I loved this book, I’d like to respectfully posit that American critics don’t deal with subtlety very well. For example you could compare bestsellers in France and America.
Hi Steve, I read this the first time when I was 17, and I thought to myself "I am not old enough for this". At 23 I read it again and I thought to myself "I am not old enough for this". I'm pretty sure when I'm 60 I'll read this and think to myself "I am not old enough for this".
I'm having weird Gravity's Rainbow "vibes" from this, if that is so I really need to read this book (I was dropped from the cradle hard on when I was very young).
Hey Steve! Great video. I made it through every page of The Kindly Ones. And, it wasn't easy. I had too put it down several times. I just needed a break from the evil carnage. The research is obviously meticulous. I think that I understand one of the points that the author is trying to make which is if you experience enough emotionless and consistent slaughter, you start to lose the shock. Eventually, the killing becomes boring. But to take 1000 pages the say that is a mallet to the brain. Plus, he didn't reveal anything that I didn't already know. And, I agree; the Gulag Archipelago (all volumes) are almost impossible to put down. The Kindly Ones did remind me a bit od 2666 by Bolano which also go through a very long section on the female murders in Juarez. And again I think his point is that after enough pointless murders, the reader is no longer schocked. Murder becomes mundane. But, 2666 has much more to recomend it. Btw, ever read The Thin Red Line by James Jones? Now there is a damn good WWII novel!
I liked this a bit better than Steve, however, I agree that there were uneven parts, especially the ending which was jarringly surreal. I read the Company as well and had no idea of the family tie. The Winds of War is a great war drama. The Kindly Ones is more a study of evil.
@@saintdonoghue honestly I thought it was brilliant one of the best things I've read in a while, when ordering The Kindly Ones I also ordered Binet's latest Civilisation. Living in the Czech Republic I know the story of Anthropoid well but this was something else and it's inspired me to take the book with me next time I pop down to Prague on a walk about.
I just bought this in April at a library book sale. 50 cents 😉 The Hardcover, looks brand new. Oh no, now I’m nervous 😬 Hope to get to this in the Fall. I’m so sensitive I probably won’t make it very far. I read The Frontiersmen & was cringing over the torture parts.
I read this a couple of years ago and it was a trial to get through... there is however one scene in the book that has continued to stick with me for a long time. (It had a small child in it and it broke my heart) 💔 I read the hardcover but it was from the library
ive read this book several times. i agree with your takes, but these things you find to be faults i find to be fascinating intricacies. perhaps i just like the meat grinder. maybe im a masochistic reader.
