Europe Central
In this magnificent work of fiction, William T. Vollmann turns his trenchant eye to the authoritarian cultures of Germany and the USSR in the twentieth century. Assembling a composite portrait of these two warring leviathans and the terrible age they defined, the narrative intertwines...
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In this magnificent work of fiction, William T. Vollmann turns his trenchant eye to the authoritarian cultures of Germany and the USSR in the twentieth century. Assembling a composite portrait of these two warring leviathans and the terrible age they defined, the narrative intertwines experiences both real and fictional—a young German who joins the SS to expose its crimes, two generals who collaborate with the enemy for different reasons, the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich laboring under Stalinist oppression. Through these and other lives, Vollmann offers a daring and mesmerizing perspective on human actions during wartime.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780143036593 (0143036599)
Publish date: November 14th 2005
Publisher: Penguin
Pages no: 811
Edition language: English
This book is a collection of short stories set in Soviet-era Russia and Germany prior to WW2, during WW2 and post-war. Though it was interesting to read Vollmann's interpretations of historical figures and events in both countries, I disliked how liberally he strew the theme of sex as an instigato...
Patronymics--Europe CentralSourcesAn Imaginary Love Triangle: Shostakovich, Karmen, KonstantinovskayaAcknowledgements
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