What do you think?
Rate this book
Jugend ohne Gott
Unmittelbar nach seinem ersten Erscheinen 1937 wurde Ödön von Horváths Jugend ohne Gott in mehrere Sprachen übersetzt und machte Horváth international bekannt. Im selben Jahr wurde sie von Thomas Mann empfohlen, und Hermann Hesse schrieb über die Erzählung : »Die Erzählung ist großartig und schneidet quer durch den moralischen Weltzustand von heute.« Es geht in ihr, so Alfred Döblin, um »eine Schule, eine mehr oder weniger verrohte Jugend, an ihr ein Lehrer, der ein Gewissen hat, sich verleugnen muß und schließlich nicht mehr kann«.
183 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
308 people are currently reading
7712 people want to read
About the author
Ödön von Horváth
229 books122 followersÖdön von Horváth was a German-writing, Austro-Hungarian-born, playwright and novelist. Important topics in Horváth's works were popular culture, politics and history. He especially tried to warn of the dawn of fascism and its dangers. Among Horváth's most enduringly popular works, Jugend ohne Gott describes the youth in Nazi Germany from a disgruntled teacher's point of view, who, himself at first an opportunist, is helpless against the racist and militaristic Nazi propaganda that his pupils are subjected to and that dehumanizes them and, at last, loses his job but gains his identity.
Having always lived in fear of being struck by lightning, in Paris Horváth was hit by a falling branch and killed during a thunderstorm on the Champs-Élysées, opposite the Théâtre Marigny.
His famous quote:
"If you ask me what is my native country, I answer: I was born in Fiume, grew up in Belgrade, Budapest, Pressburg [Bratislava], Vienna and Munich, and I have a Hungarian passport, but I have no fatherland. I am a very typical mix of old Austria-Hungary: at once Magyar, Croatian, German and Czech; my country is Hungary; my mother tongue is German."
Having always lived in fear of being struck by lightning, in Paris Horváth was hit by a falling branch and killed during a thunderstorm on the Champs-Élysées, opposite the Théâtre Marigny.
His famous quote:
"If you ask me what is my native country, I answer: I was born in Fiume, grew up in Belgrade, Budapest, Pressburg [Bratislava], Vienna and Munich, and I have a Hungarian passport, but I have no fatherland. I am a very typical mix of old Austria-Hungary: at once Magyar, Croatian, German and Czech; my country is Hungary; my mother tongue is German."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 784 reviews
June 3, 2023
On the side of the plot Youth Without God is a detective story but actually the novel is about society and those whom society tramples under its feet…
It is a brilliant depiction of conformism… And God is high above and He is a rapacious predator.
Conformity is a great force and it rules the crowds. And hypocrisy is a deadly weapon of tyrants.
If society is infected everyone in it must fall ill.
“God is the most terrible thing in the world.”
Yes!
Charming were the thoughts that pierced my heart. My mind had bred them. Apparelled so becomingly, they danced along and scarcely touched the ground. A ball, a fashionable ball. In pairs they went gliding through the moonlight. Cowardice with Courage, Lies with Uprightness, Wretchedness with Strength, Malice with Valour. Only Reason and Understanding did not join in the dance. Reason and Understanding were wretchedly drunk. They had lost their virtue. But the dance went on, and I listened to the music.
A song of the streets – the song of filth.
According to language, race, or nation, we set ourselves apart, and each pile up our filth to overtower the other’s.
It is a brilliant depiction of conformism… And God is high above and He is a rapacious predator.
Through the streets marched the young girls who had searched for the lost airman, the boys who would have left the negroes to die, and their parents, who believed the lies inscribed upon their banners. Even the sceptical joined in the march and kept time with the rest – spineless divisions under an idiot’s command. As they marched, they sang – of a bird fluttering upon a hero’s grave, of a soldier suffocating in the fumes of poison gas, of brown girls and black girls who lived on filth, of an enemy that only existed in their minds.
Conformity is a great force and it rules the crowds. And hypocrisy is a deadly weapon of tyrants.
For if you are ruled by the lawless and the debased you had better adopt their methods or they might flay you alive. You must drape your home with flags – even if you’ve a home no longer. When submissiveness is the solitary trait in the human character that those who rule will tolerate, truth flies away and lies creep in – the lies that engender sin.
If society is infected everyone in it must fall ill.
April 27, 2021
The Worst Case Scenario
Whenever a religion demonstrates its inadequacy to account for the contemporary facts of life, be sure that another religion is on the way to fill the vacuum. It too will fail but only after increasing the quantum of human misery significantly.
The impulse toward religion seems irresistible. Why? Comfort? Despair? A desire for justice or revenge? It seems that the evil which permeates the world demands a response. Religion is that response. Without religion there is no hope. Or so it might seem.
Religion rationalises evil as a temporary aberration, something to be endured for a higher achievement - heaven, nirvana, the respect of the gods, self-satisfaction. Ultimately justice will prevail and evil will be overcome, or at least relativised as the error religion claims injustice to be.
Since it is evil that necessitates God, he is automatically recruited to the cause of combatting the designated evil - the black man, the immigrant, the political opponent, the religious opponent, the opponent of any sort. These are unjust by definition and must be corrected by their elimination as God commands.*
Youth is never without religion, which it inherits from its parents, and therefore youth is never without God. Religion is strongest in youth, for whom the correcting of injustice is of obsessive concern since youth feels no other real responsibilities except obtaining justice for itself. Youth, fortunately, is constrained in its religious duties by a lack of power and so seeks out and combats evil primarily among its own ranks.
Some remain youthful throughout their lives, maintaining their religion as a guiding force as the scope of their adult power expands. They may redefine what constitutes evil, and consequently adapt their religion to the times as they advance in age. Unsurprisingly, religion tends to become increasingly conservative with age among those who cherish it. This adapted religion, more repressive from generation to generation, they in turn pass on to youth, with God as guide and constant ally.
Those who discover in adulthood that religion is mythical, that God is dead, may worry that evil will be consequently unconstrained. At least this is the story they hear from the religionists. They don’t realise that it is the existence of evil which has prompted the creation of God; and that the death of one’s God means the life of another God, fighting some other purported evil. This might provoke despair but shouldn’t be surprising. One God’s Mede is another God’s Persian.
As the translator says somewhat defensively in his introduction to Youth Without God: “A man does not need to be a fervent believer to sense the absence of God, or to detect the presence of darker agency.” He thinks we live in a godless age and suffer, or are at least confused, on account of it. But it is clear that Horváth knows that the racist, nationalist, militant Nazism which his protagonist experiences is anything but godless. The title represents a hope not a concern.
The new National Socialist God justifies justice of an entirely different sort than the old God; but there is justice nonetheless. So that it is incorrect to claim that “No divine justice will come: not before death, and not after it; not for the old, and not for the young.” This is not the “worst case scenario.” Far worse is the new theological regime which thrives on a divinely ordained justice of a different sort of human repression. Perhaps it’s time to realise that justice can’t be defined elsewhere than in human community.
*This is essentially an extrapolation of Alain Badiou’s thesis that the designation of the Good and Human Rights as the opposite of perceived Evil is a very dangerous business. I don’t know if Horváth’s story influenced Badiou, but it certainly demonstrates the importance of Badiou’s insight. See: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Whenever a religion demonstrates its inadequacy to account for the contemporary facts of life, be sure that another religion is on the way to fill the vacuum. It too will fail but only after increasing the quantum of human misery significantly.
The impulse toward religion seems irresistible. Why? Comfort? Despair? A desire for justice or revenge? It seems that the evil which permeates the world demands a response. Religion is that response. Without religion there is no hope. Or so it might seem.
Religion rationalises evil as a temporary aberration, something to be endured for a higher achievement - heaven, nirvana, the respect of the gods, self-satisfaction. Ultimately justice will prevail and evil will be overcome, or at least relativised as the error religion claims injustice to be.
Since it is evil that necessitates God, he is automatically recruited to the cause of combatting the designated evil - the black man, the immigrant, the political opponent, the religious opponent, the opponent of any sort. These are unjust by definition and must be corrected by their elimination as God commands.*
Youth is never without religion, which it inherits from its parents, and therefore youth is never without God. Religion is strongest in youth, for whom the correcting of injustice is of obsessive concern since youth feels no other real responsibilities except obtaining justice for itself. Youth, fortunately, is constrained in its religious duties by a lack of power and so seeks out and combats evil primarily among its own ranks.
Some remain youthful throughout their lives, maintaining their religion as a guiding force as the scope of their adult power expands. They may redefine what constitutes evil, and consequently adapt their religion to the times as they advance in age. Unsurprisingly, religion tends to become increasingly conservative with age among those who cherish it. This adapted religion, more repressive from generation to generation, they in turn pass on to youth, with God as guide and constant ally.
Those who discover in adulthood that religion is mythical, that God is dead, may worry that evil will be consequently unconstrained. At least this is the story they hear from the religionists. They don’t realise that it is the existence of evil which has prompted the creation of God; and that the death of one’s God means the life of another God, fighting some other purported evil. This might provoke despair but shouldn’t be surprising. One God’s Mede is another God’s Persian.
As the translator says somewhat defensively in his introduction to Youth Without God: “A man does not need to be a fervent believer to sense the absence of God, or to detect the presence of darker agency.” He thinks we live in a godless age and suffer, or are at least confused, on account of it. But it is clear that Horváth knows that the racist, nationalist, militant Nazism which his protagonist experiences is anything but godless. The title represents a hope not a concern.
The new National Socialist God justifies justice of an entirely different sort than the old God; but there is justice nonetheless. So that it is incorrect to claim that “No divine justice will come: not before death, and not after it; not for the old, and not for the young.” This is not the “worst case scenario.” Far worse is the new theological regime which thrives on a divinely ordained justice of a different sort of human repression. Perhaps it’s time to realise that justice can’t be defined elsewhere than in human community.
*This is essentially an extrapolation of Alain Badiou’s thesis that the designation of the Good and Human Rights as the opposite of perceived Evil is a very dangerous business. I don’t know if Horváth’s story influenced Badiou, but it certainly demonstrates the importance of Badiou’s insight. See: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
January 12, 2018
Which one will you choose Bread or death?
Human consciousness is really strange thing, it is what divide us from other animals it is what separate men from monkeys it is really what makes Moral animals.
It is really double edged sword, it is really a great thing to be morally conscious when the world is going by but what would you do if you were the only consciousness one among your family among your friend and among your country. What would you do when you see your family friends have ceased to moral beings and became a cog for ideology? Will you risk it and fight against the Authority? Will you stick your neck for higher values and beliefs? Values you only believe where everyone else has surrendered themselves to the propaganda and choose to say what Authorities want to say and do what the authority want to do and most importantly stop thinking
Sorry for my long introduction but this book is really enlightening novel where the author describes effects of brutalization which Fascism exercise on its population.
We start with unnamed narrator in unknown country where the narrator is high school teacher and he corrects essays of his students and topic of the essays was why their country needed outside Colonies
As the narrator correct his student’s essays one of the students wrote a racist remark
“All niggers are dirty, cunning, and contemptible”
The protagonist wrote a small remark on that essay (They’re human too, you know) and this small remark gets the protagonist into fight with student father because the student father blamed him for seditious act angst the fatherland.
After that incident the narrator finds his student fighting at the top of school and what happened there is really uncanny and it showed how the brutalization of that nation lead to some student fighting for nothing.
After that incident the school decides the student must go to camp not for vacation or tourism but for training into different kinds of army life but even then the narrator describes his depression at the mental state of his student
“I think it’s an unbridgeable gulf.
If these fellows merely rejected everything that’s still sacred to me—well, that Wouldn’t be so bad. What hurts is that they put it aside without even having known it. Worse still, they haven’t the slightest desire to know it. Thinking is a process they hate. They turn up their noses at human beings. They want to be machines—screws, knobs, belts, wheels—or better still, munitions—bombs, shells, shrapnel. How readily they’d die on a battlefield! To have their name on some war memorial—that’s the dream of their puberty. ”
In the camp happens many thing and what happens after that is really amazing tale
The crime The trial The bait the suicide the confession the travel the small student club
Does these quote rings a bell
“The Greatest Plebeian’s birthday meant a holiday today, and the town was decked out with flags and streamers. Through the streets marched the young girls who had searched for the lost airman, the boys who would have left the negroes to die, and their parents, who believed the lies inscribed upon their banners. Even the sceptical joined in the march and kept time with the rest—spineless divisions under an idiot’s command. As they marched, they sang—of a bird fluttering upon a hero’s grave, of a soldier suffocating in the fumes of poison gas, of brown girls and black girls who lived on filth, of an enemy that only existed in their minds. With their songs, the liars and the debased celebrated the day on which the Great Plebeian had been born. From my window too, a flag was waving. I noticed it with a certain gratification: I had hung it out the night before. For if you are ruled by the lawless and the debased you had better adopt their methods or they might flay you alive. You must drape your home with flags—even if you’ve a home no longer. When submissiveness is the solitary trait in the human character that those who rule will tolerate, truth flies away and lies creep in —the lies that engender sin. But don’t wait—hang out the flags. Better bread than death ”
Human consciousness is really strange thing, it is what divide us from other animals it is what separate men from monkeys it is really what makes Moral animals.
It is really double edged sword, it is really a great thing to be morally conscious when the world is going by but what would you do if you were the only consciousness one among your family among your friend and among your country. What would you do when you see your family friends have ceased to moral beings and became a cog for ideology? Will you risk it and fight against the Authority? Will you stick your neck for higher values and beliefs? Values you only believe where everyone else has surrendered themselves to the propaganda and choose to say what Authorities want to say and do what the authority want to do and most importantly stop thinking
Sorry for my long introduction but this book is really enlightening novel where the author describes effects of brutalization which Fascism exercise on its population.
We start with unnamed narrator in unknown country where the narrator is high school teacher and he corrects essays of his students and topic of the essays was why their country needed outside Colonies
As the narrator correct his student’s essays one of the students wrote a racist remark
“All niggers are dirty, cunning, and contemptible”
The protagonist wrote a small remark on that essay (They’re human too, you know) and this small remark gets the protagonist into fight with student father because the student father blamed him for seditious act angst the fatherland.
After that incident the narrator finds his student fighting at the top of school and what happened there is really uncanny and it showed how the brutalization of that nation lead to some student fighting for nothing.
After that incident the school decides the student must go to camp not for vacation or tourism but for training into different kinds of army life but even then the narrator describes his depression at the mental state of his student
“I think it’s an unbridgeable gulf.
If these fellows merely rejected everything that’s still sacred to me—well, that Wouldn’t be so bad. What hurts is that they put it aside without even having known it. Worse still, they haven’t the slightest desire to know it. Thinking is a process they hate. They turn up their noses at human beings. They want to be machines—screws, knobs, belts, wheels—or better still, munitions—bombs, shells, shrapnel. How readily they’d die on a battlefield! To have their name on some war memorial—that’s the dream of their puberty. ”
In the camp happens many thing and what happens after that is really amazing tale
The crime The trial The bait the suicide the confession the travel the small student club
Does these quote rings a bell
“The Greatest Plebeian’s birthday meant a holiday today, and the town was decked out with flags and streamers. Through the streets marched the young girls who had searched for the lost airman, the boys who would have left the negroes to die, and their parents, who believed the lies inscribed upon their banners. Even the sceptical joined in the march and kept time with the rest—spineless divisions under an idiot’s command. As they marched, they sang—of a bird fluttering upon a hero’s grave, of a soldier suffocating in the fumes of poison gas, of brown girls and black girls who lived on filth, of an enemy that only existed in their minds. With their songs, the liars and the debased celebrated the day on which the Great Plebeian had been born. From my window too, a flag was waving. I noticed it with a certain gratification: I had hung it out the night before. For if you are ruled by the lawless and the debased you had better adopt their methods or they might flay you alive. You must drape your home with flags—even if you’ve a home no longer. When submissiveness is the solitary trait in the human character that those who rule will tolerate, truth flies away and lies creep in —the lies that engender sin. But don’t wait—hang out the flags. Better bread than death ”
March 14, 2021
Der Titel ließ mich vor der Lektüre vermuten, dass dies ein stark religiös geprägtes Buch sein muss. Der Glaube an Gott und an Jesus Christus mit das Gebot der Nächstenliebe ist aber gar nicht so präsent im Buch. Gott wird zwar immer wieder erwähnt vom namenlosen Lehrer, dem Ich-Erzähler dieser Geschichte, doch erst am Ende wurde mir klar, dass Gott hier das Synonym für Ehrlichkeit, Aufrichtigkeit, Gerechtigkeit und der Wahrheit sein muss.
Schulromane aus der Zeit vor dem 2. Weltkrieg haben es ja bereits zu Klassikern geschafft, wie z.B. bei Hesse oder Musil. Horvath schreibt im Gegensatz zu den anderen aus der Sicht des guten Lehrers. Hier sind die Schüler die Bösen, eine namenlose Masse, die der Autor noch nicht mal mit Namen benennt, sondern nur mit großen Anfangsbuchstaben. N, Z, T oder W sind daher gefühlt keine Individuen, sondern nur Mitschwimmer im nationalsozialistischen Fluss, der nur eine Fließrichtung kennt. Das Symbol des Fischs (T hat Fischaugen) zieht sich durch das ganze Buch, hat aber nichts mit dem geheimen christlichen Zeichen zu tun.
Horvaths Stil ist sehr eigenwillig. Einerseits wirken die Gedanken des Lehrers gehetzt, abgehakt und stakkatohaft. Andererseits schreibt er dann auch wieder sehr bildhaft und metaphorisch. Ich kann verstehen, dass das Buch gerne als Schullektüre dient, denn die Interpretationsmöglichkeiten sind immens. Der aus einem christlichen Elterhaus stammende Lehrer, der sich untersteht, im Unterricht zu behaupten, dass Neger auch Menschen sein, wird von Schülern und Eltern als humanistischer Spinner abqualifiziert. Aber auch der Lehrer ist kein Heiliger, doch findet er im Verlauf der Geschichte immer mehr auf den Pfad der Tugend und Aufrichtigkeit, sprich zu Gott zurück. Die Masse der Menschen wird aber weiterhin im Strom mitschwimmen.
Eine gute Lektüre zur zeitgenössischen Kritik an der nationalsozialistischen Gesellschaft. Am Ende wurde mir das Buch etwas zu überladen von Bildern und Motiven, daher ein Stern Abzug. Aber auf jeden Fall sehr lesenswert.
Schulromane aus der Zeit vor dem 2. Weltkrieg haben es ja bereits zu Klassikern geschafft, wie z.B. bei Hesse oder Musil. Horvath schreibt im Gegensatz zu den anderen aus der Sicht des guten Lehrers. Hier sind die Schüler die Bösen, eine namenlose Masse, die der Autor noch nicht mal mit Namen benennt, sondern nur mit großen Anfangsbuchstaben. N, Z, T oder W sind daher gefühlt keine Individuen, sondern nur Mitschwimmer im nationalsozialistischen Fluss, der nur eine Fließrichtung kennt. Das Symbol des Fischs (T hat Fischaugen) zieht sich durch das ganze Buch, hat aber nichts mit dem geheimen christlichen Zeichen zu tun.
