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Look Who's Back

by Timur Vermes, Jamie Bulloch (Translator)

3.46 · Rating Details · 15,646 Ratings · 1,931 Reviews

Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well. Things have changed – no Eva Braun, no Nazi party, no war. Hitler barely recognises his beloved Fatherland, filled with immigrants and run by a woman.

People certainly recognise him, albeit as a flawless impersonator who refuses to break character. The unthinkable, the inevitable happens, ...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published April 3rd 2014 by MacLehose Press (first published September 1st 2012)

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Jul 27, 2013 Emily rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: german, 2013, fiction

Although I read this book in German, there are already lots of German reviews and it may get published in translation, so I'll review auf Englisch. The title translates as "He's Back" and it's about Hitler, who mysteriously reappears in Berlin in 2011 and becomes a TV star. His audience apparently believes him to be some kind of method actor or nth-degree Stephen Colbert character, and is alternately discomfited by his unironic profession of Nazi ideals and interested in his updated ideas, for e Although I read this book in German, there are already lots of German reviews and it may get published in translation, so I'll review auf Englisch. The title translates as "He's Back" and it's about Hitler, who mysteriously reappears in Berlin in 2011 and becomes a TV star. His audience apparently believes him to be some kind of method actor or nth-degree Stephen Colbert character, and is alternately discomfited by his unironic profession of Nazi ideals and interested in his updated ideas, for example, about how protecting the German homeland environment should be a highest priority, which makes him a strange bedfellow of the Green party. Meanwhile, Hitler himself remains resolutely oblivious of how reviled he is by nearly everyone in the modern world, which sets up many scenes of dramatic irony when his modern producers and viewers are too polite to call him out on his occasionally outrageous statements, which they believe are part of his act.

What makes this the book somewhat groundbreaking is that it's a German comedy about Hitler. This doesn't feel special to Americans and British people, who have been making fun of Hitler since Charlie Chaplin, but in my experience, even when Germans do want to be funny, anything around Nazism is the last place they would go, rather like the German tourist who tells Basil Fawlty that his goose-stepping is not funny: "Not for us! Not for any German people!" That said, this book isn't a straight-up, laugh-out-loud kind of comedy. A lot of the the time the emotion the reader experiences is the kind of cringe that The Office (British version) evoked so relentlessly.

Although I enjoyed reading the novel for my own purposes--to exercise my German and find out what all the talk in Germany was about--I'm not sure I'd recommend this to American readers. It relies on a pretty detailed knowledge of contemporary German society (its immigrants, laws against promoting Nazism, other TV shows) that I doubt many Americans are up to speed on. Also, much of its style stems from the author's mimicry of Hitler's oratory, which involved torrents of high-flown, hyperbolic, old-fashioned language, in this book applied to such observations as the fact that there are lots of Starbucks around, or that reality TV shows are repetitive and insipid, or that Ikea furniture is made of firewood. It starts to be funny, and then you realize you're being amused with Hitler and you want to stop.

Ultimately, what made this book satisfying can only be described in German: Schadenfreude. It turns out that watching Hitler lost, diminished, irrelevant, a joke--but not a good one--is a little thrilling. Not everyone would agree with me, but as an American, I think the Germans (especially of my generation) are better at confronting their historical demons than we are, and I'm not surprised that this book, both for the symbolic reason of finally making Hitler a subject of comedy and for the thematic reason of revealing the panorama of a more pluralistic German society, became a bestseller there. However, the book ends on an eerie warning note, as Hitler moderates his rhetoric to match the times and uses his power of personal fascination to rebuild a circle of followers and fans. ...more

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Dec 25, 2014 Lilo rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: nobody

I read an excerpt of this book and I talked at length with someone who has read half of it before tossing it with disgust.

This book may read "funny", but to make a somewhat likable comic figure of the most cruel mass murderer the 20th century has seen is not only tasteless but dangerous.

Shame on anyone who writes a positive review on this book. Shame on anyone who buys this book or asks for this book at the library. Shame on anyone who supports the author and the publisher of this book with a si ...more

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Viveak Majithia I completely disagree that this book should not be read. It should be. It is scary in how he has the people fooled all over again. I am not from the W ...more
Feb 27, 2016 04:33PM

Lilo Viveak wrote: "I completely disagree that this book should not be read. It should be. It is scary in how he has the people fooled all over again. I am ...more
updated Feb 28, 2016 12:23AM

Apr 11, 2015 howl of minerva rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, auf-deutsch, politics

Do the Germans have the right to find Hitler funny? That's the (mistaken) question which seems to drive much of the controversy over this wildly popular novel in which Adolf Hitler, by mechanisms which are wisely left unexplained, returns from the dead and finds himself whole and well in modern day Germany. What does he make of the world and what does he do with himself?

He does what he does best: rapidly grasps a socio-political situation and delivers impassioned rants that lead to immediate sta Do the Germans have the right to find Hitler funny? That's the (mistaken) question which seems to drive much of the controversy over this wildly popular novel in which Adolf Hitler, by mechanisms which are wisely left unexplained, returns from the dead and finds himself whole and well in modern day Germany. What does he make of the world and what does he do with himself?

He does what he does best: rapidly grasps a socio-political situation and delivers impassioned rants that lead to immediate stardom. An instant TV and YouTube hit, he is taken to be a hilarious Hitler impersonator who can speak truths that no-one else dares to in the era of political correctness.

