La Trilogie Berlinoise : L'Eté De Cristal ; La Pâle Figure ; Un Requiem Allemand (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This decidedly noir trilogy about the misadventures of a Nazi-era private detective in Berlin, Bernhard Gunther, harkens back to the novels of Raymond Chandler, from everything I've ever read about Raymond Chandler. But to be honest, if the debt to Chandler had been the only noteworthy thing about any of these books, then I would have given them all a miss, because I can't stand hard-boiled American detective fiction (I can no longer even stand the gifted Elmore Leonard). And, it's true, the first book of Kerr's trilogy, "March Violets" (set in the Olympic summer of 1936) is so full of hard-boiled metaphors & similes & dialogue that despite the witty originality of most of them, for me the entire effect was rather off-putting. I only persevered to the second book, "Pale Criminal" (set in the late summer & autumn of1938) because there was something so able & intelligent about the author's style. Indeed, I sensed that he was not writing to his full potential, and that there were much better things in store for his readers. "March Violets" is impressive if only because the author weaves such a huge amount of historical research so seamlessly and even almost unnoticeably into his narrative (this is supremely difficult to do! and most historical novelists fail at it). It is also an interesting book because Kerr creates an historically believable, historically charged, disturbing atmosphere, which is then carried over and rendered genuinely creepy in the sequel, "Pale Criminal." In this second book, I appreciated in particular the protagonist Gunther's reaction to reading Charles Baudelaire's "Les fleurs du mal" (on the advice of a criminal psychologist, who is trying to help the detective catch a serial killer). Gunther's impressions of Baudelaire are on a visceral level deliberately frightening & nonetheless somehow valid (Baudelaire is my favorite poet, but let's face it, his vision of the world is a vision of modernity that is on most levels depressingly, even destructively bleak and also prophetic of the overall violence of the 20th century, just as one can argue that Dostoevsky's novels are prophetic of same). I am now tackling the third book in Kerr's trilogy, "German Requiem," which is set in 1947, Allied-occupied Berlin. Again, I would note that the plot is much better than in the first book. And again, I would argue that the historical detail about Berlin is so compelling on its own merit, and rendered so vividly and memorably, that one tends to forgive any errors in plot or taste on the part of the author elsewhere. This trilogy presents the first of the Bernie Gunther series, set in Berlin pre- and post - WWII. More fiction than straightforward mystery. Kerr excels in weaving historical detail with vivid narrative, and the smoky, decadent atmosphere of the books stayed in my head long after finishing. He does get carried away with accuracy at times... but it's worth staying with him. Highly recommend. (We went to see Kerr do a reading last weekend at Book People here in Austin, and he is an amazingly smart, literate, drily funny, subversive, politically astute guy. Very impressed with his approach to writing, and now will read more of his work.)
What do You think about La Trilogie Berlinoise : L'Eté De Cristal ; La Pâle Figure ; Un Requiem Allemand (2010)?
I really enjoyed this trilogy. Well written and different from other detective stories in many ways.
—Jillian8122
I like all the Bernie Gunther books and this was three in one-so three times the satisfaction.
—Khas
Berlin Noir with Nazis. Marlowe wouldn't have liked Nazis either. Good stuff.
—AmazingA
Fantastic - my favourite historical crime series!
—Margy
