Synopses & Reviews
A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
A Financial Times Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
HHhH: “Himmler's Hirn heisst Heydrich,” or “Himmler's brain is called Heydrich.” The most lethal man in Hitler's cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich seemed indestructible — until two exiled operatives, a Slovak and a Czech, killed him and changed the course of history.
In Laurent Binet's mesmerizing debut, we follow Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš from their dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to their fatal attack on Heydrich and their own brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church. A seamless blend of memory, actuality, and Binet's own remarkable imagination, HHhH is at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing — a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the debt we owe to history.
Review
“HHhH blew me away....It's one of the best historical novels I've ever come across.” Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho and Less Than Zero
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"Unsurpassable....Told with elegance and grace....A magnificent book." Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
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“Brings a raw truth to an extraordinary act of resistance....A literary tour de force....A gripping novel that brings us closer to history as it really happened.” Alan Riding, The New York Times Book Review
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“Binet has threaded his novel with a contemporary story, which is the drama of the book's own making....The tone is clever, witty, casually postmodern....Captivating.” James Wood, The New Yorker
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“HHhH is a startling novel....Who would expect a postmodern exploration of the limits of historical fiction to be a page-turner? But it is, absolutely....Fascinating.” Madeline Miller, NPR
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“Marvelous....Pulsing with life, lit by a wisp of dry humor, [and] fully imagined.” Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times
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“[Binet] knows how to wrangle powerful moments from history.” Susannah Meadows, The New York Times
Review
“[HHhH is] quirky, clever...Binet makes a very perceptive and informed recording angel, one with an exceptionally clear and unfussy prose style (rendered extremely well by the translator, Sam Taylor). It doesn't hurt that he has triple-A premium material, but Binet doesn't push too hard to give the events a meaning. He lets them be the tragedy that they are, and as such they're devastating.” Lev Grossman, Time.com
Review
“A breezily charming novel, with a thrilling story that also happens to be true, by a gifted young author....[Binet] marshals and deploys his materials with exceptional dramatic skill....By the time you reach the book's devastating finale, it's this discreet storytelling mastery...that leaves the deepest impression.” James Lasdun, The Guardian
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“HHhH triumphs precisely because it not only delicately, and sometimes grippingly, depicts a major historical moment, but because it manages to depict the unique challenges of 21st-century remembrance.” Michael Lapointe, The Globe and Mail
Review
“[A] tour de force....Gripping....Binet demonstrates without a doubt that a self-aware, cerebral structure can be deployed in the service of a gripping historical read. [HHhH is] a perfect fusion of action and the avante-garde that deserves a place as a great WWII novel.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Review
"Binet gives readers a close-up look at the metamorphosis of documentary truth into literary art. It is an art that makes disturbingly real the cold cruelty of a Nazi titan intent on slaughtering innocent Jews and makes inspiringly luminous the courage of Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubiš, the men who kill him....Readers will recognize why this brilliant work won the Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman — and why an English translation was imperative!” Booklist (starred review)
Review
“[HHhH is a] soul-stirring work....The account of the assassination attempt and its nail-biting aftermath is brilliantly suspenseful....Binet deserves great kudos for retrieving this fateful, half-forgotten episode, spotlighting Nazi infamy, celebrating its resisters, and delivering the whole with panache.” Kirkus (starred review)
Synopsis
"HHhH blew me away... It's one of the best historical novels I've ever come across."--Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho and Less Than Zero
A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
A Financial Times Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
HHhH: "Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich," or "Himmler's brain is called Heydrich." The most lethal man in Hitler's cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich seemed indestructible--until two exiled operatives, a Slovak and a Czech, killed him and changed the course of history.
In Laurent Binet's mesmerizing debut, we follow Jozef Gabc k and Jan Kubis from their dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to their fatal attack on Heydrich and their own brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church. A seamless blend of memory, actuality, and Binet's own remarkable imagination, HHhH is at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing--a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the debt we owe to history.
Synopsis
"Captivating . . . HHhH] has a vitality very different from that of most historical fiction." --James Wood, The New Yorker
A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
A Financial Times Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
HHhH: Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich, or Himmler's brain is called Heydrich. The most lethal man in Hitler's cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich seemed indestructible--until two exiled operatives, a Slovak and a Czech, killed him and changed the course of history.
In Laurent Binet's mesmerizing debut, we follow Jozef Gabc k and Jan Kubis from their dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to their fatal attack on Heydrich and their own brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church. A seamless blend of memory, actuality, and Binet's own remarkable imagination, HHhH is at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing--a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the debt we owe to history.
Synopsis
"Captivating . . . HHhH] has a vitality very different from that of most historical fiction." --James Wood, The New Yorker
The basis for the major motion picture, The Man with the Iron Heart available on streaming and home video.
HHhH: Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich, or Himmler's brain is called Heydrich. The most lethal man in Hitler's cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich seemed indestructible--until two exiled operatives, a Slovak and a Czech, killed him and changed the course of history.
In Laurent Binet's mesmerizing debut, we follow Jozef Gabc k and Jan Kubis from their dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to their fatal attack on Heydrich and their own brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church. A seamless blend of memory, actuality, and Binet's own remarkable imagination, HHhH is at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing--a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the debt we owe to history.
A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
A Financial Times Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
About the Author
Laurent Binet was born in Paris, France, in 1972. He is the author of La Vie professionnelle de Laurent B., a memoir of his experience teaching in secondary schools in Paris. In March 2010, his debut novel, HHhH, won the Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman. Laurent Binet is a professor at the University of Paris III, where he lectures on French literature.