The parts of the book that show Hitler's reaction to contemporary society are in fact quite funny. He's appalled by the profusion of newspapers purveying mindless dribble. Television, that splendid propaganda tool, shows gardening shows and melodramas. Mobile phones, the internet and chain stores are all developments which a transplant from the first half of the twentieth century finds wondrous and monstrous.

But as the book goes on, you realise what Vermes is doing. You've started to like Hitler. He's a stroppy, avuncular, highly articulate, tee-total vegetarian who loves children and loves nature, loves order and discipline and wants his country to be strong and successful. He finds unlikely friends in the Green party as he enthusiastically supports energy independence and renewable energy. He makes some good points about the debacle in Afghanistan. He states bluntly that with the recipe of internet, mass-entertainment and a minimal baseline of social-welfare, global capitalism has found an opiate that lets it continue its accumulation unchecked and unquestioned. And he has some chilling observations on Germany's uneasy relationship with its nationalist-socialist past. When a colleague accuses him of defending the Nazi swine, he replies:

Es wird heute gerne so hingestellt, als hätten damals einige überzeugte, zum letzten entschlossene Nationalsozialisten ein ganzes Volk übertölpelt. Und das ist nicht ganz falsch, es hat diesen Versuch in der Tat gegeben. 1923, in München. Doch er ist unter blutigen Opfern gescheitert. Die Folge war ein anderer Weg. 1933 wurde kein Volk mit einer Propagandaaktion überwältigt. Es wurde ein Führer gewählt, auf eine Weise, die sogar im heutigen Sinne als demokratisch gelten muss. Es wurde ein Führer gewählt, der in unwiderlegbarer Klarheit seine Pläne offengelegt hatte. Die Deutschen haben ihn gewählt. Ja, sogar Juden... Die Partei hatte damals schon vier Millionen Mitglieder. Und auch das nur, weil ab 1933 keine weiteren Mitglieder mehr aufgenommen wurden. Es hätten 1934 auch acht Millionen, zwölf Millionen sein können. Ich glaube nicht, dass eine der heutigen Parteien nur annähernd diese Zustimmung genießt... Es gab entweder ein ganzes Volk von Schweinen. Oder das, was geschehen ist, war keine Schweinetat, sondern der Wille eines Volkes.

[Today you like to portray things as if back then, a few utterly fanatical Nationalist-Socialists duped an entire people. And that is not entirely false; in fact that attempt was made. In Munich, 1923. Yet it failed, in a bloody martyrdom. Consequently, another way was taken. In 1933 no people was overpowered by a propaganda action. A leader was elected in a manner which even now would be considered legitimate democratic process. A leader was elected who set out his plans openly, with crystal clarity. The German people elected him. Yes, even Jews... The party at that time had 4 million members. And only because from 1933 no further memberships were accepted. It could have been 8 million; 12 million by 1934. I do not believe any of the parties today enjoy anything near such popular support... Either there was an entire people of swine. Or, what happened was no swinishness, but the will of a people.]

As the book closes, Hitler is beginning to establish a new mass movement. As Europe's political centre of gravity drifts ever further to the extreme right, this is a warning we would do well to heed. ...more

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Feb 01, 2016 Nandakishore Varma rated it really liked it

I have finally managed to read this controversial book, and now I understand why it has become so controversial. This is cutting satire which pulls no punches, in the tradition of Jonathan Swift - many a time you will flinch while reading it. This is the way I believe that satire should work: while making one laugh, it should also make one uncomfortable, and make one question the very basis of one's fondly held beliefs. It did this for me. I laughed out loud in very few places - but all the whil I have finally managed to read this controversial book, and now I understand why it has become so controversial. This is cutting satire which pulls no punches, in the tradition of Jonathan Swift - many a time you will flinch while reading it. This is the way I believe that satire should work: while making one laugh, it should also make one uncomfortable, and make one question the very basis of one's fondly held beliefs. It did this for me. I laughed out loud in very few places - but all the while, my inner demon was seething with evil laughter.

The premise of the novel is simple to the point of silliness. Hitler is deposited into the middle of modern-day Germany (without any explanation whatsoever). People take him for a flawless impersonator, while he is very sincere in his motives - to set Germany "right". While the country sees him as a comedian par excellence on TV, Adolf is using it as a means of propaganda to re-establish his philosophy in the minds of the Volk. As the show and the showman become a runaway hit, he is wooed by different parties and gets a book contract - and at the end of the novel we realise with a shudder that Hitler is slowly re-emerging.

The juxtaposition of a historical figure with modern society is a common trope used in many satirical plays in India: it is a useful tool to satirise modern society in the light of age-old values. However, here we find modern society evaluated in the light of Nazi values (celebrity culture and the ethics of journalism, for example), and we sometimes find ourselves agreeing with Hitler! This is deeply disturbing, and forces us to question the values which we have become accustomed to - which is good, IMO, but which I suspect may get a lot of people pissed off. A mirror is sometimes very difficult to look into.

Another disturbing fact Hitler's popularity. In the guise of "humour" (only for the audience-the Fuhrer is in dead earnest), so much of hatred for the "other" is tolerated, nay, even encouraged. It made me question the limits of satire itself - for example, in a joke aimed at a particular community, are we laughing at the issue or the target community? (For example, do we see a magazine such as "Charlie Hebdo" satirising society or insulting religion?) So while applauding Hitler as a comedian, is society tacitly putting the seal of approval on his dangerously eccentric ideas - due to its own ingrained racism? Continuing in the same vein: is this what happened originally, when a little man with a ridiculous moustache was able take centre stage in German politics, after spending a long time on the fringes (frightening thought, that).

