Hitler's Niece: A Novel

Product Information

Later we’ll witness Hitler’s idea of love, but in the meanwhile we read in a state of queasy disbelief as the "man of destiny" gropes his niece who counts the number of times he’s reached second base. This is simultaneously prurient and grossly trivializing, as if history might have been different if only Hitler wasn’t sexually frustrated. JO:Speaking of J.F. Powers, who wrote so well and so convincingly about the priesthood in his short stories and novels, is there some unique perspective you bring to writing through your ordination to the permanent diaconate? The deacon’s three main ministries are, based on the Rite of Ordination, to the Word, the Altar and to Charity. How do these ministries play into your work as a fiction writer?

The Human and the Monstrous - Boston Review

In a recent interview with Mr. Hansen, Dappled Thingshad a chance to speak with the novelist about his work, its connection to his faith and to his vocation as husband and man of the cloth (he was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 2007), and his thoughts on the art of fiction in general. RH:I have had some lousy ideas for novels but gradually as I talk about them to friends it becomes clear that I ought to abandon them and start over. Some people, of course, may think I've gone ahead and published some of my lousy ideas, but each seemed good and necessary to me. Basically an idea lodges in your head, gets competition from other ideas over the years, but ultimately commands my full attention. I try not to psychoanalyze my choices of subject matter. I can’t recall ever having a plot that headed in a surprising direction, probably because I stew over the whole shebang before I begin. Hello? are you asleep yet? I nearly was. As you see, this stuff could have been cut and pasted from some really dull textbook. And there’s much more… but I’ll spare you. It’s not like this is stuff you need to know to understand what’s going off in the life of Adolph, it’s all just noises off, and anyone with the merest grasp of German inter-war history can do without Ron’s history lectures. No doubt such graphic scenes depicting Hitler as a sexual monster are meant to link a perverse sexual psychopathology with his abhorrent politics, but they end up distracting attention from Hitler's public crimes, crimes displayed in this author's earlier books ("Marietta in Ecstasy,""Nebraska") but also trivializes Hitler's historical crimes by dwelling, pruriently, on his private foibles.all her suitors and she longs for the freedom she has lost. As Hitler's sexual demands on her become increasingly importunate, she comes to resemble her captor -- moody, petulant and angry -- and she also secretly Fortunately for Catholics and non-Catholics alike, Nebraska-born and Catholic-raised novelist Ron Hansen dismissed reports on the death of Catholic fiction as greatly exaggerated. had a moist handshake and radiated "a fearsome seething and contempt." Of Hitler his sister observes: "The family always, always underestimated him. No wonder he was so distant."

Hitlers Niece by Hansen Ron, First Edition - AbeBooks Hitlers Niece by Hansen Ron, First Edition - AbeBooks

Ron Hansen:Both Johns provided models of how one sanely lives a writer’s life. Both were very opinionated but tolerant of and even interested in differing points of view. Both wrote literary fiction that was also commercially viable. Something I’ve endeavored to do without comparable success. John Irving began as my teacher but became very much like an older brother to me. And perhaps above all, both so extravagantly praised my writing that I was encouraged to persevere.StarSaved wrote:I am curious what Geli's real motivation for the suicide may have been. I am a about to post my own hypothesis, as to her motivation and what she was hoping to accomplish, but I am curious if the majority still believe that it was simply the last desperate act of a very unhappy girl.

A Novel Vocation: A Conversation with Ron Hansen A Novel Vocation: A Conversation with Ron Hansen

RH:Writing historical fiction has been mostly accidental. In most cases I have come across a true story and been so captivated by it I felt compelled to write it down. I don’t have any rational explanation for the compulsion: I’m fascinated by some stories because they fascinate me. I have always liked history and biography, and I have a good memory and capacity for research, so I was something of a natural for the field of historical fiction, but I only think of myself as a novelist without a qualifying adjective. JO:Is there an ideal reader to whom you write? If so, who is it? Even if you don’t have an ideal, who do you see as the ideal reader of your work? What sort of qualifications ought such a reader to have? Does he necessarily need to be “spiritual” or “religious”? Why or why not? Need and obsessive desire, however, don’t imply love. For love to exist, the lover has to be able to consider, empathize with and fulfill the beloved’s own needs, as a separate individual. Hitler can’t do that. He “loves” his niece like a man who is incapable of real love. His idea of flirtation is bragging incessantly about himself. His idea of “affection” is engaging in perverse and demeaning sexual rituals. His idea of respect for women gives way to a fundamental misogyny and traditionalism that require them to serve him, and his idea of passion is possession and control of the object of his desire.

Springtime for Hitler, in Love With His Niece

Is it over yet? Definitely nothing ground breaking her unless you want to rad about Hitler’s sexual activities which I did not. We know he brought Geli to Munich and basically controlled her ever move. Nothing new there. Now, did Hitler kill her or did she commit suicide. To be honest, who cares? On the other hand, the humanizing process at work in Hitler’s Nieceis even more unsettling as we jump forward to Geli’s perception of her uncle as "affectionate, softhearted and helpless." Of course, Hansen intends this to be ironic and Geli finds out how wrong she is long before her lover presses a gun to her chest. But there you have it: Hitler as an awkward forty-plus year-old adolescent. Attached to his "diffidence," Geli accepts her increasingly well-to-do uncle’s offers of financial assistance and eventually moves in with him. Unfortunately, all is not well in their cozy nine-room inglenook. The man who mesmerizes stadiums shouts, "We have no peace!" like Ralph Kramden in "The Honeymooners." Monsters have feelings, too, but when Geli comforts the poor boy who’s sobbing about his family, "They don’t love me! I need love!," it’s too much. In what amounts to a highly speculative extrapolation of existing evidence and historical gossip, Hansen portrays Hitler forcing Geli to engage in kinky, incestuous sex. He gives us graphic scenes in which Hitler commands his Mine rhymes with whittler which is an English word meaning one who complains a great deal. But you can call me Uncle Adolph.”