November 2013 Wrap-Up

November was, of course, the month for German-language reading, with all my posts contributing to German Literature Month.  Thanks are due to Lizzy and Caroline for hosting and organising the event - once again, my contribution was to organise an unsuccessful excursion (see my posts below on The Blue Angel for details...).

Anyway, onto the stats - here's what was going on around these parts last month...

*****
Total Books Read: 10
Year-to-Date: 118

New: 8

Rereads: 2

From the Shelves: 6
Review Copies: 1

From the Library:2

On the Kindle: 1

Novels: 5
Novellas:3

Short Stories: 2

Non-English Language: 7 (4 German, 2 Spanish, Hungarian)

In Original Language: 4 (4 German)

Aussie Author Challenge: 0 (5/3)
Japanese Literature Challenge 7: 0 (13/1)

*****
Books reviewed in November were:

1) Nichts als Gespenster (Nothing but Ghosts) by Judith Hermann
2) Was bleibt (What Remains) by Christa Wolf
3) Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald
4) Holzfällen (Woodcutters) by Thomas Bernhard
5) Wellen (Waves) by Eduard von Keyserling
6) Božena by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
7) Wir Fliegen (We're Flying) by Peter Stamm
8) Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick) by Peter Handke
9) Leonardos Hände (Leonardo's Hands) by Alois Hotschnig
10) Professor Unrat (The Blue Angel) by Heinrich Mann (Part One, Part Two, Part Three)

Tony's Turkey for November is:
Marie von Ebner Eschenbach's Božena

The weakest of the bunch - not an awful book, but one I was a little disappointed by.

Tony's Recommendation for November is:

Thomas Berhard's Holzfällen

There were two stand-out reads, and if I were someone with more interest in Holocaust literature then Austerlitz may well have won out.  For me though, Bernhard's grumpy old man act was the worthy pick of the bunch for German Literature Month :)

*****
As we slowly near the end of 2013, it'd be nice to think that December would be a comfortable month of rereading and reflection - sadly, that's unlikely to be the case.  I have another crop of interesting review copies to flick through and only a short time to do it in.  You see, it's time to start planning January in Japan already - do join me then ;)

'The Inflatable Buddha' by András Kepes (Review)

As regular readers will no doubt have gathered by now, I like to do my best to promote literature in translation, especially when it's new or small publishers bringing books out.  Recently, I got an e-mail from Armadillo Central, a publisher not known for works in translation, but with a Hungarian book they thought I might be interested in.  The title is fascinating (as is the cover), but, as always, I was more interested in what happens inside...

*****
András Kepes' The Inflatable Buddha (translated by Bernard Adams, review copy courtesy of the publisher) is an attempt to look back on twentieth-century Hungarian history by following three individuals and their families.  The three boys, Isti Veres, Dávid Goldstein and Pál Szentágostony, are born around the end of the First World War, appearing just as Hungary was losing much of its traditional territory in the Treaty of Trianon, and they come of age as the clouds of war are again beginning to gather over central Europe.

Isti is a good-looking peasant, a skillful footballer and violinist; Dávid is a Jew, the son of a local shopkeeper; Pál is the local Baron's son.  Despite growing up together in the village of Tövispuszta (the name of the book in the original), their origins will determine the decisions they make and the way their lives unfold in the decades to come.  In twentieth-century Hungary, there were plenty of hard choices to make, and the three men will be confronted with several before the end of the novel.  German or Hungarian?  Fascist or Communist?  Revolutionary or Policeman?  And, of course, patriot or emigrant...

Naturally, Dávid's path is the most difficult, initially at least.  Many westerners may not know the role Hungary played during the first part of the Second World War as one of Germany's allies***, and the Jewish characters in The Inflatable Buddha all face trips to concentration camps if they are caught by the police.  However, matters are not much better after the war; Dávid's poor uncle has his business seized twice - once by the Fascists, then by the Communists...  Having little interest in religion, Dávid attempts to change his name and hide his origins, but (as a friend points out) it's a plan with little chance of success:

"Believe me, my boy, it's no good trying to pretend you're not Jewish, there'll always be somebody that'll remind you.  I thought that after Auschwitz it would no longer be possible for people to be fed all kinds of vileness because everybody would see what inspired hatred and where it led to.  But it seems it isn't so."
p.200 (Armadillo Central, 2013)

If that's true though, what option remains?

