The Good German

Rating:
Summary: Kanon's 'Good German' is a real thriller!
Review:
It is in the months following WWII in Berlin that "The Good German" is set. Joseph Kanon in his third novel captures, readily the tonal integrity, the dynamic symmerty, the
full atmosphere of this traumatic time in history. Jake Geismar returns to Berlin to cover the Potsdam Conference, at least that's his cover.

More knowledgeable than his colleagues know, Jake has spent time in Berlin before the war. He's now looking to pick up the pieces, perhaps more literally than one might think. At the center of his reasons for returning: to find Lena, the woman he loved-and left-because of the war. Jake finds Lena, but Lena's husband is missing. He's a top-rated mathematician and both the Russian and American intelligence agencies want him-badly.
However, as the Conference is progressing, an American soldier's body is found in the Russian sector of Berlin. Thus begins what is certainly one of the tautest murder mystery thrillers lately.

Yes, Kanon evokes LeCarre, Len Deighton, even Robert Ludlum in places, yet he holds his own with the riveting story line and Jake is a memorable character, one who easily combines romance with espionage, social significance with irony. Philosophic
and poetic, Kanon's literary reach is broad, but not so much that it drags. The author, clearly in control of the plot development, cruises to a dramatic-and exciting-finish. ([e-mail])


Rating:
Summary: Multi-level Mystery Novel of Berlin, 1945.
Review: "The Good German" by Joseph Kanon, Audio Tape read by Stanley Tucci.
Simon & Schuster, New York, NY 2001.

Although billed as murder mystery/thriller, this book is really an attempt at in-depth analysis of the actions of the United States at the end of the Second World War, when the seeds of Cold War were planted. Were Americans truly so set on reaping the dollars (marks) that they ignored the implications of a Communistic Russia? Set in the hot weather of the Potsdam Conference, July/August 1945, author J. Kanon uses his skills to develop a word picture of a bombed-out, destroyed Berlin. Kanon portrays the scenes as "you are there!" descriptions of the ruined capital city of the Third Reich, as the gun fights and car chases carry the chief character, Jake Geismar, in and out of harm's way.
Jake Geismar is a realistic portrayal of the jaded correspondent, who came to Berlin during Hitler's Olympic Games. Geismar had stayed on to report the historical events, fell in love with Lena Brandt, and all this serves as the foundation for his return to a conquered Germany and the events of 1945.

An over-riding theme is Geismar's continued attempt to understand how an educated and cultured Germany could have tolerated, no, more than tolerated, ...how the Germans could have joined in the crimes of the Nazis. This guilt-seeking theme slows the book, but is necessary for the final resolution when the murderer of Lt. Tully, the American Army officer, is identified.

There are some logistical questions, such as how a person (Geismar) can operate an old-fashioned manual typewriter, when his arm is in a cast, and how the little German boy, Erik, (three years old) is able to understand not only his native German, but also English ... so much so that the boy is taken out of the hospital room to avoid hearing details.

The reader of the audio version, Mr. Stanley Tucci, does a fine job with what we usually consider German accents, and he has fine characterization of both female and male personages, so you think you are really hearing dialogue between actors. I enjoyed this audio book as I drove Interstate 495 around Boston, in my daily commute.

Rating:
Summary: great book!!!!
Review: "The Good German" is set in post-World War II Berlin, a place of espionage, dirty tricks, black market activities and human suffering. A murder takes place in 1945 as the Allied leaders are gathering for their Potsdam conference (an American officer's body is discovered floating in a lake in the Russian occupation zone, his pockets full of money.) But more than just a murder mystery, there are larger themes in the book, such as collective guilt, a society that succumbed to genocide, and the justice of the victors. The book's main character is an American who is involved in a love triangle, a situation somewhat reminiscent of "Casablanca." Although I found the book to be a moving portrait of a city down on its heels and its luck, where corruption and violence are commonplace and where even the innocent may be compromised, overall it unravels. Conveniently, the hero always seems to be in the right place at the right time as well as bulletproof. And the car chase absolutely defies belief!

Rating:
Summary: Dreadful
Review: I usually complain that too many books are "told" rather than dramatized in scenes and that far too few authors make good use of dialogue. To its credit, "The Good German" is dramatized in scenes but, if anything, dialogue is overused. (Some people might think there is no pleasing me, but that isn't the case.)

