Hans Fallada emerged as one of 20th-century Germany's most significant literary voices, his work deeply shaped by personal struggles with addiction, societal alienation, and profound life traumas. He possessed a remarkable ability to illuminate the often-overlooked lives of ordinary people, chronicling their battles for survival and their search for meaning amidst challenging circumstances. Fallada's prose is distinguished by its raw honesty, keen social conscience, and an empathetic understanding of his characters' frailties and resilience. Through his unique narrative approach, he offered readers an unvarnished yet compassionate portrayal of the human condition.
I lived the same life as everyone else, the life of ordinary people, the masses. Sitting in a prison cell in the autumn of 1944, the German author Hans Fallada sums up his life under the National Socialist dictatorship, the time of inward emigration .
Berlin, 1940, and the city is filled with fear. At the house on 55 Jablonski Strasse, its various occupants try to live under Nazi rule in their different ways: the nervous Frau Rosenthal, the bullying Hitler loyalists the Persickes, the retired judge Fromm, and the unassuming working-class couple Otto and Anna Quangel.
Wolf among Wolves is a sweeping saga of the collapse of a culture – its economy and government – and the common man's struggle to survive it all. Set in Weimar Germany soon after Germany's catastrophic loss of World War 1, the story follows a young gambler. Wolfgang Pagel, who loses everything in Berlin, then flees the chaotic city, where worthless money and shortages are causing pandemonium. Once in the countryside, however, Pagel finds a defeated German army that has decamped there to foment insurrection. Somehow, amidst it all, he finds romance. Fast-moving as a thriller, fascinating as the best historical fiction, and with lyrical prose that packs a powerful emotional punch. Wolf among Wolves is an immensely absorbing work of literature.
An autobiographical novel written during the Second World War in Germany in 1944 during the author's confinement in a medical asylum. It is a self-portrait of an alcoholic and the effect of his behaviour on his surroundings, especially on his deteriorating marriage
Intransigent, deeply conservative coachman Gustav Hackendahl rules his family with an iron rod, but in so doing loses his grip on the children he loves. Meanwhile, the First World War is destroying his career, his country, and his pride in the German people. As Germany and the Hackendahl family unravel, Gustav has to learn to compromise if he is to hold onto anything he holds dear.
The return of a “superb” forgotten masterpiece about a young couple living in Weimar Germany during the Nazi’s rise to power (Graham Greene) Written just before the Nazis came to power, this darkly enchanting novel tells the simple story of a young couple trying to eke out a devent life amidst an economic crisis that’s transforming their country into a place of anger and despair. It was an international bestseller upon its release, and made into a Hollywood movie—by Jewish producers, which prompted the rising Nazis to begin paying ominously close attention to Hans Fallada, even as his novels held out stirring hope for the human spirit. Ultimately, it is the book that led to Hans Fallada’s downfall with the Nazis. It is presented here in its first-ever uncut translation, by Susan Bennett, and with an afterword by Philip Brady that details the calamitous background of the novel, its worldwide reception, and how it turned out to be, for the author, a dangerous book. “Painfully true to life . . . I have read nothing so engaging as Little Man, What Now? for a long time.” —Thomas Mann
“I lived the same life as everyone else, the life of ordinary people, the masses.” Sitting in a prison cell in the autumn of 1944, the German author Hans Fallada sums up his life under the National Socialist dictatorship, the time of “inward emigration”. Under conditions of close confinement, in constant fear of discovery, he writes himself free from the nightmare of the Nazi years. He records his thoughts about spying and denunciation, about the threat to his livelihood and his literary work and about the fate of many friends and contemporaries. The confessional mode did not come naturally to Fallada, but in the mental and emotional distress of 1944, self-reflection became a survival strategy. Fallada’s frank and sometimes provocative memoirs were thought for many years to have been lost. They are published here for the first time.
Republishing classic works from the early 1900s and before, this collection offers affordable, high-quality modern editions. Each book features the original text and artwork, making these scarce literary treasures accessible to a new generation of readers.
From the bestselling author of Alone in Berlin, this acclaimed novel follows a young couple navigating life in 1930s Germany. Lämmchen and 'Boy' fall in love, marry, and start a family in Berlin in 1932, but their lives are overshadowed by the changing political landscape. As they struggle with bullying bosses, unpaid bills, monstrous mothers-in-law, and Nazi streetfighters, they question whether love can sustain them. This work, which established Hans Fallada as a significant writer, portrays one of literature's most touching couples, blending comedy with desperation. Published just before Hitler's rise to power, it hauntingly depicts innocents on the brink of losing everything. Michael Hofmann's brilliant new translation captures the era's austerity and turmoil in Weimar Germany. Critics have praised Fallada's genius, noting the emotional depth and variety in characterization. The narrative resonates with both despair and hope, reflecting the complexities of life during a pivotal moment in history. This novel remains a powerful exploration of ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges.
