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The Drinker Paperback – March 3, 2009

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 157 ratings

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One of the great German writers of the 20th century draws from his own life to present a “brave, fearless, and honest” tale of one man’s dark descent into depression and alcoholism (The Sunday Times, London)
 
This astonishing, autobiographical tour de force was written by Hans Fallada in an encrypted notebook while he was incarcerated in a Nazi insane asylum. Discovered after his death, it tells the tale—often fierce, often poignant, often extremely funny—of a small businessman losing control as he fights valiantly to blot out an increasingly oppressive society.

In a brilliant translation by Charlotte and A.L. Lloyd, it is presented here with an afterword by John Willett that details the life and career of the once internationally acclaimed Hans Fallada, and his fate under the Nazis—which brings out the horror of the events behind the book.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is an heroic book, brave, fearless, and honest. It is necessary reading.”
The Sunday Times (London)
 
“Genuinely tragic and beautiful ...  [Fallada’s] perfectly horrifying, horrifyingly perfect novel is the story of himself rejected by society and returning the insult.”
New Statesman
 
“In a publishing hat trick, Melville House allows English-language readers to sample Fallada's vertiginous variety accompanying the release of Michael Hoffman's splendid translation of
Every Man Dies Alone with the simultaneous publication of excellent English versions of Fallada's two best-known novels, Little Man, What Now? (translated by Susan Bennett) and The Drinker (translated by Charlotte and A. L. Lloyd). The Drinker, which Fallada wrote in 1944 while he was locked up in a criminal asylum for attacking his estranged wife, is a memoirish novel in which a country merchant describes his unrepentant, gloating slide into alcoholism and failure.”
New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Before WWII , German writer Hans Fallada’s novels were international bestsellers, on a par with those of his countrymen Thomas Mann and Herman Hesse. In America, Hollywood even turned his first big novel, Little Man, What Now?, into a major motion picture.
 
Learning the movie was made by a Jewish producer, however, Hitler decreed Fallada’s work could no longer be sold outside Germany, and the rising Nazis began to pay him closer attention. When he refused to join the Nazi party he was arrested by the Gestapo—who eventually released him, but thereafter regularly summoned him for “discussions” of his work.
 
However, unlike Mann, Hesse, and others, Fallada refused to flee to safety, even when his British publisher, George Putnam, sent a private boat to rescue him. The pressure took its toll on Fallada, and he resorted increasingly to drugs and alcohol for relief. After Goebbels ordered him to write an anti-Semitic novel, he snapped and found himself imprisoned in an asylum for the “criminally insane”—considered a death sentence under Nazi rule. To forestall the inevitable, he pretended to write the assignment for Goebbels, while actually composing three encrypted books—including his tour-de-force novel
The Drinker—in such dense code that they were not deciphered until long after his death.
 
Fallada outlasted the Reich and was freed at war’s end. But he was a shattered man. To help him recover by putting him to work, Fallada’s publisher gave him the Gestapo file of a simple, working-class couple who had resisted the Nazis. Inspired, Fallada completed
Every Man Dies Alone in just twenty-four days.
 
He died on February 5, 1947, just weeks before the book’s publication.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1933633654
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Melville House; First Edition (March 3, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781933633657
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1933633657
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.51 x 0.83 x 8.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 157 ratings

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Hans Fallada
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Before WWII, German writer Hans Fallada's novels were international bestsellers, on a par with those of his countrymen Thoman Mann and Herman Hesse. In America, Hollywood even turned his first big novel, Little Man, What Now? into a major motion picture

Learning the movie was made by a Jewish producer, however, the Nazis blocked Fallada's work from foreign rights sales, and began to pay him closer attention. When he refused to join the Nazi party he was arrested by the Gestapo--who eventually released him, but thereafter regularly summoned him for "discussions" of his work.

