Customer Reviews

A German Requiem

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An enjoyable book but with flaws. It is a mixed detective story and a weak spy story intermixed. Kerr is a very good writer and I enjoyed his 'Berlin Noir'. The depressed and hopeless atmosphere is competently portrayed although it doesn't approach the novels of Alan Furst in that regard. The degrading times with the omnipresent trading of sex for food, cigarettes or anything of value is well represented. I know since I was there as a GI in 1944-1946. I find some of the incidents related to the U.S. Army hard to believe. Here's a private detective who has some shady credentials who becomes trusted by Army personnel. The lack of communication between the various services rings true. The person he is trying to clear of charges is a major black marketeer who gets little sympathy from anyone, innocent or not. So what else is new? And the Belinsky role is never adequately explained. At the end, I enjoyed the characterization of Bernie and the other people encountered, male and female, more than the story itself wherein there were too many unbelievable coincidences, a typical problem with both genres. I found the American involvement in the covering of high Nazi criminal types in the belief that they were needed to govern Germany particularly disgusting in view of its support by what has come up in government records since the war, and the hubris surrounding our present Iraq debacle. Nevertheless, a thoroughly enjoyable novel which I heartily recommend.

This thriller offers a definite cut above the average mystery with its fascinating setting and masterful writing. "A German Requiem" is set in Berlin in the ruins of World War Two as the black market and prostitution jostle with soldiers and buildings in rubble. The book doesn't give long descriptive passages of the surroundings but weaves the feel of the destroyed city throughout the plot, with the action switching to Vienna as the mystery deepens.

Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman, ex-SS officer, ex-Russian POW now a private investigator, has been hired to find the true killer of an American soldier. The man in custody didn't kill the soldier although he was involved in war crimes that Bernie has witnessed. Bernie is persuaded to try to find out what really happened and travels to Vienna to unravel the mystery. However there are more and more layers and he finds himself uncovering some significant information about the fates of some of the major war criminals. Bernie's safety, and that of the people who help him, becomes more and more at risk as the complexities of the situation become apparent.

Philip Kerr's writing style is excellent, painting vivid pictures without being wordy, with touches of humour in the midst of some very dark storytelling. Kerr's understanding of German nature and of the feelings of the German people in Berlin, in danger from the Russians and not really seeing a future, rang very true. This is an atmospheric novel in the Raymond Chandler mode with a complex plot; characterisation is good for Bernie but not so much for the other people in the story but the reader is carried along with Bernie as he discovers the dark secrets that the new powers in Germany hold and as the Russian hold on Berlin tightens. There are two previous books featuring Bernie but it's unnecessary to have read them to appreciate this novel. It is an excellent story, particularly because of the masterful way in which post-war Germany and Austria are described.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, [...]. © Helen Hancox 2007

In this his third book featuring Bernie Gunther, the ex-Police Officer, now private investigator, Philip Kerr picks up a few years after the conclusion of The Pale Criminal. World War II has ended and Germany is now the occupied country. Germans are having to deal with the different zones controled by The United States, England, the Soviet Union, and France. On top of that, a new kind of war is simmering, the Cold War. And the Soviets have begun the process of isolating the eastern zone under their control.

Amidst this new climate, Bernie Gunther has been hired to try to find the true killer of an American soldier. The story is a typical crime mystery and as I said when I reviewed its predecessor, Gunther is not the most endearing protagonist in the genre. But Kerr's way of describing that part of the world during such a dark period in history keeps me continually intrigued with this series.

A German Requiem is the third book in Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy featuring Bernie Gunther, a tough-talking, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, cynical ex-cop, now private detective. A German Requiem, which takes place in the wreckage of post-WW II Berlin and Vienna, has Gunther infiltrating a group of ex-Nazis to resolve a possible murder frame-up of an ex-colleague of his. Kerr excels in describing the atmosphere during this time period and has developed several multidimensional and, for the most part, interesting characters. With a faster-paced plot, I would have given A German Requiem a 4-4 1/2 star rating. However, the plot, while enjoyable, moved at too slow a pace for me to maintain a strong interest in its outcome; and consequently, resulted in my overall rating of 3 1/2 stars. Let me be clear that A German Requiem is a decent read and would likely be very appealing to readers of the first two books in Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy as well as to fans of Raymond Chandler, Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe mysteries. However, at no time did the book have me on the edge of my seat to find out what happens next. If you decide to read A German Requiem I'd suggest you borrow it from the library rather than buying it.

BACKGROUND

"A German Requiem" is the last novel in Kerr's "Berlin Noir" trilogy (following "March Violets" and "The Pale Criminal"), and is also published together with the other two under the title "Berlin Noir". Fortunately, it stands independently, and is worthwhile on its own--but, you'll want to read the first two--so reading them in order is a good idea.

THE SETUP

"A German Requiem" is set in Berlin in 1947, during the occupation shortly after the end of WW2. Former police detective, now reduced to part-time private detective, Bernie Gunther is hired to find evidence that former acquaintance Emil Becker is not guilty of a murder he is accused of in Vienna. Life is very difficult, barely above starvation, which is a major reason Bernie's wife has been tempted into an affair with an American officer. That's the setup.

