Little Man, What Now?
by Hans Fallada
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Book Summary Information
Author: Hans FalladaTranslator: Susan Bennett
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-03
ISBN: 1933633646
Number of pages: 345
Publisher: Melville House
Book Reviews of Little Man, What Now?
Book Review: "Something can always happen that we've got no means of dealing with."
Summary: 5 Stars
Hans Fallada's seminal 1932 story of Herr and Frau Everyman trying to survive in the great financial crisis in Germany. Sonny and Lammchen Pinneberg are two decent young people caught in the downward spiral that cannot be overcome by hard work and honesty. Still, that's all the Pinnebergs have to offer and they refuse to compromise on either count. Told in short episodes, the book is wonderfully evocative of the period and the place (Berlin, for the most part).
At the time the book was written, the economic chaos in Germany was inevitably causing a political crisis as well. The Nazis and the Communists were both trying to take advantage of the high unemployment and general dissatisfaction that was pervasive in the country. Within a year of the book's publishing, Hitler and the Nazis were well on their way to total power in Germany, and eventually launched an internal genocide and took the whole world into a disastrous global conflagration. While "Little Man..." is a book of its time, it isn't a book about politics. The Nazis and Communists maneuver on the fringes of the Pinnebergs' lives, but it's the economic compression that dictates their fortunes and misfortunes. Author Fallada makes it clear that his sympathies are with the Pinnebergs of the world, and that the preoccupation of the rich and powerful with preserving wealth and power is the basic cause of their problems.
The book was widely popular at the time it appeared, eventually becoming a popular film. Depression-era audiences in many countries identified with the challenges of everyday life faced by the Pinnebergs and the general feeling of of having no real control over any of it. There's more than a little resonance in this story for the current situation facing so many unemployed in the U.S. and other parts of the world at this moment.
This is a simple story, wonderfully told, that holds up very well after some 80+ years. Highly recommended.
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