Thoughts at the halfway point of Young Hitler

Having read Castle in the Forest the idea of reading about Hitler's youth is one that fills you with apprehension. Not just because you fear Mailer type oddness but because this is a character that you instinctively can not like.

But a book coming from the man behind the screen play of Downfall, Claus Hant, is going to have an authority on the subject that perhaps other authors would lack.

You meet Hitler at the age of 16 when the year's of parental abuse from his father are behind him and he is reading widely and starting his political education. Hant merges into one character the four friends Hitler had at various stages of his youth and through the eyes of piano playing Martin you start to see Hitler develop his ideas.

His only positive quality is his boundless energy and his talent lies in simplifying ideas from others and merging them into his own philosophy. But his cruelty, selfishness and tendency to opt for views from the more bizarre ends of the spectrum are worrying.

A review will follow soon...