Pál and Isti have their own concerns.  As a nobleman (and someone with close ties to the West), the young Baron Szentágostony is unlikely to fare well in post-WW2 Communist-occupied Hungary, while Isti's decision to throw in his lot with the authorities is destined to cost him too.  However, it's hard to blame any of the friends for their choices - in a situation like the one Hungarians found themselves in ninety years ago, there really was no right option...

The Inflatable Buddha is an interesting story, a book you can sail through quite comfortably, but it's definitely not in the style of some of Kepes' more illustrious countrymen.  Anyone hoping for some of the linguistic excellence of Krasznahorkai or the Proustian minutiae of Nádas will be disappointed - this is a fairly straight-forward piece of historical fiction, albeit one which continues the story up to fairly recent times.

Not knowing a lot about the country, I enjoyed the trip through the past century, but there were a few drawbacks.  While 315 pages doesn't sound especially short, it is when you're trying to cram in many decades of eventful history, and some of the chapters appeared a little over-filled with events (and endnotes).  The lengthy timespan covered also meant that the reader got to meet several generations of the same family, and with three main families to explore, that's a lot of people to remember, most of whom only appear for a line or two before reappearing a few chapters (and thirty years) later on...

Still, it's an intriguing trip down (a Hungarian) memory lane, and it's easy to see why it was a best-seller in its native country.  However, it'd be fascinating to see exactly what people made of it, as it's tempting to think that they are likely to take what they want from the book, according to their political views.  At one point, a character is described as:

"An identity-challenged boy searching for explanations in an identity-challenged country..." (p.231)

Sadly, that's still true today.  If you've been keeping a close eye on political events in central Europe, you'll know that many people appear to have forgotten what happens when a country ignores the past.  Perhaps they should all take another close look at Kepes' book before things go too far...

*****
***This sentence initially began "Many westerners may not know the role Hungary played during the Second World War as one of Germany's closest allies,...".  I corrected this factual error after one of the comments below alerted me to it.

'Professor Unrat' ('The Blue Angel') by Heinrich Mann (Review: Part Three - The Wheels of Time)

And we're back with the final part of our adventures at 'The Blue Angel'!  If you're new to the story, you might want to take a look at Part One and Part Two before continuing with the final instalment...

*****
[The group quickly darts back round the corner before the mini-angel and her bodyguards spot them.  There are plenty of worried-looking faces...]

Clara: OK, what do we do?  Doctor, a plan would be nice - right about now?
Doctor: [Pacing] Think, let me think... [He takes out his sonic screwdriver and starts twiddling nervously with it in his hand.]
Tony: [Looking at the screwdriver] What's that?
Clara: It's his favourite toy.  It fixes electronics and stuff, unlocks doors, sends out sonic signals...
Tony: [Smiling] I think I might just have an idea... [Turns to the Doctor] I need to make a phone call, but I don't appear to have any reception...
Doctor: Unsurprising given the year, but still... [He points the sonic screwdriver at Tony's phone, and it lights up, making a buzzing noise. Tony starts tapping away.]
Caroline: What are you doing?
Lizzy: [Sarcastically]  Who are you going to call?  I don't think Ghostbusters are going to help here!
Tony: I'm just sending a text... [Looks up]  Aha - any second now...

[Suddenly, there's a familiar, loud whirring noise.  Everyone freezes, wondering where the sound is coming from.  Around the corner, the performers and the mini-angel start looking around in confusion.]

Tony: OK, time to get moving - our ride is here...

[A wind gusts through the corridor, and, amid bright lights and an ear-splitting noise, the German Literature Month bus materialises, sending the angel and the performers screaming down the corridor.  The door of the bus opens, and a familiar figure sticks his head out.]

