Explaining Hitler....

How do you follow Brian Clough? Well, all discussions are supposed to get to Hitler in the end, and now we have.

Explaining Hitler by Ron Rosenbaum is a serious attempt to not so much "explain" Hitler and his evil, but to examine and converse with all the different attempts people have made to explain Hitler and his evil.

The introduction sets out some serious points - for instance what do we mean by Hitler's evil. His actions were evil, and he was wrong, but if he believed he was doing good, was he evil?

Does the book go into the more sensationalist stuff? Probably. The index does not include a reference to "testicle, one" or even "monorchism", but the subject is dealt with, in depth in the book...

Read and discussed in September 2012.

The Damned Utd

Next up, a book variously called the best book about football ever, or the best book about sport ever. The Damned Utd by David Peace.

I was handed a World Book Day copy by Dean, who sells me my Big Issue on Charing Cross Road.

I have the feeling it's not going to live up to the reputation...

Hanif Kureishi - The Buddha of Suburbia

Hanif Kureishi's Buddha of Suburbia, a good read, rambling and passionate, but a bit creepy in parts.

Many of the characters are apparently based on real ones, and Kureishi's sister has criticised the way he has used his family.

Charlie sounds a lot like Billy Idol to me. (and in indeed Billy Idol was a member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans).

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

This time, The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. Completely mad, and very inventive. I found it a bit tiresome in parts. It does have the most sensual description of a bike ride that I've read though.

Alone in Berlin, by Hans Fallada

In February, we read Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada. A truly stunning book. Taken from the details of a true case, it perfectly describes the terrifying banality - and farcicality - of evil.

It was almost forgotten and only recently translated into English, perhaps owing to the ambiguous nature of Fallada's life. Somewhat similar in outlook to Celine.

A must-read, and I'm glad we did it.