I've never bothered to read him, in my snobbish way, thinking they were potboilers. However, after reading Maggie's (a woman of taste if ever there was one) high opinion (and that of others) I did a bit of research. It seems there is some controversy over the excat details of his life, with some unpleasant allegations being made?
http://members.lycos.co.uk/haaest/menu.htmAnyone know any more about this?
http://www.cphpost.dk/get/67204.htmlWill the real Sven Hassel please stand up?
24.07.2003 Print article (IE & NS 4+)
Mystery continued to surround the life of the country's most successful contemporary writer
Few of today's young men can grow up without encountering the books of Sven Hassel. Even today, despite being out of print, dog-eared copies of his graphic second world war novels are still hoarded and swapped by teenagers across the globe.
Hassel's books have been translated into 18 languages, published in more than 50 nations and have sold over 50 million copies. Despite the success of his work, however, relatively little is known about the writer. In fact, his reclusive habits have given rise to a series of controversies that only serve to add to the author's mystique.
According to his official web biography, Hassel was born in 1917 in the Zealand town of Fredensborg to a traditional working-class family. After serving in the merchant navy, he joined the German army as a volunteer in 1936 at the height of the great 1930s depression.
'Germany happened to be closer than England,' he was quoted as saying in a rare 1990s interview. 'I went to a Wehrmacht recruiting office to enlist, but it wasn't as easy as I had thought. Only German citizens could serve. After six months of trying to join up, the Seventh Cavalry Regiment finally accepted me on the condition that I became a naturalized German.'
Hassel subsequently served with the second Panzer Division at Eisenach, and later with the 11th and 27th Panzer Regiments. According to his website, he fought on all fronts except North Africa, spending much of his time in Russia. By the end of the war, Hassel had reached the rank of lieutenant and had been awarded the prestigious Iron Cross.
The biography goes on to mention that Hassel began work on his first book, Legion of the Damned, while he was interred as a POW after the war. The book, which was published in Denmark in 1953, describes the adventures of a deserter from the German army, and its success encouraged him to continue on a writing career. In 1964, Hassel moved to Barcelona where he still lives today, eschewing any promotional activities and rarely speaking to the press.
Writing in a direct, simple style that fans say is comparable with Hemingway, Homer or Solzhenitzin, Hassel's novels usually feature the same characters led by main protagonist Joseph Porta, a chef, musician anti-authoritarian and cold-blooded killer. Although Porta and the fellow members of his 'penal panzer regiment' have little time for Nazism, none have any compunction about brutally despatching soldiers from either side. These killings are described in exacting detail in Hassel's writing.
As his fans point out, Hassel accurately and poignantly depicts the absurdity of war as well as well as the brutality of the Nazi regime. However, it is precisely these graphic scenes that have prevented his work from being taken seriously by critics, many of whom still dismiss his work as pulp, throwaway fiction.
One of Hassel's most vehement detractors is writer Erik Haaest, whose website lays into Hassel with unusual ferocity. According to Haaest, the author spent much of the war back home in occupied Denmark, gaining his war knowledge from his post-war experiences in prison, where he mixed with Danish SS veterans. Haaest goes on to claim that Hassel employed a ghostwriter to write his first novel and, when it became a major literary success, allowed his wife to write the rest of his books.
Although few of Hassel's fans take Haaest's accusations seriously, the internet has spawned numerous newsgroups and discussion forums which expand on the Hassel legend, supposedly 'exposing' Hassel's controversial wartime past. The allegations range from his involvement in a bicycle-thieving ring to others far too libellous to be printed in this newspaper.
Whatever the truth - and it is doubtful that the full story will become clear until after his death - his fans are convinced that Hassel will go down in history as one of the Second World War's great chroniclers. But while he continues to lead such a reclusive lifestyle, his myth and mystique will undoubtedly grow, which, say some cynics, could be precisely the wily old author's intention.
Three of Hassel's best-known books - The Legion of the Damned, Wheels of Terror, and Monte Casino - are set to be reissued by Cassell Military Press in September. Hassel is currently said to be working on a new book based on the 1944 Hitler assassination attempt.