Horvaths Stil ist sehr eigenwillig. Einerseits wirken die Gedanken des Lehrers gehetzt, abgehakt und stakkatohaft. Andererseits schreibt er dann auch wieder sehr bildhaft und metaphorisch. Ich kann verstehen, dass das Buch gerne als Schullektüre dient, denn die Interpretationsmöglichkeiten sind immens. Der aus einem christlichen Elterhaus stammende Lehrer, der sich untersteht, im Unterricht zu behaupten, dass Neger auch Menschen sein, wird von Schülern und Eltern als humanistischer Spinner abqualifiziert. Aber auch der Lehrer ist kein Heiliger, doch findet er im Verlauf der Geschichte immer mehr auf den Pfad der Tugend und Aufrichtigkeit, sprich zu Gott zurück. Die Masse der Menschen wird aber weiterhin im Strom mitschwimmen.
Eine gute Lektüre zur zeitgenössischen Kritik an der nationalsozialistischen Gesellschaft. Am Ende wurde mir das Buch etwas zu überladen von Bildern und Motiven, daher ein Stern Abzug. Aber auf jeden Fall sehr lesenswert.
February 18, 2024
I read the English translation of this German language novel, first published in 1938 and, I believe, considered a classic of German literature. The novel’s setting is not specified, but it’s clear that it’s meant to be Nazi Germany. Horváth lived in Berlin during the 1920s and early thirties, but relocated to Vienna after Hitler came to power in 1933. Following the Anschluss he moved again, this time to Paris. He had only been there a few months when he was killed by a falling branch from a tree during a lightning storm, which is the sort of event that makes me wonder whether there is indeed such a thing as predetermined fate.
But I digress.
This is another short novel – I’ve read a few lately. It has 175 pages but in one way seems shorter, since there are a lot of one sentence paragraphs and a generally staccato style. On the other hand it’s not a quick read, as it provides plenty to think about. I’m not sure I got it all.
None of the characters in the novel are named. The protagonist is a teacher, but he is invariably addressed as “Herr Lehrer”, in the formal German style of the period. His students are described using single initials. Another character, a former teacher, is referred to by a nickname.
The book explores the choices that people are forced to make when living under dictatorship. Early in the book our teacher reprimands a pupil for making a racist comment. This leads to a complaint from the boy’s father, a baker, as the teacher’s remarks are contrary to party policy. The teacher is thus reprimanded by his Head Teacher, even though the latter is a liberal by inclination.
"I know you only do it because they make you," I said, attempting to mollify him. He listened, stopped in front of me and looked at me carefully. "Young man," he said seriously. "Make no mistake: nobody's making me. I could swim against the tide and get arrested on account of that baker, I could even resign – but I don't want to resign. That's right, I don't want to! I want to reach the retirement age so I can draw my full pension."
Later, the teacher watches crowds gather to celebrate the birthday of “the Chief Plebeian” as he is called in this translation. Observing them, he thinks to himself “better bread than dead”. The notes explain the original German is “Lieber Brot als tot”, a play on the Nazi slogan “Lieber tot als rot” (better dead than red).
Given the book’s title, you won’t be surprised to hear that there’s a lot about God, but this God seems to be a god of truthfulness above all other things.
“When individuality no longer counts, but only obedience, then truth leaves through the back door and lies come in through the front.”
In the end, our protagonist has to make his own choice of “bread or conscience”, though not quite in the way I expected.
But I digress.
This is another short novel – I’ve read a few lately. It has 175 pages but in one way seems shorter, since there are a lot of one sentence paragraphs and a generally staccato style. On the other hand it’s not a quick read, as it provides plenty to think about. I’m not sure I got it all.
None of the characters in the novel are named. The protagonist is a teacher, but he is invariably addressed as “Herr Lehrer”, in the formal German style of the period. His students are described using single initials. Another character, a former teacher, is referred to by a nickname.
The book explores the choices that people are forced to make when living under dictatorship. Early in the book our teacher reprimands a pupil for making a racist comment. This leads to a complaint from the boy’s father, a baker, as the teacher’s remarks are contrary to party policy. The teacher is thus reprimanded by his Head Teacher, even though the latter is a liberal by inclination.
"I know you only do it because they make you," I said, attempting to mollify him. He listened, stopped in front of me and looked at me carefully. "Young man," he said seriously. "Make no mistake: nobody's making me. I could swim against the tide and get arrested on account of that baker, I could even resign – but I don't want to resign. That's right, I don't want to! I want to reach the retirement age so I can draw my full pension."
Later, the teacher watches crowds gather to celebrate the birthday of “the Chief Plebeian” as he is called in this translation. Observing them, he thinks to himself “better bread than dead”. The notes explain the original German is “Lieber Brot als tot”, a play on the Nazi slogan “Lieber tot als rot” (better dead than red).
Given the book’s title, you won’t be surprised to hear that there’s a lot about God, but this God seems to be a god of truthfulness above all other things.
“When individuality no longer counts, but only obedience, then truth leaves through the back door and lies come in through the front.”
In the end, our protagonist has to make his own choice of “bread or conscience”, though not quite in the way I expected.
December 15, 2016
Hitler'in en güçlü olduğu yıllarda lise öğretmenliği yapan bir anlatıcı... okudukça içim şişti. her geçen gün daha kötü ne olabilir derken, daha kötü ne olabileceğini gözler önüne seren bir roman. daha kötü ne olabilir: kompozisyon konuları eğitim bakanlığından verilebilir, öğretmenler "zenciler de insandır" dediği için şikayet edilebilir, 15 yaşında çocuklara silahlı eğitim verilebilir...
şehitliğe durmaksızın yapılan övgü, bir tarafta yaşanan açlık sefalet, bir tarafta çılgın partiler, ağzını açmaya korkan insanlar, yıkanıp camlara asılmaktan eskiyen bayraklar... tanıdık geldi mi? işte bu tanıdıklık yüzünden yazmak istesem de bu kitapla ilgili bir şeyler yazmayacağım çünkü gayet keyfi bir biçimde öğretmenlikten açığa alınabilir, ihraç edilebilirim.
Romandaki öğretmen de asıl olarak düşünceleri yüzünden ihraç ediliyor. peki bu tanıdık geldi mi?
şehitliğe durmaksızın yapılan övgü, bir tarafta yaşanan açlık sefalet, bir tarafta çılgın partiler, ağzını açmaya korkan insanlar, yıkanıp camlara asılmaktan eskiyen bayraklar... tanıdık geldi mi? işte bu tanıdıklık yüzünden yazmak istesem de bu kitapla ilgili bir şeyler yazmayacağım çünkü gayet keyfi bir biçimde öğretmenlikten açığa alınabilir, ihraç edilebilirim.
Romandaki öğretmen de asıl olarak düşünceleri yüzünden ihraç ediliyor. peki bu tanıdık geldi mi?
December 14, 2008
Ein Spitzenwerk zum Thema Verantwortung und Schuld
Der Icherzähler ist ein Lehrer in einer Schule des nationalsozialistischen Deutschlands/Österreichs vor Kriegsausbruch und unterrichtet dort die Unterstufe. Es ist die Geschichte dieses Lehrers und seiner persönlichen Weiterentwicklung. Er erzählt wie er sich dem Regime beugt, obwohl er es nicht mag. Langsam aber sicher lädt dieser Lehrer immer mehr Schuld auf sich. Nicht weil er Böses tut, sondern weil er Gutes unterlässt, aus Angst vor den Folgen der eigenen Courage. Allmählich empfindet er selbst die Situation als unerträglich - da entschließt er sich endlich, dass seine einzige Pflicht ist, der Wahrheit treu zu sein.
Die Kritik an den Mitläufern im Naziregime ist unüberhörbar und dennoch ist dies nur ein Nebenthema. Es geht um persönliche Verantwortung und Schuld; darum wie ein Mensch dieses Thema erlebt und wie er damit umgeht. In der Schilderung dieser existenziellen Probleme eines Menschen kann man Ansätze erkennen, wie sie später z.B. bei Camus wiederzufinden sind. Horvath jedoch zieht andere Schlüsse. Er geht vor Camus eigentlich einen Schritt weiter.
Ein großartiges Prosawerk, des Dramatikers Ödön von Horvath, der viel zu jung im Jahr 1938 in Paris einem Unglücksfall zum Opfer fiel.
Der Icherzähler ist ein Lehrer in einer Schule des nationalsozialistischen Deutschlands/Österreichs vor Kriegsausbruch und unterrichtet dort die Unterstufe. Es ist die Geschichte dieses Lehrers und seiner persönlichen Weiterentwicklung. Er erzählt wie er sich dem Regime beugt, obwohl er es nicht mag. Langsam aber sicher lädt dieser Lehrer immer mehr Schuld auf sich. Nicht weil er Böses tut, sondern weil er Gutes unterlässt, aus Angst vor den Folgen der eigenen Courage. Allmählich empfindet er selbst die Situation als unerträglich - da entschließt er sich endlich, dass seine einzige Pflicht ist, der Wahrheit treu zu sein.
Die Kritik an den Mitläufern im Naziregime ist unüberhörbar und dennoch ist dies nur ein Nebenthema. Es geht um persönliche Verantwortung und Schuld; darum wie ein Mensch dieses Thema erlebt und wie er damit umgeht. In der Schilderung dieser existenziellen Probleme eines Menschen kann man Ansätze erkennen, wie sie später z.B. bei Camus wiederzufinden sind. Horvath jedoch zieht andere Schlüsse. Er geht vor Camus eigentlich einen Schritt weiter.
Ein großartiges Prosawerk, des Dramatikers Ödön von Horvath, der viel zu jung im Jahr 1938 in Paris einem Unglücksfall zum Opfer fiel.
September 20, 2025
"Предајем ову књигу јавности нашег времена. Знам, много ће се забрањивати, јер реч је о идеалима човечанства... То је књига против духовних аналфабета, против оних који вероватно умеју да читају и пишу, али не знају шта пишу и не разумеју шта читају. А написао сам књигу за омладину која данас већ изнова изгледа сасвим другачије него што је себи замишљају ужирени филистри. Из блата и гована пропалих генерација израста једна нова генерација. Нека њој буде посвећена моја књига! Нека она научи из наших грешака и сумњи! И ако само један прочита ову књигу, бићу срећан!"