Gary: Quick, jump in!
Doctor: [Jaw dropping] A bus that can travel through time and space?  You're joking, right?
Stu:  It looks like you're not the only one round here with a fancy getaway vehicle...

[Everyone jumps into the bus.  Tony, Stu and Lohmann disappear for a moment before reappearing with a few survivors who eagerly climb on board.  In a matter of seconds, the doors close and Gary goes to drive off, but the Doctor grabs his arm...]

Doctor: No, we can't leave yet, I have to get the TARDIS!
Gary: Relax and take a seat - don't worry about a thing.  The bus had a recent upgrade...

[Outside, a hole appears at the back of the bus - a mechanical arm shoots out and attaches itself to the TARDIS...]

Caroline: [Looking out of the back window] OK, Gary, it's on - let's get out of here!

[Gary starts the engine, and the whirring sound returns.  As he reverses the bus slowly, a scream reverberates through the bus...]

Lizzy: [Pointing through the windscreen] It's the Angel!

[Sure enough, at the far end of the corridor, the Angel stands, glowing defiantly. She spreads her wings, lets out an enormous roar and flies towards the bus...]

Gary: Hang on - this might be a bumpy ride...

[He changes gears and drives off, this time towards the Angel.  Just as the two are about to collide, the bus dematerialises, vanishing along with the TARDIS.  All that can be heard is the Doctor's voice, complaining bitterly about buses, plot holes and timey-wimey stuff...

...the Angel stops just before it hits the wall.  It floats down to the floor, at which point it turns back into Rosa.  She looks around her and, with a sigh, walks back to the main hall.

The hall is almost empty now, with only a few performers sitting dazed around a table.  A little girl is sitting on the floor, sobbing into her dress.  There's an awful smell in the air, and the floor of the hall is dotted with sizzling pools of grease.  Chairs and tables are lying upended all throughout the room.  Rosa looks around and sighs.  Then she claps her hands and addresses the performers.]

Rosa: Come on, everyone.  Let's get this mess cleared up.  We've got a matinée tomorrow...

[As the performers slowly get up and begin the task of clearing up the hall, Rosa walks over and picks up her daughter.  Holding her in her arms, she walks away humming 'Falling in Love Again'.  The scene fades to black as a familiar tune kicks in...]

'Professor Unrat' ('The Blue Angel') by Heinrich Mann (Review: Part Two - Stage Fright)

Today, we continue with the second part of our story about this year's German Literature Month end-of-challenge excursion.  If you missed the first part, click here, and read that first ;)

*****
[The Doctor turns on his heel and walks back to Tony angrily.  Just as he is about to say something, the sudden sound of screaming comes from outside the TARDIS, from the direction of the dance hall.  Tony and Clara quickly run to the door and open it - the screaming gets louder.  The Doctor sighs...]

Doctor: Sorry about that.  Always seems to happen when I'm in the neighbourhood...
Tony: [Grinning] Me too, funnily enough...  [He beckons outside.]  Allons-y?
Clara: [Looking at the Doctor and stifling a giggle] With pleasure.  [She walks through the door and Tony follows her out.]
Doctor: [Angrily] That's my line! [He shakes his head and follows the others out of the TARDIS.]

*****
[As Tony, Clara and the Doctor run around the corner, they see the chaos unfolding in the dance hall.  The blue angel is moving around the hall slowly, focusing on men trapped in corners with no way out.  The air is heavy with the smell of smoke and burnt flesh.  The other performers, all with a strange gleam in their eyes, are running around the hall, blocking off doorways and directing the guests in the direction of the angel...

...from the opposite direction, Lohmann, von Ertzum and the other bloggers come running towards Tony, Clara and the Doctor...]

Doctor: [Turning to Tony]  I presume these are your friends, then.  [Bows to the ladies] Enchanté!  I'm the Doctor, and this is...
Clara: [Interrupting] Erm, shall we leave the introductions for later, yeah?  Let's get back to the TARDIS...
Tony: [Pointing to the corridor behind them] I think we might need to hold off on that...