The novel is brilliantly written, in Hitler's unreadable prose (I could recall my experience of reading Mein Kampf) which shows him up for what he was - a pompous ass with murderous ideas. (I think this is the root of the criticism that the novel makes Hitler likeable. It doesn't. It makes him silly.) Such a man could not come to power, and commit murder on such a grand scale, without the active collusion of the majority - at least sins of omission if not those of commission. In fact, Hitler only cleverly exploited European anti-Semitism to come to power, IMO. By the time the world realised the depths of the depravity of this madman, it was too late. The novel warns us that it is all the more possible in modern society, with the vastly improved means of propaganda at its disposal.

Finally: does this novel trivialise the holocaust and put Hitler in a favourable light? IMO, it doesn't. What it does is that it diminishes Hitler. It says: "Look, guys, this kooky idiot rode to power on your shoulders and once there, tightened his grip like a vice. Such monkeys will come in future also. Please don't lift them to your shoulders and allow them to put a chokehold on you."

Which is not a bad message, when one comes to think about it. ...more

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Dec 08, 2015 Manny marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Most people have praised this witty satire, though a few elderly Germans and Holocaust survivors seem, for some unaccountable reason, to find it offensive. I do not properly understand their objections, and have decided to follow the majority opinion. My own contribution to this new and exciting genre is a screenplay based on the life of the late Jimmy Savile, the celebrated English entertainer and serial pedophile. Although in form a lighthearted sex comedy, the work, needless to say, in no way ...more

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Apr 29, 2014 Katy Noyes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-reviewcopy

4.5 stars.

I can guess what you're thinking: "That cover.... is that .... ?" And then, "But it says it's funny....?!"
I can see from some other reviews and comments around that this is appalling to some, that the concept of a comedic book about one of the most evil men who ever lived is abhorrent. I can understand that. But I also think that comedy, and satire in particular has a great deal of value in making us think about situations and people in ways we might not have before.

I imagine a few peo ...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Alexandra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, politik, geschichte, deutschland, favorites, rezensionsexemplare

Wahnsinn, ein grenzgeniales Buch, das dem Autor Timur Vermes hier gelungen ist. Adolf Hitler erwacht im Jahr 2011, versucht sich mit unserer Welt anzufreunden bzw. durchzuschlagen und das auch noch mit Erfolg: Er wird sofort entdeckt und Medienstar.

In dieser Konstellation buhlt die Satire nicht mit einer Schenkelklopf- Mentalität um billige Lacher, was sehr einfach wäre. Im Gegenteil Herr Hitler analysiert zusätzlich zur Assimilationskomik brilliant wie ein ethnologischer Feldforscher unsere he Wahnsinn, ein grenzgeniales Buch, das dem Autor Timur Vermes hier gelungen ist. Adolf Hitler erwacht im Jahr 2011, versucht sich mit unserer Welt anzufreunden bzw. durchzuschlagen und das auch noch mit Erfolg: Er wird sofort entdeckt und Medienstar.

In dieser Konstellation buhlt die Satire nicht mit einer Schenkelklopf- Mentalität um billige Lacher, was sehr einfach wäre. Im Gegenteil Herr Hitler analysiert zusätzlich zur Assimilationskomik brilliant wie ein ethnologischer Feldforscher unsere heutige Welt. Ein bisschen hat mich der Stil an "Das Fest des Huhnes" (Film: Walter Wippersberg) oder "Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit" (Herbert Rosendorfer) erinnert. Diese permanente Bewertung unserer Gesellschaft auf Basis von Hitlers Persönlichkeit und seiner verqueren Naziideologie entlarvt sowohl unsere Zeit als auch die Vergangenheit und ist so konsequent, detailgetreu und genial durchgezogen, dass es eine helle Freude ist.

Am Anfang hatte ich noch ständig diese "Äch bin wieder da" Nazistimme von Walter Moers in meinem Ohr, wenn der Herr Hitler über unsere Welt philosophierte und dann plötzlich, das ist das eigentlich total perfide in diesem Buch, musste ich ihm in einigen Argumenten auch noch Recht geben. Da wird das Grinsen, das einem befällt, von Schüttelfrost begleitet. Klar ist nicht alles gut in unserer Welt, da kann auch der Herr Adolf mal einen Treffer landen, aber wenn er an den Grundfesten unserer Demokratie rüttelt, dort noch einen Finger in die Wunde legen kann, und auch noch irgendwie recht hat, dann beginnts mich wirklich zu gruseln.
Beispiel gefällig? Der eigentliche Fehler unserer demokratischen Entscheidungen ist, dass keiner mehr die Verantwortung übernimmt. Bei ihm hätte es sowas nicht gegeben: "Wenn Sie morgen in die Resttschechei einmarschieren, wissen Sie, das war der Führer."

Der Schluss des Buches lässt vermuten, dass der Weg für eine Fortsetzung offenbleibt und diese "Drohung" wird durch einen genialen letzten Satz untermauert.

Fazit: Unbedingt lesen!!!!!

