Europe Central: A Comparative Review

I read Europe Central less than a month after Jonathan Littell's very similar The Kindly Ones. Both are massive tomes, the magnum opus of their respective authors. They both delve deep into the era of World War II, with a particular focus on Eastern Europe. As such, this review will inevitably involve some comparisons.

Europe Central is told from the perspective of an anonymous narrator, observing from the shadows. The eponymous Europe Central is not just a geographical location but rather a central switchboard where all the wires from the continent converge, leading to an all-knowing narrator. It also functions as the geographical setting where all the plot unfolds, between Germany and Russia.
The viewpoint changes with each chapter. Many chapters are told from the perspective of historical figures, although Vollmann emphasizes that the book is a work of fiction. Others feature unknown people representing certain archetypes. Often, a chapter with a German perspective is contrasted with one from a Russian viewpoint. Notably, Vollmann has an unbalanced and excessive focus on a hypothetical Russian love triangle involving the composer Shostakovich, the movie director Roman Karmen, and their shared love interest Elena Konstantinovskaya.
This is the most obvious difference from The Kindly Ones, which is told from the single, unusual perspective of a German SS member looking back on the war. Europe Central is far less consistent and reliable, making it an uneven book.
Too many chapters in Europe Central seem masturbatory in nature, with long ruminations on figures like Achmatova, Shostakovich, Kollwitz, and Karmen. Shostakovich takes center stage for the majority of the book, which makes some sense as a representation of the climate under Stalin and the ways people adapted to survive. However, Vollmann gets lost in his admiration for the composer. The worst offender is a lengthy chapter of over 100 pages about Shostakovich's Opus 110, where Vollmann seems to want to explain every single note in relation to a specific event in Shostakovich's past.
The style also varies from chapter to chapter. When writing about Hilde Benjamin, Vollmann is factual, showing the oppression of the judicial system in the GDR. Short chapters about the fate of an unknown young woman in the GDR raped by Russian soldiers and a rocket scientist border on magical realism. The introduction and outro remind me of Döblin's expressionist writing style.
In the longer chapters, we first meet General Andrej Wlassow, who switched sides from Russia to Germany in 1942, allegedly after doubting Stalin's inhuman orders and witnessing Soviet crimes against the Polish in Katyn. Horrors are present on both sides, and no one can claim moral superiority on the Eastern Front. We learn about Wlassow's involvement with a Lebensborn mother after he switches sides. In contrast, General Paulus gets his turn next. For the most part, the chapter doesn't add much beyond a history of Stalingrad. In the end, it becomes clear that Vollmann is trying to explain the belief in the Führer and the resulting allegiance as moral choices.
An interesting juxtaposition to Littell's The Kindly Ones is the description of the concentration camps through the eyes of the hygiene expert Kurt Gerstein. As a Christian, he wanted to do something about the horrors of the camps and chose to fight the system from within, trying to inform the allies with first-hand knowledge but ultimately failing during the war. Littell's Max Aue was tasked with improving the efficiency of prisoner labor, looking at them only from an administrative perspective.
The demise of the Third Reich and the post-war period are described in dream-like sequences of steel, with characters of negligible historical importance such as the German actress Lisca Malbran and Shostakovich's lover Elena Konstantinovskaya, as well as anonymous soldiers and spies. After the straightforward chapters during the war, the narration becomes abstract and symbolic, making it more difficult to read.
The final chapter, about the lack of color and the shades of grey at the time, helps to explain more of Vollmann's goal. He wants to show how people took moral stands during the war and in the difficult post-war period. All shades of grey are present, and the same person may be at different points on the continuum. The obsessive focus on Shostakovich and his accompanying cast of Karmen and Konstantinovska zooms in on this target.
To draw a parallel to the behavior of the SS officer in Littell's The Kindly Ones, morality often takes a backseat to personal well-being. Those who remain true to their beliefs often have to emigrate. This also reminds me of Anna Seghers' excellent treatment of this conflict in The Seventh Cross. It is almost impossible to remain true to one's beliefs and act on them.
While I can appreciate and admire Vollmann's effort, dedication, and enormous research for this book, too many parts fall short for me. Littell also has longer passages that test the reader's patience, but the descriptions of administrative processes or the protagonist's thoughts make more sense to me. There is no excuse for going overboard with Shostakovich. Either focus on a consistent cast or go all the way with a facet view.

