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A review by mediaevalmuse
Swastika Night by Katharine Burdekin
4.0
Like many people, I’ve been panicky over this current political administration and have turned to literature – if not to make me feel better, at least to make something feel eerily familiar. While George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale have been popular picks as of late, I opted for Katharine Burdekin’s Swastika Night. It has a lot of things I generally look out for in literature: forbidden books/books with secret knowledge, rebellious characters that defy an obviously corrupt social order, etc. In all, it was a pleasant surprise, and one that belongs on the shelves next to literary greats.
Things I Liked
1. Secret Book: I always love a plot with a secret book containing secret knowledge, and in this case, it’s a manuscript (made from parchment! Like a real medieval manuscript!) containing the truth of how the Nazis fashioned their Empire and how every facet of their civilization is man-made rather than divine.
2. Dialogues: Much of this book involves exchanges between our main character, Alfred, and other characters. These exchanges feel like the dialogues of classical literature between a philosopher and a student. Alfred debates everything from the role of women, the value of writing, divinity, etc. in ways that shed light on the evils of a society ruled by Nazis (and, more generally, by religion and patriarchy).
3. Use of Homosexuality: Surprisingly (at least for me), homosexuality makes appearances in this book, and while I’m not convinced the novel promotes LGBT+ acceptance, it does use sexuality and attraction in a way that draws attention to misogyny. Burdekin attaches no shame to homosexuality itself, I think, but does criticize homosexuality as a response to being unable to think of women as human. Reading it reminded me of misogyny among some gay men today rather than a complete rejection of male-male romantic involvement.
4. History: Burdekin shows readers a world in which history has been forgotten. The Nazis have destroyed all possible records of the past so that their empire seems all the more superior. I love books that ask us to think about the role of the past, especially now that our leaders have seemed to have forgotten the evil of our country’s history. Once Alfred does recover bits of the past, I love the arguments the book makes about valuing cultures and how one culture fashions itself as superior to another.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Absence of Female Characters: Although this novel criticizes misogyny, there are very few female characters. Almost all of the plot centers around men as they discover that women are people. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I do wish Burdekin had written some things from the perspective of one of the women.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in alternate history, science fiction, dystopian fiction, World War II, Nazi Regime, resistance, secret knowledge, philosophy, dialogues, debates, feminism, and critiques of misogyny.
Things I Liked
1. Secret Book: I always love a plot with a secret book containing secret knowledge, and in this case, it’s a manuscript (made from parchment! Like a real medieval manuscript!) containing the truth of how the Nazis fashioned their Empire and how every facet of their civilization is man-made rather than divine.
2. Dialogues: Much of this book involves exchanges between our main character, Alfred, and other characters. These exchanges feel like the dialogues of classical literature between a philosopher and a student. Alfred debates everything from the role of women, the value of writing, divinity, etc. in ways that shed light on the evils of a society ruled by Nazis (and, more generally, by religion and patriarchy).
3. Use of Homosexuality: Surprisingly (at least for me), homosexuality makes appearances in this book, and while I’m not convinced the novel promotes LGBT+ acceptance, it does use sexuality and attraction in a way that draws attention to misogyny. Burdekin attaches no shame to homosexuality itself, I think, but does criticize homosexuality as a response to being unable to think of women as human. Reading it reminded me of misogyny among some gay men today rather than a complete rejection of male-male romantic involvement.
4. History: Burdekin shows readers a world in which history has been forgotten. The Nazis have destroyed all possible records of the past so that their empire seems all the more superior. I love books that ask us to think about the role of the past, especially now that our leaders have seemed to have forgotten the evil of our country’s history. Once Alfred does recover bits of the past, I love the arguments the book makes about valuing cultures and how one culture fashions itself as superior to another.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Absence of Female Characters: Although this novel criticizes misogyny, there are very few female characters. Almost all of the plot centers around men as they discover that women are people. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I do wish Burdekin had written some things from the perspective of one of the women.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in alternate history, science fiction, dystopian fiction, World War II, Nazi Regime, resistance, secret knowledge, philosophy, dialogues, debates, feminism, and critiques of misogyny.