Еден фон Хорват, новембар 1935.
Радикализација омладине, дехуманизација другог, милитаризација... све је то, нажалост, актуелно и у овом тренутку.
Изузетно свежа Хорватова проза није ни трунку изгубила у својој актуелности.
Еден фон Хорват, новембар 1935.
Радикализација омладине, дехуманизација другог, милитаризација... све је то, нажалост, актуелно и у овом тренутку.
Изузетно свежа Хорватова проза није ни трунку изгубила у својој актуелности.
October 29, 2016
faşizm devlet tarafından dayatılan bi' yaşam biçimiyse ve bu çocuk acımasızlığı ile birleşirse ne olur?
aslında bize çok uzak olmayan konular nazi almanyası döneminin izi sürülerek takip ediliyor.. eğitime biçilen misyon, okutulan müfredat, devlet uygulamaları arasında kaybedilen, yok edilen çocuklar; dayatılanlar ile vicdanı arasında gidip gelen bi' öğretmen üzerinden derdini gayet net anlatan bi' faşizim eleştirisi..
yaşadığımız dönemdeki eğitim, ahlak ve vicdan sistemlerinin çöküşü kitabı okumak için yeterli neden..
papazın dediği gibi; belki de "tanrı dünyadaki en korkunç şeydir.."
jaguar, yine iyi bi' kitabı tertemiz çevirmiş.. bu yayın evine karşı boş değilim; kalp, kalp, kalp..
aslında bize çok uzak olmayan konular nazi almanyası döneminin izi sürülerek takip ediliyor.. eğitime biçilen misyon, okutulan müfredat, devlet uygulamaları arasında kaybedilen, yok edilen çocuklar; dayatılanlar ile vicdanı arasında gidip gelen bi' öğretmen üzerinden derdini gayet net anlatan bi' faşizim eleştirisi..
yaşadığımız dönemdeki eğitim, ahlak ve vicdan sistemlerinin çöküşü kitabı okumak için yeterli neden..
papazın dediği gibi; belki de "tanrı dünyadaki en korkunç şeydir.."
jaguar, yine iyi bi' kitabı tertemiz çevirmiş.. bu yayın evine karşı boş değilim; kalp, kalp, kalp..
September 23, 2024
Ne razmišljam bistro nakon celodnevnog zujanja i nevoljnog, ranog buđenja, ali jedno je sigurno: ovo je raspamećujuća knjiga, kroz čije se brzopotezne rečenice juri kao kroz triler. Ovo je prvorazredni romaneskni udarac protiv duha potčinjenosti i društva koje tone u krvožednost. Ono što je opominjuće 1936. ostaje da bdi kao pretnja i danas. Pakovanja su različita, ali neke opasnosti ne prestaju da dišu za vratom.
May 20, 2018
"Zencilere selam olsun. Kulüp."
August 12, 2024
Nachtrag.
Gelesen vor ca. 17 Jahren.
Antifaschistisch, sozialkritisch, facettenreich, regt stark zum Nachdenken an.
Habe damals viel daraus mitgenommen .
Gelesen vor ca. 17 Jahren.
Antifaschistisch, sozialkritisch, facettenreich, regt stark zum Nachdenken an.
Habe damals viel daraus mitgenommen .
February 23, 2019
Tanrısız Gençlik... Okuduktan sonra anlıyorsun ki bu romanın daha etkili bir adı olamazdı. Kitap bir ateizm propagandası mı? Hayır. Ama tanrı algılarımız, vicdan, insan olmak gibi değerlerin tamamı sorgulanıyor ve bence bunu epey iyi yapıyor.
Özellikle, yeni nesillerle birlikte donuk gözler, hissizlik ve vicdan yoksunluğu hallerinin yükseleceği balık çağının başladığı vurgusu muhteşem bir tanımlamaydı. Günümüz nesillerinin vurdumduymazlığını çok iyi anlatan bir ifade olmuş. Ve eklemeden edemeyeceğim; tanrı yok, tanrı nerde, tanrı neden bunlara izin veriyor gibi yakınlamalardan önce “tanrı”nın “biz” olduğunu hiç düşünmediğimizi, olaylara karşı doğru tavırlar alarak haksızlık dediğimiz şeylere etkide bulunabileceğimizi çok güzel anlatmış.
Netlik ve dolaysız cümlelerdeki vuruculuğa bir kere daha ne kadar hayran olduğumu hatırlamama sebep bir romandı ayrıca. Ve tabi ki Jaguar, Jaguar 💜💜💜
Özellikle, yeni nesillerle birlikte donuk gözler, hissizlik ve vicdan yoksunluğu hallerinin yükseleceği balık çağının başladığı vurgusu muhteşem bir tanımlamaydı. Günümüz nesillerinin vurdumduymazlığını çok iyi anlatan bir ifade olmuş. Ve eklemeden edemeyeceğim; tanrı yok, tanrı nerde, tanrı neden bunlara izin veriyor gibi yakınlamalardan önce “tanrı”nın “biz” olduğunu hiç düşünmediğimizi, olaylara karşı doğru tavırlar alarak haksızlık dediğimiz şeylere etkide bulunabileceğimizi çok güzel anlatmış.
Netlik ve dolaysız cümlelerdeki vuruculuğa bir kere daha ne kadar hayran olduğumu hatırlamama sebep bir romandı ayrıca. Ve tabi ki Jaguar, Jaguar 💜💜💜
December 31, 2023
від фон горвата неможливо відірватися.
я нещодавно взяла його, щоб пошукати цитату, й отямилася десь через півгодини, після кількох розділів і зі страшним бажанням вивчити напам'ять щойно прочитане.
«молодість без бога» – це історія про те, як людей помаленьку наповнює ненависть, майже непомітна, мов чадний газ. головний герой книжки, учитель у міжвоєнній німецькій гімназії, потрапляє в опалу, бо каже своїм учням, що негри – теж люди (але ж у біблії написано, що всі ми люди. – пане н., ви ж розумієте, біблія була створена за інших геополітичних обставин), а учні на нього доносять. але це тільки початок, мізансцена. далі буде вбивство, розслідування й розмови з богом, який традиційно не відповідає, і все воно таке більше за свій прямий сенс.
(апдейт із 2023 року: український переклад трохи прикрий).
я нещодавно взяла його, щоб пошукати цитату, й отямилася десь через півгодини, після кількох розділів і зі страшним бажанням вивчити напам'ять щойно прочитане.
«молодість без бога» – це історія про те, як людей помаленьку наповнює ненависть, майже непомітна, мов чадний газ. головний герой книжки, учитель у міжвоєнній німецькій гімназії, потрапляє в опалу, бо каже своїм учням, що негри – теж люди (але ж у біблії написано, що всі ми люди. – пане н., ви ж розумієте, біблія була створена за інших геополітичних обставин), а учні на нього доносять. але це тільки початок, мізансцена. далі буде вбивство, розслідування й розмови з богом, який традиційно не відповідає, і все воно таке більше за свій прямий сенс.
(апдейт із 2023 року: український переклад трохи прикрий).
June 25, 2022
Nazizmin tırmandığı bir dönemde zengin erkek öğrencilerin okuduğu bir okulda tarih öğretmenliği yapan anti-faşist bir öğretmenin gözünden kendi döneminin sağlam bir eleştirisi. Herşey ne kadar kötü olabilir sorusunun toplumsal ve bireysel anlamda analizinin yapıldığı, dini kitaplara göndermeler yapan bir kitap Tanrısız Gençlik. Lakin tüm bu ağır konular ve göndermelere rağmen oldukça sade ve akıcı olarak yazılmış. Tabi ki Oktay Değirmenci’nin çevirisi ile de hızlıca okunan bir kitap olmuş Tanrısız Gençlik. İnsana dair okuma yapmak isteyenlere mutlaka tavsiye ederim.
November 29, 2018
Farklı.
June 29, 2020
“Canilerle ve çılgınlarla muhatap olan kişi, canice ve çılgınca davranmak zorundadır, aksi halde yok olup gider. Geriye kemikleri bile kalmaz. Bu kişi yuvasını bayraklandırmak zorundadır, her ne kadar artık bir yuvası yoksa da. Artık kişilik değil, yalnızca itaat var sayılıyorsa hakikat gider ve yalan gelir. Bütün günahların anası olan yalan.”
1930’ların ortalarında, Nazi rejiminin yapılanma sürecinde yaşayan ve çevresinde, özellikle de sınıfındaki öğrencilerde kök salan nasyonalist düşüncelerle mücadele eden bir öğretmenin hikayesi. Yazar, savaşa ve üstün ırka inanan -tapan- gençlerin boş gözlerini, empati eksikliklerini, içlerindeki yıkım ve şiddet arzularını çok iyi anlatıyor. Bir yandan da iç monologlarında; vicdan, kimlik kaybı, suçluluk duygusu, insanlık onuru, tanrı ve gerçeğin önceliği ile hesaplaşıyor. Anlatmak istediği bunca derdi de, okul kampında bir öğrencinin ölümü üzerine görülen soruşturma ve dava sürecine kaynaştırdığı için oldukça akıcı bir okuma sağlıyor.
“Celladı unutuyorsunuz, öğretmenim, katilden af dileyen celladı. Bir suçun başka bir suçla silindiği gizem dolu o anda, cellat ile katil tek bir varlıkta bütünleşir, katil adeta celladının içinde yeniden doğar, beni anlıyor musunuz, sevgili öğretmenim?”