COMMENTS

Unlike many reviewers, I do not find the novel to be Chandleresque. The setting is extraordinarily bleak, about as bleak as it gets---a defeated people living in real physical ruins, in virtual starvation, with little immediate hope of a better future, with the guilt of having at least passively cooperated with the Nazi regime. And of course many of the characters are criminals. However, the majority of the characters are basic decent people doing their best. Bernie, particularly, is a very admirable character. In contrast, the darkness in the Chandler novels (and others of the genre) is in the souls of the characters. Indeed the setting of many noir novels is in the affluent sunlit suburbs of Southern California.

I found no significant flaws in "A German Requium"--it is the most technically well-written novel I have read in a very long time. The sex scenes, although uninspiring, are few and brief. The plot, although convoluted, is easy to follow.

The language is fascinating---one cannot tell if the author is American or British. The American slang is historically dead on, but the book is thick with British-isms; which are absolutely accurate, and how most Germans speak English

VERDICT

The novel is a fascinating, well-told, engrossing, police-spy thriller, with realistic and vivid characters. The descriptions of life of Germans in immediate post-war Berlin and Vienna are vivid and engrossing. Much of these descriptions are not explicit, but rather are created by details seamlessly interwoven into the story.

Bernhard Gunther is still in Berlin, but it is now 1947. Berlin is a fallen acropolis. Bernhard's wife Kirsten works at Johnny's American Bar. She had been a school teacher. Bernhard Gunther was a Soviet prisoner of war. His ability to speak Russian is useful to his work of private investigation in the aftermath of the Second World War.

He travels from Berlin to Potsdam because he is handling a case for Dr. Novak. Dr. Novak is paying him in coal. On the journey Bernhard has to give up his coat to a Russian. When a war has been fought a city consists of its women. Hunger dulls the wits and blunts the memory. The Russians have an officially licensed black market in their sector of Berlin!

Bernhard's wife has access to the PX. Her friendships bother Bernhard. Gunther, with various police personnel, had been drafted into an Action Group operating in White Russia. Not wishing to be part of the mass execution squads, Bernhard sought service at the front. He was transferred to the War Crimes Bureau in Berlin.

Bernie travels to Vienna to investigate the case of Emil Becker, a cigarette seller, among other things. The Central Cemetary in Vienna is larger than some towns. Most Austrians don't like Berliners. Becker is accused of murdering Linden. Bernie links up with an American, Belinsky, supposedly of the counter-intelligence corps, to solve the crime for his client who faces the death penalty. Belinsky is from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. It seems that Linden had had contact with some amateur Nazi hunters, the Drexlers.

A mysterious German group, simply known as the org, is connected to the crime Bernie is investigating. Bernhard Gunther is pleased to receive a letter from his wife who, it seems, misses him greatly. Agents spirit his wife out of Berlin before she is caught permanently in the Russian sector.

The plot turns on the use of double agents and is very exciting. The atmosphere of the story is suitably dark, considering the era and the circumstances of Germany and Austria in defeat and occupation.

Post-WWII decade and corruption permeates Philip Kerr's A GERMAN REQUIEM. Brown and grey are the only colors. Tired and exhausted are the only physical attributes. And, utter lawlessness and immorality is the norm. Not a pretty picture, and yet Bernie Gunther tries to makes his way through the filth without becoming too decadent himself, but just to survive causes Gunther to sink to new lows. The plot is somewhat predictable, but Kerr's writing is still quite good. The pages turn easily and the overwhelming sense of noir--there can be no assumption that any good will ever happen to you--never departs.

I've read a number of books about WWII & why it was started & how is was fought but this is the first group of books I've read that tells the story from the German aspect. Most of us abhor Adolf Hitler but the people he led into ruin we mostly know nothing about. A very compelling read & hard to put down.

I enjoy mysteries especially about German "history" and European settings. I had previously read "Hitler's peace" and enjoyed that story very much, weaving real history with fiction. Kerr has an interesting way of using words that gives the reader a colorful picture of what is happening.

John Lee or Jeff Harding? The world of audio publishing has done a dis-service to the US readers of Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther Books. Kerr wtriting in an unapologetic Chandleresque manner is well served by the brusque, tough-guy style of Harding. Unfortunately, John Lee, while a capable reader, delivers a 'cultured' British accent that changes the whole image of the sarcastic, wise guy Marlowe type of protagonist. The irony is that because of territorial agreements, we here in the US get Lee's refined British version of Gunther, while the Brits get Harding's more fitting rendition. Listen to both if you can, you'll see what I mean. This is not a slam on a British accent, but ask yourself as an American listener, does Bernie Gunther sound like John Lee? I signed up with Audible, and picked the available option of Harding's version only to be informed at 'checkout' that because of copyright restrictions, the Harding edition was being removed from my order (they still charged me for the membership however). The Gunther books are so crafted on the American hard-boiled detective model that the Michael Caine sounding Lee just seems totally 'miscast to me, and I am seriously disappointed to not have the choice of Harding's versions.