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Book Review: "The Memoir of an Anti-Hero" by Kornel Filipowicz

5/5 - A philosophical view that will anger the hell out of you...

By Annie KapurPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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“The Memoir of an Anti-Hero” by Kornel Filipowicz is a book about a man who wants to survive in the midst of a world war. Whilst everyone else is concerned with doing something heroic to save themselves or their fellow man from the German Nazi invasion, this guy tries his best to hide from the limelight and thus protect himself. For the most of it, he really doesn’t mind either. He doesn’t seem to be impacted by this and he states that these people don’t require ‘pity’ or salvation. However, as the book progresses, there are a number of thoughts that come pouring in through his mind, sort of breaking their way through in small bursts until the end of the book.

The book is short and seems like a very long speech as opposed to an actual coherent memoir of events. The reason being is because it is so short and so packed full of philosophical viewpoints rather than just events and emotions. There is one part of the book where a woman in a black polka-dotted dress grabs a gun and has (what the narrator states is) around 500 bullets but only kills two Germans. As she is being led away from the crowds by German officers, she looks very heroic to everyone, but to the narrator, she looks a bit stupid and odd. He states this about heroism during the war:

“Those few ‘heroes’ who manage to survive the war - their heroism will soon be forgotten. Such is their fate. Throughout history it was ever thus…To qualify for the term ‘hero’, I would have to perform some completely exceptional act…On top of that, I’d need a heap of luck to ensure my deed was recorded for posterity. About as much chance as winning the lottery. Let’s suppose I got lucky. One obstacle remains: I feel absolutely no desire to risk death merely to attain posthumous glory…” (p.14)

Throughout the book, he is alienated from the people he knows, including some people in cafes and in the streets, and even his landlady and he becomes more reserved in the fact that he is the only person playing along with the German regime in order to stay alive as everyone else is looking for escape or heroism. He realises that because he lives on his own, he does not have anyone or anything to protect. He sees a young boy, his face down upon the table and his hands looking like they had been cut off and feels pretty much nothing. It is a constant struggle between who he respects more and whether he is willing to put out any risk. It does not seem like a laziness but more like a method.

I’m trying not to say too much so that you don’t know exactly what happens, but the compliance he portrays gets to a level where even he does not know why he is doing it although we already know that he is simply trying to stay alive. It becomes a more and more opaque problem as we go through the book and he talks about not trying to ‘banter’ with the ‘heroic types’ of the young. He talks about being able to brush his teeth and hair without trying to think about it at all. It becomes almost monotonous - so what is it about it that angered me?

Well, because it is all his fault. At the beginning, he starts with complying with the regular deal of events as they come. He doesn’t try to push against the normalcy that is being pushed on to him from Nazi Germany. He tries, in the beginning, to stay alive even at the cost of other people - who are the heroes of their time. However, when the book progresses, the gets to the point that even he comments on it being almost monotonous. But the problem here was that in the first place, he was complicit in this. It is like saying that you are into a certain subject like the environment but then when it comes to debating the topic, you edge out and then complain about not being included. But on a massive level.

It’s one of those books that will keep you angered by decisions he makes but at the end of the book, you’re left slightly confused about what he wants and how he feels.

book reviews
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About the Creator

Annie Kapur

190K+ Reads on Vocal.

English Lecturer

🎓Literature & Writing (B.A)

🎓Film & Writing (M.A)

🎓Secondary English Education (PgDipEd)

📍Birmingham, UK

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