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Flughunde

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Text: German

Hardcover

First published October 28, 1996

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Marcel Beyer

45 books13 followers

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5 stars
85 (22%)
4 stars
171 (45%)
3 stars
87 (23%)
2 stars
29 (7%)
1 star
4 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for Caroline.
26 reviews14 followers
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June 15, 2017
This almost destroyed my will to live. Oh humanity.
18 reviews
January 30, 2025
die erste Hälfte ist ziemlich zäh, ich spiele mit dem Abbruch. Zum Glück bin ich dran geblieben, denn die letzten 80 seiten reißen das Ruder sowas von um.
Profile Image for Mira Margitta.
378 reviews13 followers
January 23, 2021
Herman Karnau je inženjer zvuka.Njegov zadatak je da se pobrine za akustiku kad važni SS-ovci drže govore.Ima pristup u bolnice, gdje takođe pronalazi zanimljive izvore zvuka.Ima priliku postaviti mikrofon u Fuhrerov bunker i pratiti zadnje dane Goebelsove djece.Neobična priča.
3,539 reviews184 followers
September 2, 2024
(slightly altered in September 2024)

A brilliant, extraordinary, powerful and very thought provoking and moving novel. In cases like this were the basic plot elements are either well known or easily accessible on Goodreads or elsewhere I see no point in explaining what the novel is about. All I want to say is that this is a novel of such exceptional power and insight that it deserves to be widely read - needless to say I only discovered it by accident - but for me it is one of the finest insights into the world of the Nazi's that I have read. It is also a pointed reminder, and maybe one that could only be made fifty years after the end of WWII, that there were victims on the German side and acknowledging the tragedy of Goebbels's children does not lessen but only increases our awareness of the monstrousness of the whole bizarre and beastly lot.

This is a wonderful book which I am happy not only to have read but to have bought, though to be honest, I couldn't have read it without buying it, but having done so it is a book I will never surrender.
Profile Image for Andrew.
857 reviews37 followers
October 7, 2019
Powerful stuff! If you know the fate of Goebbels's six children in the Hitler bunker...then this will confirm your moral dilemma of post-war Germany: how to treat the German victims of the Nazis.Beyer chose a very ingenious method by tracing the story of both a sound engineer & a human being, who deals with his own demons by recording the human voice...in every conceivable manifestation...as if he was a naturalist interpreting animal noises not human souls. Very unusual!
Profile Image for Jorge Montero.
72 reviews
December 23, 2023
Preciosa y perturbadora novela.
Es una obra compleja, con diferentes matices, que en el plano narrativo se centra en la muerte de los seis hijos de Goebbels, ante la imninente rendición de Alemania en la segunda guerra mundial.
La historia avanza en una sucesión de soliloquios por parte del señor Karnau - un oscuro técnico de sonido, obsesionado por cartografiar los distintos sonidos que emite el ser humano, y del que poco a poco vamos sospechando que lo que nos cuenta no es del todo cierto- y, por otra, de Helga - la hija mayor de Joseph Goebbels, que actúa de contrapunto a Karnau por su inocencia.
Toda la novela, en su conjunto, es admirable, especialmente las escenas finales en el búnker , que resultan conmovedoras.
Hay una versión en español, traducida como El técnico de sonido>/i>
'Shall we all get into bed together? It`ll be less scary.'
The other scramble on to my bunk, complete with animals and bedclothes. It's very warm with all of us lying so close together in a tangle of arms and legs. The sleeve of my nightie is wet with Holde's tears.
'Don't be frightened, all of you. The Führer will beat our enemies in the end, that's what all the noise is about.'


Profile Image for Eric.
156 reviews3 followers
January 2, 2019
I felt like I should read this after reading the graphic novel "Voices in the Dark" by Ulli Lust which is based on it. As I was reading it I felt very connected to the story having most of the outline and some detail from "Voices". The story may be a bit confusing coming at it fresh or for people with little or no knowledge of the final days of WWII in Germany.
The concepts about human sounds, vocals and noises (those which we control and those which effect us) are very interesting.
165 reviews
August 31, 2025
3,75 Sterne
Der Mann hat Talent, ganz klar; sprachlich interessant. Plot sowieso auch, eine interessante und perverse Idee. Hab das Gefühl, der Plot wurde nicht so ganz befriedigend durchgezogen für mich. Kann es leider nur unseriös sagen, ohne nochmal reinzulesen. Ich werde nochmal reinlesen, dann sage ich konziser, was störte.
Profile Image for Giblus.
32 reviews
June 25, 2017
"O tatlı sesleri duyuyorum-
dünyada en sevdiğim şey.
Buna sahip olmak ne müthiş,
ne hazine! Tanrı bana bağışlasın!"

