Ben Elton moves from comedy to big family
saga and Nazi atrocities. (Review by Keith Millar)
Ben Elton’s Two Brothers is a big story. It is in many ways reminiscent of the
great family sagas produced by the likes of Jeffery Archer or Wilbur Smith.
However, the background against which Elton’s
book is played out is of far weightier matters than is normal for these
blockbuster fantasies. The backdrop for the story of the two brothers is the
rise and fall of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich and the persecution and attempted
extermination of the entire Jewish population of Europe by the Nazi Party.
By all accounts, Elton’s graphic recounting
of these horrendous and shameful times is historically accurate. Reading this
book one cannot help at times but recoil in shock and horror at the
descriptions of the Nazi’s systematic marginalisation and eventual genocide of
a sector of the people of Germany and beyond. How a group of gangsters lead by
a madman were able to lead a entire country on an orgy of brutality and blind
viciousness of this level, will forever remain a mystery.
With such a serious and very detailed
setting, it is a pity that Elton reverts to the formula used by the aforesaid
authors of the blockbuster family sagas and creates characters which are a
little larger than life. They are stronger, cleverer, more charming and
better-looking than anyone we meet in real life. This I felt distracted from
the significance of the message.
The story deals with the lives of twin
boys, born in Berlin in 1920, to a Jewish couple Frieda and Wolfgang Stengel.
One is born dead, but the family is able to adopt an orphan baby boy
immediately, almost as a replacement (apparently this how things happened in
the 1920’s).
Significantly the adopted baby is of Aryan
blood.
On the same day, The National Social
Workers Party was born in Munich. In this case, the voice that screamed and
fists that pounded were those of its leader, Adolph Hitler.
Named Otto and Paulus the boys are raised
as twins in every sense of the word, in this close and loving family. The lives
and loves and relationships of these boys, and their family and friends, are
told against the scenario of a Germany marching towards its Nazi Armageddon. Family
ties, friendship, love and loyalty are tested to the very limits of endurance
as survival becomes a lottery.
Possibly the most complex character in the
story is Dagmar, a beautiful Jewish girl who enjoys the love and undying
devotion of both the boys. It is this relationship which drives the story and
leads to several deceptions and identity changes all aimed at rescuing her from
the wrath of the Nazi party.
This is not the style of story one would
normally associate with Ben Elton. However, being a comedian he cannot resist
the occasional moments of wit and levity. Particularly from the wisecracking,
musician, father of the twins, Wolfgang.
Other than that, I found his style in this
book fairly ponderous and at times with undue elaboration. Almost as if he was
trying to drive home the facts, or underline, the sickening events which were
taking place. This is probably forgivable as Elton himself is of German Jewish
decent. In fact, in an afterword in the book he reveals that this fictional
story is based on a very similar family history. This somehow gives the book more
credibility and relevance.
Other than possibly revealing a little too
much of the plot, I think prior knowledge of this family link could have added
to the enjoyment and understanding of the story.
This is a book which will be appreciated by
those who enjoy big family sagas - and for its accurate accounts of the
atrocities which took place in Nazi Germany.
Two
Brothers is published by Transworld Publishers.
ISBN Number 978-0-593-06206-7.
Recommended retail price is R220. – Keith Millar
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