1930’ların ortalarında, Nazi rejiminin yapılanma sürecinde yaşayan ve çevresinde, özellikle de sınıfındaki öğrencilerde kök salan nasyonalist düşüncelerle mücadele eden bir öğretmenin hikayesi. Yazar, savaşa ve üstün ırka inanan -tapan- gençlerin boş gözlerini, empati eksikliklerini, içlerindeki yıkım ve şiddet arzularını çok iyi anlatıyor. Bir yandan da iç monologlarında; vicdan, kimlik kaybı, suçluluk duygusu, insanlık onuru, tanrı ve gerçeğin önceliği ile hesaplaşıyor. Anlatmak istediği bunca derdi de, okul kampında bir öğrencinin ölümü üzerine görülen soruşturma ve dava sürecine kaynaştırdığı için oldukça akıcı bir okuma sağlıyor.
“Celladı unutuyorsunuz, öğretmenim, katilden af dileyen celladı. Bir suçun başka bir suçla silindiği gizem dolu o anda, cellat ile katil tek bir varlıkta bütünleşir, katil adeta celladının içinde yeniden doğar, beni anlıyor musunuz, sevgili öğretmenim?”
August 26, 2017
Such an interesting, diffrent way to write a crime novel.
I really enjoyed Horváts (almost poetical) writing!
The fact that it's set in 1937 makes it even more interesting, cause society worked differently.
It was also very inspiring in ways of truth telling and fighting for justice.
I feel refreshed!
I really enjoyed Horváts (almost poetical) writing!
The fact that it's set in 1937 makes it even more interesting, cause society worked differently.
It was also very inspiring in ways of truth telling and fighting for justice.
I feel refreshed!
March 9, 2019
Horvat je u ovom romanu prikazao degradaciju društva tj. kojim redosledom se isto dovodi do potpune dekadencije. Jer kada jedinu istinu reprezentuje “nešto što je rečeno na radiju”, to je samo prvi stepenik ka totalnom idolopoklonstvu.
“U moralnom pogledu moramo ih vaspitavati za rat” izgovara jedan od likova. Tom, kontradiktornom replikom, gotovo da staje u odbranu ljudskog roda u smislu da se skupina može svemu naučiti, pa čak i da bude slepa kada je zlo tu. Nije, dakle, sama po sebi zla, već je naučena da mrzi.
Ali siže je takav da pre pomenute replike ide odlično oslikavanje iskonskog zla, onog koji nije usađen od strane drugih. I upravo ta pažljivo kreirana kompozicija romana jeste jedan od razloga zbog kojih isti zaslužuje dobro ocenu. Autor, dakle, ne stavlja fokus isključivo na pojašnjenje toga kako je jedna generacija primemana za fašizam, već i preispituje postojanje zla, što će reći: da li je isto bilo usađeno sistemima manipulacijie ili je posredi za ljudski rod dovoljna klica koja će biti pokretač za ono što je u njegovoj prirodi – da čini zlo.
“Jedina stvar koja je potrebna za trijumf zla jest da dobri ljudi ne urade ništa.” – Burke.
Eden u ovoj knjizi postavlja gotovo ironičnu situaciju: njegov protagonista (uglavnom) ignoriše pojavu zla, dok je Horvat bio prognan iz zemlje zbog toga što nije ćutao.
“U moralnom pogledu moramo ih vaspitavati za rat” izgovara jedan od likova. Tom, kontradiktornom replikom, gotovo da staje u odbranu ljudskog roda u smislu da se skupina može svemu naučiti, pa čak i da bude slepa kada je zlo tu. Nije, dakle, sama po sebi zla, već je naučena da mrzi.
Ali siže je takav da pre pomenute replike ide odlično oslikavanje iskonskog zla, onog koji nije usađen od strane drugih. I upravo ta pažljivo kreirana kompozicija romana jeste jedan od razloga zbog kojih isti zaslužuje dobro ocenu. Autor, dakle, ne stavlja fokus isključivo na pojašnjenje toga kako je jedna generacija primemana za fašizam, već i preispituje postojanje zla, što će reći: da li je isto bilo usađeno sistemima manipulacijie ili je posredi za ljudski rod dovoljna klica koja će biti pokretač za ono što je u njegovoj prirodi – da čini zlo.
“Jedina stvar koja je potrebna za trijumf zla jest da dobri ljudi ne urade ništa.” – Burke.
Eden u ovoj knjizi postavlja gotovo ironičnu situaciju: njegov protagonista (uglavnom) ignoriše pojavu zla, dok je Horvat bio prognan iz zemlje zbog toga što nije ćutao.
December 12, 2016
İtiraf etmeliyim ki kitabın adını duyduğumda, ateizm propagandası bir roman okuyacağım hissine kapıldım. Ama propagandası yapılan vicdandı. Tanrının varlığı, devletin varlığı, insanın masumiyetinin varlığı, hepsi bir arada sorgulanıyordu. Dönem Hitler dönemi. Hicvedilense doğrudan insanlık, çocukların bile masumiyetini kaybedişi. Ve olay bir anda cinayi bir mevzuya dönüyor.
İlgi çekici bir kitaptı. Sıkça dipnot kullanılmış olmasına rağmen okurken metinden kopulmuyor. Aksine yazar gönderme olduğunu düşünmeyeceğiniz basit bir cümlede bile gönderme yapmış olabiliyor ve bunlar dipnotlar aracılığıyla farklı bir anlam kazandırıyor. Öyle ki Tevrat, İncil ve hatta Zebur'a bile gönderme yapmış yazar.
Horváth 38 yaşında ölmüş, başka kitabı yok sanırım. Varsa da biyografisinde bahsedilmemiş. Bildiğim bir şey varsa o da Jaguar'ın her seferinde beni tanımadığım bir başka iyi yazarla tanıştırıyor olduğu. Varolsun.
İlgi çekici bir kitaptı. Sıkça dipnot kullanılmış olmasına rağmen okurken metinden kopulmuyor. Aksine yazar gönderme olduğunu düşünmeyeceğiniz basit bir cümlede bile gönderme yapmış olabiliyor ve bunlar dipnotlar aracılığıyla farklı bir anlam kazandırıyor. Öyle ki Tevrat, İncil ve hatta Zebur'a bile gönderme yapmış yazar.
Horváth 38 yaşında ölmüş, başka kitabı yok sanırım. Varsa da biyografisinde bahsedilmemiş. Bildiğim bir şey varsa o da Jaguar'ın her seferinde beni tanımadığım bir başka iyi yazarla tanıştırıyor olduğu. Varolsun.
February 22, 2024
Bugünlerde gösterimde olan ‘Öğretmenler Odası’ filmini izleyince bu kitap aklıma düştü. Tekrar okudum.
1936 yılında yazılmış. Yazarı Nazi dönemi Almanya’sından sürgün edilmiş. 1937 yılında Amsterdam’da ilk baskısı yapılmış.
Temsil ettikleri kimlikler dahilinde karakterler çok iyi kurgulanmış. Çelişkileriyle var olan karakterler bunlar. Cinai bir olayın soruşturulması sırasında öğretmenin, olası sebeplerden birisini kendisinin yaptığını itiraf etmesiyle gerisi çorap söküğü gibi geliyor.
Tabiiki çözülen bir şey yok, hayat aynı şekilde devam edip bugünlere geldi, gelecekte de devam edecek. İnsanın düzeni böyle.
1936 yılında yazılmış. Yazarı Nazi dönemi Almanya’sından sürgün edilmiş. 1937 yılında Amsterdam’da ilk baskısı yapılmış.
Temsil ettikleri kimlikler dahilinde karakterler çok iyi kurgulanmış. Çelişkileriyle var olan karakterler bunlar. Cinai bir olayın soruşturulması sırasında öğretmenin, olası sebeplerden birisini kendisinin yaptığını itiraf etmesiyle gerisi çorap söküğü gibi geliyor.
Tabiiki çözülen bir şey yok, hayat aynı şekilde devam edip bugünlere geldi, gelecekte de devam edecek. İnsanın düzeni böyle.
March 8, 2025
A scary, gloomy examination of moral erosion in a society succumbing to fascist ideology. Written in 1937, the novel follows an unnamed schoolteacher whose quiet life is upended when he challenges a student’s racist remark, declaring, “Negroes are also human beings.” This seemingly small act of defiance triggers a cascade of consequences, pulling the teacher into a web of guilt, complicity, and violence.
The novel describes a world where authority is unquestioned, and individuality is crushed under the weight of collective conformity. Horváth’s portrayal of the students—youths molded by a system that rewards obedience and punishes dissent—reveals the chilling ease with which humanity can be stripped away. The teacher’s internal struggle, torn between self-preservation and moral responsibility, reflects the broader societal collapse around him.
Horváth’s writing is carries a biting irony that exposes the absurdity and horror of the world he depicts. The characters are not caricatures but deeply flawed individuals, each grappling with their own compromises and failures. A school camping trip, where the boys’ casual cruelty toward a classmate, foreshadows the violence to come. The discovery of a diary, reveals the inner turmoil of a boy named N, whose descent into nihilism is both tragic and inevitable. Horváth’s use of fragmented perspectives and shifting viewpoints adds layers of complexity, forcing readers to confront the uncomfortable realities of complicity and moral ambiguity. The novel’s style, alternating between introspection and action, creates a tension that builds relentlessly, drawing the reader deeper into its unsettling world.
Youth without God is distinguished from other works of its era by its unflinching focus on the psychological mechanisms that enable authoritarianism to flourish. Horváth, a Hungarian-born writer who fled Nazi Germany, writes with the urgency of someone who has witnessed the rise of tyranny firsthand. His style, often described as a blend of folk realism and modernist experimentation, captures the banality of evil with startling clarity. The novel’s relevance extends beyond its historical context, offering a stark warning about the dangers of moral indifference. As the teacher reflects, “The world is so full of people who don’t know what they want, and who are therefore prepared to do anything.”
