From the horrors of WWII to the spy games of the Cold a haunting tale of survival, vengeance, and the enduring shadows of history
“Stunning... Every line is a jewel.”—Lea Carpenter, New York Times
Shlomo Libowitz and Anton Epstein, two Jewish prisoners subjected to horrific experiments in a Nazi concentration camp, survive the unimaginable. Decades later, their lives converge again as they hunt Hans Lichtblau, the SS officer who tormented them, now operating in the shadowy world of Cold War geopolitics.
Their pursuit takes them from the ashes of Europe to the jungles of Central America, where justice and revenge blur against the backdrop of CIA conspiracies and a haunting past. But one life may be too short to settle all accounts, and Anton and Shlomo’s belated revenge is also a race against time...
With vivid characters and a masterful blend of fact and fiction, perfectly balanced between two continents and two eras, The Feeling of Iron confronts the moral ambiguities of vengeance and the inescapable echoes of history.
Romanzo corposo, polposo, godurioso, saporito. Coraggioso e sorprendente.
Corpo, polpa, goduria e sapore arrivano dalla trama che dall’inizio alla fine procede alternata su due differenti piani temporali: ieri, e cioè, la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, e l’immediato dopoguerra, profughi e sbandati, arrivando fino alla nascita dello Stato d’Israele. L’oggi, inteso come 1982, i Russi in Afghanistan, Reagan presidente degli Stati dis-Uniti d’America, sandinisti e contras, la giungla tra Nicaragua e Honduras.
Un ufficiale medico delle SS è incaricato da Himmel a capo di un programma di ricerca (più o meno) scientifica su composti chimici: vuoi per fare parlare i prigionieri, vuoi per sterilizzare la razza ebrea, vuoi per rendere i soldati più resistenti alla fatica e al dolore. Gli studi girano intorno a certe piante esotiche coltivate in serra, e man mano si avvicinano all’LSD. Gli esperimenti sono ovviamente su cavie umane prelevate dai lager, stese sul tavolo operatorio senza anestesia. E alla fine, quando i russi sono alle porte, e poi in anticamera, trucidate senza retro pensieri.
Due si salvano: un contadino polacco, Shlomo, e uno studente di medicina praghese, Anton. Molto diversi tra loro, sono entrambi alquanto atei, nessuno dei due è ebreo praticante. Shlomo diventa sionista per caso, o forse per amore, e contribuisce alla nascita d’Israle. Anton rimane in Europa, comunista sempre più disilluso: Praga non è certo il posto migliore per godere dei vantaggi del socialismo sovietico. Oggi, nel 1982, sono entrambi ‘cacciatori di nazisti’: Shlomo è parte di un gruppo che si dedica a eliminare i nazisti che qua e là ogni tanto tornano a galla come la merda nel mare; Anton invece viene coinvolto perché in grado di riconoscere il bersaglio.
L’obiettivo è, naturalmente, l’ufficiale medico delle SS: sia Shlomo che Anton l’hanno visto in azione, spietato e spregiudicato, carnefice senza rimorso. Il maggiore delle SS Hans Lichtblau è stato reclutato dal governo degli Stati dis-Uniti d’America subito dopo la guerra: quando, con la Guerra Fredda appena iniziata e già bella calda, sovietici e americani si contendevano scienziati e ricercatori nazisti, un po’ per il valore dei loro studi, un po’ per non lasciarli preda dell’avversario. Adesso vive tra Los Angeles, dove vende cocaina e derivati, e la giungla hondurena, dove continua studi e ricerche su funghi e derivati, e trasporta armi ai Contras. È un vecchio hippie che ha vissuto e frequentato la controcultura americana cominciando dalla lunga amicizia con Timothy Leary, indossa camicie hawaiane sotto la coda di cavallo, fa sostanzialmente una bella vita, non ha mai abiurato alle vecchie abitudini, e nessun ricordo gli procura senso di colpa.
Coraggioso e sorprendente perché il romanzo è parto di un italiano, anche se per stile e argomento sembrerebbe creazione estera, più probabilmente a stelle-e-strisce: non mi viene in mente nessuno antecedente tricolore. Alonge insegna storia del cinema, scrive sul cinema, e scrive per il cinema (sceneggiature): qui si rivela abile e sofisticato romanziere che costruisce un’impalcatura ardita, basata su studi e ricerche e documentazione estesa, senza sbavature, astenendosi dal tipico grand guignol alla Nesbo o Don Wilson o Dan Brown, evitando pruriginose descrizioni di scene di vita sessuale, con misura e, oserei dire, discrezione. Applausi.
Avere visto il male negli occhi, anche quello più estremo, assolve sempre e comunque da ogni colpa? La cosa peggiore che può farti il nemico è renderti uguale a lui.
Parlare de Il sentimento del ferro non è facile: perché tratta di temi e argomenti delicati, perché dire “è bello” non bastava nel commento del libro alle medie e non basta sicuramente ora.