Nachtrag: Selten hat mir eine Einbandgestaltung derart gut gefallen. Sehr gut gemacht. ...more

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Dec 30, 2015 Darwin8u rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015

"It is in times of crisis that the true Führer is revealed. When he shows his nerve, persistence, and sheer determination." ― Timur Vermes, Look Who's Back

description

"And of course without an established ideology, in the modern entertainment industry one hasn't got a chance, nor even a raison d'être. The rest is taken care of by history -- or the TV ratings."
― Timur Vermes, Look Who's Back

"The rest is silence. Left like sperm.
In a stranger's gut, waiting its term,
Each thought, each step lies; the roots s ...more

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Dec 19, 2015 Manny marked it as to-read

Shelves: donalds-are-trumps

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Jul 23, 2014 Lina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: german-edition, own-books, white-protagonists, positively-disturbing, omg-thats-crazy

Update, 24th July 2014

I think I can now safely assume that it's a generational thing. There's been a rather heated argument with an older female reviewer of this book, and I figured I'd ask my grandparents about their opinions on the book. My grandmother was born in 1937 in northern Germany, my grandfather 1933, equally in nothern Germany. As my grandpa was at that point old enough, he had had to join the Deutsche Jugend(German Youth - the group you entered before you entered the Hitler-Jugend). ...more

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Oct 14, 2015 Mark Hebwood rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Running into ideas

For the last few days I've been reading Timur's book, and yesterday I finished it. That is usually the time when I force my opinion on the world - it was time to leave a review on Goodreads.

As I was walking home after work, I thought about my upcoming review. What to say about this? What did I think? I wasn't sure. Actually, I had trouble deciding what this book was about...

Did it leave me with any lasting impressions? Not really. Any deeper insights? No. Anything lighter maybe ...more

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Jan 05, 2014 Joana Marta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, humor

The first thing was the hair.. I looked at the cover so white and I was like 'I know that hair from somewhere'. Then I approached the book and I was like: OH THAT'S ORIGINAL!!! After, it was the fact the title is making his mustache that made me laugh in the place I was. I couldn't avoid, it was too hilarious!!!

This book is really good... honestly, I doubt a second before if I should buy it or not.I was afraid this was one of those books with lame jokes about famous characters and so on, but hey ...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Andreas Schwartmann rated it liked it · review of another edition

Ich gebe dem Buch nur 3 Sterne. Warum? Die Idee an sich ist interessant und amüsant. Gesellschaftskritik aus der Sicht des im 21. Jahrhundert angekommenen Diktators. Was mich stört, ist die Verharmlosung Hitlers, die damit einher geht. Bei diesem Menschen handelte es sich schließlich nicht um einen aus der Zeit gefallenen, onkelhaften Besserwisser, als der er in dem Buch oft dargestellt wird, sondern um einen psychopathischen, machtbesessenen Egomanen. Davon scheint in Vermes Erzählung nichts du ...more

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Apr 08, 2014 M rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-time-hall-of-fame, best-of-2014

I love books that push boundaries. The darker the taboo, the better. And I just happened to be searching for a new book to read and then I saw this - perfect.

It has to be one of the funniest, cleverest books I've ever read. I love satire, and this works brilliantly. I can understand why some people might find it offensive (although it really isn't), but I felt part of the point of the book was to show just how stupid a character Hitler was, and how abhorrent his ideas and 'policies' were. Also, ...more

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Mar 12, 2016 Sam Quixote rated it it was ok

Adolf Hitler awakens in 21st century Berlin, his last memories being in the Fuhrerbunker 70 years earlier before the Allies broke through. Though understandably perplexed by his situation, Hitler quickly adapts and is mistaken as a Hitler impersonator, the most dedicated method actor who never breaks character. He’s put on TV where he becomes a hit politically-incorrect “comic”. Hitler once more begins his rise to power in Germany…

Before picking it up, about the only thing I knew about Timur Ve Adolf Hitler awakens in 21st century Berlin, his last memories being in the Fuhrerbunker 70 years earlier before the Allies broke through. Though understandably perplexed by his situation, Hitler quickly adapts and is mistaken as a Hitler impersonator, the most dedicated method actor who never breaks character. He’s put on TV where he becomes a hit politically-incorrect “comic”. Hitler once more begins his rise to power in Germany…

Before picking it up, about the only thing I knew about Timur Vermes’ novel Look Who’s Back was the setup – Hitler in 21st century Germany – and that it was a comedy/satire. I had no idea what German comedy could possibly look like but I was eager to find out – and then discovered it was exactly what I thought it was: non-existent! I also thought a satire with Hitler as the main character had potential. The idea seems to but Vermes doesn’t realise it here - German society wouldn’t take Hitler seriously today? Weak.

It does have one thing going for it though and that’s its subversiveness. Hitler is challenged once about the Holocaust to which he replies matter-of-factly that he would never have achieved it without the full support and help of the German Volk – and he’s right. I’m sure the German people would like to believe that the Holocaust was down to Hitler and a handful of villainous cronies and that millions of ordinary people had no part in it; but given the scale of the operation, that’s impossible.

The novel is told in the first person with Hitler speaking directly to the reader. Vermes writes him in such a way that he sometimes comes across simply as an old gentleman who loves animals and children and who believes in strong leadership for his people. He’s not an over-the-top cartoon peppering his speech with constant racial slurs (given how hard it must’ve been to get the basic concept of the novel published, I expect it would’ve been even harder had it included repeated insults against the you-know-whos!); Hitler comes off as an almost likeable, relatable person.

And that’s what’s so subversive about the novel. If at any time the reader starts liking the protagonist (even agreeing with him as I did two paragraphs above!) then the realisation that you like Hitler – one of the most evil men in history – even for a passing moment, comes shuddering through. Vermes isn’t doing it to trick readers though; rather he’s showing how the people in the 1930s conceivably fell for Hitler themselves. In this way it proves his (and Hitler’s) assertion that the Holocaust couldn’t have happened without the help of the German Volk - if, knowing what we know today, Vermes makes Hitler even slightly likeable to modern readers, imagine how appealing he must have been to a society living in a post-Treaty of Versailles world. Of course millions would - and did - support him making them culpable of all the implications of that support.

