The Wave

A book that is already widely read and enjoyed. Its theme is disturbing and its direct presentation allows the underlying questions to be posed clearly. Apparently based on a true incident, it describes the consequences upon a high school and its individuals when a history teacher tries to show his class the repeatable reality of Hitler's rise to power: 'Strength through discipline' and the creation of 'The Wave' transfigure individuals and the whole school. The isolated 'failure' takes control of himself, the hopeless football team become winners. Who wants to go back to the previous way of doing things, which were so casual (and free)? It's certainly a good story and one which deals well with a fascinating incident. I've never appreciated it as a book, feeling that perhaps its pedigree, 'a novelization of a teleplay ... based on a short story', accounts for the two-dimensional characterisation and some clumsy use of language.