[The angel has turned in their direction, blocking off their retreat.  She slowly moves towards them...]

Caroline: So, that running I was talking about before...
Lizzy: Yep, I'm with you...

[The group race off in search of an escape route, scattering to escape from the clutches of the performers.  As Caroline and Lizzy look for a door at the side of the hall, Stu spots a shadow of a door by the side of the stage and jumps up onto the stage.  Before he can get to the opening though, Kieselack appears, locking the door and throwing the key across the hall.  As he turns to Stu with a sneer on his face, the angel begins to climb the steps...]

Kieselack: [Running to the angel]  Fräulein Rosa!  I trapped this one - I know you're fond of tall men... [The angel begins to move across the stage.  Stu backs into the corner opposite...]
Rosa:  Thank you, little one - such devotion.  You deserve a little reward...

[As Kieselack moves towards her expectantly, the angel reaches out her hand and caresses his face.  Instantly, he collapses and melts into a puddle of grease on the floor.  The angel glides slowly around the mess and moves towards Stu...]

Rosa: Now my dear - I think it's your turn.  Would you like to dance?  I'm sure you'll enjoy i...

[Metres from Stu, in mid-step, the angel plunges through the stage floor into a hole - one which wasn't there before.  Stu hears a whistle and turns to see Caroline holding a lever for the trap door...]

Caroline: [Moving the lever again] Hopefully that'll hold her for a while - let's get out of here...

*****
[As the performers flock to the stage to find the angel, the bloggers and their companions take the opportunity to get out of the hall.  They run back down the corridor towards the TARDIS...]

Lizzy:  [Panting] Is there any point going down here?  There can't be any doors in this part of the building...
Doctor: Don't worry, I've got it all figured out.  You see, I've got a getaway car - of sorts. 

[He turns the corner and promptly comes to a stop.  This causes a chain reaction with the others crashing into the person in front of them.]

Clara: What are you doing Doctor?  Let's... [Looks ahead] Oh.

[At the end of the corridor, the TARDIS can be seen, but in front of the familiar blue box, barring entry, are the two overweight comic performers - and what looks suspiciously like a small blue angel...]

Stu: What. Is. That?
Lohmann: I believe that's the daughter - and I think she's looking for the people who messed with her mummy...

*****
Will the junior angel stop the bloggers?
How will the Doctor get his TARDIS back?
Where is mummy angel?
Find out in Part Three of 'The Blue Angel'!

'Professor Unrat' ('The Blue Angel') by Heinrich Mann (Review: Part One - The Abode of the Angel)

German Literature Month is drawing to a close, and that means it's time for me to express my gratitude by organising another outing on the German Literature Month Tour Bus.  Unfortunately, my choices over the past two years haven't been a great success: in 2011, we never actually got to see Kafka's castle, and last year's trip to a restaurant was very grim(m) indeed.  Still, things can't go wrong three years in a row - can they?

*****
[The camera fades in from black to reveal a large coach driving around a small town with narrow, winding streets.  It drives past a harbour, leaving several astonished fishermen in its wake, most of whom alternate looks between the bus and the bottles in their hands.  Eventually the coach comes to a halt outside a large building.  Just in front of the bus is a blue lantern, by the light of which we can see a sign reading 'Zum blauen Engel'.

A handful of figures get off the bus, breath steaming in the winter air.  As they are about to walk off, the driver calls out after them...]

Gary: I'll catch you up in a bit.  I've just got to work out where to park this thing...
Tony:  Surely there'll be a car park around the back?
Caroline: It's 1905 - I doubt there's one in the whole country...

[The door closes, and the coach drives off.  Tony opens the door of the building, and the others walk in, their ears immediately assaulted by loud music...

...after walking down a long, brightly-lit corridor, with the noise growing ever louder, they reach a sort of box office and, after Tony slips the clerk a few coins, they open another door and enter a dance hall...

