A follow-up project might be to contrast the self-obsession of dictators with the perspective of their underlyings. I read the memoir of Rudolph Hoss, commandant of Auschwitz - if Hitler was self-obssessed in his writing, Hoss was self-decieved, never taking full responsibility for the atrocities, while also obsessing over the details of how those atrocities were committed.
It's easy to dismiss Hitler as not being a deep thinker, but that is a fallacy. Someone does not maneuver his way into power for decades and guide the entire country of Germany into suicide on guile alone.
I'm grateful there are men both humane and humorous, like Kalder, who are willing to take on this heavy kind of material so the rest of us can learn something important but still feel uplifted at the same time. When I read the title my first thought was, "oh no, is this going to be really depressing?" I was happily proven dead wrong. Loved this!
I have a pet idea that power, like what these men accrued, is essentially a tightly guarded rumour. My context is much more the small-time abuser and the religious zealot, and, while it doesn't do to make connections between what I don't like with Hitler or any one of them, I think if we don't see the DSRP angle of the rumour of power we won't see the early signs--we will only see them when it's too late and they really are behaving like Hitler.
A follow-up project might be to contrast the self-obsession of dictators with the perspective of their underlyings. I read the memoir of Rudolph Hoss, commandant of Auschwitz - if Hitler was self-obssessed in his writing, Hoss was self-decieved, never taking full responsibility for the atrocities, while also obsessing over the details of how those atrocities were committed.
It’s self-delusion all the way down.
Thanks for reading all that shit so I don't have to (Hilter and Moa excepted).
It's easy to dismiss Hitler as not being a deep thinker, but that is a fallacy. Someone does not maneuver his way into power for decades and guide the entire country of Germany into suicide on guile alone.
I'm grateful there are men both humane and humorous, like Kalder, who are willing to take on this heavy kind of material so the rest of us can learn something important but still feel uplifted at the same time. When I read the title my first thought was, "oh no, is this going to be really depressing?" I was happily proven dead wrong. Loved this!
Same. I don’t know how else a reader would survive the experience :)
I have a pet idea that power, like what these men accrued, is essentially a tightly guarded rumour. My context is much more the small-time abuser and the religious zealot, and, while it doesn't do to make connections between what I don't like with Hitler or any one of them, I think if we don't see the DSRP angle of the rumour of power we won't see the early signs--we will only see them when it's too late and they really are behaving like Hitler.
The emperor has no clothes, and everyone is incentivized to ignore the fact.
That was a shockingly entertaining interview!
Thank you!
Wonderful. I was hoping I’d get that sort of response. I found The Infernal Library fascinating and entertaining.
…i’m now deeply interested in this niche genre. can you read the works of these dictators without knowing their histories perfectly well?
There’s probably only one way to find out!
I am a fan of Mr Kalder’s writing. Thank you for this article and for introducing your readers to his work.