Fatherland, by Robert Harris
This was a book which Babel lent me, and it took me an incredibly long time to read. I’m not sure why, because I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was bad. Perhaps after how good he had told me it was, I just found it somewhat of an anti-climax. The premise of the book, which is that Hitler won the Second World War and is still in power in the 1960s, is an amazing, mind-blowing idea; the amount of thought which has got into recreating this version of the 1960s which never existed is deeply impressive; but somehow, the actual characters and plot failed to grab me and by the time I got to the end I was left with the feeling that I’d just read a rather mediocre thriller.
The novel tells the story of a German policeman called Xavier March who accidentally ends up investigating the death of a high-ranking Nazi official. As it appears that things are happening to thwart his investigation, he begins to realise all is not as it seems and the victim appears to be one of a long line of Party officials who are being liquidated by members of the establishment. Increasingly working against the rules and the orders of his own officials, March (and a female American journalist he picks up halfway through) attempt to solve the mystery. What links these men and why is it so important to the Gestapo that they cease to exist?
The answer is eventually found among the historical archives of the Reich. All those concerned were present at a conference where the Final Solution was initially discussed, and thus among the select few who knew the truth about what happened to the Jews. It is worth pointing out that in this imagined world, no one at all does know the truth; Hitler’s victory in the war means that the Allies have never uncovered concentration camps such as Auschwitz.
Once he is in possession of this knowledge, March is shocked and sickened. His only aim in life is now to get the documents out of the country so that they can be published in America. He gives them to the American girl and she sets off in an attempt to cross the Swiss border. March attempts to follow her, but he is now a hunted man. His own son betrays him to the Gestapo, and it soon transpires that traitors have been everywhere as he is carted off the Gestapo headquarters and subjected to horrific acts of torture.
Suddenly it seems as if he is thrown a lifeline to escape. Put in a car with a colleague he once thought of as a friend, he is led to believe there is a rescue attempt and he can be driven to meet up with the American. Luckily he realises just on time that this is a trick to make him reveal her location, so instead he leads the Gestapo a merry dance, all the way to the site of Auschwitz. As the police agents close in around him, he receives confirmation that Auschwitz was not just a figment of the imagination and, having a strong feeling that the girl and the documents are now safely across the border, my interpretation of the ending is that he shoots himself. It’s not spelled out in black and white, but he walks off into a forest with a gun.
Hmmm. I don’t really know what to say. The ambition of the book is impressive, the Europe it creates is fascinating, but somehow I just felt there was something missing. There was no “X factor”, nothing which stopped me wanting to put it down. In fact I put it down for weeks at a time, read a chapter, and put it down for the next seven days. I’ve read better thrillers, better historical thrillers set in Germany even, and I’m left just feeling vaguely disappointed that a book which could have been amazing turned out to be, well, just sort of okayish. I think it’s unlikely that I’ll go out of my way to read any more books by the same author. Babel, however, thinks it was really cool and has reviewed it here.
Tags: Books, Fatherland, Robert Harris