By: James

James — Fri, 13 May 2016 13:26:57 +0000

I don't know about this material being "great" and "fairly hard to screw up". Has anyone here read the book? I did, and found it tedious and disjointed. Dodd himself does virtually nothing over the course of it except meet with Hitler once or twice. His daughter Martha is the focus of the book, and all she does is go through a succession of lovers, one of whom is a Soviet agent. We never see any espionage though, just their endless long drives in the country. The whole book also takes place over a very brief period in 1933/1934, as the Nazis are only just beginning to rise to power. My problem with this pointless book can be encapsulated in one fact. Toward the beginning, Larsen mentions that Dodd rents the family mansion from a Jewish family and allows them to live on in the attic, so they'll be protected by his diplomatic immunity. Larsen then NEVER MENTIONS THEM AGAIN in the book. The book is fixated on Martha's busy lovelife to such an extent that it overlooks most everything else. Any film of this will have to be almost entirely fictional. DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY it ain't. (And of course even that brilliant book has proven impossible to adapt)

By: Zack

Zack — Fri, 13 May 2016 13:26:57 +0000

Hanks is about 15 years too young for the Dodd role, so it'd take some makeup if he wants to star.
(You know what I think would be really good casting, incidentally? Vincent Kartheiser for Rudolf Diels. Google-Image him.)

Comments on: Tom Hanks May Take A Stroll ‘In The Garden Of Beasts’

By: James

By: Zack