...on stage, a rather overweight couple are singing comic songs, and judging by the roars of laughter coming from the people in the audience (mostly men), they seem to be doing a great job.  The room is packed with tables, most of which are full, but the bloggers make their way to a half-empty table to the side of the hall.]

Caroline: [Looking around] Wow - this is definitely a lively place!
Stu: Better than last year, Tony, at any rate.
Lizzy: [Darkly] Well, now, that wouldn't exactly be difficult, would it?  It's not surprising that you didn't get a great turn-out this time around...
Tony: [Nervously] Let's just forget about that... [He turns and sees the few people seated at the table, an old, shabby-looking man and three teenagers.]  Excuse me - could we join you?  [The man stands up and bows, showering the table in front of him with dandruff.]
Man: Naturally, my pleasure. [Bows again] Allow me to introduce myself - Raat is my name, Professor Raat of the local grammar school.  This here [Pointing to a small, greasy-looking youth] is Master Kieselack, this [Pointing to a fat, fair-haired giant] is Master von Ertzum, and this [Pointing, with a grimace, to a sallow-faced young man inspecting his fingernails] is Master Lohmann - all my students.
Stu: Pleased to meet you [There are handshakes and bows all round.]
Lizzy: [Sitting down] What's that smell? [The boys struggle to stifle a smirk - the professor is momentarily agitated.]
Raat: Perhaps it is the toilets - although they are a fair way from here...
Tony: Speaking of which, I'll be back in a minute...
[He nods at the others and heads towards the back of the room, leaving everyone else to chat...]

*****
[We cut to a corridor somewhere inside the dance hall.  Tony is walking quickly down the corridor, trying every door he passes - in vain.]

Tony: Where is it?  There's got to be something, somewhere...  Aha!

[Finally, Tony finds a door which opens.  In the darkness, he fails to notice the faded blue colour, or the writing across the top...  He opens the door and rushes into a bright room, where a man and a woman stare at him open-mouthed.]

Tony: [Still walking]  Sorry, could you tell me where the loo is?
Man: [Flustered] Erm, straight on, first on the left, but... what?  How?  Who? 

[Tony rushes on, turning right by mistake in his desperation to reach the toilet.]

Woman:  No, left, not right!  Watch out for the... [Splash!] ...swimming pool...

*****
[Back in the dance hall, the bloggers are still chatting with the professor and the students when Raat - or Unrat as Lohmann calls him behind his back - suddenly stops dead and turns to the stage.  The reason for his action is soon evident as an attractive red-haired singer smiles and begins to sing.]

Singer: 'Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt'... [Winks at the bloggers' table] ...and for our English-speaking guests 'I can't help it' [She blows a kiss towards the table, and Unrat Raat leaps up to intercept it.]
Stu: [Leaning towards Lohmann] Who's that?
Lohmann: [Behind his hand] Rosa Fröhlich, star of the show and Unrat's girlfriend, believe it or not...
Raat: [Turning to Stu]  Don't worry, I'll introduce you after her set.  Isn't she wonderful?

*****
[Elsewhere in the club, Tony is drying himself off with a towel, as the man tries to explain just exactly who he is.  Tony stops, suddenly, the penny dropping...]

Tony: Wait - you're the Doctor?
Doctor: Aha, yes, now you've got it!
Tony: Alien?  Magic blue travelling box?
Doctor: Yep, [Smiles smugly] that's me.
Tony: Timey-wimey stuff, plot holes you could drive a bus through? [The Doctor storms off, and the woman, Clara, stifles a giggle.]
Clara: Yeah, that's him alright...

*****
[Back in the main salon, Unrat Raat has just walked up to Rosa, wanting to introduce her to the bloggers.]
Unrat:  Darling, please come over and meet our foreign guests, they're dying to meet you!
Rosa: Dying, you say? [Her eyes gleam brightly as she follows the professor back to the table.  Unrat strides back, not noticing that Rosa isn't following him that closely...]
Unrat: Everyone, this is... [The others begin moving backwards slowly.]  What's the matter with you?  I... [He turns around.]

