Product Description

Daniel Quinn, well known for Ishmael – a life-changing book for readers the world over – once again turns the tables and creates an otherworld that is very like our own, yet fascinating beyond words. Imagine that Nazi Germany was the first to develop an atomic bomb and the Allies surrendered. America was never bombed, occupied, or even invaded, but was nonetheless forced to recognize Nazi world dominance. The Nazis continued to press their campaign to rid the planet of “mongrel races” until eventually the world – from Capetown to Tokyo – was populated by only white faces. Two thousand years in the future people don’t remember, or much care, about this distant past. The reality is that to be human is to be Caucasian, and what came before was literally ancient history having nothing to do with those then living. Now imagine that reincarnation is real, that souls migrate over time from one living creature to another, and that a soul that once animated an American black woman living at the time of World War II now animates an Aryan in Quinn’s new world, and that due to a traumatic accident memories of this earlier incarnation assert themselves. Compared by readers and critics alike to 1984 and Brave New World, After Dachau is a new dystopian classic with much to say about our own time, and the dynamics of human history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #330800 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-03
• Released on: 2006-01-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Publishers Weekly
From the author of the bestselling novel Ishmael, 1992 winner of the highly controversial $500,000 Turner Tomorrow Fellowship, comes this absorbing cautionary tale imagining a homogenous future society. In 1992 A.D., when the narrator, Jason Tull Jr., the dilettante scion of a famous, incredibly wealthy family, graduates from college, he decides to work for We Live Again, an underfunded foundation dedicated to tracking down and authenticating reported instances of reincarnation. After 10 years and hundreds of dead-end investigations, Jason encounters the case of Mallory Hastings, a 28-year-old librarian from Oneonta, N.Y., who, following a minor car wreck, regains consciousness as a deaf mute. Hoping he has finally stumbled onto the elusive "Golden Case," Jason gains Mallory's confidence. He is ill-prepared, however, to cope with the enormity of his discovery: the person now occupying Mallory's body is Gloria MacArthur, a Manhattan artist born in 1922 A.D. But this is only a hint of a dark, complex conundrum, for the "new" Mallory has scarcely learned to talk when she realizes that Jason's A.D. is not the Christian anno Domini. Quinn's provocative, Orwellian tale imagines that Adolf Hitler beat the Allies to the A-bomb in 1944 and set in place a chilling plan to achieve a world of Aryan perfection. In Mallory/Gloria's brave new world, 2002 years have passed "after Dachau," the chilling A.D. of the title. (Feb.) Forecast: Since the publication of Ishmael and its two companion volumes, My Ishmael and The Story of B, Quinn has gained a cult following. The added intrigue of a revisionist, Nazi-dominated history will likely rally fans, and Context's vigorous promotional plans, including a 20-city reading tour in March to support a 30,000-copy first printing, may extend Quinn's reach.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This disappointing, poorly conceived new fantasy novel mixes reincarnation, sf, Abstract Expressionism, and the Holocaust. The plot will be familiar to readers who know Quinn's most popular novel, Ishmael, the story of a telepathic gorilla and the dark secrets he reveals about man's conquest of nature. In After Dachau, the year is 4000 C.E., and a dark secret about human history is once again revealed, this time related to genocide. The Aryans have systematically exterminated every other race, and they have somehow been able to conceal the truth about this horror from the masses. Although Quinn's work in Ishmael and elsewhere suggests that he has had interesting and important things to say, this is not his best work. The plotting and characterization are very weak, and Quinn's observations about racism and bigotry, which might have redeemed the novel's other weaknesses, are, unfortunately, superficial and uninspiring. Not recommended. Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rocky Mountain News
"Quinn's powerful writing style consistently impresses, as does his talent for creating suspense."

Customer Reviews

Interesting idea... poor delivery
I have often thought about what would have happened if the Nazis had succeeded in World War II, so I thought that this book would be a very interesting read. It was interesting, but I feel as though I've only read an outline, almost as though the book is a concentration camp victim and it's not fully fleshed out or healthy. The writing, while it gets to the point, doesn't quite give me the imagery I need to fully believe that these characters are 2000 years in the future. Furthermore, I don't think all of the little things were fully thought out - yes, the idea is that the Aryans go on believing that "if things work, don't change them," but am I honestly supposed to believe that NOTHING changed, nothing advanced even slightly? What has happened to the environment, are people still making cars like those of Hitler's era, the Empire State Building was supposedly re-built two or three times, but why and how and what does it look like now? The main character supposedly jets from Tunis to New York and back again like it's nothing, but is he flying on a zeppelin or did the Aryans develop further on Lufthansa?

My main point is that while this book explores avenues that could potentially be very interesting, very terrifying, and very entertaining, Quinn's effort unfortunately left me feeling disappointed.

A sloppy and lazy story
I give this book two stars rather than one based solely on the potential of the ideas at its core. Which is exactly why the book is so disappointing-- what a rich opportunity for a story, and what a lazy, uninspiring, pointless execution. Some of the worst dialogue I've ever read. You get the feeling that the author has become a little too enthralled with himself, and assumes that his readers will be on board no matter what he chooses to feed them. To say that the book is on par with 1984 and Brave New World is nonsense.

I CARE
Another brillant book by Daniel Quinn. This book has an interesting and captivating story and I love the way he illustrates a very important and powerful message in this book that is so relevant. No books have ever had a greater impact on me in shaping the way I view our world, humanity and our culture than the writings of Daniel Quinn. This is a book worth reading.