The Book Tower

But sometimes, in the street, without thinking, with a natural gesture, she took my arm, and then, yes, I surprised myself by missing the other life that could have been, if something hadn’t been broken so early. It wasn’t just the question of my sister; it was vaster than that, it was the entire course of events, the wretchedness of the body and of desire, the decisions you make and on which you can’t go back, the very meaning you choose to give this thing that’s called, perhaps wrongly, your life.

Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones is extraordinary; a detailed and sweeping account of the Second World War that is extremely well researched, intelligent and well written. It may be a classic, and it demands serious attention, but I am still to decide how much I liked this novel. At 975 pages this is a very difficult and demanding read; it is at times turgid, infuriating and meandering, whilst at others there is a genius in Littell’s writing that does shine through, albeit fleetingly.

Please note that as I attempt to make sense of this book, the following will contain spoilers.

The novel is narrated by Max Lau, an SS officer who, although open about his role in the massacres of the Holocaust, does often take the role of an observer of the atrocities of the Third Reich. Lau reveals that he escaped to France after the war by assuming a new identity and surviving to old age. The Kindly Ones is his memoir, which although ostensibly a part fictional part historical account of the Second World War, also features the dark undercurrents of incest and matricide.

The novel is divided into seven chapters; Toccata, Allemande I and II, Courante, Sarabande, Menuet en Rondeaux, Air and Gigue. Apparently this refers to the sequence of a Bach suite, although I had to look up the reference. Furthermore, each chapter is supposedly based on the style of each dance although, again, I did miss this allusion. Jonathan Littell has the tendency to be pretentious, although can overcome this with his talent as a writer.

The Kindly Ones is harrowing from the start, with Lau recounting his involvement in the horrendous massacre of Jews and Bolsheviks in the Ukraine. Although, as I’ve said, he’s more of an observer than a participant, Lau does appear to show a cold detachment to what is going on around him. His role on the sidelines make the terrible events all the more difficult to take. How could he stand by and let so much go on? Which is, of course, the rub. Nevertheless, the harrowing events do begin to play on his physical and mental faculties. Lau’s narrative also reveals his attraction to homosexuality and also to incest. We learn that Lau’s father mysteriously disappeared, his estranged mother remarried and that Max has a twin sister; one he is obsessed with.

Events move on to the battle of Stalingrad, which Lau manages to escape before the German defeat after being seriously wounded. Although shot in the head, he makes a miraculous recovery. His friend, Thomas, also suffers serious injuries but pulls through. After recovering in Berlin, Lau is awarded the Iron Cross by Heinrich Himmler. He decides to reacquaint himself with his mother and stepfather and in one of the novel’s strangest sequences, his mother and her husband are brutally and mysteriously murdered. On discovering the murder scene, Lau flees.

Lau is promoted to an advisory role in the management of concentration camps, here attempting to do some – although ultimately flawed – good, in trying to improve the hopeless conditions for the inmates. He is also dogged by two detectives who suspect him of the murder of his mother and stepfather. Although the case is eventually dropped (now in a senior role, Lau has many useful contacts), they continue to periodically surface to harass him. We also learn that his mother was in charge of two mysterious twins, whose parentage is unknown but who have fallen into the care of his sister. Around this time Lau considers a relationship with a young woman and tries to court convention, although he later decides to forget her.

The Kindly Ones reaches it darkest section with Lau visiting the empty home of his sister and indulging in lurid sexual fantasies. His one man orgy becomes a sequence of dreams merged with reality. Although deeply disturbing, Littell really reveals his brilliance here. The term nazi porn has been directed at the book, most probably with reference to this chapter. Although there is an element of dark pornography here, I still herald Littell’s writing. I can’t explain or defend this contradiction, but I will always be honest about what I think is talented writing.

Thomas eventually arrives to rescue Lau from his self indulgent breakdown, and they travel to Berlin as the war draws to its end; on route they meet a group of murderous children. We reach Berlin and Adolf Hitler makes a small but memorable appearance in the story. In an almost surreal scene, Lau attacks the Führer and assaults him, but whilst under arrest manages to escape in the chaos of Berlin falling. He is confronted by one of the detectives obsessed with the murder case (who, we presume, has been obsessively following him), although Thomas intervenes and kills the aggressor. The novel ends with Lau then coldly killing Thomas, thus stealing his identity (Thomas – perhaps foolishly – earlier revealing that he had a cunningly invented French persona as a line of escape) which enables Lau to flee to France to start a new life.

Littell throws many riddles at the reader that are left unsolved. Although the circumstances of his mother’s murder are never explored, I drew the conclusion that Lau killed her, especially as the original French title Les Bienveillantes relates to The Oresteia written by Aeschylus, which featured the vengeful Furies who tracked down those who murdered a parent. In Lau’s case, however, he makes a clean break. I’m also guessing that the enigmatic twins who feature in the story are the offspring of Lau and his sister; the twins of twins – an echo of duality running through the book, the duality of good and evil that Lau wrestles with before always succumbing to the latter.

The Kindly Ones has been descibed as having a “terrible twist”. This is misleading, suggesting something unexpected and surprising. That Lau kills Thomas is, sadly, not a surprise. He saves his own skin, giving in to his ultimate act of evil. Thomas gives him the germ of an idea. With it, he thrives. If you want to be really crude, it’s the survival of the fittest. But it is true that this is truly terrible.

The precisely written prose of The Kindly Ones is both a blessing and a hindrance. Littell’s narrative is so detailed that it provides an absorbing account of Lau’s world, which at times becomes so fascinating and real that you begin to doubt that he can really be a work of fiction. At the same time, the book grinds almost to a halt when it becomes preoccupied with nazi ideology, sometimes recounting detailed conversations that run over dozens of pages. And when the novel gets odd it really gets odd, at times uncomfortably so, but some of the sections – especially the account of the fall of Berlin at the end of the book – are beautifully written.

The Kindly Ones was rewarded with the attention that it ruthlessly demanded from me. But it wasn’t easy. It’s an absorbing book, but also an infuriating one. At times depressing, and rarely uplifiting, but one revealing talent in the author, and one stretching the reader. In my case, almost to the limit – the most demanding book I’ve ever read. But I’ve never said that good literature shouldn’t be difficult. If you are a real reader – and I think you are – there’s no option but to try this.