Goebels'in günlüğünden, altı çocuğuna ithafen...
Profile Image for Amelia.
149 reviews11 followers
September 23, 2018
Stundtals lysande, stundtals långtråkig. Tyvärr inget jag kommer bära med mig och minnas (tror jag iaf).
Profile Image for Hakan Guveli.
233 reviews3 followers
June 30, 2019
Nazi saçmalığının son noktası, çok hüzünlü bir sonu var , sınır bozuyor.
Profile Image for Ana.
256 reviews7 followers
December 31, 2020
Možda ima jaku skrivenu priču, ali ju je baš, baš dobro sakrio iza mora dosadnih podataka o putovanju zvuka od tačke A do tačke B i C i ŽNJ. Stil pisanja je isto za povratiti. Umrla sam od dosade dok se nešto nije desilo.
Profile Image for Nikoline.
106 reviews405 followers
July 26, 2015
Flughunde by Marcel Beyer turned out to be a surprisingly interesting read. I read it for a class in German literature and I can honestly say that I have not read much German literature besides from The Grimm Brothers. Even though I read a Danish translation of this novel, I think the writing was good and very well put together. The story was very interesting as it is decided between a friend of Gobbles and the oldest child of Gobbles. Even though much of the story is, if not the entire novel, on historical but mostly fictional aspects creates a somewhat insightful story to the historical event.

That said I found several sections of the story to be rather untrustworthy. Despite the fact that the daughter of Gobbles starts off by being around eight years old, and she is rather smart for her age. Perhaps too smart with words for her age. When it comes to the characters I felt Marcel Beyer did never really go deep with any of these even though the gallery of characters is quite large. This also prevents the reader to really get into the historical aspect that is the centre of the novel.
Profile Image for Vanita.
229 reviews12 followers
November 3, 2016
Das letzte Kriegsjahr des zweiten Weltkriegs wird abwechselnd aus der Sicht von Joseph Goebbels ältester Tochter Helga und einem Akustiker namens Karnau erzählt. Die Goebbels-Kinder und der Akustiker begegnen sich etwas gewollt, dann trennen sich ihre Wege wieder, um dann kurz vor dem tragischen Ende der Kinder wieder zusammenzufinden.

Helgas Beobachtungen und Gedanken fand ich spannend. Sie sind flüssig zu lesen und wirken authentisch. Karnaus Passagen dagegen waren oft anstrengend, inhaltlich wie sprachlich. Seine Fixierung auf Schall und Stimme führt immer wieder zu logischen Fehlern und groteskem Umgang mit Menschen. In seinen Abschnitten wird der Lesefluss oft durch verschachtelte Sätze und leicht unklare Zusammenhänge unterbrochen. Ob das gewollt ist oder nicht, weiß wohl nur der Autor.

Immer wieder werden die Gräuel der NS-Zeit so beiläufig erwähnt, dass mir erst recht übel wurde beim Lesen. Leider habe ich aber die Bedeutung der Flughunde nicht verstanden und fand auch das mysteriöse Ende nicht passend.
Profile Image for Mary Anne Balane.
51 reviews
January 3, 2014
Beyer accomplished something I previously thought impossible. He managed to write a novel focused on sound – something you couldn’t transmit through the written word. And he wrote one heck of a novel. After reading the whole thing, I didn’t once think that this story would be better as a film wherein sound can be easily transmitted easily and effectively. How Beyer translated all these sounds into words was just perfect. It didn’t feel as though I actually heard the sounds through the words used; it was so much better than that. I appreciated very much the description of sounds. English 12 continues to prove that anything is possible with literature, even those I thought impossible before. (I’m glad I finished reading this today, January 1st. I’m filled with optimism and hope. Yay, 2014!) Such is the power of an amazing writer!
Profile Image for Красимира.
Author 16 books39 followers
March 9, 2016
Полуисторически роман, който разглежда последните години от втората световна война през погледа на двама главни герои: най-голямата от дъщерите на Гьобелс и приятел на семейството. От една страна книгата използва достоверни исторически факти и дори истинските имена на реални личности (например шестте деца на Гьобелс, които са отровени от родителите си в бункера на Хитлер). Същевременно авторът се презастрахова с бележка, че историята е измислена, а някои места ми прозвучаха неправдоподобно.
Всъщност основният ми проблем с книгата беше сюжетната линия за приятеля на семейството Херман Карнау, който е обсебен от звуците и гласовете на хората. Това съответно води до пространни описания кое как звучи и какви мисли му навява. Възможно е някои да бъдат очаровани от тази нехарактерна за литературата тема, но за мен беше отегчителна.
Profile Image for Anne Sanow.
Author 3 books44 followers
February 6, 2008
Told from the alternating points of view of Helga, the eldest daughter of Joseph Goebbels (who sees and hears more than she should) and Karnau, a sound engineer (who works for her father), this is stark, suspenseful, and has a horrific ending in the infamous bunker in Berlin.


Profile Image for Jose Monfred.
Author 3 books6 followers
January 19, 2014
The fresh and finely written approach to World War II will surely catch the eye of any historical fiction reader.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews

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