Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes

Look Who's Back
by Timur Vermes

The mixture of the cover image and title really caught my eye, and when I read the synopsis I thought I have to read this. Adolf Hitler wakes up in modern day Berlin having been 'asleep' for over 60 years. He has not aged, and he still wears his Fuhrer uniform. He wanders the streets to figure out what's going on, and discovers the true date from a nearby newspaper vendor. Everyone he passes presumes he is an actor - a very good method actor - and before he knows it, his photo is in the newspapers and he is being asked onto a famous satirical chat show. People don't realise that they are laughing along with someone who is talking in all sincerity. They just think he is pushing the boundaries somewhat.

The funniest, and most uncomfortable, thing about the story is that he is able to talk people around to his way of thinking. He is a charmer, a gentleman, sensitive to women's feelings, loves the youth of today, but at the end of the day he is Adolf Hitler, hater and killer of Jews, the reason hundreds of thousands of people died. There is a moment in the book where Adolf goes to visit a grandma whose whole family were gassed in the war because they were Jews. He even has this old lady warming to him and making him a cup of tea.

The author, through Adolf, criticises modern media - the press, journalists, publishers, television shows - to the extent that you are just agreeing with everything he says. Is this how Adolf worked in his day? He was a strong public speaker, he became Fuhrer (though not through a true democratic process), thousands did not seem to question his ethics of wanting to eliminate an entire religion.


This book will have you, as his modern day audience, laughing uncomfortably.