A great companion book to the abridged version of Vollmann's Rising Up and Rising Down.

This isn't for everyone. It's a war novel that isn't really a war novel, but a study of morality in totalitarian societies. Absolutely great.

What I learned? I learned that Walter Benjamin's sister-in-law was a cold-hearted prosecutor in East Germany. She sent many, many people to their deaths for ideological reasons.

I also learned that many of these people were killed using a guillotine. That's pretty bad-ass.

The book offers a unique perspective on the complex and often disturbing aspects of totalitarian rule. It delves deep into the moral dilemmas faced by individuals in such societies and forces the reader to confront the harsh realities of history.

Overall, it's a thought-provoking and engaging read that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in understanding the darker side of human nature and the impact of totalitarianism.

I made an exception to my rule and insisted on finishing this book even though in the last 200 pages, especially, I suffered. Mainly because I knew that if I left it, I wouldn't have the courage to pick it up again and I had a curiosity to see where all this would end. Of course, in the last 100 pages, I have to admit that I read them somewhat diagonally. I think I did the right thing because I don't know if I could have continued for much longer. I finally couldn't form a constant image of this book. It definitely had many interesting points but it tired me so much that in the end there was nothing left for me. Nor do I want to give a rating because I don't know how to evaluate it.

Overall, it was a bit of a struggle to get through this book. The story had its moments of excitement and intrigue, but there were also long stretches where it felt slow and dragging. The characters were somewhat complex, but I didn't really feel a strong connection to any of them. Maybe if I had read it more carefully, I would have been able to appreciate it better, but as it is, I'm just glad to have finished it.

I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to others. It might be interesting for some people who like a more challenging read, but for those who are looking for something more straightforward and engaging, it might not be the best choice. In any case, it was an experience, and I'm sure I'll remember this book for a while, if only for the effort it took to get through it.

Quadri, spezzoni di un film, episodi di vita. It is a novel made up of stories in which Vollmann does not show the authorial voice but allows the characters to show and reveal themselves.

Germany and the Soviet Union, the Second World War, the predominant places and times. Real people, who really existed, minor actors but essential composers for the flow of events, thinking and decisive pawns: artists like the German painter Kollwitz, the Russian composer Shostakovich and the Russian director Karmen, and of course Hitler 'the sleepwalker' and Stalin 'the realist', and women, especially women, decisive, determined, mature, splendid. All to depict the Central European fanaticism or to give voice, with actions or words, with music or sculptures, with poems or thoughts, to the resistance to Nazi and communist totalitarianism.

Vollmann composes a polyphonic work, a puzzle, a crescendo march in which the reader immerses himself, enjoying a conscious, sure, encyclopedic, ironic enough, poetic where necessary, moving prose.

⭐️4&mezzo stelle ⭐️

Nella vita (di un lettore) c'è un prima e un dopo Europe Central.

This novel has the power to completely transform one's perspective. It takes the reader on an immersive journey through the complex and tumultuous history of Central Europe.

The detailed descriptions and vivid characters bring this region to life, making it feel as if the reader is actually there, experiencing the events firsthand.

Before reading Europe Central, the reader may have had only a superficial understanding of this area. But after delving into the pages of this book, they gain a deeper appreciation for the rich culture, politics, and social dynamics that have shaped Central Europe.

It becomes a turning point in their literary and intellectual journey, opening their eyes to new ideas and perspectives.