However, unlike Mann, Hesse, and others, Fallada refused to flee to safety, even when his British publisher, George Putnam, sent a private boat to rescue him. The pressure took its toll on Fallada, and he resorted increasingly to drugs and alcohol for relief. Not long after Goebbels ordered him to write an anti-Semitic novel he snapped and found himself imprisoned in an asylum for the "criminally insane"--considered a death sentence under Nazi rule. To forestall the inevitable, he pretended to write the assignment for Goebbels, while actually composing three encrypted books--including his tour de force novel The Drinker--in such dense code that they were not deciphered until long after his death.

Fallada outlasted the Reich and was freed at war's end. But he was a shattered man. To help him recover by putting him to work, Fallada's publisher gave him the Gestapo file of a simple, working-class couple who had resisted the Nazis. Inspired, Fallada completed Every Man Dies Alone in just twenty-four days.

He died in February 1947, just weeks before the book's publication.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
157 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and informative. They praise the writing style as well-written and spare. However, some readers feel the autobiographical content is too personal and claustrophobic. There are mixed opinions on the story length - some find it brilliant and interesting, while others consider it too short.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

13 customers mention "Readability"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read. They appreciate the author's ability to bring the characters to life. The book starts well and is in good condition.

"...of reading it. This book is an engrossing read for anyone whose life has been shadowed by the horrible disease of addiction...." Read more

"An extraordinary book, and extraordinarily painful to read. There are those who make the case that this book is a metaphor for Hitler's Germany...." Read more

"...It was awesome and that book made me want to get every book by this author...." Read more

"This book started off well. The protagonist, Sommer, begins his decline and eventual crash into alcoholism and the pre-war German penal system...." Read more

4 customers mention "Insight"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and informative. They mention it's interesting because it predates most accounts of substance abuse. The author is well-versed in the subject matter and his stuff is still relevant today.

"...well written by an author who unfortunately was intensely well versed in the subject matter...." Read more

"...Mr. Fallada gets his recognition and readership because his stuff is still SO relevant...." Read more

"...I found that part to be intense, insightful and informative...." Read more

"...It is interesting in that it pre-dates most accounts of substance abuse...." Read more

4 customers mention "Writing style"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style. They say it's well-written and spare.

"I could not put this book down. It is extraordinarily well written by an author who unfortunately was intensely well versed in the subject matter...." Read more

"...and incomprehensible, even in spite of Fallada's excellent, spare prose; most rational minds will have a hard time comprehending how one man can..." Read more

"...for its early intensity, its pathological intrigue and its no-nonsense writing style." Read more

"This is a magnificent book written by an excellent writer. He writes about the relationships of troubled people in troubled times...." Read more

6 customers mention "Story length"4 positive2 negative

Customers have different views on the story length. Some find it brilliant and interesting, while others think it's too short.

"...Often a taboo subject, it is the story that is real...." Read more

"This was a great story from a writer I had never heard of. It was suggested by an acquaintance in a Book Club...." Read more

"The story and the story telling are brilliant. I think that the story is a bit too long and there is too much repetition" Read more

"...To most normal people, the story will perhaps seem baffling and incomprehensible, even in spite of Fallada's excellent, spare prose; most rational..." Read more

3 customers mention "Autobiographical content"0 positive3 negative

Customers find the autobiographical content in the book wretched to read about Fallada's self-delusions and descent into madness. They feel it's claustrophobic in its focus on one character, a departure from his other novels.

"...is thinly veiled autobiography, and it's absolutely wrenching to read of his self-delusions, his descent into madness, his heartbreaking willingness..." Read more

"...This book is reportedly somewhat autobiographical, for Fallada wrote it while confined in such an institution...." Read more

"...But this one is very different. It's almost claustrophobic in its concentration on one character - a real departure from his other novels...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2012
    I could not put this book down. It is extraordinarily well written by an author who unfortunately was intensely well versed in the subject matter. Anyone who's ever wondered why alcoholics don't "just shape up"! will get the answer here. Fallada, who was born in Germany in 1893, into a middle class family - his father was a magistrate, on his way to becoming a supreme court judge - had a difficult childhood. In 1909, at the age of 16 he was run over by a horse cart and kicked in the face by the horse, and the following year contracted typhoid. Ugh.

