AN ORDINARY YOUTH

A German boy comes of age in the midst of World War II.

That Kempowski’s latest novel to appear in English is based on his own boyhood does not come as a huge surprise—for one thing, his hero shares a name with his author. Walter is 9 when the book begins and 15 when the novel—and the war—come to an end. Through Walter’s often oblivious gaze, the reader experiences things from a middle-class German perspective—an often uncomfortable vantage point. Though Walter’s father, who eventually serves as an officer in the army, insists that “I’m conservative to my bones, but that doesn’t make me a Nazi,” he’s loyal to the government, and statements like, “Old Hitler has a good head on his shoulders” are not unusual for him. These ironies are presented without comment or explanation. Kempowski favors short, swift vignettes that proceed rapidly, without much background information to clutter the scenes. Family members appear without introduction, for example. That method gives the book a sense of immediacy and modernity that makes it seem as if the events are still taking place. It also lends a sharp irony to many of the darker moments. When a Danish friend, for example, is released from Gestapo prison—a trumped-up charge to begin with—he comes over to tell the Kempowskis about his experience. “I wouldn’t be able to stand more than three hours in prison…It’s beyond me,” Walter’s mother says. The Danish friend, Sörensen, responds, “What do you think a human being can withstand, Frau Kempowski?” The scene ends there. Still, over the long term—the book approaches 400 pages—these vignettes, which are packed full of parentheticals containing song lyrics, party slogans, and the like, grow somewhat tiresome. One yearns for an honest, straightforward reckoning with the war. And though the book provides a great deal of wisdom and even emotional depth, it doesn’t provide that.

A German bestseller when it was first published, Kempowski’s novel is smart, troubling, and witty—but ultimately imperfect.