This rediscovered masterpiece, lost after World War II, was translated for the first time into English in 2009 by Melville House and became one of the most acclaimed books of the year.
It presents a rich detailed portrait of life in Berlin under the Nazis and tells a sweeping saga of one working-class couple who decides to take a stand against the Nazis when their only son is killed at the front. With nothing but their grief and each other against the awesome power of the Reich, they launch a simple, clandestine resistance campaign that soon has enraged Gestapo on their trail, and a world of terrified neighbors and cynical snitches ready to turn them in.
In the end, it’s more than an edge-of-your-seat thriller, more than a moving romance, even more than literature of the highest order-it’s a deeply moving story of two people who stand up for what’s right, and for each other.
“By turns horrifying and inspiring, Hans Fallada’s story of an ordinary German couple defying the Nazi’s inhumane brutality is authentic and informative — an admirable addition to German literature.” —Nancy Olson, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC
“Hans Fallada’s Every Man Dies Alone is one of the most extraordinary and compelling novels ever written about World War II. Ever. Please do not miss this.” —Alan Furst
“I very much enjoyed the rediscovery of Hans Fallada, the German writer … a wonderful novel. Compelling.” —Ian McEwan
”A truly unforgettable novel.” —Joe Queenan
“One of the most extraordinary ambitious literary resurrections in recent memory.” —The Los Angeles Times
“Has the suspense of a John Le Carre novel. A visceral, chilling portrait.” —The New Yorker
“Vibrantly translated by Michael Hofmann, this story of ordinary resistance to Nazism is at once a riveting page turner and a memorable portrait of wartime Berlin…With its vivid cast of characters and pervasive sense of menace, Every Man Dies Alone is an exciting book.” —NPR’s Fresh Air
“One of a kind.” —The Globe & Mail
“A signal literary event of 2009 has occurred… Rescued from the grave, from decades of forgetting…[Every Man Dies Alone] testifies to the lasting value of an intact, if battered, conscience…In a publishing hat trick, Melville House allows English-language readers to sample Fallada’s vertiginous variety…[and] the keen vision of a troubled man in troubled times, with more breadth, detail and understanding…than most other chroniclers of the era have delivered. To read Every Man Dies Alone, Fallada’s testament to the darkest years of the 20th century, is to be accompanied by a wise, somber ghost who grips your shoulder and whispers in your ear: “This is how it was. This is what happened.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Every Man Dies Alone…deserves a place among the 20th century’s best novels of political witness.” —Sam Munson, The National
“Unique in its insight into life in Nazi Germany.” —Listen to NPR’s Alan Cheuse discuss Every Man Dies Alone with Rick Kleffel on The Agony’s podcast
“A publication of enormous importance.” —Washington Times
“An unforgettable portrait of a middle-aged couple’s campaign of civil disobedience against the Nazis.” —Vogue
“[A] masterpiece.” —Nextbook
“It has something of the horror of Conrad, the madness of Dostoyevsky and the chilling menace of Capote’s ’In Cold Blood.’ …In the quiet Quangels, Fallada has created an immortal symbol of those who fight back against ’the vile beyond all vileness’ and so redeem us all.” —Roger Cohen, The New York Times
“This is a tale written by a madman, about madmen and common folk in a time of terror, in a place of fear– and about those who resist their oppressors because in such situations someone must. Based on a true story, this bestseller from the ’40s has, to our good fortune, resurfaced to take its rightful place beside The Reader and All Quiet on the Western Front as yet another great anti-war novel by a brilliant German author.” —Bob Sommer, Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, AZ
“I bow to Primo Levi: ’The greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis.’ Based on a true story (with fascinating facsimiles of the Gestapo files in the afterword)– this is the saga of an unremarkable couple whose innate decency compels them to protest– hopelessly and courageously– against the insane brutality of the Reich. Triumphant, tragic, gripping– simply and beautifully narrated. The only book I’ve read that dares to take on the big question: not what created the monsters or the monstrosoties– that one is simple and gratuitous– but why the mass complicity? Dares– and succeeds. —From a Staff Recommendation card at Elliot Bay Bookstore, written by owner Peter Aaron