themes that are significant to me such as yearning to die and creating problems.
I think this book is one big allegory of something not necessarily Holocaust of WW2 but maybe the events that lead to it.
All characters in Detective Story have different personalit More...
Although it is a short novella (my favourite kind;) it explores themes that are significant to me such as yearning to die and creating problems.
I think this book is one big allegory of something not necessarily Holocaust of WW2 but maybe the events that lead to it.
All characters in Detective Story have different personalit More...
May 19, 2010
Lee
rated it:
The text of this book should be submitted as the new dictionary definition of "ineluctable." I predicted the sad little plot twist but otherwise really "enjoyed" how this one swirled at first in semi-confounding spirals before it took off on a 45-degree angle, rising drama-wise. The translation seemed a bit wonky sometimes, especially before the story clarified and took off for me. Recommended if you're thinking about writing a syllabus for a class called "The Literature
Mar 10, 2008
Jen
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jun 10, 2011
"Miss"
rated it:
Very different while not annoyingly different. The viewpoint of the narrator, the lovely phrasing, the pacing brought alive by the writing skill and the gripping ending...all blended to create a memorable and thought provoking read. I did not regret giving over moments of my life to enjoy the experience of this book.
Feb 23, 2008
Matt
rated it:
This is a very slight book that reads pretty quickly from Novel Laureate Kertesz.
There's a lot to like here, especially if you're interested in "from the inside" looks at totalitarianism. This is almost like the unreconstructed pre-humanist version of the E German film "Lives of Others." Only here, you're really not expected to develop a sympathy for the interrogator/ intelligence agent. Still, the story that is told is powerful and as it grinds toward its conclu More...
There's a lot to like here, especially if you're interested in "from the inside" looks at totalitarianism. This is almost like the unreconstructed pre-humanist version of the E German film "Lives of Others." Only here, you're really not expected to develop a sympathy for the interrogator/ intelligence agent. Still, the story that is told is powerful and as it grinds toward its conclu More...
Dec 12, 2011
Rachel
rated it:
I have a feeling this is a book I could read again and again. It's short. Took me just a handful of hours to read it (maybe 3 total?), and it has one of those really great last sections that elevates an already good book to something special. It's hard to say though. I will have to read this again.
Jan 01, 2010
Mostafa
rated it:
این کتاب برخلاف ناماش ضدرمانی ضدپلیسی است. نوشتههایی از بازجوی و شکنجهگری در زمانی دیکتاتوری که اکنون خود توسط نظامی که دیکتاتوری را سرنگون کرده است دستگیر شده است و در زندان خاطراتاش در مورد قتل پدر و پسر بیگناهی را مینویسد.
رمان فضای ذهنی شکنجهگرها و شکنجهشدهگان را بهخوبی ترسیم میکند برای تمام کسانی که در نظامهای پلیسی زندهگی میکنند خواندن این رمان مفید است. افسوس که شکنجهگرها کتاب نمیخوانند. More...
رمان فضای ذهنی شکنجهگرها و شکنجهشدهگان را بهخوبی ترسیم میکند برای تمام کسانی که در نظامهای پلیسی زندهگی میکنند خواندن این رمان مفید است. افسوس که شکنجهگرها کتاب نمیخوانند. More...
Apr 05, 2010
Tony
rated it: 
This book was really crap. The author won the Nobel Prize for Literature. But I repeat myself.
While I'm at it, this is easily the worst translation, ever. The author is Hungarian and the story appears (it's never really stated) to be set in either Europe or (by the character names) South or Central America. Here are some examples of chosen dialect:
"Dern right!" Rodrigeuz concurred, with a guffaw.
and....
"I'm asking you, Jack!" More...
While I'm at it, this is easily the worst translation, ever. The author is Hungarian and the story appears (it's never really stated) to be set in either Europe or (by the character names) South or Central America. Here are some examples of chosen dialect:
"Dern right!" Rodrigeuz concurred, with a guffaw.
and....
"I'm asking you, Jack!" More...
May 26, 2008
Lucile
rated it:
This book is one that made me wonder if it is depressing when an author shows you how much you have in common with the human experience, or if that sort of demonstration of shared perspective is indeed uplifting. I still have not settled on the answer. This is a masterful tale, which I felt to be written in the style of some of the old masters like Camus, wherein the tale lies not only in the narrative. I would recommend this book to anyone, as it is short and sweet, but full as poetry. I still
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May 24, 2011
Cooper
rated it:
Quite different from "Fatelessness," but almost as powerful. Certainly an immensely strong indictment of the "banality of evil", specifically torture in this case, which makes it pertinent reading at the moment for the US, unfortunately.
Aug 16, 2009
Jasmine
rated it:
This is a good meta novel working together biography/memoir and story telling. It brings the "evil" to the front. I mean I wish I could give it four stars but it does seem a bit average compared to his other book. 3.5 stars is the most it can carry.
Aug 18, 2009
Marti
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I fully acknowledge that this one might be over my head. good premise and a bit of a page turner but not colorful. like it was a picture in black and white.
Dec 30, 2011
Paul
rated it:
Set in a South American dictatorship, the practicalities of their regime are seen through the eyes of a policeman in his confessional statement. Interesting perspective with him viewing the ordinariness of the situation
Apr 26, 2009
Ross
rated it:
Ugh. Annoyingly oblique language. Stupid touches from Kafka and Borges and whoever. Couldn't finish it.
Oct 30, 2011
Jason
rated it:
Excellent even enjoyable -- which is not exactly the first word that is meant to spring to mind about a novella narrated in the first person by a low-level torturer/secret policy detective from a recently deposed Latin American dictatorship. Also the "crime" he is part of uncovering is heartbreaking. Altogether, reads like Kafka with more specificity or Kadare set in Latin America. Altogether it appears to have been written from the perspective of the banality of evil, with one cog in
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Aug 31, 2010
Kathyred
rated it:
Tone and language like Camus' "The stranger", themes like García Marquez, and Manuel Puig's "Kiss of the Spider Woman". Scary to think about the depths some will go to for "Homeland Security"
May 18, 2009
Marissa
rated it:
Again, Kertesz packs in the content. The book description, or summary, as with many seems to me as not quite accurate. Worth the read. I read it last summer in Mexico and also read Joseph Conrad's Nostromo... guess I was on a ficitonal Latin American Country tip...
Jul 01, 2008
Sandie
rated it: 
I was surprised by this book...I noticed on the front cover that this book was a Nobel prize winner in literature...so i was enthralled by the chance to read it. I was disappointed by the story...I found it void of depth and imagery. The story is a quick read and at only 112 pages you can get through it quickly, but I didn't feel inclined to tell all my friends about it. I would say this book is ordinary and bland. I did feel the author was a great writer and so I am anxious to give him another
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