It could happen anywhere, even here: Every Man Dies Alone

"Every Man Dies Alone" is a knockout right to the end, as it concludes with the Quangels' last days in prison and the death of Trudel and her husband, each death sadder, stranger, more tragic than the next - and all of them, in a sense, belying the title of the book. Men (and women) who commit themselves to a cause never die alone - they die with their comrades in spirit. You will never forget the description of the last moments of Otto Quangel's life, as he awaits the drop of the guillotine. The court scene is great and unprecedented, with the horrific Nazi judge just using the occasion to spout venom, humiliate, and dominate. I am assuming that this novel is based on Fallada's close observations of the Nazi judicial system, such as it was - it's truly amazing that the whole Nazi system could exist and incredibly sad how puny and ineffective the resistance inside Germany was - everyone though they could make it through if they quietly went along. It may be so within all tyrranical societies, but there's a particular horror about Nazi Germany - so many of us know or have relatives who just managed to escape, or who didn't - and a fear that if it could happen in a long-established "civilization" such as Germany, it could happen anywhere, even here. And I read the Tea Party chatter and hear the Rush Limbaugh venom and read about the antiimmigrant furor in Arizona and think, yeah, it could, and what would I do about it? Would I stand up? How much would I risk? Most of the people in this novel risk little or nothing, and those who put their lives on the line pay the full price - and effect no changes. A depressing book in that way - but incredibly powerful testament.