Horváth’s work is a call to vigilance, declaring that the cost of apathy is the loss of one’s soul. The book’s ability to unsettle, to force readers to grapple with their own capacity for complicity in the face of injustice is jarring, urgent and honest.
The novel describes a world where authority is unquestioned, and individuality is crushed under the weight of collective conformity. Horváth’s portrayal of the students—youths molded by a system that rewards obedience and punishes dissent—reveals the chilling ease with which humanity can be stripped away. The teacher’s internal struggle, torn between self-preservation and moral responsibility, reflects the broader societal collapse around him.
Horváth’s writing is carries a biting irony that exposes the absurdity and horror of the world he depicts. The characters are not caricatures but deeply flawed individuals, each grappling with their own compromises and failures. A school camping trip, where the boys’ casual cruelty toward a classmate, foreshadows the violence to come. The discovery of a diary, reveals the inner turmoil of a boy named N, whose descent into nihilism is both tragic and inevitable. Horváth’s use of fragmented perspectives and shifting viewpoints adds layers of complexity, forcing readers to confront the uncomfortable realities of complicity and moral ambiguity. The novel’s style, alternating between introspection and action, creates a tension that builds relentlessly, drawing the reader deeper into its unsettling world.
Youth without God is distinguished from other works of its era by its unflinching focus on the psychological mechanisms that enable authoritarianism to flourish. Horváth, a Hungarian-born writer who fled Nazi Germany, writes with the urgency of someone who has witnessed the rise of tyranny firsthand. His style, often described as a blend of folk realism and modernist experimentation, captures the banality of evil with startling clarity. The novel’s relevance extends beyond its historical context, offering a stark warning about the dangers of moral indifference. As the teacher reflects, “The world is so full of people who don’t know what they want, and who are therefore prepared to do anything.”
Horváth’s work is a call to vigilance, declaring that the cost of apathy is the loss of one’s soul. The book’s ability to unsettle, to force readers to grapple with their own capacity for complicity in the face of injustice is jarring, urgent and honest.
March 3, 2015
Este escritor pertenece a aquella época dorada de la literatura alemana de la que formaron parte Stefan Zweig, Joseph Roth, Alfred Doblin, Jakob Wassermann, Thomas Mann y muchos más. Aunque si bien es cierto que Von Horváth nace en un pueblo que, debido a los reacomodos políticos y geográficos, ha pertenecido sucesivamente a Italia, Hungría y actualmente a Croacia, el autor fue un ciudadano y escritor de habla alemana ya que era súbdito del Imperio Austro-Húngaro.
La historia se desarrolla en la Alemania previa a la segunda guerra mundial y tiene como temática principal el comportamiento moral de la juventud que entonces iba a ser llamada a ser testigo y protagonista de esa triste conflagración mundial.
Algo de lo que llama más la atención es la técnica de este escritor. Su novela es de una extensión reducida, sin embargo logra abordar de una manera brillante los temas que se propone y que no son fáciles de exponer. Además de su corta extensión, utiliza frases puntuales, cortas, directas y de una gran precisión que a su vez logran desarrollar ideas contundentes e ilustrativas. Su lectura es sumamente fácil y a pesar de lo aparentemente escueto de su estilo logra mantener la tensión a lo largo de todo el relato.
Ödön von Horváth utiliza el monólogo interior, lo que le permite crear voces en su cabeza y conciencias, incluso de personas ya muertas. Toda la novela es narrada en primera persona y a través de esta técnica.
Además de la crisis de los valores humanos que contribuyó a cultivar a esa generación que obedeció ciegamente a una ideología temible y cruenta como el Nacional-Socialismo, también se destaca la supremacía que empieza a imperar del nacionalismo sobre los valores humanos, cómo es que los jóvenes empiezan a adorar la guerra, la nacionalidad por encima de todo. La pérdida de la identidad, el sentimiento de culpa, las vacilantes ideas sobre Dios y el desprecio por la humanidad van conformando un escenario que preparó aquella época de la humanidad en que se destruyó sistemáticamente la dignidad del ser humano. Tal vez la peor época de la humanidad.
Esta novela fue condenada en su época por ser uno de los libros que “eran dañinos e indeseables para el espíritu del pueblo alemán”.
La historia se desarrolla en la Alemania previa a la segunda guerra mundial y tiene como temática principal el comportamiento moral de la juventud que entonces iba a ser llamada a ser testigo y protagonista de esa triste conflagración mundial.
Algo de lo que llama más la atención es la técnica de este escritor. Su novela es de una extensión reducida, sin embargo logra abordar de una manera brillante los temas que se propone y que no son fáciles de exponer. Además de su corta extensión, utiliza frases puntuales, cortas, directas y de una gran precisión que a su vez logran desarrollar ideas contundentes e ilustrativas. Su lectura es sumamente fácil y a pesar de lo aparentemente escueto de su estilo logra mantener la tensión a lo largo de todo el relato.
Ödön von Horváth utiliza el monólogo interior, lo que le permite crear voces en su cabeza y conciencias, incluso de personas ya muertas. Toda la novela es narrada en primera persona y a través de esta técnica.
Además de la crisis de los valores humanos que contribuyó a cultivar a esa generación que obedeció ciegamente a una ideología temible y cruenta como el Nacional-Socialismo, también se destaca la supremacía que empieza a imperar del nacionalismo sobre los valores humanos, cómo es que los jóvenes empiezan a adorar la guerra, la nacionalidad por encima de todo. La pérdida de la identidad, el sentimiento de culpa, las vacilantes ideas sobre Dios y el desprecio por la humanidad van conformando un escenario que preparó aquella época de la humanidad en que se destruyó sistemáticamente la dignidad del ser humano. Tal vez la peor época de la humanidad.
Esta novela fue condenada en su época por ser uno de los libros que “eran dañinos e indeseables para el espíritu del pueblo alemán”.
February 21, 2017
Come parlare della coscienza, della Verità, della redenzione e di Dio in meno di centocinquanta pagine con un linguaggio semplice ed essenziale.
Chapeau.
Ci si trova in un paese non ben definito con personaggi senza nome. Perché? Perché ciò di cui parla il libro è sempre attuale, non ha tempo e può accadere ovunque. S'intuisce che siamo in Germania, gli anni poco prima dell'avvento del Nazismo, e l'autore narra di come lentamente, quasi automaticamente e senza rendersene conto, vengono meno i valori morali e umani per lasciare spazio a false convinzioni pericolose. Colpa, soprattutto, della propaganda subdola che fa il lavaggio del cervello; si crede ciecamente a ciò che ci vieni propinato e ci si fa travolgere dalla paura e dall'odio verso ciò che vogliono i nostri leader. In queste condizioni è facile perdere di vista i valori umani che non dovrebbero mai venire meno.
Il disperato bisogno di Verità è ciò che permette la redenzione, non solo di se stessi ma del genere umano. Se c'è una persona disposta a fare il primo passo, gli altri la seguono perché non si sentono più soli e impauriti. L'onestà è contagiosa. L'amore per la Verità è l'unica speranza per non farsi piegare e sottomettere da un regime e per rimanere liberi interiormente.
Non è però facile rimanere immuni da ciò che ci circonda, dal "pensare comune", dalla paura, e ci si lascia facilmente trascinare nella spirale di violenza o, peggio ancora, del menefreghismo diventando egoisti e giustificando azioni spregevoli. Qui subentra il tema dell'importanza dell'esame di coscienza. Sempre pronti a criticare il prossimo senza rendersi conto che si assomiglia sempre di più alle persone che si criticano e detestano. Si diventa come loro per altri motivi, spesso per viltà o inconsapevolmente spinti dalla paura, ma ciò non cambia nulla se si diventa comunque delle persone che vengono meno ai propri ideali.
Recensione scritta "di pancia" (e magari un po' sconclusionata) perché è un libro che scuote nel profondo. Ci sarebbe molto altro da dire perché in poche pagine von Horvath affronta temi basilari riguardanti l'essere umano, la società, la vita e Dio.
Appena finito il libro ho avuto la sensazione di ricevere un pugno nello stomaco dall'autore; un pugno che mi ha riscosso la coscienza e avevo come l'impressione che dall'alto Dio mi guardasse facendosi una risata. Come scritto anche nel libro, Dio è terribile.
Chapeau.
Ci si trova in un paese non ben definito con personaggi senza nome. Perché? Perché ciò di cui parla il libro è sempre attuale, non ha tempo e può accadere ovunque. S'intuisce che siamo in Germania, gli anni poco prima dell'avvento del Nazismo, e l'autore narra di come lentamente, quasi automaticamente e senza rendersene conto, vengono meno i valori morali e umani per lasciare spazio a false convinzioni pericolose. Colpa, soprattutto, della propaganda subdola che fa il lavaggio del cervello; si crede ciecamente a ciò che ci vieni propinato e ci si fa travolgere dalla paura e dall'odio verso ciò che vogliono i nostri leader. In queste condizioni è facile perdere di vista i valori umani che non dovrebbero mai venire meno.
Il disperato bisogno di Verità è ciò che permette la redenzione, non solo di se stessi ma del genere umano. Se c'è una persona disposta a fare il primo passo, gli altri la seguono perché non si sentono più soli e impauriti. L'onestà è contagiosa. L'amore per la Verità è l'unica speranza per non farsi piegare e sottomettere da un regime e per rimanere liberi interiormente.
Non è però facile rimanere immuni da ciò che ci circonda, dal "pensare comune", dalla paura, e ci si lascia facilmente trascinare nella spirale di violenza o, peggio ancora, del menefreghismo diventando egoisti e giustificando azioni spregevoli. Qui subentra il tema dell'importanza dell'esame di coscienza. Sempre pronti a criticare il prossimo senza rendersi conto che si assomiglia sempre di più alle persone che si criticano e detestano. Si diventa come loro per altri motivi, spesso per viltà o inconsapevolmente spinti dalla paura, ma ciò non cambia nulla se si diventa comunque delle persone che vengono meno ai propri ideali.