The impact of Europe Central on the reader is profound and lasting, leaving them with a newfound respect for the power of literature to educate and inspire.

It was truly such a great pleasure to reread this wonderful piece.

2005 seems like a distant memory now as it was a long time ago. However, I am extremely thankful that I have grown into a better reader in 2023.

The sheer breadth of research that William T. Vollmann has conducted and the innovative mind he possesses are simply astounding.

His novels are so inclusive and comprehensive that they will never become out of touch or lose their relevance with the passage of time.

If I were to be stranded on a desert island and had to choose just one author to accompany me, I think I would undoubtedly pick him.

Both his fiction and non-fiction works are some of the very best writing that one will ever have the privilege to read.

That's all there is to it.

A fever dream of Nibelungs and Nebelwerfers. It's not quite a collection of stories, nor is it a traditional novel. It's not entirely based on fact, yet it's not pure fiction either. Vollmann has created his own unique category as he "invades the meaning of Europe."

Many of the speakers in this work are more like voices rather than fully developed characters, ghosts lurking within the machinery of Central Europe. They eavesdrop on the heart of the landscape, whispering about its dealings, witnessing its accounts, and recording its ledgers.

Vollmann's book is teeming with historical figures. We witness Käthe Kollwitz in 1914, watching as all the young men march joyfully to the front, proudly following saber-wielding skeletons. We see Dmitri Shostokovich, enduring love, the siege of Leningrad, and the constant appraisals of the Party. We also encounter Kurt Gerstien, risking his family's life to expose the actions of his SS colleagues to foreign diplomats and church officials, while occasionally sneaking into the woods to bury a little more Zyklon B. General Vlasov attacks the Motherland, Paulus turns on the Reich. Zoya is hanged. Karmen films, music is composed, and the Sleepwalker in his bunker orders everything to come crashing down.

This work is a complex and captivating exploration of a tumultuous period in European history, blurring the lines between fact and fiction and offering a unique perspective on the events and the people who lived through them.

I probably wasn't in the right headspace to take on an 832-page novel that delved deep into the most miserable aspects of recent history, namely Nazism and Stalinism. However, I'm truly glad that I persisted. Vollmann is an incredibly talented writer, and his frequent lyrical passages more than make up for the grueling parts.

The grueling parts, though, were what really stuck with me. There were the long passages from inside the minds of psychopathic NKVD operatives, whose endless smug self-justification I couldn't bear, much like when reading Victor Serge's "The Case of Comrade Tulayev". Or the detailed, mocking insider reports from the final solution, narrated mostly by Kurt Gerstein, the Catholic SS officer who tried to inform the international community about the Holocaust.

Profiles of Vollmann often mention the accidental drowning death of his sister when she was six and he was nine as a life-shaping event. After studying at Deep Springs College, a liberal arts kibbutz in Colorado without phone service where students ranch cattle between classes, and then at Cornell and Berkeley, he traveled to Afghanistan as a war correspondent, worked as a computer programmer, and finally turned to full-time writing. It's also worth noting that his wife is an oncologist. His anti-technology views led the FBI to consider him as a possible Unabomber. He also cross-dresses, wandering around Sacramento as a woman named Dolores.

Vollmann writes huge books on dark subjects, weighty in multiple senses. He has written five volumes (out of a projected seven) on the encounters between Europeans and indigenous Americans during the colonial period, 1,200 pages on a small town on the Mexican border, interviews with prostitutes and skinheads in San Francisco's Tenderloin District, war reportage, and of course, "Rising Up and Rising Down", whose seven volumes or 3,500 pages seem like a taunt to newspaper book critics. This book, which won the 2005 National Book Award, is perhaps his most mainstream.

