HHhH

By: Laurent Binet

Narrated by: John Lee

HHhH: "Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich," or "Himmler's brain is called Heydrich." The most dangerous man in Hitler's cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich was known as the "Butcher of Prague." He was feared by all and loathed by most. With his cold Aryan features and implacable cruelty, Heydrich seemed indestructible - until two men, a Slovak and a Czech recruited by the British secret service - killed him in broad daylight on a bustling street in Prague, and thus changed the course of History.

Who were these men, arguably two of the most discreet heroes of the twentieth century? In Laurent Binet's captivating debut novel, we follow Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubiš from their dramatic escape of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to England; from their recruitment to their harrowing parachute drop into a war zone, from their stealth attack on Heydrich's car to their own brutal death in the basement of a Prague church.

A seemingly effortlessly blend of historical truth, personal memory, and Laurent Binet's remarkable imagination, HHhH- an international best seller and winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman - is a work at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing, a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the nature of writing and the debt we owe to history.

©2009 Editions Grasset et Fasquelle. Translation from the French copyright 2012 by Sam Taylor (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This fluid translation by Taylor is a superb choice for lovers of historical literary works and even international thrillers. Most highly recommended." ( Library Journal)

“Captivating . . . [ HHhH] has a vitality very different from that of most historical fiction.” ( The New Yorker)

“[ HHhH is] a marvelous, charming, engaging novel.” ( Los Angeles Times)

All around exceptional book and performance

This book is fantastic, the narrator completely nails the tone of the writing, and the story itself is incredible. I listened to the last 6 or so hours on a rainy Sunday, I was completely gripped. Highly recommended.

Twists of time and perception

Perhaps you have heard of Laurent Binet, the virtuoso French novelist, son of a historian, who bends time and space in this story of the life and death of Reinhard Heidrich, Nazi gauleiter of Czechoslovakia, filled with contemporary references, this is superbly translated and read I highly recommend it.

The Blond Beast

Any additional comments?

I really liked this audiobook. I thought the narrator and the material were a great fit and I thought the story was told in an interesting fashion. Prior to listening to this audiobook I had never even heard of Reinhard Heydrich, or if I had I certainly didn’t remember him. After listening, I clearly understood how great of a role he played within the Nazi regime. There are also a number of interesting side-stories that Binet recounts that don’t directly relate to Heydrich’s tale but took place during the time and work well with the story – giving it a richer texture. It’s not a surprise that HHhH won the Prix Goncourt and garnered so much high praise from reviewers. It’s entertaining, informative, and well written/translated.

Brilliant and very sad

A philosophical look at the meaning of history and the memory of the holocaust. It is a meta novel of non-fiction.

CIRCLES OF HELL

Judging from Laurent Binet’s “HHhH”, Hitler may be the only WWII leader who earns a lower place in Dante’s circles of hell than Reinhard Heydrich. Except for those steeped in history, the name Reinhard Heydrich does not resonate like Eichmann, Goebbels, Himmler, and Hitler. Heydrich is Hitler’s action-man, an organizer and perpetrator of the “final solution” that exemplifies the world’s shame.

Heydrich is called the “blond beast”, an image suggesting a golden-haired Teutonic giant wielding a canister of Zyklon B in one hand and a German Luger in the other. When looking at a picture of Heydrich, the image seems in error. Pictures of Heydrich show a man who is far from handsome with a receding hairline, enormous nose, and tiredly furtive eyes. Heydrich’s tight lipped, unsmiling, and elongated face is menacing. He looks like a stern father or teacher; capable of whipping or smacking knuckles of a child with a leather belt or an 18” ruler. Based on Binet’s “HHhH”, Heydrich is considerably worse than a stern father or teacher. Heydrich is a mass murderer with an education equal to Leopold and Loeb, a murdering mentality rivaling Pol Pot, and a policy instinct reminiscent of Joseph Stalin.

The denouement of Binet’s book is the attempted assassination of Heydrich by two Czechoslovakian patriots, Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis. These two men, one is Czech and the other Slovak, know they are unlikely to survive the attempt but become symbols of allied resistance to German occupation. An interesting aspect of this novel, other than its factual reporting, is Binet’s first person narration that is concerned with history’s fictionalization. It is a panegyric on the impossibility of truly writing an accurate history of historical events.

In the end, Binet’s factual veracity seems better than average but he acknowledges his story is, after all, a historical novel, a fictionalized presentation of actual events. In spite of history’s reporting limitations, a listener will know a lot more about Reinhard Heydrich after reading or listening to “HHhH”.