[Behind him, Rosa is bathed in a bright, shimmering blue light.  Her body illuminates the whole hall, and what seem to be wings begin to appear behind her, long bright appendages, formed purely from light...]

Rosa: Unratchen, come to me, darling...
Unrat: [Nervously] What is it, darling?
Rosa: [Smiling] I just want a kiss, that's all... [She moves forward.]
Unrat: Ahem, I'm not sure if this is the place, liebling...

[Rosa grabs Unrat and kisses him.  Immediately, the professors body glows bright blue and disintegrates, leaving nothing but a pile of dandruff - and a foul smell - behind...  The bloggers stare in shock.]

Caroline: Time to run?
Lizzy: Yep, Malone's done it again...

*****
Has Tony really met a time-travelling alien?
Will the bloggers escape from the mysterious blue angel?
Will Gary ever find a parking spot?
Find out in Part Two of 'The Blue Angel'!

'Leonardos Hände' ('Leonardo's Hands') by Alois Hotschnig (Review)

Alois Hotschnig is a writer whose name you may have heard before as his short story collection Die Kinder beruhigte das nicht was published in English by Peirene Press as Maybe This Time a couple of years back.  After enjoying that book, I ordered a further example of his work - and promptly ignored it for the next two years.  Here then, especially for German Literature Month, is a very belated review ;)

*****
Leonardos Hände (Leonardo's Hands) is about Kurt Weyrath, an Innsbruck ambulance driver who stands out a little from his colleagues.  In order to survive their mentally-taxing duties, most of his colleagues develop a sense of detachment towards their 'clients':

"Gleichgültigkeit war ein Berufsinstrument, ohne das ihnen die Arbeit nicht möglich war, und wie die Handschuhe hatte man sie immer dabei."
p.6 (Haymon Taschenbuch, 2008)

"Indifference was a tool of the trade, without which work was impossible, and like gloves, you always had it to hand." (my translation)

However, Kurt, who gave up a white-collar career to join the ambulance service, is much friendlier with the people he transports, developing relationships with the people he sees regularly.

One day, this turns into a regular obsession when he begins to spend all his free time sitting next to the bed of a woman in a coma.  His colleagues are unable to understand why he has become so attached to someone he doesn't know, but that's because they don't know his secret, the one which brought him to the ambulance service in the first place.  You see, he suspects that he's the one who put her there...

Anna Kainz, the woman in the coma, eventually wakes up, and (as you might expect) she is extremely grateful for the attention she received from Kurt, attention which played a large roll in dragging her back into the land of the conscious.  The closer the couple get, and the longer the deception continues, the more difficult it becomes for Kurt to confess his dark secret.  But will she care?  And does she suspect it already?

Leonardos Hände is a gripping story, even if the description above makes it sound like a plot from a soap opera.  Rather than being a story of love triumphing over adversity, it's a dark, complex tale, and the reader can never quite be sure where it's going.  It takes a while before you get past the initial confusion of Kurt's work in the ambulance service, but once you get to the main story of Kurt and Anna, it all starts to get much more interesting.

Kurt is a well-written, nuanced character, a man suffering through a crisis caused by a momentary misjudgement.  In leaving his girlfriend and changing careers, he is punishing himself, attempting to atone for his crime.  Once he finds Anna and a place by her bedside, he actually feels better:

"Dasitzen, stundenlang, ohne ein wort, bloß da zu sein, nebeneinander.
 Ich habe vorher nicht gelebt." (p.79)

"Sitting there, for hours on end, without a word, just being there, next to each other.
 Up until then, I hadn't lived."

Having found Anna, he feels partially absolved - and happy.

Once Anna wakes up though, things start to unravel.  Suddenly Kurt isn't quite so sure that his actions are welcome, and he hesitates before getting involved with the conscious woman he loved when she was comatose.  Matters are complicated by Anna herself as she has a few secrets of her own, a past which has something to do with the crash that put her in the coma.  In many ways, she's using Kurt as much as he's using her...

