Why read The Kindly Ones?

Book cover of The Kindly Ones

Book description

“Simply astounding. . . . The Kindly Ones is unmistakably the work of a profoundly gifted writer.” — Time

A literary prize-winner that has been an explosive bestseller all over the world, Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones has been called “a brilliant Holocaust novel. . . a world-class masterpiece of…

Explore

Topics

Genres

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Kindly Ones as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Theodor Pelekanidis

Author

You don’t often come across a history of the Holocaust given from the perpetrator’s perspective. Both a masterful historical novel and a marvellous piece of literary historiography, it's a hard book to put down.

Following SS Officer Max Aue through all the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust, the book provokes you to think in contradictory terms about the events narrated.

A journey through the inevitability and impossibility of empathy, this book reflects on what is considered good and evil and how we can judge what happened in the past.

From Theodor's list on The best books to make you reconsider what you know about history.