Spy story che fa l’occhiolino al romanzo storico, l'ultima fatica editoriale di Giaime Alonge si svolge nei territori occupati dal Terzo Reich prima e nel Sud America degli anni '80 poi. Le vicende si alternano, di capitolo in capitolo, guidandoci per mano e presentandoci una moltitudine di personaggi, che, come nei romanzi che preferisco, riusciremo a riconoscere autonomamente solo da metà libro in poi, quando, inevitabilmente, le loro storie si intrecceranno.
Nel grande numero di personaggi secondari, sono tre i protagonisti, coloro attraversano l’intero romanzo: Schlomo Libowitz, che insegue il sogno sionista della terra promessa dopo aver visto la propria famiglia (biologica e religiosa) distrutta; Anton Epstein, intellettuale ebreo dei più pericolosi, “uno che poteva passare per ariano, e ingravidare la figlia di qualche poveraccio, che senza neppure saperlo finiva col ritrovarsi dei nipotini mezzosangue”; Hans Lichtblau, maggiore delle SS e guida del programma di esperimenti che, ovviamente, utilizza i primi due (tra gli altri) come cavie.
I capitoli si altenano, così come le epoche e i paesaggi descritti dall’autore: gli esperimenti e il freddo si alternano al caldo e alla polvere, la Luftwaffe alla IAF, la caccia agli ebrei all'inseguimento dei nazisti. Gli oppressi diventano gli oppressori, gli oppressori oppressi; le parti vengono invertite in nome di un unico sentimento: la vendetta. Non solo personale e individuale, bensì di un intero popolo, il quale “non [può] più permettersi di essere debole”.
E la tragedia ricomincia, la stessa storia con nomi diversi. Gli oppressi diventano oppressori, purtroppo non solo nel romanzo edito da Fandango libri.
Noel Rohn diceva che “in un romanzo poliziesco, l’eroe risolve un crimine; in uno di spionaggio, ne commette uno”. Alonge ne è ben consapevole e, se è risaputo che nessuno si salva da solo, qui nessuno si salva davvero.
Un libro originale, coinvolgente, cinematografico (chi fosse Alonge l'ho scoperto dopo), molto poco italiano. Molto interessante lo svolgimento in parallelo tra anni '40 e anni '80. Unica pecca la scrittura, corretta (eccetto il fastidioso "solo più" piemontese) ma un po' piatta e poco ispirata, quando probabilmente mirava ad essere asciutta ed efficace.
Exciting book. Bounces back and forth between decades without losing momentum. I love the distinct characterization of the reich Germans vs the diaspora, the sabra Jewish vs the European diaspora, the peasants from the bourgeois, socialists vs Soviet Union apparatchiks. The author is a screenwriter, I look forward to the movie.
An ambitious novel that moves between the 1940s and the early 80s, tracing the long shadow of the Holocaust and the search for those who escaped justice. The short chapters and strong pacing at the start really hooked me, and the mix of history, memory and thriller elements kept me turning the pages.
The later 1980s sections feel more uneven, with some of the action not as sharp as the set up, but there are moments of real power that stayed with me.
Not perfect, but gripping, thought provoking and well worth reading.
A group of people whose lives intersect in the horror of World War II and again in the world of 1982. The evil of Nazis, the tragedy and hope of the Jews.
An engrossing story of the search by 2 former inmates for a German officer who experimented on Jews in a concentration camp. But, it is so much more: a fascinating history of the WWII era, the creation of Israel and the Contra-Sandinista war in Central America. An expansive, sprawling well-written and well-plotted novel.
I III thought “ The Feeling of Iron” was absolutely outstanding. Set in 1941 and 1982 following characters through their journeys through World War II and after. The authors story telling is rich in character development and historical references. I definitely recommend reading this book.
Buon libro che si classifica tra il romanzo storico e il genere spionaggio. La vicenda si alterna tra gli anni della seconda guerra mondiale nell'est Europa e il 1982 in Sudamerica. Un libro che ho apprezzato per la trama e la scorrevolezza nella lettura non mancando di quell'atmosfera di suspense che fa da traino alla lettura.
"Grief, like debts, should never be bequeathed. But sometimes life is too short to settle all your accounts."
"The kibbutz was a good idea,” Shlomo said. “Confidence in the future, solidarity, peace, labor. A great program. But a socialist utopia doesn’t help us fight terrorists"
"We have made peace with the Germans.” “Oh, we have, have we?” Shlomo asked with a sour smile on his lips. “We have made peace with the Germans. Good. Then how come we can’t make peace with the Palestinians? It’s not like they put us in the gas chambers.”
"The Negroni went down easily, momentarily chasing away the heat of summer. There was nothing like it in Czechoslovakia. Presumably, not even in Russia. Over there, you drank strong, tasteless stuff. You drank to dull the senses, to forget, to punish yourself. It was solitary drinking, even when in company. In Italy, on the other hand, you drank to refresh yourself, to enjoy food more, to be with others. It was a pleasure, not a resentful, impotent gesture"
"Hans wondered what Paul would think had he known that the trainset was originally intended for another child. A child who may well have vanished: buried—along with his family, friends, and neighbors—in a large pit dug by a bulldozer that worked non-stop."