The second half of the book then is devoted to unravelling the secrets of the mismatched couple, but there's also a lot to like about the first part, in which we are given an insight into the duties of an ambulance driver.  We see the depressing, soul-crushing grind of the job, whether it's picking up terminally-ill patients for dialysis, rushing to accidents in the hope of finding someone still in a condition to be helped or hanging around waiting for news of 'jumpers' in a high-rise part of town.  It's certainly not a job for the faint-hearted...

However, whether you enjoy the book or not may well depend on how you deal with Hotschnig's style.  As with Die Kinder beruhigte das nicht, Leonardos Hände is always slightly off-kilter.  The story jumps around in time, switching from person to person, moving between different situations in the space of a few words.  At times, it's rather a hard book to read and concentrate on, a novel where much is alluded to, but not always explicitly stated.  I suspect that it wouldn't be to everyone's taste.

Did I enjoy it?  Well, yes, although enjoyment seems the wrong word.  It's absorbing and intriguing, and if you think you can endure the oddities I mentioned above, it's definitely worth a try.  And luckily, even if your German's not quite up to scratch, you can give it a go.  There's an English version, translated by Peter Filkin, available from the University of Nebraska Press.

That's not all though - there's more from Hotschnig coming into English next year.  May 2014 sees the translation of Ludwigs Zimmer (Ludwig's Room) appear courtesy of Seagull Books (with Tess Lewis, the translator of the Peirene book, on duty again).  Maybe this time I've shown you a writer you might be able to enjoy in English - now I don't feel so guilty about all those untranslated books I've been reviewing this month :)

More About January in Japan 2014

Over at the January in Japan blog, I've just put the introductory post up, with a few more details about readalongs, giveaways and other exciting things.  Why not have a look and sign up for the event?  You know it makes sense... ;)

'Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter' ('The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick') by Peter Handke (Review)

It's German Literature Month time again, and today I have the pleasure of reviewing a book by a writer I've read for the first time.  We're off to Austria, in a book which has surprisingly little to do with football, but a lot to do with language...

*****
Peter Handke's Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick***) starts off in Vienna.  Josef Bloch, a former professional goalkeeper, thinks he's been fired from his job, so he goes off and checks into a hotel.  Over the next few days, he reads newspapers, watches films, meets people and generally idles his time away.

The dramatic, Kafakaesque first sentence then soon gives way to a strange, uneventful story.  The story stutters along, stumbling over simple sentences, in a bizarre, disjointed manner - until, after hooking up with a woman:

"Sie stand auf und legte sich aufs Bett; er setzte sich dazu.  Ob er heute zur Arbeit gehe? fragte sie.
Plötzlich würgte er sie."
p.22 (Suhrkamp, 1972)

"She stood up and then lay down on the bed; he seated himself next to her.  She asked whether he was going to work today.
Suddenly, he strangled her." (my translation)

Boom.  Out of nothing, the story takes a new, and rather violent, turn - before slowing down again immediately.  Bloch calmly leaves and takes a bus to the country...

The story itself is only 100 pages or so, and in terms of plot, there's not a lot to it.  While you might think it's about a murder, in reality (if such a word is relevant here), it's all about Bloch and his strange relationship with the world.  From the very start, he acts decidedly strangely, and he has an unusual take on reality, seeing each second, each motion, step by step:

"Die Kellnerin nahm das Glas von der Flasche, auf die sie es gestülpt hatte, legte den Bierdeckel auf den Tisch, stellte das Glas auf den Deckel, kippte die Flasche in das Glas, stellte die Flasche auf den Tisch und ging weg.  Es fing schon wieder an!  Bloch wußte nicht mehr, was er tun sollte." (pp.34/5)

"The barmaid took the glass off the bottle over which she had placed it, laid the beer mat on the table, put the glass on the beer mat, tipped the bottle into the glass, put the bottle on the table and went.  It was starting all over again!  Bloch had no idea what to do."

