Reviews
The force and clarity with which Littell renders the physical realities of war and mass murder are simply astounding. . . . The Kindly Ones is unmistakably the work of a profoundly gifted writer., An extraordinarily powerful novel.... Above all, it is a sophisticated exploration of issues of morality, evil and luck... The novel as a whole brilliantly shows how 'ordinary men' become killers., "The force and clarity with which Littell renders the physical realities of war and mass murder are simply astounding. . . . The Kindly Ones is unmistakably the work of a profoundly gifted writer." -- Time magazine "An alternately fascinating and impressively researched novel. . . . Its feverish voice is weirdly mesmerizing, the scope awesome." -- Newark Star Ledger "A world-class masterpiece of astonishing brutality, originality, and force." -- The Daily Beast "A great work of literary fiction, to which readers and scholars will turn for decades to come." -- Antony Beevor, The Times (London) "The meticulously realistic main plot of The Kindly Ones is brilliantly organized and written..." -- BookForum "Unquestionably brilliant...Littell is a gifted writer and what he achieves...is unparalleled...The novel [is] scrupulous in its period details and...generous in its scope" -- The Nation "An extraordinarily powerful novel.... Above all, it is a sophisticated exploration of issues of morality, evil and luck... The novel as a whole brilliantly shows how 'ordinary men' become killers." -- The Observer (London), The force and clarity with which Littell renders the physical realities of war and mass murder are simply astounding... The Kindly Ones is unmistakably the work of a profoundly gifted writer., "The force and clarity with which Littell renders the physical realities of war and mass murder are simply astounding. . . . The Kindly Ones is unmistakably the work of a profoundly gifted writer." -- Time magazine "A vast fictional exploration of banal, everyday evil, as related by a Nazi officer. . . . The closing is a tour de force. But so is the entire book--very long, but with not a wasted word." -- Kirkus Reviews (Starred) "Littell has created a compelling witness to the extraordinary events that punctuated the Third Reich...Littell has assiduously researched the large events he depicts; however, it is his own creative imagination that gives substance to the narrator's broodings on his involvement in horrific deeds." -- Booklist (starred review) "A near-masterpiece of historical fiction." -- Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers "An alternately fascinating and impressively researched novel. . . . Its feverish voice is weirdly mesmerizing, the scope awesome." -- Newark Star Ledger "Language that can be at once cold and beautiful . . . at times uncomfortably mesmerizing. Like it or not, it's the sort of rare book that leads to rereading, study, argument and, perhaps, canonization." -- Austin American-Statesman "These detailed descriptions of how the extermination of Jews was systematically implemented on an institutional level seem a much-needed dose of reality when contrasted with the fairy-tale quality of recent Holocaust fiction. . . . Juxtaposed with well-researched realism are internal flights of fancy with feverish dream passages." -- The Jewish Daily Forward "A world-class masterpiece of astonishing brutality, originality, and force." -- The Daily Beast "A brilliant Holocaust novel...A world-class masterpiece of astonishing brutality, originality, and force...I read it without pausing for breath, so powerful and terrifying was its portrayal of Nazi Germany, and of the Holocaust....Littell is a genius, both as a historian, and as a novelist...relentlessly fascinating, ambitious beyond scope." -- Michael Korda, The Daily Beast "If you're like me, you will read this book to the end with a mixture of fascination and disgust toward its narrator, and admiration for the author who created him. . . . If Littell wanted to leave the reader with unresolved questions that will continue to haunt us, he has succeeded brilliantly." -- Boston Sunday Globe "A great work of literary fiction, to which readers and scholars will turn for decades to come." -- Antony Beevor, The Times (London) "The meticulously realistic main plot of The Kindly Ones is brilliantly organized and written..." -- BookForum "Unquestionably brilliant...Littell is a gifted writer and what he achieves...is unparalleled...The novel [is] scrupulous in its period details and...generous in its scope" -- The Nation "An extraordinarily powerful novel.... Above all, it is a sophisticated exploration of issues of morality, evil and luck... The novel as a whole brilliantly shows how 'ordinary men' become killers." -- The Observer (London), An alternately fascinating and impressively researched novel....Its feverish voice is weirdly mesmerizing, the scope awesome., An extraordinarily powerful novel.. Above all, it is a sophisticated exploration of issues of morality, evil and luck. The novel as a whole brilliantly shows how 'ordinary men' become killers., An extraordinarily powerful novel…. Above all, it is a sophisticated exploration of issues of morality, evil and luck… The novel as a whole brilliantly shows how 'ordinary men' become killers., Unquestionably brilliant.Littell is a gifted writer and what he achieves.is unparalleled.The novel [is] scrupulous in its period details and.generous in its scope, Unquestionably brilliant...Littell is a gifted writer and what he achieves...is unparalleled...The novel [is] scrupulous in its period details and...generous in its scope, An alternately fascinating and impressively researched novel. . . . Its feverish voice is weirdly mesmerizing, the scope awesome., Unquestionably brilliant…Littell is a gifted writer and what he achieves…is unparalleled…The novel [is] scrupulous in its period details and…generous in its scope
