Paperback review: Going to the Dogs, The Story of a Moralist, By Erick Kastner
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It's easy to see why Erick Kastner's 1936 novel is being reissued now: his focus on a pre-Nazi Germany, in the grip of recession, where over-educated white-collar workers are struggling not to return to the impoverished states of their working-class parents, has something to say about our present times.
Kastner viewed his account of Fabian, the disillusioned Berlin copywriter, unable to throw himself into the decadence the city has to offer when all he can see is people prostituting themselves around him, as a warning of what was surely to come. ("When would the next war break out? When would things reach that point again?") Fabian is not a cynic but an idealist, capable of acts of heroism, who despairs when his girlfriend sells herself to a movie producer. There is only one end for him.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments