BOOK REVIEW / Paperbacks: Lenin's Brain by Tilman Spengler, Penguin pounds 6.99
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.A witty recreation of one corner of German medical research, from the Kaiser to the Fuhrer, and within it the real life of the neurologist Oskar Vogt. His obsession is to map the location of genius in the brain, a quest which lures him into deceit and betrayal and ultimately leaves him in jealous custody of Lenin's cerebellum. The essence of Spengler's black comedy is the absurdity of Vogt and his kind, testing their preposterous messianic theories on the gullible rich and the unprotected poor alike, and attracting patronage and huge research grants along the way. We fully expect Vogt to emerge as a born-again Nazi but Spengler, a proper ironist, delicately confounds the assumption.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments