Thursday, April 15, 2010

ARMIN MEIWES











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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

(Testing... uno, dos)

Excellent, I had not seen this before! I'm very interested in this case. The only book I've found was so painfully tabloidy I couldn't bring myself to even finish it. "Cannibal" by Lois something. I'm used to the exploitative, luridness of most true crime but this was beyond awful (I'm thinking specifically of the "dialogue" the author so helpfully included). Do you know of any other books/publications about Meiwes?

(Hi. My Name is Shade. My voice is my passport. Verify me.)

JP said...

This story captivated me not because of the cannibalism (which isn't all that novel), but due to the willingness of the victim to participate. It is also fascinating to see how a paraphilia can manifest truly aberrant behavior.

As for books on Meiwes, there are two others that I know of, but one is out of print. Try Interview With a Cannibal: the Secret Life of the Monster of Rotenburg by Gunter Stampf. I haven't read it myself, and so cannot attest to its quality. Amazon has some pretty cheap used copies though.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I'll definitely check out the book. About time for a book-shopping spree. =)

The willingness part is mind-boggling. So much so that I initially doubted it was really the case. But everything seems to point to the victim wanting to be consumed, wanting to disappear. And I guess hordes of people do that to varying (less extreme) degrees every day...

Two other things occurred to me after I posted my comment. One: did the documentary mention Meiwes' obsession with "Hansel & Gretel"? Can't remember. That was just about the only interesting part of the book I read. Second: that kind of domineering maternal presence seems to have a really damaging effect. Not sure if it actually causes this behavior but I remember another criminal cannibal had the same kind of mom (Gein).