In the Presence of Mine Enemies

I enjoyed this novelette much more than the later novel with the same title.

This is probably my favourite Turtledove novel of the ones I have so far read. The setting is Berlin in a Third Reich that in 2010 covers much of the Eurasian landmass and the United States. The main characters are some of the very few surviving Jews who have lasted so long only by totally concealing their identities, not only from the authorities but also from their own neighbours and even from dear friends and other family members. The novel creates a very stark and believable atmosphere of repression and the horror of Jews knowing that even close friends would wish them dead if they knew of their racial identity. The course of the plot follows attempts at limited reform within the Nazi system following the coming to power of Heinz Buckliger as Fuhrer, the first of the new generation born after the original Nazi seizure of power and the Second World War. The parallel here is clearly with Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union with his perestroika and glasnost, attempts to democratise the system from within. Rolf Stolle, the Gauleiter of Berlin in this novel, is clearly the Boris Yeltsin of this world, pushing the leader on to reform faster and more deeply, but with his own character flaws (Yeltsin was also originally appointed the first secretary of the Moscow Communist Party for the early period of Gorbachev's rule, so occupies a very similar hierarchical position as Stolle). I wasn't surprised when Buckliger was overthrown in a coup while on holiday and returned after the coup was crushed, having lost moral authority to Stolle, mirroring the Soviet events of August 1991.As with other Turtledove novels, while a good writer, he does hammer small character points repeatedly, to the point of minor irritation. While understandable in the context of Jews constantly fearing discovery and exposure, it is particularly annoying in the case of the doctor whose inability to use a coffeemaker is hammered home in every scene in his surgery in which he appears.

This novel is a fascinating history of a group of individuals living in the heart of the Greater German Reich at the beginning of the 21st Century. In this alternate present, the Final Solution has been implemented throughout Europe, Eastern Europe has been cleared of indigenous populations and the US and the British Empire have been militarily subdued. Following the death of the last of the Old Guard Fuhrers, change is beginning to come to the Reich and its protectorates. Turtledove has an extraordinary gift for constructing alternative histories, not only tracing the major political and social movements, but commenting on their impact on technology, economics, fashion, families, social norms, and media.Although he can be repetitive (in this novel, he spends too much time reminding the reader how hard it is to live as a hidden Jew in Berlin), the geopolitical and social themes are thought-provoking and, in the end, rewarding.

In the presence of mine enemies has a great concept: Jews are hiding in the midst of the Third Reich and trying to survive after the Axis victory in the WW II. It depicts the everyday life under the shadow of the Germanic Empire that is a not too subtle allusion to the Soviet Union in the last years. I liked it in the beginning, but quite soon became dull and so badly executed - because of the hammered repetitions - that I didn't finish it. The worse parts were the the long descriptions of bridge playing that for me - I don't play bridge nor know the rules of this game - were like a chore.

Too wordy. How many times can you say the same thing?

I was a little disappointing with this book. First of all, it took me ages. I kept picking it up and putting it down. That's never a good sign. Parts were great, others just dragged and dragged. I realize the point of all the card games, but I don't think that I needed to have a rundown on the rules, or who was pulling what card. It was way too much detail.

The alternate world Turtledove set up was very good. In fact, I wouldn't have minded having more of that. I, however, was rather disappointed with the ending. It had a very unfinished feeling about it. But, I was happy to have finished the book. I was sick to death of having it stare at me from my bedside table!