The saddest moment in this harrowing book : Every Man Dies Alone

"Every Man Dies Alone" is an incredibly powerful book, and I realize yesterday's post may have been short-sighted, there's no reason to criticize a book for what it isn't, and this novel isn't about the Jewish victims of the Holocaust - and there has been a lot written on that subject of course, tho never enough - this novel is about the victims of tyranny and oppression. It's about a citizenry living in fear - in this case wartime Berlin, but you could write the same or a similar novel about North Korea, Baghdad, Uganda, you name it - the fear and the sense that everyone's a spy and that the slightest word against the government could mean your life - that's universal, and Hans Fallada captures the sensation perfectly. It's easy to describe this novel as "Kafakaesque," but that doesn't do it justice because it's not dreamy and surreal but documentary and matter-of-fact in its tone. Part of its terror lies in knowing this, that the writers experienced this culture and survived. Part is knowing how craven the entire country was - germans just going along, not gighting back, not feeling terribly bad about the Jews, at least someone else was bearing the brunt of the suffering. Part of the terror is seeing how stupid the Gestapo is - taking two years to find a minor criminal, an old man distributing anti-Fuhrer post cards. Their very inefficiency makes them more frightening, as they're perfectly willing to arrest the innocent, just to boost the statistics and satisfy the higher-ups. The Gestapo are bullies in the purest sense, ganging up to beat the hell out of a prisoner, kicking people who are down. The whole novel follows the postcard guy, and perhaps the saddest moment in the book is when he's caught and learns that his cards have had absolutely no effect - virtually all were turned over to the police. What a harrowing moment.