From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Every Man Dies Alone

Hans Fallada,

Michael Hofmann (Translator)

Start date: September 15, 2009

Finish date: September 15, 2009

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Ruth

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Aug 18, 2009 Ruth rated it really liked it

This book is fiction, but it’s based on the true story of a couple who left anti-Nazi postcards around Berlin. I didn’t realize how long it was until my hefty copy arrived from Amazon. I allowed plenty of time to read it, but found I needn’t have. Either Fallada was a wonderfully smooth writer, or his translator is. Or both are. It reads so quickly and easily I finished it off in a few days.

The book is centered on the residents of an apartment house on Jablonski Strasse. Here we have a microcos ...more

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Jun 07, 2009 Lee rated it it was ok

I read Fallada's Little Man, What Now?, and was impressed so today I went out and bought this one. I have sone concerns which I will explain below, but on the whole, I feel that I was glad to have read it.

I do feel that the publisher owed me better translating and editing. There were places where the German word order had been unaccountably retained. In other places, I felt that the translation might be clumsy, but without checking with the original, I could not be sure of the problem. There wer ...more

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Sep 14, 2009 Jim rated it really liked it

Shelves: literary

Although the notion that Nazis are evil and resistance to them is brave is hardly controversial, the specifics in the story told here still resonate. In a broader sense this is a story about people maintaining their self esteem under a system that wants to destroy their individuality. Unfortunately, this is not just a story about life in Nazi Germany.

While the moral of the story is fairly obvious, the individuality of the characters and the variety of ways they struggle against fate makes the bo ...more

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Jan 18, 2015 Ricki rated it really liked it

Not one for the even slightly depressed but is a very good book. No happy endings here, it brings the colour of the time to life along with the insecurity.

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Sep 20, 2011 Sara rated it really liked it

Grim. Very grim. But certainly a clear-eyed look at Germany under Hitler.

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May 18, 2010 Jennifer rated it liked it

A novel of the German Resistance to the Nazis written in 24 days.

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Mar 31, 2012 eve rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: swapable, tried-to-read-but, 2012

I don't want to diminish the amazing true event which inspired this book, of a couple's quiet resistant to the Nazi regime by leaving anti-Hitler postcards around Berlin. It's a beautiful story. But I found this book hard to read. I was stuck in the middle and although I've kept this book on my bedside table and insisted that I at least, should give it another try, I still found this book difficult. So, I give up. Life is too short. ...more

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Mar 25, 2009 Riv added it

Shelves: couldn-t-finish

so much for light reading--this is definitely not, but I'm not sure I'll make it through at this point.

Holocaust fiction from a Gentile point of view... ...more

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