"The Good German" is set entirely in Berlin at the very close of WWII. I found this setting to be intriguing and, even though I was born post-WWII, I have visited Berlin and Kanon's evocation felt so "right" to me. I feel he must have researched post-WWII Berlin very thoroughly and the book might be worth reading for its setting alone.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I didn't find the plot convoluted or labyrinthine. I found it trite, hackneyed and a little silly. Even though it's simplistic, it's also somewhat confusing. Kanon is not one of those rare authors who's good at managing a large cast of characters. In fact, he's terribe at it. For the first half of the book, it was difficult remembering "who was who" and this is especially true of the peripheral "members of the press" characters.

The dialogue and characterization in "The Good German" are simply awful. Some of the dialogue was so bad it actually made me wince. Characters say things no one would ever dream of saying and they're all stock, cardboard cutouts with no personality or life of their own. After reading 500 pages of the book, I didn't feel I knew the protagonist, Jake Geismar, at all. As another reviewer has already pointed out, this was quite a feat of (bad) writing since Jake appears on every single page.

The "love story" (I hesitate to call it that) was totally unbelievable. Both characters, and Jake in particular, were so incredibly selfish and self-centered I found myself thinking that love really had very little to do with their relationship. And I'm another reader who couldn't buy the woman's "quick recovery."

Finally, "The Good German" is simply too long. I enjoy long books as long as they have something to say, but this book contained so many unnecessary, extraneous scenes that the flow of the story was often interrupted.

I was going to award this book one star only. I hated it that much. But, on reflection, there are a lot of books out there that are worse and some that are truly unreadable. In the end, I decided to give "The Good German" two stars for its superb use of setting.

I can't really recommend this book to anyone, but if you do decide to read it, please don't think it takes its theme (What, exactly, made one a "good" German during WWII) seriously. It doesn't. This is definitely beach or airplane reading and not even good beach or airplane reading at that.

If you'd like to read a book that takes a very intelligent look at the German thought process, read Bloch's "The Sleepwalkers" instead.

Rating:
Summary: Who is the "Good German ?"
Review: In this fictional romance detective (mystery/thriller) novel Joseph Kanon works with real historical facts (Allied occupation of Berlin in the summer of 1945) and places (Berlin and environs of Potsdam and Grunewald) to create a MORALLY INTROSPECTIVE plot. Historical facts are presented to show the evils done not only by the Nazis, but also the Russian soldiers, and the American GIs.

As some of the other reviewers mentioned, this novel is not great for it's detective story. Our action-hero, Jake/Jacob Geismar, is a war-correspondent for the US Army and seems to survive many incredulous circumstances.

The complexity of the novel is much more than untangling a web of mystery in the underground world of post-WWII Berlin. At the heart of the novel is the MORAL EXPLORATION of what we mean by good and evil, and of the nature of justice in times of war and relative peace.

As such, the title "The Good German" is a key to understanding the moral intricacies of the characters presented in this novel. This title is echoed in only four places (as far as I could notice).

So what does it mean to be a "good German?"

According to Joseph Kanon:
a) "Not a Nazi." (pg. 72)
b) De-nazified German scientists. (pg. 265)
c) Gunther, a German policeman during the war and detective-for-hire under occupied Berlin who was also an Iron Cross veteran (1917) during the Great World War. (pg. 464)
d) Americanzined Germans (German scientists and German population who is willing to forget the past and get with the new program: the new war, the Cold War).

Rating:
Summary: Berlin after the fall
Review: Joseph Kanon first earned my attention with "Los Alamos". This is a second, intriguing read. "The Good German" offers a look at Berlin in late 1945, recovering from the war. As part of the recovery, people try to assemble their lives shattered by the war. There are the two lovers, one American and one German, separated for four years. There is the German scientist, eagerly sought by the Americans. There are the Russians, stereotyped as intent primarily on rape, revenge and pillage. And then there is the dead American, shot after the fighting, found at the time and location of the Potsdam Conference. This death draws the story together, including the black marketeer, the British journalist, the starving local citizens, and the resurrection that follows deadly combat.

An engaging, entertaining, detailed read, painting vivid pictures of lives drab and destroyed by war.

Rating:
Summary: A hard look at the real questions
Review: Like in his other books (Los Alamos in the best, In my opinion), Kanon uses the mystery genre to ask difficult questions and to try to answer them.

An American journalist returns to Berlin immediately after WWII. He reunited with his lost love and, through her and through his work, meets a series of Germans and non Germans, whose lives have been twisted and torn apart by the war.

