The Collini Case Paperback – July 4, 2013

Our book club just finished this book, and it just turned out that this was our third book in a row that concerned WWII. In the case of this book...post WWII. If memory serves, this book was translated from the German...so let's give three cheers to the person who did the translation...not all books bring their magic over in a different language. This one does. It's a story about the "connivence of forgetting." It's a story of frustration and accountability. One of the best books I have read this year...thank you Doris for recommending it!

This is the perfect example of an important book that is nonetheless not always a good novel. Which is a pity, since it starts out marvelously. In 2001, Fabrizio Collini, a middle-aged Italian, enters the Adlon Hotel in Berlin, visits the suite of a wealthy industrialist named Hans Meyer, shoots him dead, tramples on the body, then goes down to the lobby to wait patiently for the police to arrest him. His legal aid defence is assigned to a recently-qualified attorney named Caspar Leinen. Only after he has taken it on, does Caspar realize that the dead man was the grandfather of his former girlfriend. But German law does not make it easy for him to pull out, and Collini raises no objection, so he continues with the defence in what seems an open and shut case.Von Schirach, who is himself a noted jurist, writes in a beautifully spare style, crisply translated by the inimitable Anthea Bell. It is a manner not unlike that of Peter Stamm, but without his sometimes cold disengagement. Indeed, when Caspar meets up again with Meyer's granddaughter Johanna, von Schirach's minimalist style proves equally adept at describing passion as outlining legal procedure. Not that there is much of that; the case seems to be going nowhere until there is an unexpected break in the trial which Caspar uses to do some research in the state archives….[SPOILER ALERT]It will surprise nobody who considers the ages of the characters that this case will turn out to have roots in WW2. Like his fellow jurist Bernhard Schlink, von Schirach is deeply concerned with the lingering legacy of the Third Reich in the contemporary judicial system. He may have an even greater stake in addressing past wrongs since his grandfather, Baldur von Schirach, was head of the Hitlerjugend and Gauleiter of Vienna. And what his young attorney brings to light here is not only a possible war crime, but also a loophole slyly inserted into postwar German law that effectively allows former perpetrators to go unpunished. Von Schirach gives details of this law in an appendix and indeed suggests that his novel may have inspired the formation of a state commission to review this aspect of the legal system. That is what I mean by calling the book important.Unfortunately, from the moment the trial resumes, the book loses some of its strength as a novel. Caspar Leinen leads with an emotion-laden description of Collini's childhood that he could not possibly have got from the archives, and is unlikely to have learned from his taciturn client. But when the questions of legal responsibility come up and we hear of this execrable loophole, von Schirach returns to his dry style; our minds may be scandalized, but we do not react viscerally. All the same, this compact novel (scarcely more than a novella, really) is engaging at the beginning and thought-provoking at the end. For many readers, that may well be enough.

Very enjoyable reading with plenty of details to show an awful wound in the world. I couldn't put the book down until I finished.

I have read the previous novels of the same author so I looked forward towards reading his latest. In a way I was neither disappointed nor thrilled., I would say " typical" Von Schirach: the same precise, you might say lawyers type language and narrative, largely emotionless and to the point. Climax of the novel rather unspectacular( again a heritage of Germany's Nazi past) but still overall an enjoyable read.I always wonder what makes Von Schirach so popular, especially in Germany. I would think that part of the answer is his family name but this in itself would certainly not be sufficient to make the best sellers lists. The author has narrative talent which he uses to describe very often the dark sides of human nature and behavior but ,in my opinion, in a compasionate, even sort of impartial " legal" manner so the reader may be the judge himself.All in all not a masterpiece but very solid literature.

Recommended to me for its story, which was very interesting. Do not read it for the characters, which are poorly developed and are really only there to tell the underlying story and reveal the difficulty that Germany has had with its Nazi past. How despite the amount of effort the country has made to redress this, the thorny issue of bringing certain individuals to account has been difficult for any number of reasons. This revelation of a legal loophole that escaped vigorous examination until tested by the main protagonist is troubling, and if it is claimed that this may have been closed by the publication of this book, then this is justification alone, never mind its lack of literary qualities.

The book was well written and one that I couldn't put down. I'm a person who likes both history and mysteries. This was very good in both categories.

This book ,as are all of his book's ,is a insightful, orbiting and straightforward look at the German legal system both past and. Present.his books bring into focus the ethical and moral issues surrounding the. Legal systems we live under. B.singer

I found this book to be a very interesting look at the German legal system and most importantly the emotions and issues surrounding the history of Germany and World War II era. Time tends to erase the memories of what happened until incidents such as are described here brought to the surface.The book leaves the reader to draw many of her own conclusions about guilt and innocence. That is a good thing, I would have given it 5 stars if there had been a little more development of the two main characters.

It’s a simple, austere and profound story. The characters evolve and react, showing their own limited understanding of life and death. Revenge doesn’t resolve the injustices of the past, but generate among them an unnumbered reactions. It’s a good book

Ich habe das Buch in Deutsch gelesen und jetzt in Englisch verschenkt. Ich kann allgemein die Bücher von F.v.S. empfehlen. Sie sind spannend und kritisch. Was ist Recht - und was Unrecht. Gibt es richtig und falsch?

Intriguing enough, like a theatrical piece. Few characters on stage and perfect balance of past and present

This is the first novel I ever read and I found it intriguing.There are times in the novel wherein things are going smoothly and suddenly the story moves 360°. Nonetheless, very well written.

After seeing 3 interviews on u tube of the author, Ferdinand von Schirach I was was delighted to find this book , in translation, on amazon. I would have preferred to read the book in German. I am German by birth. My father , a soldier, died in Murmansk in captivity. I feel sad about the horrors committed by the Nazies. My father was an ordinary soldier.The book is brilliant.