Triumph of the Kill

I remember this one specific Culture and Communication class during my first year at MICA when we were being taught about Nazi Germany. The reason I will never forget that one is 'cause no class, in my history of classes, and trust me those have been a lot more than what I consciously signed up for, has ever reduced me to tears, as my favorite prof narrated the entire process of Jews being brought to concentration camps to their eventual fate in the gas chambers. After watching half a dozen to a dozen "Nazi movies" I knew this subject was going to be something that would remain with me even post my academic life.

So a few days back I decided to go book-hunting. Now, I haven't been able to read more than 2 non-textbooks in the past 3 years (not that I read textbooks either) and one of them include Two States (don't kill me, it costed 99 bucks!), so this was sort of me being very adventurous with my understood intellectual capacity. When I entered the book store, I was trying to figure out the genre I was looking for and as I stumbled on stacks of books on the floor of the narrow alleys, I was reaching the fag end of the store from where I could faintly read the word HISTORY. Unchartered territories, I thought to myself. Be brave and act casual. But no luck with the book. I strutted in with arrogance and walked out trying to merge with air.

Finally after another such store, which practically gave me a slap in the face by being shut altogether, I decided to make a trip to the only other one I knew, a tiny little place around the corner. It's obviously not going to have it, I assumed, maybe I should buy The Lost Symbol and the book that said "You have got to read this if you've read The Lost Symbol!"

However magically, as I made my first head turn in the store, staring me in the face was "THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH" Words fail me now that I'm trying to describe the instantaneous feeling. It was very "Hallelujah!-Shahrukh-sees-Sushmita in Main Hoon Na" I don't remember how my feet flighted and reached the shelf to pick it up.

The top view:

Nice, no? The picture is a shot from the movie "Triumph of the Will" by Leni Riefenstahl, which I have been dying to see since forever but haven't yet laid my hands on.

Now, the side view:

Apart from my worry about how much time it will take to finish reading this, the real issue was the price. Hold onto your horses women, it was a thousand bucks. I thought (again), let's get out of here. Forget this obsession, think about your track record. Two States, TWO STATES. What's more, bitch you even liked it! But after my 10 minute contemplative monologue ended, I headed towards the cash register.

Me - Pleeeeeease tell me there is a discount on this! *puppy face*
Cashier - Yes, there is! 10%
Me - I'LL TAKE IT! :D

And boy, I'm not regretting it. Though I'm just a few pages down I can tell this would be my read of a lifetime. AND since my brother's reaction to every interesting thing I read is Hmm. Hmm. Listen, I'm playing FIFA. So stfu, I thought I'd bore you guys instead.

You know, these people's personal lives were strange (Though only few can match Woody Allen's in barf-worthiness) For instance, Hitler's dad's last wife (Adolf's mom) was his foster daughter during his first marriage not to mention she was his own second cousin, and even Hitler's apparent "one true love" was his half-sister's daughter.

Did I mention 485 tons of records of the German Foreign Office from 1868 up till 1945 were recovered!
Did you know Hitler once worked as a building laborer and was rejected by art school and was told to apply to Architecture school instead?

I feel wise. I'll go read some more :)