The Song Before It Is Sung (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
In July 1944 an assassination attempt was made on Hitler by members of a variety of different groups within the German resistance. The failure resulted in some thousands being arrested and tortured, with apparently almost 5000 of them executed. Amongst those executed was one of the ring leaders, a high ranking Foreign Office diplomat and lawyer, Count Alex von Trott. Von Trott, only 35 when he died, loved Germany very much, hated the Nazis and the Germany they were hell-bent on creating, and saw it has his destiny to do all he could to get the Allies ie England and America, to help restore Germany to its pre WWI glory. His pleas fell on deaf ears. While a young man he was a Rhodes scholar to Oxford where he met Isiah Berlin, a brilliant young Russo-Jewish academic. These two unlikely characters became very good friends, the friendship becoming strained as the aspirations of Germany became more apparent. Von Trott seemed uhable to convince Berlin and others that he was not a Nazi, that he did not support the direction Germany seemed to be headed and, crucially, a comment he made about treatment of Jews in Germany was misunderstood. In this novel, Justin Cartwright explores both the nature of friendship and the frailty of the human condition by fictionalising the lives of von Trott, Berlin and this awful time in our recent history. He is really looking at the idea of how much we are in control of our destiny or whether the events going on around us are a greater determinant of the final outcome. For example von Trott had the opportunity to leave Germany in the early days, but saw his destiny in Germany rather than elsewhere. Von Trott becomes von Gottberg and Berlin becomes Elya Mendel. The story is told through 35 year old Conrad Senior, who was a student of Mendel's when he was at Oxford. When Mendel died he bequeathed all his writings, correspondence, notes etc to Conrad with the instructions that Conrad write about the friendship between the two men, and Mendel's perception that he was perhaps to blame for von Gottberg's eventual execution. Conrad has his own troubles. His marriage is in tatters - his ever practical, results-oriented doctor wife can no longer cope with the airy fairy seemingly going nowhere existence of her husband. She is pregnant but it may not be his baby, he is having a most peculiar affair with an equally directionless young woman, no money, no career. His research into von Gottberg's death takes over his life, which forms the crux of the novel. As always anything to do with the Nazis is pretty horrifying, and little is left to the imagination. Despite the complexity of the book with its fact vs. fiction, present events vs those of almost 70 seventy years ago, it is quite compelling reading. Although to be honest, the story of Mendel and von Gottberg has enough going for it without the added complication of the hopeless Conrad. The author seems to enjoy writing about men who are a bit lost and directionless, see 'The Promise of Happiness'!
This is the story of a friendship between a German aristocrat, Axel von Gottberg, and a Jewish academic, Elya Mendel. They were close friends when young men and even shared a love interest (although Axel was by far the most successful with women).Axel is a German patriot and shares the aims of National Socialism. He writes a letter to a British newspaper saying that he has seen no discrimination against Jews. He lobbies for the return of German territory stolen by the Versailles treaty, including much that was not German, but part of Austria-Hungary. He is not a supporter of Hitler however, and eventually joins Claus von Stauffenberg's plot to overthrow him and is executed. I had not come across the suggestion that appeasement was the way to stop Hitler before, it is an unusual viewpoint. His opposition to Hitler starts early, although the actual plot was not triggered until late in the war, when Germany was losing and Hitler would not admit it, and was probably more about an honourable peace settlement than stopping Hitler's advance.Elya is at Oxford University during the war and becomes a respected academic specialising in the history of ideas. His friendship with Axel cools after the letter and he later warns another friend to be cautious of him. At the end of his life he leaves his papers, letters between him and Axel and two women they knew, to a former student. He obviously regrets the loss of a friend, but does he have a reason to blame himself? Did he misunderstand Axel's motives or did he understand them better than Axel did himself? Which of the two has let an idea become an illusion?Conrad is the third protagonist in the book, Elya's former student who become obsessed with Axel and his end. I did not find his character as strong or as interesting as the other two. With more hindsight than the other two, he seems to be the least clear-sighted of the three.
What do You think about The Song Before It Is Sung (2007)?
Justin Cartwright's The Song Before It Is Sung is a fictionalized retelling of the relationship between the great political philosopher and Oxford professor Sir Isaiah Berlin and the German diplomat Adam von Trott zu Solz, who was executed for his part in the July 1944 plot to overthrow Hitler spearheaded by Claus von Stauffenberg.In this version, Berlin becomes Elya Mendel and Adam von Trott zu Solz is called Axel von Gottberg, who is given a (as far as I know, entirely fictional!) English mistress in addition to his long-suffering German wife. Mendel, who was sceptical about the officers' plot, has felt guilty about his own potential role in Gottberg's death, and when he himself dies, he leaves his papers to Conrad Senior because of his "human qualities" (which may possibly mean Senior's striking physical resemblance to Gottberg.) Senior himself doesn't really know what he's supposed to do with the papers or why Mendel chose him to tell the story, but he spends the novel searching for a missing film of Gottberg's execution (and long the way, his own marriage breaks up and other, rather uninteresting, things happen to him.Although parts of The Song Before It is Sung were very moving and well-written enough that I want to find out more about Mr. Cartwright's writing, the story of Conrad Senior in no way approached the power of Axel von Gottberg's journey. And because of this, I spent all the pages dealing with Senior's tedious love-life wishing we could back to whatever was going on with Axel, even though it was clear from the beginning that Axel wouldn't have a happy ending. I wish Cartwright had eliminated Senior entirely and written more about Mendl, actually, but perhaps he didn't want to tread on anyone's toes with a too-close portrait of Sir Isaiah Berlin.
—Bibliophile
Ordinarily this wouldn’t have been my cup of tea, but I did decide, after reading the excellent ‘The Promise of Happiness’ that I wanted to read more by this author. This one was a bit different though -the early stages were so tough it was like trying to push a piano uphill. It was about eighty pages before things straightened out. The story centres around a failed plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944 and is based on real events. A lot of effort goes into the analysis of the friendship between one of the conspirators and a Jewish scholar living in London at the time. A lot of the deep stuff passed me by I’m afraid, but as the momentum of the story picks up towards the end it is quite gripping and worth sticking with. The depth of the author’s research is reflected in the authentic feel of the sections that take place inside Nazi Germany, and in terms of reflecting the attitudes of Germans towards Hitler and his treatment of the Jews it was illuminating and thought provoking. The relatively low star rating I have given this book relates to my personal experience of it, and my inability to grasp some of the points it was undoubtedly making. It cannot be denied that this is a stupendously intelligent piece of work, and on literary value alone should probably rank much higher.
—Jayne Charles
A fascinating story of a friendship that started at Cambridge between a German student and a Jewish student that is torn apart just before WWII. The German student becomes part of the plot to kill Hitler which makes for very good reading. There are actually two stories here. The other is about the person who is doing the research to write the story between the two friends. Unfortunately one story far outshines the other which weakens the book. There are many things to recommend the writer however. The writing is often wonderful and at times even humorous in a story that is very serious. The character development is also excellent.
—Shirley