I should clarify that Vermes isn’t glorifying the Nazis – at no point does he make them seem remotely positive or portray Hitler or any Nazi as an admirable figure. All he’s doing is humanising Hitler. He still says and believes revolting things – he says “The Jews are no laughing matter” which the people around him believe means that he (the “Hitler impersonator”) refuses to make jokes about the Jews but which the reader knows means something very different – but Vermes determines to also show him as a man and not only as a much (rightly) demonised figure. And no, it’s not explained how Hitler survived and reawakened in Berlin 70 years after the war but that’s not the point. It’s a necessary conceit for the novel to exist so don’t get too hung up on it.

All of which isn’t to say I liked the novel very much. I can appreciate its overall effect but the reading experience was very dull. I didn’t realise the premise I already knew going in – Hitler becomes a TV/internet star – was actually the entire novel! There’s barely any plot, let alone plot development, it’s just Hitler being Hitler and people thinking he’s a riot over and over and over again. There were some racial slurs against the Turks which were apparently the jokes and seemed quite acceptable to German audiences (I guess it’s a cultural thing – Germany comedy remains mystifying!) and Hitler has a goth girl assistant who, bizarrely like some Californian valley girl, ends all of her sentences with a questioning upwards inflection – I think she was meant to be a comedic character? Except she wasn’t very funny? Her way of talking was just annoying?

And the novel goes on like this for 350-ish pages. Little changes in the plot let alone Hitler as a character who remains stiff and static. Vermes only has the one point to make throughout and it’s hardly an original one. Hitler commenting on reality shows, the proliferation of Starbucks and the poor quality of Ikea furniture is so banal and not at all witty or amusing. There’s no build-up to the finale because there isn’t one – the book just ends after a flat-line nearly the whole way through.

I can see why it was a bestseller in Germany as it’s very relevant to that particular audience in confronting their ancestors’ true selves as well as attempting to bring their experience to modern readers - but not so much to anyone outside of that country. Look Who’s Back isn’t poorly written nor is it a complete waste because of its clever overall effect, but it is a very boring and very unfunny satire.

Zzz…eig….heil….zzzz… ...more

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Mar 15, 2015 Arwen56 rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: romanzi, lett-tedesca, germania

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Oct 02, 2012 Daniel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dysturbie

Wenn Adolf Hitler in Er ist wieder da von Timur Vermes im Jahr 2011 wieder aufwacht, dann ist das zunächst nicht sonderlich originell. Es erinnert an Herbert Rosendorfers Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit, erzeugt Bilder von bekannten TV-Formaten, in denen ein als Führer verkleideter Schauspieler durch die Stadt hopst und seine Sendung darauf aufbaut, dass die Menschen schockiert sind.

Doch dieses Buch ist anders. Klar, auch dieses Buch geizt (vor Allem anfangs) nicht damit den Protagoniste Wenn Adolf Hitler in Er ist wieder da von Timur Vermes im Jahr 2011 wieder aufwacht, dann ist das zunächst nicht sonderlich originell. Es erinnert an Herbert Rosendorfers Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit, erzeugt Bilder von bekannten TV-Formaten, in denen ein als Führer verkleideter Schauspieler durch die Stadt hopst und seine Sendung darauf aufbaut, dass die Menschen schockiert sind.

Doch dieses Buch ist anders. Klar, auch dieses Buch geizt (vor Allem anfangs) nicht damit den Protagonisten in groteske Situationen zu bringen, die einen, sofern der notwendige emotionale Abstand gegeben ist, zum Schmunzeln anregen. Etwa, wenn er sich darüber freut, dass die Städte im Krieg weitestgehend zerbombt wurden um dem Feind keinerlei Infrastruktur zu überlassen. Und ja - diese Szenen sind gut gelungen.

Die eigentliche Stärke von Er ist wieder da machte ich aber in einem ganz anderen Bereich dingfest: Dort, wo es regelrechtes Schock-Potenzial hat. Denn ähnlich wie der chinesische Mandarin aus fernen Zeiten, über den Rosendorfer schreibt, betrachtet er unsere Welt mit seinen Augen, versucht Ansatzpunkte für ein mögliches politisches Comeback zu finden - und ist dabei höchst erfolgreich.

Zunächst öffnet ihm sein Äußeres und die Tatsache Tür und Tor, dass er niemals aus seiner vermeintlichen Rolle fällt. Die ihn aufnehmende Fernsehbranche hält ihn für einen methodischen Schauspieler, der seine Figur auch außerhalb der Sendung nach außen trägt, um die bestmögliche Performance zu bieten. Diese Außenwahrnehmung scheint Hitler großteils nicht klar zu sein, denn hinter den Mauern des Senders baut er - zumindest aus seiner Perspektive - seine Partei neu auf. Als gefeierter Star-Moderator kommt er schließlich in alle Winkel unserer modernen Gesellschaft, wie etwa die Parteizentrale der NPD, und stellt Verbindungen zur BILD-Zeitung her, deren Seriosität er mittels weniger Kniffe als nonexistend nachweißt.

