Yeah, you're right, the "Art for art's sake" comment doesn't make a lot of sense in retrospect. I guess what I meant is that he is a modern artist--he paints things in ways different than they appear in nature. This was the era of Picasso, after all. Thank you for your recollections. This project is going to require a great deal of research, of course, and it's easy to lose perspective in this day and age. By resistance, I just meant that Johannes would continue painting modern art, and would have paintings that mocked the SS. Certainly, he would be naive. But what a lot of people are unaware of is that Hitler, perhaps out of a personal vendetta toward the art community for not accepting him as an artist, blacklisted artists who were not glaringly against the government, but merely modern artists. It was kind of similar to the US blacklisting of "Communist" artists, writers, actors, etc during the '50s--blacklisted artists were unable to sell any of their work and could not find posts that had anything to do with art. The Nazis confiscated over 16,000 works of art, today (and then) considered some of the greatest art of all-time; 650 of these pieces were displayed in an exhibition in Munich called "Degenerate Art" which was created deliberately to mock modern art (along with Jewish art, art of the insane, Dada, etc). So yes, the general tide took a long time to turn against the Nazis, but in the '30s among the art community, it seems fairly safe to say that the SS was disliked. I'm aware of the difficulties Germany faced following WWI, and I was actually thinking that I'd make Frederich extremely poor with a father who had died in the conflict. Johannes was going to be fairly well-off, but I am still considering the logistics of the background and what would make sense. Thank you for the info on the Gestapo. You've made me realize that I really know nothing about the way they were organized, and I'll certainly be researching that in full. I intend to include a bibliography if this project ever gets finished.
"A doctor or scientist, maybe, involved in the dysgenics programme." Ooh, that stuff really really bothers me...but I guess that's the point. Yeah, I know that there are plenty of complete sadists. But wouldn't putting a human face on them make it even more disturbing? A guy who gets teary-eyed at a sentimental novel, but doesn't think twice before committing a murder. That's what disturbs me the most. But perhaps I am naive.
Not naive. Human. Sentimentality sits alongside sadism pretty happily. Finding his old friend's beautiful work in the lair of a genuine monster, renders the transformation believable.
I haven't read the entire thread, but I'd just like to say the plot you outline in the first post sounds excellent. It sounds like it will provide ample opportunity to make moral and psychological points that are just as relevant today.
Thanks Islander. It's a little fuzzy thus far, and I have a long way to go, but I'm glad it sounds good.
Another idea for a scene. A birthday party is held for a big name Nazi, which Fred attends. Joh is drafted in as a waiter for the evening and makes some trifling mistake for which he is viciously mocked. Fred stands by and does not intervene while his friend is ridiculed. Some authentic dialogue for the party may include: 'My dear fellow, if it's not too much trouble, would you mind shifting your Panzer division up to my exposed left flank, next Tuesday?' And, perhaps more fittingly: 'Happy birthday.'
Not bad. I do need to be more comical--I tend to write really, really depressing stories. Do you think they would've had a cake in the shape of a Swastika? A Pinata in the shape of a yellow star? Now I'm curious: how would you say "Blow out the candles" in German?
Considering their egos, I'd expect nothing less than a HUGE cake, decorated with many icing swastikas around the trim and a large German national eagle (made of frosting) in the center. "Blow out the candles" = "Ausblasen der Kerzen" (courtesy of http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en). Alternately, you could just have them speak in normal English with a German accent (to make it easier for your readers...depending on your target reader market). "Herr Fritz, blowen out ze Kandles!" That is how they got around using the German language in the old Sergeant Rock comic books about world war two.
I was totally behind this story idea right up until the part where you suggested bringing in comedy into the Nazi birthday party. I think there's a time and a place for comedy, pastiche or parody. WWII and Nazi HQ isn't the best foundations for a joke, particularly if you want the rest of your novel to have serious moral underpinnings. I'm really interested in the setting and your characters though. It will be hard work to research it effectively but it sounds worth the trouble.
Depressing is fine! Comedy shouldn't be forced. The scene is terrible. Merely a convoluted way of wishing you a happy birthday.
It was a joke, people. No, there will be no Nazis with Swastika cakes or Yellow Star pinatas. I'm not going to force comedy about such a serious issue, but the fact is there's always laughter, even in the grimmest situations. Thanks, Art
Praise be! I hoped you weren't being serious.. Perhaps you've read Kurt Vonnegut? His stuff that touches on the Nazis is both wonderfully funny and deadly serious.
Actually the scene done right may work it would add a grotesque humour to the situation - you acually have given me a scene idea for one of my books. I have been looking for ways to bring out my Lord of Evil in the third book of the trilogy love the idea of them coming across him in a scene like this maybe in the upstairs of a tavern or something similar.
