Customer Reviews

Landscape in Concrete (Open Letter Modern Classics)

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The first thing we learn about "Jakov Lind" in Joshua Cohen's introduction is that the author of this 1963 novella (written in German) was, in fact, a man of many names, as well as something of a cipher. He was known, in the records of several long-dead regimes, by at least three other pseudonyms, which Cohen interprets as a sign of "trauma." That is, the inability to ever know oneself as a singular individual, despite Lind's several published autobiographies which are also our only sources of information about him. When Hitler's annexation of his native Austria shattered his close-knit Jewish family, young Heinz Jakov Landwirth was sent with a sister on the Kindertransport to the Netherlands. Infuriated at what he perceived to be the "complacency" of the Dutch Jews, "Jan Overbeek" eventually went underground as a bargeman. After a bout of clap from a prostitute, Overbeek found new work as a personal courier for the German Institute for Metallurgical Research of the Imperial Air Ministry of Traffic. (Posing as a Nazi is really an unconscious act, Lind later said, one merely "nods and obeys, one adapts.") In 1945, "Jakov Chaklan," Palestinian Jew (!), left for Israel, where life on a kibbutz merely annoyed him, as did religion. He then made his way back to London, where he would remain until his death in 2007. Throughout his life, "Jakov Lind" would hold many occupations, including photographer, fruit-picker, air-traffic controller, actor, private detective, journalist, and literary/film agent. He was married twice.

"Landscape in Concrete," Lind's famous tale of tragedy and absurdity, concerns one Gauthier Bachman, a giant oaf of a German soldier who is also the sole survivor of a regiment that got drowned in mud. He is subsequently declared mentally unfit to serve. But Bachman's ardent determination to support the Fatherland's war effort is undiminished and, having been released/escaped from a Polish sanitarium, he has now begun a quest to locate and join any regiment willing to take him. Along the way, however, instead of an idealized mission of duty and purpose, he is repeatedly abused, manipulated, and humiliated into acting in ways contrary to both his nature and (supposedly) that of civilized society. From Peter von Göritz, the stylish homosexual sergeant, to murderous psychopath Hjalmar Halftan and lecherous police chief Heinz-Otto Muschel, a dominant running theme is the corruption of power and the frightening ways in which authority figures can use it to influence their subordinates. (Similarly, in Stanley Krubrick's film "Dr. Strangelove," it is unanimously agreed that Colonel Jack Ripper has gone completely nuts, yet no one seems to question the psychological health of General Buck Turgidson, who delights in spectacularly destructive military action.) "[A]fter all," says Cohen, "the Holocaust was legal, as are most wars." In other words, as "Landscape in Concrete" also makes quite clear, the definition of sanity and criminal behavior depends purely on context.

The perversion of language and distortion of meaning in "Landscape in Concrete" is also reminiscent of Joseph Heller's 1961 novel "Catch-22" (also about World War II). Both books explore the illogical madness of war and the cognitive dissonance inherent to its various acts of institutionalized horror. Heller's hero Yossarian is told that, in order to be discharged from duty he must be proven mentally unfit (like Bachman). Unfortunately, the very act of trying to be discharged is indicative of a sound mind, as no normal human being would ever want to go into combat. Likewise, when Bachman begs to be reinstated despite his many issues, he is told that a "war can only be fought with sound men. The highest demands are made on every individual, it takes nerves of steel. We have to do things that may not be to our liking. Yes, sometimes we have to do violence to our own nature. Most of the duties a war imposes on us, Sergeant Bachman, are revolting, let's face it, insane, and yet the soldier who performs them has to fully responsible." The collapse of solid meaning in language is visualized through Bachman's distaste for the chaos of trees, rocks, and mountains, as well as his desire for the transformation of the natural landscape into one of concrete: flattened, paved-over, bombed to oblivion. All he wants to do is serve his nation and obey his orders, but it is this naive yearning that is gradually transforming him into a monster at the hands of others.

Though undeniably thought-provoking, "Landscape in Concrete" is also a very intense tale that can be difficult to read. I was even forced to skip a couple of pages during the scene in which Halftan has Bachman murder a family simply because it got so gruesome. Overall, Lind is certainly a talented writer whose narrative shifts smoothly between horror and pitch black humor. A common literary criticism is that a particular book could have been shorter; here, however, I feel that "Landscape in Concrete" probably should have been longer, especially given the comparatively weak third act where I felt the storyline became rather confused. (Like, what was the deal with the lesbian-landlord-gynecologist? That weird little subplot just had me going, "Huh?") "Landscape in Concrete" is nevertheless an important literary addition to library of World War II and Holocaust writings, as it forces the reader to both sympathize with and revile a hapless protagonist-turned-"criminal" and demands that we examine within ourselves that same capacity for mindless, befuddled obedience.

Also recommended: Victor Serge's "Unforgiving Years" and Tod Strasser's "The Wave."

* Review copy *

The introduction by Joshua Cohen provides a helpful reminder that this well respected novelist of post-World War II German literature spent his adolescence in various parts of Northern Europe during the war years and after, trying to fashion a semblance of a life as a stateless, nameless, Jew. Or more accurately, an individual of Jewish ancestry who passed through several countries, occupations and names. As a result, his view of the world is scattered and macabre. Every day brings something different, and it is probably extremely odd and illogical.

The main character in this novella is a humble giant of a German soldier trying to return to active duty with his regiment, or in fact any Nazi regiment, because that is his duty. He is humble, loyal and obedient. He is also a homicidal psychopath. He kills four innocents during the book, and has killed hundreds previously. But always on orders, and orders can not be disobeyed. Who exactly gives the orders doesn't matter. He is a gold and silver smith in civilian life, the last of a long, long line of men proud of their guild membership. But the only gold he has is his marksmanship metal, the designation tied to his current "trade" as killer.

The oddity of this book isn't in the plot or in the complete amorality oozing from each and every character. Nope, it is the jaunty style in which this dark tale is told. Hey you...come on over. I need some help with this. Now take the knife and slit him from the neck down. Nice job. Now here's another, quick, quick.

I assume the point of all this jauntiness amide the sex (mostly repressed) and violence (not so repressed) is to convey the upside-down world of life in Germany during the war years, and particularly the immorality of civilians who are able to justify anything as necessary or expedient. At least our psychopath is serving a supposedly greater good...Hitler.

I find the whole thing less than cohesive, and the tone wears thin way before this short volume finishes. The lack of introspection makes the whole book some sort of insane nursery tale. I agree with the quote from a review in the TLS calling it "[a] berserk fairy-tale whose macabre episodes are shot through with allegorical meaning." But the exact dimensions of that allegory are hard to decipher.

Sometimes war is all one knows. "Landscape in Concrete" is a novel following one Gauthier Bachmann, an ideal solider under the Nazi regime. When he is discharged for mental health reasons, he refuses his diagnosis and will do anything to return to thee front lines. He quickly becomes a pawn in many Nazi officials' actions, in the dark happenings behind the war. "Landscape in Concrete" is a fine novel of world fiction, expertly translated from the original German by Ralph Manheim.