Und all das erreicht er, in dem er genau das tut, was er vor so langer Zeit getan hat. Er hetzt, er analysiert die Schwächen unseres Systems - und erntet Anerkennung und Folgsamkeit. Die bürgerliche Demokratie wird von ihm, in diesem Fall dem Autor, derart gekonnt und mit nur wenigen Worten so charakterisiert, dass selbst denjenigen, die sich sonst nicht mit ihr befassen, klar wird: Hier herrscht ernstlich ein Missstand, den eine Person wie Hitler auszunutzen in der Lage wäre.

Machen wir uns nichts vor. Das eigentlich geniale an diesem Buch ist nicht seine Storyline. Das eigentlich geniale an diesem Buch sind nicht die vielen witzigen Situationen oder die Szenen, in denen Vergangenheitsbewältigung der traurigen, zornigen, begeisterten oder abstrusen Art thematisiert wird. Das eigentlich geniale an diesem Buch ist, dass der Leser gezwungen ist der (authentisch wirkenden) Analyse eines Adolf Hitler zuzustimmen. Zwar mit der Einschränkung, dass obwohl die Problemanalyse richtig ist, die Lösungsstrategie dafür stets grotesk bleibt - aber dennoch: Man ertappt sich dabei, wie man einem der schlimmsten Diktatoren aller Zeiten zustimmt. Und das ist für viele eine schockierende Erfahrung.

Ich empfehle dieses Buch allen, die den schon erwähnten notwendigen emotionalen Abstand zur NS-Zeit haben und sich nicht nur amüsieren möchten. Jenen, die über den Führer lachen können, wenn er dem Fernseher für eine Zusammenfassung der Ereignisse dankt, die er auf Grund eines Kanal-Wechsels verpasst hat und später über Hitlers Ansichten zur Demokratie nachdenken wollen - und dem damit verbundenen realen Gefahrenpotenzial. ...more

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Mar 07, 2016 Liz Janet rated it really liked it · review of another edition

True satire should make you uncomfortable with the raw truth it presents, much like Swift's A Modest Proposal, laughter should not be the only feeling while reading, the disgust must be there as well. This novel allows for it, showing how a man like Hitler, would not be as scrutinized for his ideals today as he was right after the Second World War, he becomes a representation of oppressive movements right now that are not being seen as a threat, even though they are.
In this novel Hitler gets tr ...more

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Jan 10, 2016 Nigeyb rated it really liked it · review of another edition

An intelligent, interesting and thought-provoking book

Hitler wakes up in 2011, having inexplicably time travelled from the 1940s. He has no recollection of the end of the war and is incredibly confused by modern Berlin. He is recognised instantly by those he crosses but nobody takes him seriously taking him for an actor or performance artist.

The humour derives from Hitler’s reactions to what he sees around him, his self-belief that it remains his destiny to lead Germany, and the reactions of tho ...more

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Dec 08, 2014 Manchester Military History Society (MMHS) rated it did not like it

Shelves: germany, fiction, alternative-history

With all the fuss about this book, I felt I had to read it in order to form my own opinion.

It’s very much what I’d call a marmite book – some will love it and some will hate it. Those that will hate it will in the main be those that have either studied the 3rd Reich in detail or have been personally affected it.

I must admit I did feel a real unease reading this book. Whilst I’ll find Mel Brook’s “The Producers” funny this book is a very different proposition as it’s told from an imagined Hitler ...more

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Aug 15, 2014 Rebecca Foster rated it liked it

Shelves: laugh-out-loud, read-via-netgalley, holocaust, lit-in-translation

What if Hitler didn’t die in 1945 but, Rip Van Winkle-like, lay dormant until 2011 and emerged in near-contemporary Berlin? Such is the simple premise behind Vermes’s playful bestseller, which began as a succès de scandale in his native Germany and has spread worldwide. Heretofore, Christopher Goodwin writes in the London Times, “Germans have been terrified that humanizing Hitler in any way might lead to a resurgence of Nazism.”

Vermes’s Hitler seems something of a hapless buffoon. Sheltering wit What if Hitler didn’t die in 1945 but, Rip Van Winkle-like, lay dormant until 2011 and emerged in near-contemporary Berlin? Such is the simple premise behind Vermes’s playful bestseller, which began as a succès de scandale in his native Germany and has spread worldwide. Heretofore, Christopher Goodwin writes in the London Times, “Germans have been terrified that humanizing Hitler in any way might lead to a resurgence of Nazism.”

Vermes’s Hitler seems something of a hapless buffoon. Sheltering with a newspaper seller and featuring on comedy variety shows – everyone’s convinced he’s a peerless method actor – he appears harmless enough. Mostly he marvels at technology (catching up on seven decades of history via Wikipedia), deplores daytime cooking shows, and mocks Germany’s chancellor, “a chunky woman with all the confidence and charisma of a weeping willow.” His first-person narration is rather quaintly charming as it contrasts his assumptions with modern reality.

Yet his campaign of racial purification continues: he is obsessed with Turkish immigrants, and “the Jews are no laughing matter” is a chilling little refrain throughout. Television producers use the phrase to mean Jewish jokes are off the table, not realizing he means he is deadly serious where that topic is concerned. Goodwin reports that “the author has been criticized for not putting more focus on the Holocaust,” but it is unavoidably there in the background. As Herr Hitler broadcasts his creepily familiar hopes for the German future, everyone just keeps laughing at the amazing impersonation. Maybe that Nazism stuff wasn’t all so bad after all?

