Description
Variations on the Beast chronicles the perverse parallel of a musical genius' rise to the peak of the world of high culture while the Weimar Republic collapses into the brutality of Nazism. As the twisted episodes of his life unfold, the novel's scope expands to include historical figures such as Goebbels, Goring, and the composer Richard Strauss, as art and fascism wrestle with each other in a world gone mad.
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A CHARISMATIC CONDUCTOR’S RISE IN NAZI GERMANY Guilty or Innocent. Who Were the “Good Germans”? Hermann Kapp-Dortmunder is born a bastard and musical genius amid the grim political realities of Central Europe between two World Wars.Variations on the Beast, chronicles the perverse parallel of his rise to the peak of the musical world while the Weimar Republic collapses into the brutality of Nazism. As the twisted episodes of his life unfold, the novel’s scope expands to include historical figures such as Goebbels, Goring, Herbert von Karajan, and the composer Richard Strauss, as art and fascism wrestle with each other in a world going mad.With wit, erudition, and consummate skill, Grinberg unfolds a compelling tapestry of the angelic and the monstrous, of humanities fascination with the sublime as well as the most shocking forms of moral depravity.
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