Based on the life of Austrian born director Georg Wilhelm Pabst, this story gave me an insight in the uncertain and frightening world of artists working in The Third Reich during WWII. Through a surrealistic, sometimes hallucinating veneer, in a language that is decidedly subtle and sometimes very ironic, the author evokes an atmosphere of utter disturbance. All chapters are like captivating scenes developing in front of your eyes.
That night his fear for Jakob kept him awake.
But if they had gone to England – who was to say they wouldn’t have met their fate there, amid all the bombing raids? Had they stayed in France, they would now be just as much under German rule! If he were in the United States, Jakob would now be in the American army and equally in danger, perhaps in Europe, perhaps in the Pacific. The time was out of joint, everywhere, and you had to find a way to do your work.
