Hitler's Niece

Rating:
Summary: Treading dangerous ground
Review: I like historical novels in general, but this one was a turnoff. Enough is known about the evils of Hitler that I don't think we really need to have speculation made on his sexual proclivities. Yes, the guy is a nominee for Creep of All Time, but I don't believe that portraying him as a neurotic, cowardly pervert accomplishes anything. Let him be reviled in history for the terrible things he was responsible for. But let's not create a legend, good or bad, about the man. This, in my opinion, is as bad as those that write about the Holocaust never existing.

The two stars it gets are for the carefully researched historical background, and the origins and endings of his chief henchmen. But this stuff can also be found in a lot of other books.

Rating:
Summary: HItler's Niece
Review: This book is about Aldolf Hitler and his relationship with his niece. It takes place before WWII. This book was very different. You really had to sit and concentrate on the book to understand it. In the book there's not a character that I can relate to. One of the character in the book is Angelika Rubal, she was a young girl. She was Hitler's Niece. Then there is Hitler. I hope that no one could relate to him. In the book the chapter went by years. That was a very good choice on Ron Hansen's part. Every once in a while there would be an over whelming paragraph. You would just say WoW!. He would also cram so much information into paragraphs. This book talked about a bad man who became much worse by the end of the novel. "She showed up wearing a jumper and a red shirt. Just as Hitler had suggested." That was a quote from the book. It shows that Hitler was overbearing. After Angelika moved in with Hitler his instructions got worse. She had no choice but to listen to him. The book's message was hard to find. I'm not sure if I have found it yet. It's a story about a horrible man. I don't think this book is for everyone. You have to remember 30 different names. You also need to read very carefully, as not to miss any information. Even though it is a novel, many think it might have actually happened. I suggest you should read this book if you like informational stories about the past.

Rating:
Summary: I was freaked out !
Review: I just finished reading HITLER'S NEICE and I have to say that this book creeps me out!! At first, when I borrowed this I thought I could see how Hitler was really like and try to understand how he came into all of this, on a deeper level. But after reading this, I was scared out of my mind. Hitler is pure crazy!! Especially what he forces Geli to do and changes the people around him into more sinister things.

HITLER'S NEICE really supports what the textbooks say about him except that this book shows his childish side. In a way, society made him into who he was because he could have been an artist. But because of his passionate nature for the Germans, it might have warped him or maybe he was warp to begin with. But to begin with, there really wasn't much goodness inside of him. He was a sulky, childish, selfish, self-cetered, opportunist brat! And I hope that no one would EVER turn out to be like him because it is tooo evil.

Rating:
Summary: Hitler's Niece was a victim.
Review: "Hitler's Niece" is a finely crafted novel, well-researched. His niece was actually a victim of sexual abuse..by an uncle. Hitler was obsessed by his niece, and he used his importance, his money, etc. to entice her into that situation. She was from a very poor family, and encouraged by her mother to perpetuate their relationship. It is really sad to think of her death in connection with this, because she was assasinated by Hitler because she wanted to finally escape, and it was hidden by his staff. If it were today and in America, he would be placed in jail for what he did.

Rating:
Summary: No Spring time for me
Review: I was very disappointed with this novel from the vague Geli Raubal character to the speculation about Hitlers eary days that came off very contrived and boring.

Rating:
Summary: A Difficult Subject handled Very Well.
Review: I obtained this book for free as an incentive to join a book club. While curious, I was initially reluctant to read it as I wasn't sure how the author was going to treat the subject, particularly Hitler. In our current atmosphere of political correctness, Hitler is a very difficult subject to tackle. How to portray him? Having read many biographies of Hitler, I feel the author did an excellent job. In this book, Hitler is not a one-dimensional, cartoonish character, but a complex, well-developed individual. Through his relationship with his family, particularly Geli, early on you come to the realization that something is missing from his personality. Hitler lacks the ability to emphathize with others, cannot love nor understand others. These early relationships are a scary foretaste of the evil that he would bring upon the rest of humanity. The only reason that I rated this "4" stars rather than "5" is my opinion that the author did not really develop Geli's character, particularly her attraction to Hitler. This may be harsh, however, as so little is really known about her. All in all, however, this is an excellent story. Make your own judgements on the ending. Suicide or murder? In my opinion, given the relationship between Hitler and Geli, it probably could have gone either way.

Rating:
Summary: The weirder the relationship, the more interesting
Review: I'm a Ron Hansen fan, although I prefer the westerns. I was disappointed in Mariette in Ecstacy, but was pleased to find Hitler's Niece a much stronger book. (Mariette was just too darned atmospheric with too little plot or resolution for me.)

One of Hansen's strengths, in my opinion, is his ability to render a convincing portrait of an environment dominated by men (probably has something to do with why I prefer the westerns). He's quite successful with Hitler and his inner circle. Hansen's Hitler, manipulative, cowardly, and vain, suited my existing point of view. I also found it oddly satisfying to see Hitler's cronies depicted as loony, dysfunctional social misfits.

This story is a train wreck, of course, I knew that Geli would come to a bad end and it would be Hitler's fault, but I kept reading anyway. The weirder the relationship became, the more interested I became, and consequently, the more believable I found the story. I enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: The Beauty and the Beast
Review: A fascinating on novel on the relationship that Adolf Hitler (may have) had with his niece Geli. This book may or may not be true and that is exactly what makes it so fascinating: are we taking a look into the private life of Evil? Or is this all made up? We will never really know.

What remains is an intriguing story of the development of a relationship between an optimistic, open girl/young woman and her morose uncle, who at times is utterly charming, at other times a complete fiend. This reminds me of so many other stories from daily life where you always wonder: "Why doesn't she leave him???"

Rating:
Summary: Depressing but extremely well done
Review: This book gives us another dimension into Hilter: his private and family life. We see that Hitler is even more twisted that we can imagine. Geli, Hitler's niece is a likeable character placed in a horrible sitation. Fortunalty, her inherent good nature alerts her to the evil of the Nazis. Nevertheless, her confused love is betrayed by Hitler and his sick perversions. Highly recommended but some of the history may put some people off if they are unfamiliar with it

Rating:
Summary: Just an observation . . .
Review: Looking over the reviews of this book, I noticed a number of reviewers who rated this book poorly seem to have Nazi sympathies. They seem to be offended at seeing Hitler portrayed in the light that this author sheds and tend to focus in on the "factual inaccuracies" of the book to discredit it.

One prominant negative reviewer, ... , has also positively reviewed Hitler's Triumph of the Will as well as the Satanic Bible. It is a shame that his review is so prominant and may cause readers to pass over this book.

This is a book uses the this real life story to show how Evil works to seduce and corrupt innocence. It is the author's counter point book to "Mariette in Ecstasy" which is about how God works to build and magnify the soul. They ought to be read in relation to each other as the two standards or "paths" offered to us in every moment of our lives: God's and the Devil's.

Hope this is of some help to potential readers.