The author’s stated intention with this book is to, by reclaiming Hitler as an ordinary human being, show how the many were culpable – not just the one sacrificial villain. If Hitler continues as “a mythically evil figure” (Goodwin’s words), there’s every chance we’ll absolve the millions who went along with him at the time. Vermes is also showing the potential danger of nostalgia for the time of a strong leader.

I think I agree with Steven Poole (Guardian review) that the satire here is not as effective as it might have been, simply because the book is a bit boring in places, and also relies on a deeper knowledge of current European (especially German) politics and culture than many readers will possess. I most enjoyed the classically silly material, such as Hitler’s interchanges with his Valley Girl / Goth secretary, and the minor misunderstandings brought about by his 1940s worldview and his dogmatic sense of his own identity in the face of others’ disbelief. I also thought the book was very well translated into English idiom, especially jokes and slang.

In sum, it’s not as funny as Shalom Auslander’s Hope: A Tragedy (in which Anne Frank is discovered alive in an attic in contemporary upstate New York), but a decent stab at a very different type of sacred cow. ...more

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Jun 28, 2013 Oberhuu rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Schwarz, schwärzer, am schwärzesten. So empfinde ich den Humor dieses Buches, einen Bestseller und erneuten Hype in in Deutschland, ein Werk, welches man angeblich unbedingt lesen soll. Die Idee klingt… seltsam, unwirklich, bescheuert, sobald man das erste Mal davon hört. Doch sobald man darüber nachdenkt, weckt sie ein gewisses Interesse, möchte erfahren, wie der Autor das Ganze umgesetzt hat. Warum genau soll dieses Buch so witzig sein? So fand das Buch den Weg in mein Regal. Nun, die allgemei ...more

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Feb 27, 2016 ɐʇʇɐd rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Worum geht es?
Sommer 2011. Adolf Hitler erwacht auf einem leeren Grundstück in Berlin-Mitte. Ohne Krieg, ohne Partei, ohne Eva, im tiefsten Frieden, unter Tausenden von Ausländern. 66 Jahre nach seinem vermeintlichen Ende strandet er in der Gegenwart und startet gegen jegliche Wahrscheinlichkeit eine neue Karriere – im Fernsehen. Dieser Hitler ist keine Witzfigur und gerade deshalb erschreckend real. Und das Land, auf das er trifft, ist es auch: zynisch, hemmungslos erfolgsgeil und auch trotz J Worum geht es?
Sommer 2011. Adolf Hitler erwacht auf einem leeren Grundstück in Berlin-Mitte. Ohne Krieg, ohne Partei, ohne Eva, im tiefsten Frieden, unter Tausenden von Ausländern. 66 Jahre nach seinem vermeintlichen Ende strandet er in der Gegenwart und startet gegen jegliche Wahrscheinlichkeit eine neue Karriere – im Fernsehen. Dieser Hitler ist keine Witzfigur und gerade deshalb erschreckend real. Und das Land, auf das er trifft, ist es auch: zynisch, hemmungslos erfolgsgeil und auch trotz Jahrzehnten deutscher Demokratie vollkommen chancenlos gegenüber dem Demagogen und der Sucht nach Quoten, Klicks und „Gefällt mir“-Buttons. Eine Persiflage? Eine Satire? Polit-Comedy? (via Bastei Lübbe)

Wie hat es mir gefallen?
Er ist wieder da ist womöglich eines der kontroversesten fiktionalen Romane zu jener Zeit. Darf Deutschland über Hitler lachen?, fragt sich so manch einer. Ist das nicht eine Verharmlosung des Holocaust? Nein, so meine ich. Mit Er ist wieder da ist Timur Vermes ein äußerst gutes Werk im Bereich der politischen Satire gelungen, welches nicht nur die historische Person Adolf Hitler so dermaßen durch den Kakao zieht, sodass sich der Leser/Zuhörer den Bauch vor Lachen halten kann und ihm im schlimmsten Fall auch in manchen Ansichten zustimmt. Und das ist der Punkt. Gleichsam wird nämlich auch starke Kritik an unserer heutigen Gesellschaft ausgeübt, sodass dieses Lachen, was uns eben noch die Bäuche halten ließ, uns nun unwohl aufstößt und vielleicht sogar im Halse stecken bleibt. Und man denkt sich: Nun bin ich selbst auf das Gequatsche hereingefallen! An dieser Stelle sei gesagt: Christoph Maria Herbst hat seinen Sprecherjob sehr gut gemacht.

"Chancenlos gegenüber dem Demagogen", so steht es im Klappentext - bezogen auf unser Jetzt und Hier könnte dieser Satz nicht treffender sein, denn so frage ich mich beim Einschalten der Nachrichten in letzter Zeit eigentlich ständig, wie taub und blind mancher Mensch wohl sein mag, woher all dieser Hass kommt und ob wir denn aus der Vergangenheit nichts gelernt haben? Die Menschen in Er ist wieder da halten die Figur Adolf Hitler für nichts weiter als einen grandiosen Schauspieler. Und so schimpft er weiter seine Parolen, wie ein kleiner aufgeplusteter Rohrspatz und hat damit auch noch kommerziellen Erfolg, denn es sind die Menschen, die dem Ruf folgen. Die Aussage "Das was da vor über 70 Jahren geschehen ist, wird sich nicht wiederholen!" passt hierzu eigentlich ziemlich gut, denn diese Parolen sind aus heutiger Sicht, mit unserem guten Verstand (den unterstelle ich jetzt einfach mal meinen Lesern) ja eigentlich unglaublich lächerlich. Und gerade weil sie mit Leichtfertigkeit so hingenommen werden, weil so leichtfertig mit dem aktuellen politischen Diskurs in unserer Medienlandschaft umgegangen wird, ist diese Thematik nicht weniger gefährlich.

