Monster by Allan Hall

On the one hand, I was surprised by some of this book. The cover and the taglines on the cover made me think it would just be rehashing of the undoubted evils of Fritzl's well-known crimes. However, it firstly focused on Fritzl's upbringing and his early involvement with the law, as well as his relationship with his wife and the eventual decline into the story we all know so well. The beginning of the book has a special focus on the contribution that growing up in Nazi-occupied Austria had on the path Fritzl took, as well as his apparent admiration on Adolf Hitler. He offers no evidence or explanation to measure the actual influence of the historical period or "national socialism" in general upon Fritzl's personality or even upon his crimes. However, he continues the comparison to Nazi Germany and occupied Europe throughout and compares the trapping of Elisabeth and her children in the basement to concentration camps. It is obvious here that Hall has taken advantage of the part of Europe where this happened to make a tenuous at best connection.

The author also turns an already shocking story into a narrative from the mind of Fritzl. He was not interviewed for this book and his thoughts on entering the basement he built for the first time would surely not be known to a tabloid journalist. It seems here that Hall is adding unknown, unneeded detail to add excitement to his story. However, the interviews conducted with friends, family members and tenants of the building in which Fritzl and his family left and in which he imprisoned his daughter and their children were a helpful and informative addition.

A point I liked about this book was the focus put on Elisabeth as a survivor rather than a victim. Continually, Hall refers to the amazing fact of her survival and her care for her children who she tried to give as normal life as possible under impossible circumstances. Some of the words used to describe those Fritzl imprisoned range from insensitive to cruel, however, which lends no credibility to the author. His writing is also nothing to be raved about and attempts at best to preserve the image of this book as one about an "evil" man. It is probably one of the worst written non-fiction books I have read in awhile but its subject made it interesting and no doubt a quick seller.