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The Origin of Violence by Fabrice Humbert (view source)
Revision as of 10:19, 23 November 2011
, 10:19, 23 November 2011no edit summary
{{infobox
|title=The Origin of Violence
|sort=Origin of Violence
|author=Fabrice Humbert
|reviewer=Robin Leggett
However, while that would make an intriguing story of its own, Humbert's book is an altogether more confusing and subtle piece. In part, that is down to the fact that French literature is often heavier on ideas and concepts than English and US literature, which both makes it more interesting but also, harder to discern the author's intentions - at least to this reader. There is no doubt though, that the finale of the book is truly moving and at least partially unexpected and it is moving in the way that the historical events can still impact on lives in the current day.
The book is split into two parts and roughly speaking the first part deals with the discovery of the photo and the experiences of the man in the photo, David Wagner, during the horrific time spent in Buchenwald. There is a tragic love story at the heart of his pre-war life which our narrator quickly discovers. And that was the initial disappointment for me. He seemed to manages manage to discover this history with remarkable ease and he quickly identifies a couple of people who just spill the beans to him. There's no piecing together of fragments of a story which might have been an interesting approach.
Yes, the fictional Wagner's story is well linked into some historically real and important figures responsible for running the camp and this is interesting and well written, although none of the sources of information could possibly have known about the events that Wagner experienced in such depth, although some of it could have been reported. Humbert handles the factual content well and suitably evokes the horrors of the camp life.