pickThe cynic in me is not surprised by the contents of this book. "Follow the money" is always excellent advise for the skeptical observer of politics. Still, this is the most upsetting expose I've read in a long time. Smart, well written and depresing. It made me despair of humanity. This is not a book about Germany and world war II, but about all of us in Europe and really, in the world. It is not only about the past, that is what makes it scary.
#MarchTBR
Wow, this is slightly more ambitious than I thought. In addition I‘m going to two author events later in the month, and I want to read the authors latest work when it‘s published
At the same time I‘m aware that The Women‘s Prize for Fiction 2020 Longlist is announced at midnight and that all my reading plans might change 🤪
#MarchMadness
#BookReport for last week:
The Road to Wigan Pier: interesting insight into working class life 80 years ago, while Orwell‘s thoughts on socialism show that little has changed in that political sphere.
Who Am I, Again: Lenny Henry‘s memoir up to age 20ish, unusual but telling format.
The Order of the Day: a timely reminder on how power corrupts.
Also snuck in 2 unplanned audiobook Phryne Fishers, always good for light relief.
pickWhilst I am not wholly enamoured with this book, I do believe it to be a timely reminder of how we should not allow one person‘s charisma to take control, and of how duplicitous those with power can be, if they choose - in case anyone needed reminding of that these days...
A bit of #NightReading #NamasteNovember @Eggs
pickClever but slightly terrifying in the way it draws parallels with the modern world. I‘m not quite well versed enough to know how many liberties have been taken with the timeline but I thought it worked really rather well.
pick“I‘ve wondered if this was true or just a joke, a ghastly joke, invented by gloomy candlelightâ€
pickWe had SUN today so I gardened to celebrate, dividing up some hostas to make room for a new tree and I am excited! This book might be slim but it packs a lot in! It tells the story of how the Second World War came to be right under everybody‘s nose. There‘s a lesson to be learned
Heading to Stratford ON to celebrate my father in law‘s 80th, being the introvert that I am I‘ve brought a book to read. There‘s about 28 of us travelling on a mini bus
pickSombre observations on the rise of Hitler‘s regime in Germany, and in particular on the path to Anschluss, and the annexation of Austria. See my Goodreads review at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43092731-the-order-of-the-day. #ericvuillard #theorderoftheday #book #books #reading #booksbooksbooks #bookphotography #bookcommunity #booknerd #dauntbooks #currentlyreading #secondworldwar #anschluss #history #politics #appeasement
Eric Vuillard on describing the news of Germany's invasion of Austria handed to Chamberlain while dining With Churchill and Ribbentrop: "The brain is an airtight organ. Our eyes do not give away our thoughts, and imperceptible changes of expression are illegible to others. It's as if our entire body were a poem that consumed us, but of which our neighbors didn't understand a word." "The Order of the Day," p. 80.
“We never fall twice into the same abyss, but se always fall in the same way, in a mixture of ridicule and dreadâ€
pickAbsolutely brilliant novel. Vuillard picks up the Anschluss with tongs, and oh so carefully, with Gallic wit and precision, dissects the event minute by minute. The novel is utterly gripping, revealing, and ultimately, brutally disheartening: the story begins and ends with an examination of the German business leaders (Krupp, Siemens, Opel, etc., all well known modern enterprises) who facilitated the Nazis and walked away unharmed.
so-soVuillard received the most important Prize for French literature for his book on the rise of Hitler. By highlighting singular instances and describing little vignettes, he dissects a major catastrophe into a multitude of failures which add up to WWII and the holocaust. Still, I was a little underwhelmed, maybe because the last novel about the Nazis that won the Goncourt, Binet's "HHhH", was much more daring and intense.
You are reading Vuillard when there is only sardonical laughter left to bear with history. Brillant comment about german industry in support of Hitler 1933 and the Annexation of Austria five years later.
The Order of the Day | 
