German folks twitch uncomfortably when jokes are made about Hitler or his Germany. Well…until now.
Translated from German, Look Who’s Back is a satirical novel that places Hitler in 2011. One morning, the megalomaniac dictator wakes up to find himself in bustling 21st-century Berlin, and becomes disoriented about how he got there. The satire, a hilarious exploitation of Hitler’s character, sees the Fuhrer of the Third Reich adamant to restore Germany to the “glory” days of 1939, complete with extremist youth organizations, the Secret Service (SS), and more.
Regarded as a mere impersonator, Hitler soon becomes a Youtube sensation – he rises to stardom after one of his rants goes viral and he is offered an anchor position at a television program. Hilarity ensues as Vermes’ Hitler is so preposterous, so out of place, and so tongue-in-cheek that you cannot not laugh. Hitler’s description of the modern society, with his preconceptions from 1945, and beyond, offer the reader a look at the older and (much) more conservative generation. It also offers incisive and poignant commentary on German politics, social norms, and deviance.
Vermes’ Hitler is a not-to-be-taken seriously sort of character; he is the fool of a story rather than its hero; one who’s hell bent on the quest to change Germany to a time of ideological wars. But as we all must have learned from our history books and Fukuyama, ideologies died when the Berlin Wall crumbled. This leaves us with a disoriented Hitler who tries to make sense of a world of images, ideas, and consumerism.
Prepare to laugh, as Vermes breaks away from the tiptoeing commentaries on a sensitive past, and deftly uses the guise of comedy to chip away at German taboos.
By Azza El Masri
Azza El Masri is an avid reader and is always looking for new recommendations. If you want her to review a book you fell in love with leave a comment on her book bulletin! You can reach her on: www.tempoplanet.com/talking-books