"Europe Central" is about Central Europe, although the Europe Central of the title seems to be a telephone exchange. The narrator's identity shifts throughout the novel and is never fully explained. There are thirty-six loosely connected stories of historical figures, such as Fanny Kaplan, Käthe Kollwitz, Anna Akhmatova, Andrey Vlasov, Hilde Benjamin, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Hitler, and others. The greatest part is given to a love story involving Shostakovich, which is unfortunately the most irritating plotline. Shostakovich speaks in a form of what he calls "thought-stuttering", and the banal love triangle surrounding him is not very interesting.

Vollmann has clearly done a great deal of research, and perhaps this is why he is reluctant to leave out information. But he is an uncompromising writer, one who is unable not to throw himself into danger, create enormous, challenging novels, and tackle the darkest and deepest topics. He has tried, through some human stories, to look at the darkest parts of the human soul, at a war on a massive scale, genocides on a scale of millions, the impossible cruelty and horror of the Eastern Front, Kabbalah, secret police, music, and loss. In the hands of a lesser writer, this could have been a disaster, but Vollmann is good enough to make it work most of the time. Still, he demands a lot from his readers. The responses to a recent tweet show how his small fanbase has dwindled since his modest fame in the 1990s.

I believe Vollmann is a great writer, though perhaps not a great fiction writer. His characters, when he departs from historical fact, are too shallow and sentimental, either monsters or romantic saints. He may be too serious and could benefit from some irony, like the way Grace Paley writes about tragedy or Don DeLillo writes about world-historical events. In fiction, there may be limits to the dividends from sheer cleverness. But he is a major talent, and for those few still willing to commit to his unique style of fiction, he is a brilliant and profound voice.

Bello.

It is a simple yet powerful word that can describe many things. It can refer to a beautiful person, a lovely place, or a charming object.

When we say something is bello, we are expressing our admiration and appreciation for its beauty.

Anzi, di più. This phrase means "on the contrary, more" in Italian. It implies that there is something more to discover or experience beyond what meets the eye.

Perhaps the object or person we thought was beautiful has even more hidden qualities that make it even more appealing.

It encourages us to look deeper and explore further, to find the true essence of what we are observing.

Bello and Anzi, di più together remind us to always keep an open mind and a sense of curiosity, to appreciate the beauty around us and to seek out the hidden treasures that lie within.

SAW... Try to get free, save your skinny self, live to talk and shit some more, and then head onto PYN-ch territories.

These all books ruin together like milks and honeys.

Er, uh, that is to say this book captivates and is a perfect segue into a re-reading of "GR" ja.

It's like a thrilling adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story unfolds in a way that makes you eager to turn the page and discover what comes next.

The combination of elements in this book is truly unique, just like the blend of milks and honeys. It has a certain charm that draws you in and makes you want to explore further.

Whether you're a fan of the genre or just looking for a good read, this book is definitely worth checking out.

It will not only entertain you but also leave you with a desire to revisit "GR" and experience it all over again.

So, don't hesitate, pick up this book and let the journey begin.

Absolute and overwhelming masterpiece.

It is a war novel that approaches the subject from all possible perspectives, allowing the reader to witness the rise and fall of Central Europe through the eyes of those who, from their positions in history, could experience it firsthand.

From the composer in love with the impossible muse, to the lost and insane soldier, to the last denazified and disgraced field marshal, to the infiltrator who could only deal with numbers, to the war martyr whom a confused and germanized Vlasov thought of, to the propaganda filmmaker, to each and every one of the witnesses of the atrocities lived through, pursued by different ghosts that in a certain way turn out to be the same.

A piece of literature that is overly studied, wonderful both in its fiction and in its historical accuracy. An appropriate, brutal, and sincere vision of Central Europe that is in some way a reflection of our very humanity.

This novel ranks slightly higher than "The Royal Family".

Undoubtedly, it is one of the top 5 or so best novels written this century.

There are many other excellent novels, but this one stands out.

Anything more detailed will have to be written later.

It is the type of book that I could talk about for years.

The story is engaging, the characters are well-developed, and the writing is superb.

It has a unique charm that keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves good literature.

It is a must-read for book lovers.