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Night Of The AurochsNight of the Aurochs is an unfinished novel by Dalton Trumbo, possibly best known for his great anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun. Aurochs is an attempt by Trumbo to tell the tale of World War II through the eyes of a Nazi by the name of Grieban. The story is narrated in the first person through a series of letters by Grieban, until the end when the novel breaks off and becomes more of a third person tale. The result of Trumbo's hard work is a great novel and a masterpiece, although unfinished. It is said that in its unfinished state, there are things that Trumbo may have taken out had he lived to complete his work. But, the end result, after being compiled and edited by Robert Kirsch, is a hard look through the eyes of an unremorseful Nazi who believes that what he and his people did was a service for the good of mankind. Grieban even compares the Nazi movement to the American Civil War, mostly by saying that the comparisons are undeniable: Fighting to keep the races pure and separated. Grieban may be looked at as the epitome of one fighting for the cause, but even he slips and falls in 'love' with a Jewish woman during his years as a Nazi concentration camp commandant. To get the story right, Trumbo, as was the case for Johnny, had to 'become' the character that he was writing as, and soon Grieban became part of Trumbo and vice versa. It is evident in the latter parts of the book where you can see sympathy for Grieban and even the beginning where he is shown as a broken man, living out the rest of his years in hiding, dying - with no one around who cares much about him. Even for an unfinished work, "Aurochs" is a compelling story and has a much harsher edge than if Trumbo had completed it, because he would have undoubtably made Grieban even less evil or would have justified even more so how and what he believed in so strongly. "Night of the Aurochs" is a fantastic novel and is quite possibly Trumbo's greatest accomplishment.
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