Recensione scritta "di pancia" (e magari un po' sconclusionata) perché è un libro che scuote nel profondo. Ci sarebbe molto altro da dire perché in poche pagine von Horvath affronta temi basilari riguardanti l'essere umano, la società, la vita e Dio.
Appena finito il libro ho avuto la sensazione di ricevere un pugno nello stomaco dall'autore; un pugno che mi ha riscosso la coscienza e avevo come l'impressione che dall'alto Dio mi guardasse facendosi una risata. Come scritto anche nel libro, Dio è terribile.
September 26, 2017
Ich bin jedes Mal wieder begeistert von diesem Roman, denn obwohl er bereits 1937 verfasst wurde, hat er bis heute nichts an Aktualität eingebüßt. Durch einzelne Elemente einer Detektivgeschichte bleibt die Spannung bis zum Schluss erhalten und die kluge Gesellschaftskritik erhöht den Lesegenuss noch mehr.
September 26, 2022
Açıkçası yorumları okuduktan sonra daha acımasız bir faşizm romanı bekliyordum. Bu daha çok bir vicdan muhasebesi gibi geldi bana. Henüz ergenlik dönemindeki çocukların kamplarda askeri eğitim ile savaşa hazırlanmaları, “arı ırk” olarak tabir ettikleri ırkın veya dinin dışında kalanların yaşama haklarını kendileri tayin edebileceklerine inanmaları gerçekten çok acımasız. Böyle çocukların nasıl yetişkinler olacaklarını tahayyül etmek zor değil.
Kitabın anlatıcısı bu çocukların öğretmeni. Sadece “Zenciler de insandır” dediği için disiplin uyarısı alan bir öğretmen. Memurların, ihraç edilen edilmekten yahut emekliliklerini yakmaktan korktukları için ağızlarını açmadıkları, medyanın sadece yönetimin istediklerini aktarması çok yabancı değil bize de sanki. Öğretmen de içinde bulunduğu düzenle hemfikir değil ancak o da bir memur. Buradaki hikaye de aslında öğretmenin, her şeye rağmen, vicdanının ve hakikatın peşinden gitmeyi seçmesinin ve bunun getirdiği sonuçların hikayesi. Özellikle kitabın ikinci yarısı oldukça akıcı ve merak uyandırıcı.
Kitabın anlatıcısı bu çocukların öğretmeni. Sadece “Zenciler de insandır” dediği için disiplin uyarısı alan bir öğretmen. Memurların, ihraç edilen edilmekten yahut emekliliklerini yakmaktan korktukları için ağızlarını açmadıkları, medyanın sadece yönetimin istediklerini aktarması çok yabancı değil bize de sanki. Öğretmen de içinde bulunduğu düzenle hemfikir değil ancak o da bir memur. Buradaki hikaye de aslında öğretmenin, her şeye rağmen, vicdanının ve hakikatın peşinden gitmeyi seçmesinin ve bunun getirdiği sonuçların hikayesi. Özellikle kitabın ikinci yarısı oldukça akıcı ve merak uyandırıcı.
January 18, 2022
Juventud sin Dios, del autor húngaro de expresión alemana Ödon von Horvath, es una de las más tempranas y brillantes elaboraciones literarias del tema de la educación bajo el signo del nazismo.
Escrita con un estilo conciso, de frases cortas y aceradas, esta breve novela con toques expresionistas es, pese a su aparente sencillez, un valioso documento del espíritu de una época. Y, publicada en 1937, es también, como hoy por desgracia sabemos, un negro presagio de las atrocidades que estaban por venir.
Su protagonista es un joven profesor de secundaria que, pese a su oposición a las ideas del régimen (se atreve incluso a rechazar el texto de un alumno que sentencia que los negros son inferiores), vive acomodaticiamente según las reglas del mismo por miedo a represalias y a perder su colocación, único sustento familiar.
Docente de historia y geografía –los dos grandes ejes del lavado de cerebro nacionalsocialista–, ve con horror cómo la nueva generación que sube es una generación de jóvenes sin alma, educados en y para la violencia (“preparar a los niños para la guerra” era otro de los pilares de la educación nazi); una inmovilidad espirituales que Horvath expresó con la metáfora del pez, animal de mirar vacío, deambular sin rumbo y de proceder gregario.
Juventud sin Dios, como el título indica, pone así en escena, a través de la descripción de esta nueva generación de niños-máquinas, una crisis de valores que, en el nuevo espíritu de los tiempos, se traduce simplemente en la completa aniquilación de cualquier valor moral y en el ensalzamiento de un nuevo ideal: el ideal de la burla y el desprecio, es decir, el de la superioridad nihilista que pierde el respeto por todo lo que no es lo propio.
A mitad del libro, un suceso escabroso servirá para explorar este escenario, y la novela adoptará la forma (aunque solo aparentemente) de novela detectivesca. La evolución de los sucesos, resueltos en última instancia con un extravagante Deus ex machina, propio de la farsa, ofrecerá espacio, sin embargo, para la interesante evolución del maestro, quien revelando la verdad que conoce adquirirá por fin voz e identidad propias, superará su propia culpa y se reencontrará así con sus propios valores. Al hacerlo, abrirá la puerta además a una concatenación de voces disonantes que, en su pluralidad, contrarrestarán la verdad única y monocorde impuesta por el régimen.
Hay quien ha tildado el libro de pesimista. Optimista, desde luego, no es. Pero la presentación de estas voces discordantes, aunque sean pocas, parece señalar que, aun en las situaciones más extremas, aun dentro del imperio del nihilismo, la pervivencia de valores tales como la solidaridad, la justicia y la bondad no solo es posible, sino inevitable.
¿Habría pensado lo mismo Orvath de conocer los últimos últimos horrores del nazismo, el principio de la barbarie llevado a las máximas consecuencias? ¿Habría este conocimiento resignificado y redefinido su obra? Por desgracia, nunca lo sabremos: la rama de un árbol arrebató su vida, absurdamente antes de tiempo, mientras caminaba por los Campos Elíseos de París.
Escrita con un estilo conciso, de frases cortas y aceradas, esta breve novela con toques expresionistas es, pese a su aparente sencillez, un valioso documento del espíritu de una época. Y, publicada en 1937, es también, como hoy por desgracia sabemos, un negro presagio de las atrocidades que estaban por venir.
Su protagonista es un joven profesor de secundaria que, pese a su oposición a las ideas del régimen (se atreve incluso a rechazar el texto de un alumno que sentencia que los negros son inferiores), vive acomodaticiamente según las reglas del mismo por miedo a represalias y a perder su colocación, único sustento familiar.
Docente de historia y geografía –los dos grandes ejes del lavado de cerebro nacionalsocialista–, ve con horror cómo la nueva generación que sube es una generación de jóvenes sin alma, educados en y para la violencia (“preparar a los niños para la guerra” era otro de los pilares de la educación nazi); una inmovilidad espirituales que Horvath expresó con la metáfora del pez, animal de mirar vacío, deambular sin rumbo y de proceder gregario.
Juventud sin Dios, como el título indica, pone así en escena, a través de la descripción de esta nueva generación de niños-máquinas, una crisis de valores que, en el nuevo espíritu de los tiempos, se traduce simplemente en la completa aniquilación de cualquier valor moral y en el ensalzamiento de un nuevo ideal: el ideal de la burla y el desprecio, es decir, el de la superioridad nihilista que pierde el respeto por todo lo que no es lo propio.
A mitad del libro, un suceso escabroso servirá para explorar este escenario, y la novela adoptará la forma (aunque solo aparentemente) de novela detectivesca. La evolución de los sucesos, resueltos en última instancia con un extravagante Deus ex machina, propio de la farsa, ofrecerá espacio, sin embargo, para la interesante evolución del maestro, quien revelando la verdad que conoce adquirirá por fin voz e identidad propias, superará su propia culpa y se reencontrará así con sus propios valores. Al hacerlo, abrirá la puerta además a una concatenación de voces disonantes que, en su pluralidad, contrarrestarán la verdad única y monocorde impuesta por el régimen.
Hay quien ha tildado el libro de pesimista. Optimista, desde luego, no es. Pero la presentación de estas voces discordantes, aunque sean pocas, parece señalar que, aun en las situaciones más extremas, aun dentro del imperio del nihilismo, la pervivencia de valores tales como la solidaridad, la justicia y la bondad no solo es posible, sino inevitable.
¿Habría pensado lo mismo Orvath de conocer los últimos últimos horrores del nazismo, el principio de la barbarie llevado a las máximas consecuencias? ¿Habría este conocimiento resignificado y redefinido su obra? Por desgracia, nunca lo sabremos: la rama de un árbol arrebató su vida, absurdamente antes de tiempo, mientras caminaba por los Campos Elíseos de París.
December 28, 2017
Recensione originale: https://sonnenbarke.wordpress.com/201...
Due parole prima di tutto sull’autore. Ödön von Horváth nasce nel 1901 a Fiume, che è il motivo per cui ho scelto di leggerlo per la Croazia, sebbene l’autore sia assolutamente austro-ungarico (scrive infatti in tedesco). Lo scrittore è da alcuni considerato il più grande drammaturgo di lingua tedesca dopo Brecht e in ogni caso è abbastanza unanimemente accolto come un importante autore di lingua tedesca. Ciononostante non è molto noto in Italia e io stessa lo conoscevo solo grazie ad alcuni professori universitari che mi hanno aiutata ad avvicinarmi alla letteratura austriaca e/o austro-ungarica. Horváth muore a Parigi nel 1938, a neppure 37 anni, colpito da un albero caduto sugli Champs Elysées. Ha dunque vissuto i primi anni del nazismo, ma per sua fortuna non la guerra.