    "His adolescent years were characterized by increasing isolation and self-doubt, compounded by the lingering effects of these ailments. In addition, his life-long drug problems were born of the pain-killing medications he was taking as the result of his injuries. These issues manifested themselves in multiple suicide attempts. In 1911 he made a pact with a close friend to stage a duel to mask their suicides, feeling that the duel would be seen as more honorable. Because of both boys' inexperience with weapons, it was a bungled affair. The friend missed Fallada, but Fallada did not miss, killing his friend. Fallada was so distraught that he picked up a gun and shot himself in the chest, but somehow survived. Nonetheless, the death of his friend ensured his status as an outcast from society."

    It is easy to see how someone with this background would fall prey to addiction and mental illness. Fallada experienced the horrors of Nazi Germany; he was incarcerated in a Nazi asylum when he wrote The Drinker, which is "a deeply critical autobiographical account of life under the Nazis." Following the protagonist's descent into the madness of alcoholism my sympathy was at times with him, at times with his wife - but both characters are rather unpleasant. Still, Fallada manages to make one feel and enthusiastically root for them - will he get sober, will he manage to hang on to his sanity and life (work, home, job, family).

    I first read about the book in the NYT book review - I think it was listed as one of the best/remarkable books (cannot remember the distinction exactly) of the 20th century - and it briefly discussed Fallada's tragic life, which aroused my curiosity so I looked up more information about him. Knowing about his background and the circumstances in which he wrote the book really added to the "pleasure" (well, I cannot say that the book is exactly a pleasant reading!) of reading it.

    This book is an engrossing read for anyone whose life has been shadowed by the horrible disease of addiction. Highly recommend it for everyone else as well.
    10 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2012
    An extraordinary book, and extraordinarily painful to read. There are those who make the case that this book is a metaphor for Hitler's Germany. I don't know about that. My experience with Al-Anon tells me that the pitifully self-destructive behavior that poor Hans Fallada documents here is pure, unadulterated alcoholism.

    This is thinly veiled autobiography, and it's absolutely wrenching to read of his self-delusions, his descent into madness, his heartbreaking willingness to abandon the advice of loved ones for the soothing lies of evil men. Later in the book, once he is institutionalized, it is equally wrenching to read of the loss of his freedom, his self-respect, his health and his hope. Today, he would have been treated compassionately, by top experts in the field. But Hans Fallada had the vast misfortune to be living in Hitler's Germany, a country that was all too happy to condemn its mentally challenged citizens to death.

    A difficult, desolating book, but a fascinating, clear-sighted view into the world of the addict.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2010
    Riveting and devastating, "The Drinker" chronicles one man's rapid descent from the heights--or at least the comfortable ledges--of middle-class respectability, down to the depths of alcoholic degradation.

    To most normal people, the story will perhaps seem baffling and incomprehensible, even in spite of Fallada's excellent, spare prose; most rational minds will have a hard time comprehending how one man can sink so low, so fast. But alcoholism, alas, is not a rational disease, and anyone who has ever seen the inside of an AA meeting or spent the night in a drunk tank will likely find this novel--particularly its early chapters and its final ones--impossible to put down, or to forget.

    Fallada's narrator, Herr Sommer, starts as a somewhat well-to-do businessman in Nazi-era Germany, but pretty much skips the social drinking phase of alcoholism and entangles himself in a rapidly worsening cycle of marital strife and monetary struggle, exacerbated by bad schnapps and worse decisions. "Jails, institutions, or death" are frequently cited as the three likely destinations of any alcoholic who chooses to keep drinking; Sommer almost manages to hit for the cycle. For those familiar with the literature of alcoholism, it will probably feel like an extended version of one of those first-person accounts if 1930s-era inebriated insanity that pepper the front of AA's "Big Book." Only for Sommer, there was no opportunity for a feel-good happy ending; rather than Dr Bob and the Good Old-Timers, his deliverance came from doctors and judges who shunted him off to a Nazi insane asylum.

