'Look Who's Back' by Timur Vermes

A few months ago there was a “news” story about a woman (Simoni Renee Guerreiro Dias) who had found 'proof' that Hitler had lived until he was 95, and by proof I mean the worst photo that you had EVER seen! (Just have a look here)

Well she had written a book and a few people were asking about it in the bookstore, so I set about searching the internet to find out a new book about Hitler living past the Second World War and I stumbled upon this book by Timur Vermes. Well my interest in the 'non-fiction' title was lost and this utterly bizarre idea for a novel replaced it ten-fold. In case you haven't heard anything about 'Look Who's Back' the simple premise is that it is 2011 in Berlin and Hitler wakes up in a field covered in petrol and has no idea how he got there. He immediately and incredibly conveniently meets a lovely friendly newspaper vendor who thinks Hitler a hilarious and deadly accurate comedic impersonator of the old Führer and quickly (and quite unbelievably) arranges a meet with some television executives who love him and try (and succeed) to make him a star.

Ok, so the start isn't believable. At all. But this IS a book about Hitler suddenly appearing in Berlin 66 years after his death!!! Plus you don't really care how he gets on his feet. You just want to see how one of the most recognisable and evil men that has ever lived reacts to life in the 21^st century. This was a hard book to love. The main protagonist is Adolf Hitler! You don't like him, you're not ever really going to like him, so you don't care if he becomes successful, in fact you don't want him to. But you can't stop yourself from finding out what happens next. This book is full of brilliantly executed (no pun intended) wit and satire mainly aimed at marketing and television executives (which are just the kind of people to make Hitler seem human!). Hitler being Hitler says some outrageous things and as everyone assumes him to be a comedian and performer their perception of what he means is twisted by that, leaving the reader laughing at these comedies of errors.

This is an odd, interesting, funny and poignant story that really should be read. Not the greatest story ever written but so different that it deserves to do well.