Il libro, che io ho letto in tedesco, è stato pubblicato in Italia come Gioventù senza Dio prima da Bompiani e in seguito da Baldini & Castoldi Dalai.
Il romanzo è narrato in prima persona dal protagonista, un trentacinquenne insegnante di geografia e storia che lavora quotidianamente con ragazzi appena adolescenti. I protagonisti non hanno nomi ma soltanto iniziali, e anche il periodo in cui si svolge la vicenda non è menzionato, sebbene sia chiaro che ci troviamo agli albori del periodo nazista, fra le due guerre.
L’io narrante non è un insegnante amato dai suoi allievi, per nulla, perché contrasta, seppure debolmente, un certo tipo di pensiero che si va facendo imperante. Ad esempio, in un tema uno dei suoi alunni scrive che i “negri” sono esseri inferiori e l’insegnante lo riprende, spiegandogli che anche loro sono esseri umani. Per questo verrà abbondantemente redarguito dal padre dello scolaro e tutti gli alunni sottoscriveranno una lettera per chiederne la rimozione. I ragazzini non fanno che ripetere slogan e affermazioni sentiti alla radio e l’opposizione dell’insegnante, così come del resto del corpo docente e, per estensione, degli adulti, è flebile seppur presente.
Gli alunni partecipano a un’esercitazione militare della durata di alcuni giorni, durante la quale uno di loro scompare e viene poi trovato morto. Da qui si dipana una sorta di trama “gialla”, perché l’insegnante si mette alla ricerca del colpevole e le cose si fanno piuttosto intricate. Tuttavia questo libro non è per niente un giallo, non è affatto un libro “d’evasione”, ma un testo molto più profondo che sconfina nel filosofico.
Temi principali del romanzo sono la colpa, concreta e vicaria, l’assunzione di responsabilità, l’esistenza di Dio. E l’avvio di una nazione verso il baratro. La presenza di Dio è costante in questo romanzo: l’insegnante si dichiara ateo, ma sarà costretto a riconoscere la presenza di Dio, che è però una presenza “terribile”, un’entità tutt’altro che buona, perché permette il male e non ne fornisce giustificazione né attenuante. La generazione di adolescenti con cui l’insegnante lavora è una “gioventù senza Dio” perché, in linea con il pensiero che si va facendo dominante, non ha né riconosce principi morali. Il male è imperante, ma l’insegnante decide a un certo punto di opporvisi, sebbene ciò avvenga a un enorme costo personale.
Il libro è lungo appena 157 pagine nella mia edizione, ma presenta una profondità di temi impressionante per un romanzo tanto breve, e anche la scrittura è limpida e molto piacevole da leggere. Il romanzo si legge in poche ore ed è difficile lasciarlo perché, nonostante la profondità e, quindi, la complessità, coinvolge moltissimo. Il punto non è “arrivare alla fine” né “scoprire il colpevole”, sebbene siano comunque due sproni importanti alla lettura, ma piuttosto immergersi nel mondo che, come l’autore ci fa vedere, si va facendo marcio, soprattutto nelle giovani generazioni, che saranno gli adulti di domani. Ma anche gli adulti di oggi non sono messi molto meglio perché deboli, restii ad agire, ad assumersi le proprie responsabilità, a muoversi per evitare il male.
Per convincervi a leggerlo, vi consiglio infine un’ottima recensione, che potete trovare qui.
Due parole prima di tutto sull’autore. Ödön von Horváth nasce nel 1901 a Fiume, che è il motivo per cui ho scelto di leggerlo per la Croazia, sebbene l’autore sia assolutamente austro-ungarico (scrive infatti in tedesco). Lo scrittore è da alcuni considerato il più grande drammaturgo di lingua tedesca dopo Brecht e in ogni caso è abbastanza unanimemente accolto come un importante autore di lingua tedesca. Ciononostante non è molto noto in Italia e io stessa lo conoscevo solo grazie ad alcuni professori universitari che mi hanno aiutata ad avvicinarmi alla letteratura austriaca e/o austro-ungarica. Horváth muore a Parigi nel 1938, a neppure 37 anni, colpito da un albero caduto sugli Champs Elysées. Ha dunque vissuto i primi anni del nazismo, ma per sua fortuna non la guerra.
Il libro, che io ho letto in tedesco, è stato pubblicato in Italia come Gioventù senza Dio prima da Bompiani e in seguito da Baldini & Castoldi Dalai.
Il romanzo è narrato in prima persona dal protagonista, un trentacinquenne insegnante di geografia e storia che lavora quotidianamente con ragazzi appena adolescenti. I protagonisti non hanno nomi ma soltanto iniziali, e anche il periodo in cui si svolge la vicenda non è menzionato, sebbene sia chiaro che ci troviamo agli albori del periodo nazista, fra le due guerre.
L’io narrante non è un insegnante amato dai suoi allievi, per nulla, perché contrasta, seppure debolmente, un certo tipo di pensiero che si va facendo imperante. Ad esempio, in un tema uno dei suoi alunni scrive che i “negri” sono esseri inferiori e l’insegnante lo riprende, spiegandogli che anche loro sono esseri umani. Per questo verrà abbondantemente redarguito dal padre dello scolaro e tutti gli alunni sottoscriveranno una lettera per chiederne la rimozione. I ragazzini non fanno che ripetere slogan e affermazioni sentiti alla radio e l’opposizione dell’insegnante, così come del resto del corpo docente e, per estensione, degli adulti, è flebile seppur presente.
Gli alunni partecipano a un’esercitazione militare della durata di alcuni giorni, durante la quale uno di loro scompare e viene poi trovato morto. Da qui si dipana una sorta di trama “gialla”, perché l’insegnante si mette alla ricerca del colpevole e le cose si fanno piuttosto intricate. Tuttavia questo libro non è per niente un giallo, non è affatto un libro “d’evasione”, ma un testo molto più profondo che sconfina nel filosofico.
Temi principali del romanzo sono la colpa, concreta e vicaria, l’assunzione di responsabilità, l’esistenza di Dio. E l’avvio di una nazione verso il baratro. La presenza di Dio è costante in questo romanzo: l’insegnante si dichiara ateo, ma sarà costretto a riconoscere la presenza di Dio, che è però una presenza “terribile”, un’entità tutt’altro che buona, perché permette il male e non ne fornisce giustificazione né attenuante. La generazione di adolescenti con cui l’insegnante lavora è una “gioventù senza Dio” perché, in linea con il pensiero che si va facendo dominante, non ha né riconosce principi morali. Il male è imperante, ma l’insegnante decide a un certo punto di opporvisi, sebbene ciò avvenga a un enorme costo personale.
Il libro è lungo appena 157 pagine nella mia edizione, ma presenta una profondità di temi impressionante per un romanzo tanto breve, e anche la scrittura è limpida e molto piacevole da leggere. Il romanzo si legge in poche ore ed è difficile lasciarlo perché, nonostante la profondità e, quindi, la complessità, coinvolge moltissimo. Il punto non è “arrivare alla fine” né “scoprire il colpevole”, sebbene siano comunque due sproni importanti alla lettura, ma piuttosto immergersi nel mondo che, come l’autore ci fa vedere, si va facendo marcio, soprattutto nelle giovani generazioni, che saranno gli adulti di domani. Ma anche gli adulti di oggi non sono messi molto meglio perché deboli, restii ad agire, ad assumersi le proprie responsabilità, a muoversi per evitare il male.
Per convincervi a leggerlo, vi consiglio infine un’ottima recensione, che potete trovare qui.
October 11, 2013
The Verdict: Fantastic, Excellent, Superb, the Best,...........
About the novella:
Though it is structurally small and contains relatively less pages, the themes presented in it are grand ones, such as, the nature of guilt, the life in the totalitarian (Nazi) society, the question of God/Truth. And the greatness stems from the fact that these themes are treated with a few revealing insights and are captured in simple sentences containing a few words. But the choice of words is very accurate.
About the title:
The title is provocative. But then as a reader one finds God as one of the main characters present in the novel. God does not speak.....He just appears every now and then......And at the end the main protagonist, who at the beginning of the novel is shown as the one struggling for belief, admits to the presence of God. But as a believer when one reads and comes to the end passages the revelation that comes has the nature of a redeeming grace....
A Final Note:
I have not said much about the novella in the way of its plot, characterization, genre, or any other thing related to literary field. Because, I do not know how to say it. I still can not escape from the admirable feel that Horvath had created in this novel...... Lately I have realized that I have written many of my reviews in such manner, that is, immediately after reading a novel and before having myself released from the impact the book gave me. I should change my policy of writing the review immediately after reading the book....If only I could do that for this novel........!!!!!!!!!!!!
About the novella:
Though it is structurally small and contains relatively less pages, the themes presented in it are grand ones, such as, the nature of guilt, the life in the totalitarian (Nazi) society, the question of God/Truth. And the greatness stems from the fact that these themes are treated with a few revealing insights and are captured in simple sentences containing a few words. But the choice of words is very accurate.
About the title:
The title is provocative. But then as a reader one finds God as one of the main characters present in the novel. God does not speak.....He just appears every now and then......And at the end the main protagonist, who at the beginning of the novel is shown as the one struggling for belief, admits to the presence of God. But as a believer when one reads and comes to the end passages the revelation that comes has the nature of a redeeming grace....
A Final Note:
I have not said much about the novella in the way of its plot, characterization, genre, or any other thing related to literary field. Because, I do not know how to say it. I still can not escape from the admirable feel that Horvath had created in this novel...... Lately I have realized that I have written many of my reviews in such manner, that is, immediately after reading a novel and before having myself released from the impact the book gave me. I should change my policy of writing the review immediately after reading the book....If only I could do that for this novel........!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 24, 2016
İki kelime ile muhteşem ve etkileyici
Displaying 1 - 30 of 784 reviews