"In The Garden of Beasts"-Erik Larson

Book Title: In The Garden of Beasts
Author: Erik Larson
Version: ebook (nook)
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: May 10th, 2011
Number of NOOK book pages: 461
Genre: Historical Non-fiction, World War II


SYNOPSIS: The year is 1933 and quiet, mild-mannered professor William E. Dodd is appointed ambassador to the new Germany. It's a Germany that is slowly turning over the reins to a charismatic man trying to make a name for himself in the political world, a man named Adolf Hitler. Moving to Germany, along with his wife, son, and wild daughter, Dodd believes that this could be perfect for him. He is hoping that this new job will be the relaxing opportunity he has been waiting for in order to finish his history book. This turns out to be increasingly difficult as Dodd tries to keep up with the parties, and appearances that he is expected to make. The only writing that he ends up doing is drafting memo after memo about the increasing persecution of the Jews and his growing dislike and mistrust for Hitler and his Third Reich.

Dodd's daughter, Martha, on the other hand loves her new life in Germany. Being young and feeling free Martha finds herself swept up in the parties and new ideas that the young and powerful men of the Third Reich provide. Throwing all caution to the wind Martha has several affairs including one with the first chief of the Gestapo Rudolf Diels. Although few of her affairs end up meaning much more than just a few fun parties and nights spent at beautiful homes Martha finds that at first this is exactly the life for her.

Despite the adventure and joy that the Dodd's first experience when they intially arrive in Germany the Dodd's quickly become nervous and uncomfortable with the way the tide is turning. When they begin noticing the attacks on Jews, as well as on those who refuse to salute the Nazis as they pass by, and the news that is being censored and the new laws that are being passed. As things get uglier and more restricted the Dodd's find that this new Germany isn't what they were expecting or hoping for.

REVIEW: For those who have been following my reviews for awhile you may remember when I reviewed Erik Larson's other book "The Devil in the White City" you can check it out here http://girlinthetinyhat.blogspot.com/search?q=devil+in+the+white+city. I loved it, I thought that it was literally the perfect blend of story and facts. I was hoping that this book would be as good, if not better. Also I was excited because World War II has always been one of my favorite areas of study. Simply because I am so baffled by the idea that one group of people could just systematically kill another group of people. Anyway I was excited all around by the idea of this book. I was sorely disappointed though.

Athough Larson's attention to detail and obvious skill at research were as present as ever his storytelling was lacking a bit. The book seemed to jump between what Dodd was doing and what Martha was doing way too much. And though I know that it is non-fiction and it wouldn't be able to have the same flow as a ficiton book, I felt as though there was no flow at all. I've read non-fiction that flows extrememly well and "The Devil in the White City" flowed beautifully. But I just felt as if this was too choppy. Just as I was beginning to understand what was happening in Dodd's world Larson switched to Martha and all the fun she was having. I felt as if Larson was writing two books simultaneously and decided at the last minute to jam them together. This certainly added length to the book but was not necessarily an asset to the story telling.

The writing, while well done in many ways, was very staccato. I honestly felt as if I was reading the outline of what Larson wanted the book to be rather then a fully fleshed out book. It was like reading bullet points and where's the fun in that? To be honest as much as I respect Erik Larson for his impeccable research this was a big disappointment! I can't say with any true conviction that I recommend this book. In fact I think this is one that could easily be passed by. If you want to read a good WWII historical non-fiction stay away from "In The Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson. However coming soon: a review about an amazing non-ficition book about WWII. To those who are patient good things shall come...shortly.