EUROPE CENTRAL, by William T. Vollmann

Vollmann is an incredibly talented and broad-ranging writer, so much so that it's hard to pin down what his main genre might be. Many of his writings are a kind of dark fictionalized reportage with significant shock/disgust value, often exporing the eroticized underbelly of society, as in his books  Butterfly Tales and Atlas.It's interesting stuff but gets a bit tedious, in my opinion.  Vollmann also has a deep interest in history. In Europe Central, he creates a masterpiece of historical fiction that, despite running nearly 800 pages, is riveting and emotionally draining and awe-inspiringly beautiful at the same time. The story explores the pact of mutual destruction between Hitler and Stalin through and after WWII. The book drags us through the horror of the war and its aftermath in intimate fashion via a set of individuals who were caught up in the titanic struggle. The most recognizable of these protagonists is Dimitri Shostakovich, the Soviet composer. The effect of the book is unlike any other work of historical fiction I have encountered - it's vivid and emotional, painful and disturbing, and intimate despite its epic scope. Very worth the effort to get through.

Click here for a review of the book from NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/books/review/03LECLAIR.html