So, I’m going to start off by saying that this review is going to look a little different than the ones I’ve done in the past. I’ve been sitting on this book, letting my thoughts marinade, for over a week, and I’ve came to the conclusion that I can’t really approach it like a normal book.

It’s probably one of the most polarizing things I’ve read in a while.

That’s inevitable, I suppose, with a book that poses the question, ‘what-if Hitler was dropped into the beginning of the twenty-first century? That is the plot of Look Who’s Back, where Adolph Hitler is dropped unceremoniously into a random German park in the year 2011. In this alternate 2011, he is just as keen to grasp power as he was in the 1940s, and so embarks on a journey through modern media to become a YouTube and tv sensation.

Look Who’s Back, if you can’t tell already, is a commentary on our current media, particularly- from what I can tell- concerning how we as an audience approach the ‘stars’ of that media we consume. It is a strange piece of satire.

However, in my opinion, it is effective. It’s the sort of satire where, instead of laughing, you find yourself asking- pardon my french- ‘wtf?’ Part of this is, I think, due to Vermes’ treatment of his protagonist, who never completely settles into the 21st century, but rather flounders as he tries to make sense of this work- not always so effectively. And what begins as a humorous ‘look at this horrible person, now stripped of power and truly a fish out of water’, turns into something else, as few people within Hitler’s circle question him- instead assuming that he is merely portraying a character, and doing so in order to point out the flaws of our current civilization- because if Hitler says it then it much be awful.

I found myself , at times, liking this person, or at least feeling sympathy for him, even while knowing who he is, only to come back around within a few pages and be stopped dead at the hateful rhetoric which inevitably spews from Hitler’s mind. The fact that Vermes is able to do this, to capture both that sickening charisma and the monster it masks, really says something for his abilities as a writer.

That being said, there are definite slow moments in the book, sections that could have done with a bit of pruning. Some portions spend perhaps, too much time in Hitler’s head, and the affect isn’t an adding to the character, or an insightful reflection upon something, but instead of dragging of the book’s forward momentum.

In addition, there’s something to be said for the actual subject material of the book- the choice to have Hitler as the protagonist and narrator of the book at all, and thus given a voice in a brand-new era. It’s striking, the amount of times in the book where Hitler and the production company that puts him on tv, is criticized for this same thing, partially by groups who were most affected by the decisions of Hitler and Nazi Germany. These groups are subsequently dismissed as being too reactive and not seeing the satire for what it is, according to characters in the book. Hitler’s supporters refuse to consider the fact that there are still a large amount of people in Germany, as well as the world as a whole, who would gladly accept Hitler’s rhetoric as the truth- agreeing with his viewpoints wholeheartedly. The harm that those words, or just the emphasis on Hitler in general, could cause, even if used in a satirical manner.

There is, after all, a reason why naming the identify of mass-shooters, is discouraged. They don’t deserve to be remembered. The victims do.

And the same goes, in my opinion, for this book. I’m not certain we are, as a society, in a place where we can pull out these words satirically. Where we can say we’re far enough removed from the events of the past. As long as there are still people out there who would read this book as a sort of wish-fulfillment fantasy, I’m not sure we’re ready. Perhaps, a few years ago, I would have thought we were. Not so much so today.

I can’t say whether or not to read this book. It’s thought provoking and well-written, however it’s also perpetuating the hype and, arguably, celebritizing of Adolf Hitler. I’ll just leave you with that.