This is the first book I read twice within half a year. Why? For one thing, it is a very good read. The real reason is I had to read it again in preparation for my book club meeting. This entry gives both reviews that were written five months apart.
Review of my first reading
Written in reporting style with very few dialogues, the book is dense. Katharina’s confession of killing the reporter, Werner Totges at the beginning of the book invites the reader to analyse what turns a decent citizen into a cold-blooded murderer. The last thing this domestic servant expected when she agreed to attend a private party was to meet a man who would change her life. It was love at first sight, but of course, nobody believed her, and least of all, the police who insisted that they must have known one another for a long time. She must have had a part to play in Gotten Ludwig’s crime and his escape from her apartment. All these underlying assumptions made it impossible to prove her innocence. Katharina felt powerless in the face of two giant institutions: the German police force, and the newspapermen. Not even her employer, Blorna, who acted as her lawyer could save her. Her mother’s sudden death in the care home was rumored to have taken place after a reporter visited her for an “interview”. The shocking news that her daughter had killed someone was simply too much for an old lady. Böll tells a modern tragedy of how a young woman is incriminated against, and her life ruined in merely a few days. Anyone who has experience with police brutality and/or unethical journalists can relate to his story.
Review of my second reading
I reconstructed the timeline to chart the downfall of Katharina: from Wednesday evening when she attended the dance party at Else Woltersheim until Sunday when she shot the journalist, Werner Totges. This way I won’t miss out on any details. Written mostly in reported speech in the format of police statements, the style is complex. It is truly a masterpiece. Böll captures the essence of the plot in a novella. Sufficient details are given, no more, no less, so the reader can judge who is to blame for the murder of Totges. After my first reading, I thought Katharina did not know Ludwig before the dance party. However, after my second reading, I had a new understanding: it doesn’t matter whether she knew Ludwig before, and whether she had a part to play in his escape. The reader is faced with an ethical question instead. What is the role of journalism? Should journalists be only in charge of reporting events, and leave the investigative work to the police? Or should they get involved in an investigation, and play a part in solving crimes as well? It seems to me that reporters in Böll’s story were given too much power. How could you explain their access to inside information that was only available to the police personnel? As the story develops, the reader finds Katharina Blum more and more out of her depth. In an absence of a level playing field, anger is gradually building up to such an extent that she is ready to use violence as the last resort. When one cannot fight against the monster, in this case, the mass media, the use of even such violence as Molotov Cocktail seems justified.