In The Garden of Beasts

 

In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

By: Erik Larson

Copyright: 2011

Crown, New York

5 Bookmarks out of 5

Okay, okay, okay. I know that Erik Larson has taken off in recent years as the premier writer of narrative nonfiction. But, I do have to say that the reason that Erik Larson is a hipster to me is because I have hunted down his first two books as well, The Naked Consumer and Lethal Passage. I jumped on board the Erik Larson train before it was cool. It's really fascinating to me how Erik Larson's first two books are more journalistic while his last four, including In The Garden of Beasts reads more like a book.

That being said, this is indeed a work of nonfiction. Erik Larson is meticulous when it comes to making sure that he documents everything. He can back up his words with where he researched his facts. In that aspect, In The Garden of Beasts is even more depressing than normal because the story follows Ambassador Dodd and his family in Berlin from 1933-1937. As a reader who knows that World War II is right around the corner, it becomes disheartening to watch Ambassador Dodd try to warn to entire world what is happening in Berlin and to have the entire world turn its back on him.

In many regards, if you've ever wondered how the world missed the Hitler memo in the 1930s, this book does an excellent job of reminding you of the political climate of that time. America desperately wanted to avoid entangling itself in European affairs again and Europe desperately wanted to avoid another continental war. In the conundrum of international affairs of the time, Hitler rises to power and manages to crush any and all opposition to him. By the time America, Europe, and even Germany itself realizes what Hitler means, it is entirely too late to stop him.

 

This book is also haunting in the fact that in a modern, 20th-century city - Berlin - a government managed to systematically deny citizenship to the Jewish people and managed to legally murder all those who stood against the government. It's all too easy to see how this scenario can replay even in the world today. Any people suffering from an economic downturn who sees enemies everywhere could just as easily turn to one strong man (or woman) to save the day. The German people willingly gave up their rights as citizens because they hoped Hitler wouldn't last in power or that each right they gave up would be the last right taken away from them.

Despite the political climate of the book, the most intriguing part is Martha Dodd and her love affairs with many inside Germany - and even outside of it. The story of her and Boris - a Soviet agent - is truly mesmerizing and captivated me. Did Boris really love her, or was he just using her the entire time to make her sympathetic to communism? As a reader, you'll have to make your own conclusions. Martha was a feminist fighting for female freedom in a time when women were house-makers and rarely expressed their own opinions. 

I think this book is very exceptional - a read that is filled with information and put together so you become addicted to reading it. Of course, I am very biased in the fact that it is no secret that I love Erik Larson's books. But, hey, this is my blog and my opinion, right? So this book definitely deserves 5 bookmarks.