    This book is reportedly somewhat autobiographical, for Fallada wrote it while confined in such an institution. Remarkably, though, it is relatively free from the twin perilous pillars of alcoholic authordom: self-pity and self-aggrandizement. Instead, it is full of honest writing, lean and spare, full of power and truth. Relatively early on, the narrator--unable or unwilling to maintain the effort needed to keep living the high life, or even the mid-life--tells his wife that people "can feel joy and sorrow down below, Magda, it's just like being up above, it's all the same whether you live up or down. Perhaps the most beautiful thing is to let yourself fall, to shut your eyes and plunge into nothingness, deeper and deeper into nothingness."

    This is, perhaps, a stretch, for what follows is as ugly, and as compelling, as a car accident. Still, it feels true, in that the alcoholic often secretly longs to simply stop living, without expending the effort or mental energy required for suicide. Those that keep drinking do so because the warm numbing fuzz of inebriation remains infinitely preferable to the bright sharp edges of reality; ultimately, however, their only salvation is oblivion.
    6 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2014
    Wow what a great depiction of the downfall of a drinker! But it is very depressing to watch this man's psyche slip so absolutely and totally into the abyss.

Top reviews from other countries

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on August 14, 2016
    Great book.
  • Client Kindle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
    Reviewed in Germany on April 28, 2014
    Really excellent book impossible to leave before the last page which come too fast... So close to the reality with as always by reading Fallada the feeling of been the main actor of the story. Sad and depressing but so tru that it made me feel so happy to be who I am and live what I live!!
    I Highly recommend this book but not if you are in bad psychological shape!
  • dog trainer
    5.0 out of 5 stars The genius of fallada
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2010
    I think this is probably Fallada's greatest book.
    The psychological insights that this author possesses are remarkable.
    His portrayal and fascination with seedy characters and the low moral standards of the criminal classes is astounding.
    Good writing like this is timeless, this book could have been written today,as much as 1944, when it was written.
    The book shows how quickly, in this case, alcoholism takes hold of, shapes and distorts one's personality, from a respectable businessman to the lowest gutter of society.
    Fallada was no stranger to Mental Hospitals himself, having had numerous stays in different establishments and he wrote this book in two weeks, whilst sojourned in one such establishment.
    There are few Authors in the history of books, that can write so eloquently about the foibles and intricacies of deviant personality.
    I won't spoil the ending here, but there is one hell of a twist in this tale at the end.
    "Alone in Berlin" is also another cracking book by Fallada, but I think that this book, even surpasses it in it's sheer quality and brilliance.
  • dorian
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting book
    Reviewed in Germany on April 2, 2017
    Great book!!!!!
    An excellent read for drinkers who value their drinking attitude. If you are not a drinker yet you will surely become one once you ve read the book
  • Sverre Svendsen
    4.0 out of 5 stars A devastating testimony of insecurity and afflictive addiction
    Reviewed in Canada on October 10, 2013
    Fallada wrote this fictionalized autobiography while he was incarcerated in a Nazi insane asylum in 1944. It was not published until after his death in 1947 of a morphine overdose. This is an intense account of a successful, happily married businessman’s downward spiral into alcohol addiction, drunken altercations, infidelity, adultery, delusional episodes, leading to his arrest and eventual confinement to merciless penal institutions and judicial bureaucracy. The narrator, Herr Sommer, owes his downfall to a serious lack of self-confidence as well as taking his success for granted, losing out to competition. His relationship with his wife deteriorates. He feels threatened by her efficiency compared to his own lack of it. He seeks escape through alcohol. He resents anyone and anything that exposes his vulnerabilities and becomes mired in vindictiveness.

    Trying to identify with Sommer’s plight, the reader will vacillate between feeling sympathy or exasperation. He is his own worst enemy time and again. Sommer is routinely conflicted about his own state and trying to interpret the intentions of others. The narrative cuts to the bone of existential human misery. Fallada was a great master at exposing inner thoughts and emotions. The main characters and many of the events are in this book are patterned on Fallada’s own life, which makes this work a must-read for those who have valued his greatest novels, such as “Little Man, What Now?”, “Wolf among Wolves” and “Every Man Dies Alone”. All are greatly recommended. They deal more with reality than fiction since they contain hundreds of observations and experiences of life which Fallada remembered and creatively wove into the fabric of his novels.