Detailed Entries

Klemperer's diary is full of minute details about his private life, the books he is writing, and the events occurring in Nazi Germany. These details are what give the diary its historical significance as well as its human dimension. At times, however, readers may find the level of detail a bit difficult to absorb. While the reactions of people to the Third Reich are fascinating, the recurring lists of his and Eva's ailments, as well as notations of the amount of money spent on cat food and of what plants and shrubs have been purchased for landscaping, can seem a bit mundane.

Klemperer had been an avid diarist since the age of seventeen, and it is clear that by the time he reached his fifties, he was not at all self-conscious in his entries. He wrote for himself, not for posterity, which is why the entries often...