"The buffet was absurdly insubstantial, as it so often was in wealthy homes. That was how they had made their money: by saving on dips. Communists called it primitive accumulation."
"It depressed him at times, but compared to the miserable train wreck that his life might have been without her, marital fidelity had been a small price to pay."
This is a story of the Second World War and the rise of Hitler's Nazi party and the final solution through the multiple perspectives of the Nazi "scientist" who is recruited by the CIA post war and becomes one of its men of business funding the Contras against the Sandinistas, at the heart of the evil arrangements of drugs, arms and civil war. In parallel, a group of Nazi hunters from Eastern Europe and Israel close in on him while remembering their terrible unspeakable journey to the death camps and then to the scientists' playground. What was illuminating was the divide among the Jewish survivors on the concept of Israel and the clarity of how the oppression in Israel went to the fundamentals of what is humanity and humane living and what lessons had been learned or unlearned from WWII. While fast paced, Mr. Alonge raises core and disturbing reflections throughout this excellent story.
I ran straight through this book in less than a week (admittedly, I had Covid and so was excused from most other things that normally take up my time.) Fast-moving, gripping story about World War II, Nazis, and hunting Nazis afterwards, along with the contradictions of the creation of the Israeli state. It's historical fiction that goes heavy on the historical -- there are parts where one character or another basically just recites some interesting historical context.
As fiction, it's a bit clumsy at times. It does descend into some unfortunate fictional tropes near the end. The main villain is literally a mad scientist who invents a superdrug and then dies by falling into quicksand and slowly being swallowed completely while begging for help. I rolled my eyes, but it didn't take much away from the good parts for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Overall a good read but with some significant qualifications. The characters were not well developed overall but I think this is less important because the story is so plot driven. The short chapters and the switching back and forth among different times and places took me a while to get used to but I think it works in the end. The comparison at the end between the holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel struck me as gimmicky despite the fact that I thoroughly agree that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians was and continues to be utterly shameful and cruel. But this subject is so complex it deserves more in depth presentation than it was given here. Also while the book was full of historical context during WWII, its treatment of the Cold War alliances was a bit shallow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This book was absolutely devoid of any joy. not even one sentence. I am not sure how or why I finished it - perhaps being in a joy-less period of my life made me soldier on.
I'm not sure what got lost in translation here. I wanted to be invested in the characters, but the narratives were disjointed. And joyless. The attempts to create compassion and connection to the characters may have been the worst I've ever read.
The descriptions of violence and cruelty were overwhelming. Yeah, I understand this was about war and revenge...but I think the reason people read about this time in history is to find the humanity, hope and JOY that nevertheless existed.
I did not know when i took this off the shelf that it would be so much fun to read. It's not a fun subject, it's just that it's a compelling read. You get swept into the intrigue and the events as it moves along. I didn't even mind going back and forth in history as i usually do :) It kept my attention to the very end. i did notice a couple of translation odd things, but otherwise it was well done.
From the review in the New York Times: "Clarissa Botsford’s translation is precise and eloquent, never splashy. Every line is a jewel." Based on that review, I bought the Kindle version.
It is terrible. The writing is clumsy. The characters are flat. Maybe it was the translation, but I couldn't read it.
Elegantly written tale of Holocaust survivors seeking revenge against a brutal Nazi scientist who experimented on prisoners, including children, while creating something like a super methamphetamine for soldiers. The story roams from Prussia to Haifa to Honduras, leapfrogging back and forth in time.
I did not think this book would ever end. I'm definitely an outlier here. Talk about superfluous. Unnecessary chapters that added nothing to the story. Descriptions that were ridiculously placed. Frustrating characters. Not to mention the constant back and forth between timelines and locations. I only finished it to see if they caught the Nazi they were after. UGH.
Really enjoyed this book that alternates in time between the 1940’s and 1982. The early timeline focuses on two Jewish prisoners in a German concentration camp, and in the later timeline, the same two men are Nazi hunters pursuing their former captor in Central America. Includes interesting details of the politics of postwar Europe and Israel, as well as the Nicaraguan civil war.
The only sad thing about this book is that it’s over. There must be a genre of books about hunting down escaped Nazis. I’ll have to look. But there’s one scene about the Soviets raping women as they moved into Prussia. It’s going to stay with me for a while.
Another 3.75 - not quite a four. The scenes depicting World War II were compelling. Sometimes it was difficult to make the transition to the South American Sandinistas. But it all finally got tied together. A lot of deaths in the book.
This is amongst one of the best books I’ve read in the past several years. Cinematic, sweeping, and pointed, covering in insightful detail a wide range of characters, setting and timeframes, and telling a moving, gripping and important story.