The main theme of the book, namely, who is a good German, or, more accurately, who is a good person, is presented in a series of subtle onion skins, which get peeled as the book progresses. The real greatness of Kanon is that the answer to the question is ultimately a matter of the reader's personal choice.

I love Kanon's writing and think that this is a truly brilliant book, but I must admit to one area of discomfort. This book is one of a wave of recent publications that seeks to portray the German suffering in the Second World War. Kanon is very fair in this regard, because he presents the German suffering suffering in its context and because his protrayel of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust is both powerful and touching. But the fact still stands that lately there have been quite a few books that have focused on the poor Germans and their trials during the war. As a Jew whose life was hugely influenced by the tragedies of the holocaust, I feel uncomfortable with the new trend. I understand that many Germans suffered horribly, but despite this touching book, I am hard pressed to feel pity for any of them. The voices of my many relations who died in the camps are simply too loud for me to hear these statements.

This not withstanding, The Good German is a brilliant book and an excellent topic for a book club or any reader with a heart.

Rating:
Summary: A hard look at the real questions
Review: Like in his other books (Los Alamos in the best, In my opinion), Kanon uses the mystery genre to ask difficult questions and to try to answer them.

An American journalist returns to Berlin immediately after WWII. He reunited with his lost love and, through her and through his work, meets a series of Germans and non Germans, whose lives have been twisted and torn apart by the war.

The main theme of the book, namely, who is a good German, or, more accurately, who is a good person, is presented in a series of subtle onion skins, which get peeled as the book progresses. The real greatness of Kanon is that the answer to the question is ultimately a matter of the reader's personal choice.

I love Kanon's writing and think that this is a truly brilliant book, but I must admit to one area of discomfort. This book is one of a wave of recent publications that seeks to portray the German suffering in the Second World War. Kanon is very fair in this regard, because he presents the German suffering suffering in its context and because his protrayel of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust is both powerful and touching. But the fact still stands that lately there have been quite a few books that have focused on the poor Germans and their trials during the war. As a Jew whose life was hugely influenced by the tragedies of the holocaust, I feel uncomfortable with the new trend. I understand that many Germans suffered horribly, but despite this touching book, I am hard pressed to feel pity for any of them. The voices of my many relations who died in the camps are simply too loud for me to hear these statements.

This not withstanding, The Good German is a brilliant book and an excellent topic for a book club or any reader with a heart.

Rating:
Summary: The Good German
Review: The Good German is a great mystery/thriller. The action takes place in Berlin immediately after the end of WWII, at the time of the Potsdam conference between Russia, the US and Great Britain. The main character is drawn by a mysterious murder that nobody seems interested in solving. Along the way he finds his long lost love, who happens to be married to a German scientist.

The mystery is engrossing. What is more valuable in the book, however, is the moral discussion of how normal people get involved in a monstrocity as the Third Reich and how these normal people deal with the guilt they feel afterwards. This is not an easy task, and the reason I give the book 5 stars is because I think Kannon is amazing at balancing both aspects of the book. He is not preaching to anybody while conveying a pretty complicated message-- everyone has their own share of guilt but the winners of the war, despite feeling morally superior and justified, were sometimes more immoral than the people they were trying to judge.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: The Good German is a rarity---a thinking person's thriller. The characters are extremely well-developed, the moral issues raised by the story (and setting) are really thought-provoking and the plot is fascinating.
Jake, an American journalist, returns to Berlin in 1945 to search for the married woman with whom he had an affair before being forced to leave Berlin. While Jake manages to find Lena, his attempts to persuade her to join him become hopelessly convoluted when she insists on finding and notifying her husband of her decision to leave him. Lena's husband, it turns out, was a rocket scientist/mathematician who worked for the Nazis and who is now the target of a concentrated search by both the Russians and Americans (who want not to try her husband but rather to exploit his knowledge of weapons and missles).
While Russian and American intelligence are courting former Nazi scientists, Nazi and Nazi sympathizers who lack valuable knowledge are being systematically put on trial by both the Russians and Americans. The parallel story of Renate, a Jewish Berliner who worked for the Nazis as a "catcher" (someone who identified and caught Jews for the Nazis while under threat of death) presents an incredible counterpoint to the story of Lena's husband.
This is not a book which you can easily put down---the writing is great and the story moves along quickly. But it is the issues or moral responsibility which will remain with you long after you have finished the book. You won't regret buying this book!