Hitler's Niece : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Hitler, the Man
Review: A chilling and intimate portrait of a psychopathic narcissist from the point of view of his gullible and common-sensical niece. She is ensnared less by his infamous magnetism than by his rising celebrity and the pecuniary entrapments he foists on her. Gradually and painfully, she wakes up, in a golden cage, to the nightmarish, venomous and perverted relationship with her uncle. A "fly on the wall", superb, bated breath, piece of prescience in hindsight. Reads like journalism, deep like history, moving like a first rate novel and tragic beyond words. Close to a masterpiece. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited".

Rating:
Summary: Great Speculations On A Doomed Friendship!
Review: As someone familiar with many within the Fuhrer's immediate circle, I found this novel a terrific tale of what may have happened between him and his young niece, Geli Raubel. All the familiar characters, Goering,Goebbels, the chauffer (who, in this book, actually competes with Hitler over Geli's affections), and many others, seem all too real. The manipulative and mesmorizing future dictator slowly becomes truly sickening, but he actually is not without some human feelings as well. The descriptions of 1920's-early 1930's Munich and Germany are perfect, and the everyday life of the Hitler and his entourage are just as good. Note the claustophobic feel of his large flat, and the slowly developing, urgent paranoia of Geli that becomes all too real. In fact, though she does feel strangely drawn to Hitler, she is among the few not drawn completely in his web. The ending may not be true , but still a great read, and fine job by Mr. Hansen!

Rating:
Summary: Great Speculations On A Doomed Friendship!
Review: As someone familiar with many within the Fuhrer's immediate circle, I found this novel a terrific tale of what may have happened between him and his young niece, Geli Raubel. All the familiar characters, Goering,Goebbels, the chauffer (who, in this book, actually competes with Hitler over Geli's affections), and many others, seem all too real. The manipulative and mesmorizing future dictator slowly becomes truly sickening, but he actually is not without some human feelings as well. The descriptions of 1920's-early 1930's Munich and Germany are perfect, and the everyday life of the Hitler and his entourage are just as good. Note the claustophobic feel of his large flat, and the slowly developing, urgent paranoia of Geli that becomes all too real. In fact, though she does feel strangely drawn to Hitler, she is among the few not drawn completely in his web. The ending may not be true , but still a great read, and fine job by Mr. Hansen!

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: Most likely because I have such an aversion to the man in the title I found this book compelling enough to finish but in many ways I wish I had not started it. It has always been curious to me how Hitler got such a firm hold on the German population. To some degree, this book helped me understand the reasons for his success. I have been told by someone who watched and listened to his speeches that his eyes were spellbinding. This novel would validate that statement.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary challenge well met.
Review: Readers already aware that Ron Hansen is one of the most elegant writers alive will seize Hitler's Niece eagerly -- and find a surprise. This time, Hansen is not evoking beauty and mystery in his usual remarkable fashion, as in in Marriette in Ecstasy or Atticus, because that wouldn't be appropriate here: There's simply nothing beautiful about Adolf Hitler. But Hansen has challenged himself to try something new and important, for which he has employed sometimes jarring but always precise language and rhythm to match his alarming, brutal subject. Read this one through and you'll come away alert to new things about the machinations of evil. This is a brave and successful book, one that makes us shudder because, knowing what followed, we sense its awful truth.

Rating:
Summary: A Real Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius . . .
Review: Ron Hansen uses his story to take you down from all the big images of Nazi Germany to a level where you feel you can almost experience it as it is born and grows. His characterization of Hitler seesaws back and forth. One moment you think you might almost sympathize with the failed artist/dictator, but then his other side shines through and dispels your illusions. Even better is Hansen's portrayal of Angelika, Hitler's niece who is groomed to become his lover. Her repulsion/attraction to Hitler is rendered in a very believable manner.

This was my first time reading Hansen, but I plan to go back for more. Hitler's Niece is clearly the work of a master.

Rating:
Summary: My Review on Hitler's Niece
Review: This book is remarkable. Most of it was either fact or speculation and the authoro certainly brought the specualtion to light. I saw sides of Hitler that made me pity him and see the other side to him that most certainly, could have been there. I felt so sorry for his niece, Geli, who wanted ultimately to feel from him, the love of a father..but never received more than appeasing him and through that..his scorn. I think it is very likely that Geli's story ended the way this book mentions.

This book was well worth the read and I recommend this book to anyone who is into learning more information on Hitler and that era.

Rating:
Summary: A Cautionary Tale
Review: This is the story of how Hitler came to power told through the eyes of his niece, Geli Raubal. Although a work of fiction, Hitler's Niece is based on factual events. It retells the conditions in Germany after World War I and the disorder, which created the climate for Hitler's rise to power. In addition, it greatly details the lives of the other major players of the Third Reich. It talks about how such characters as Goebbels, Goring and Hitler were all relative failures, and for that reason had to blame somebody, mainly the Jews and Communists, for their lack of financial and career success. One account speaks of how the Brownshirts assault an old man at a rally just because he happened to "look like" Vladimir Lenin. The book points out the unmistakable reasons why such thugs came together, and how blowing personal failures to a level of racist fury can become a powder keg leading to a collective feeding frenzy. To be sure, the book also tells of how Hitler's family reflected inwardly on how insane the "Fuhrer" and his entourage was, and how complacency always allows the evil in society to flourish. In this work, Hitler's followers catapult him to the level of a deity and describe themselves in so many words as willing slaves to the whims of the Fuhrer. It also probes into the plasticity and facade that was the Reich. Hitler's Niece is an honest and necessary tale of caution. A must-read for all those concerned with how one level of mere unhappiness among a group of individuals can mount into a full-blown campaign of extermination. The fact this book retells true historical accounts through the fictional eyes of Geli Raubal does not detract in any way from its effectiveness.

Rating:
Summary: This is a joke, right?
Review: Yet another example of how wrong historical novels can go. The only thing Hansen proved by writing this book was how little he knows about Hitler and his relationship with Geli. "Hitler's Niece" is superficially "researched", scattered throughout with rumors, plus the quotes he took from Kubizek and Hitler himself were, for the most part, either taken out of context or completely fictional. He also, to top it all off, had the audacity to claim that Hitler (the character) did, in actuality, murder his niece. Facts support the theory that Angelika was, indeed, murdered-- either by members of Hitler's own Party or those of a rival organisation. However, to presume that Adolf Hitler was the perpetrator is a clear sign of a gross lack of information on Hansen's part.
The author would be well advised to stick to subjects with which he is better acquainted in future.