Mindestens regt Er ist wieder da zum Nachdenken an, doch dazu, und da stimme ich den Kritikern des Buches zu, braucht es auch das nötige historische Hintergrundwissen. Hat man dieses nicht, weiß man gewisse Ereignisse nicht einzuordnen, so wird man das Buch möglicherweise nicht als literarische Bereicherung empfinden. Auch grenzt Er ist wieder da sehr wohl an Geschmacklosigkeit, damit muss man umgehen können. Aber so ist das eben immer mit Satire. Wer denkt, er hätte hier ein leichtes komödiantisches Buch vor sich, dem sei gesagt, dass es nicht so ist. Man muss schon hinter die Passagen und Phrasen blicken können, um erstens den Witz zu verstehen und um zweitens die eigentliche Kritik zu erkennen.

Ich habe dem Buch insgesamt vier Sterne gegeben. Es ist grenzwertig und gleichzeitig veranschaulicht es einen langsamen Prozess, den wir auch aus Werken wie Die Welle von Morton Rhue oder Animal Farm von George Orwell kennen. ...more

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Jan 21, 2016 Marta Conejo rated it liked it · review of another edition

Bueno, ya está terminado. La verdad es que me esperaba otro final, ya que ha sido muy abierto, y ha dejado mucho que contar. El libro trata sobre qué ocurriría si Hitler vuelve de nuevo a este planeta, en la actualidad. La verdad es que hay situaciones muy graciosas y te das cuenta de cómo se ha desvirtuado el movimiento, y la verdad es que el autor recrea muy bien la visión o el pensamiento que podría llegar a tener Hitler. Por un lado lo que más me ha gustado del libro ha sido esos momentos có ...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Ellinor rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Er ist wieder da ist eine absolut brilliante Parodie auf unsere heutige Gesellschaft. Das Buch ist teilweise brüllend komisch, hinterlässt aber auch einen bleibenden Eindruck.
Kurz zum Inhalt: Adolf Hitler wacht im Sommer 2011 plötzlich mitten in Berlin wieder auf. Es dauert ein Weilchen, bis er realisiert hat, dass es nicht mehr 1945 ist, sondern 66 Jahre später. Dann jedoch begreift er erstaunlich schnell, was diese neue Welt ihm zu bieten hat. Er wird erneut zum Medienstar und schafft es probl ...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Katharina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, read-2012

Dieses Buch hat mindestens 4.5 Sterne. Ich überlege noch, vielleicht sogar 5 zu geben. Und dabei kann ich gar nicht so viel eloquentes dazu schreiben. Es sei erstmal so viel gesagt, das ich schon länger kein so intelligent-lustiges aber auch irgendwie erschreckendes Buch mehr gelesen habe. Unbedingt zu empfehlen, wenn man sich darauf einlassen will.

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Oct 23, 2013 André van Dijk added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 8weekly-recensies

LANG LEVE DE HALFGARE FÜHRER

Adolf Hitler ontwaakt in het Berlijn van onze tijd. Langzaam komt hij tot de ontdekking dat de wereld radicaal is veranderd sinds zijn zelfmoord in 1945. Dat is het begin van een hilarische wederopstanding. Maar kan dat eigenlijk wel, lachen om Hitler?

Schrijfster Hannah Arendt constateerde in 1961, bij het proces tegen topnazi Adolf Eichmann, dat het kwaad zich juist manifesteert in de alledaagse banaliteit. Het is nooit zichtbaar als iets opvallend monstrueus of duiv ...more

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Feb 08, 2016 Eric Boot rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favs-of-all-times, review, 4-5-stars, 2016

Hitler is back

Sooooooo... I'm gathering my thoughts right now because THIS BLEW ME AWAY! I'm not sure how to rate it (I give it4.5 stars now) Anyway, I loved it so much! The way Hitler slowly realized how much he missed his staff members like Göring, Goebbels and Bormann. How Hitler associated everything with a) a certain battle b) a certain front c) a certain person involved in his regime d) any other historic event he was responsible. This book was so far beyond my wildest dreams, just WOWWWW! ...more

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Sep 12, 2013 Giuseppe rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-s, literature-german, challenge-esimio-sconosciuto, genre-satire, genre-comedy

L'idea è semplice: cosa succederebbe se Hitler si risvegliasse ai giorni nostri? Vermes prova a svilupparla basandosi su una minuziosa ricostruzione del personaggio del dittatore tedesco. Il risultato è altresì buono. Ci sono fondamentalmente due aspetti a dimostrarlo. Il primo, sottolineato dalla narrazione in prima persona, è l'incredibile umanità della lucida follia del dittatore tedesco. La seconda è la critica tagliente alla società tedesca contemporanea. Come Vermes combina le due cose pro ...more

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Dec 10, 2015 Parastoo rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

بامزه و مفرح. فکر کنم نسخهٔ خمینیاش هم خیلی خوب و بامزه از کار دربیاید. اگر نویسنده بودم، شروعش میکردم. ...more

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About Timur Vermes

Vermes was born in Nuremberg in 1967. His father fled from Hungary after the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. After graduation, he studied history and politics in the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Since then he has been a journalist for tabloids such as the Munich Abendzeitung and the Cologne Express among other newspapers. In 2007 he started to ghostwrite books, including a bo ...more

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