Siegfried
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3.6 • 11 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A bracing meditation on the nature of evil and a moving evocation of the human heart, Siegfried is one of Harry Mulisch's most powerful novels. After a reading of his work, renowned Dutch author Rudolf Herter, who had recently commented in a television interview that it may be only through fiction that the uniquely evil figure of Adolf Hitler can be truly comprehended, is approached by an elderly couple. The pair reveal that as domestic servants in Hitler's Bavarian retreat in the waning years of the war, they were witness to the jealously guarded birth of Siegfried—the son of Hitler and Eva Braun. For more than fifty years they have kept silent about the child they once raised as their own. Only now and only to Herter are they willing to reveal their astonishing story.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
What if Hitler had a son? Mulisch (The Discovery of Heaven) mixes philosophical reflection and psychological inquiry into an exploration of the single-minded quest of a Dutch writer determined to understand the source of the German dictator's terrible power. Revered author Rudolf Herter is in Vienna to promote his new book; during an interview, he suggests that someone as evil as Adolf Hitler could be "place in a completely fictional, extreme situation" and thereby be better understood. Herter quickly becomes preoccupied by his own proposition, and by Hitler himself. After a reading at the National Library, an elderly Viennese couple, Ullrich and Julia Falk, approach Herter, suggesting that they have insights into Hitler. When he visits these "ancient people in this old-people's home," the Falks reveal the shocking fact that as Hitler's personal servants at his mountain retreat, they were charged with concealing Siegfried, Hitler and Eva Braun's son, born on Kristallnacht. Despite the book's title, Siegfried is a minor character; Mulisch is more concerned with the aging Herter and his drive to ponder the nature of the German dictator as a leader, father and as a "metanatural phenomenon," as "Nothingness." Herter's philosophizing he makes much use of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer is a bit on the self-indulgent side and strips the story of suspense; an italicized chapter revealing the inner thoughts of Eva Braun is unconvincing. Nevertheless, this slim novel is a thought-provoking read.