There's an awful lot of this in the book.  Bloch seems overwhelmed by the input of raw data in everyday life, unable to simply filter it out like a 'normal' person...

Bloch also struggles with language and noise and has great difficulty in distinguishing sounds (he's constantly mistaken as to what he thinks he hears).  He seems to be seeing and hearing life through a filter, one which makes it difficult for him to understand precisely what is going on around him.  As is mentioned in the brief introduction at the start of the book, these errors are like a leitmotif, constantly appearing throughout the novel.

Having just killed someone, you can understand that Bloch has a certain sense of paranoia, but there's more to it than that, and everything is wearing him down.  He seems to struggle with the simplest of actions, whether it's greeting someone in the street or choosing the right time to enter a conversation.  Still, he just moves on, even if his interactions seem to end in arguments, conversations and fights.  At times, he seems like an alien who understands the language perfectly but has little cultural background
(and a very shaky grasp on manners...).

Like its central character, this is a very difficult and uncomfortable book to read at times.  Handke is playing with language and the way it affects our experience of the material world, and no word, or sentence, is taken for granted, each utterance weighed carefully before being committed to paper.  It's very tempting on occasion to try to read things into the story which perhaps aren't there.  Is Bloch suffering from some sort of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?  Is he just concussed from one too many kicks to the head?  Surely there's a deeper meaning to the title?

In fact, later on we hear about a goalie and Bloch's views on the game:

"Es ist sehr schwierig von den Stürmern und dem Ball wegzuschauen und dem Tormann zuzuschauen", sagte Bloch.  "Man muß sich vom Ball losreißen, es ist etwas ganz und gar Unnatürliches." (p.117)

"It is very difficult to look away from the attackers and the ball, and look at the goalkeeper", said Bloch.  "You have to tear yourself away from the ball, it's something completely and utterly unnatural."

Yet this is what we've been doing all along.  In a crime novel where the police are elsewhere, in living the story through Bloch the reader is effectively watching the goalie...  Yes, it is decidedly unnatural - and rather uncomfortable too ;)

*****
The English-language version, translated by Michael Roloff, is available from Farrar, Straus & Giroux

'Wir Fliegen' ('We're Flying') by Peter Stamm (Review)

One of my favourite contemporary German-Language writers is Swiss author Peter Stamm.  I've enjoyed three of his novels so far, but Stamm doesn't just write long books - he's also adept at the shorter form and has published four collections to date.  With not many of his novels left to try then, I thought it was high time I tried Stamm's shorter work to see how it compares to the longer books - and when better than during German Literature Month? :)

*****
Wir Fliegen (We're Flying)*** is a 2008 collection consisting of twelve stories, the majority coming in at somewhere around twelve pages.  The style and language is unmistakably Stamm, with his clipped, simple language and the slightly uncomfortable feeling he evokes in his creations.  However, the smaller canvas he works on in his stories means that matters come to a head a lot more quickly.

If there's a connecting theme here, it's one of frustration.  'Die Verletzung' ('The Hurt') is a story of summer love, with the boy returning years later to the village, only to be disappointed that the girl has become a woman who wants no part of him.  In 'Männer und Knaben' ('Men and Boys'), a night-time visit to a swimming pool also brings back memories of a youthful romance, albeit one which never quite happened:

"Lukas konnte sich nicht vorstellen, worüber sie sprachen, er konnte sich nicht erinnern, worüber Franziska die ganze Zeit mit ihm gesprochen hatte.  Irgendwann würde sie nichts mehr zu erzählen wissen.  Vielleicht war das der Moment, in dem man sich küsste.  Bevor man sich küsste, musste man still sein."
'Männer und Knaben', p.113 (Fischer Verlag, 2009)

"Lukas couldn't imagine what they had talked about, he couldn't remember what Franziska had talked to him about the whole time.  At some point, she must have run out of things to say.  Perhaps that was the moment in which you were supposed to kiss.  Before you kissed, you had to be silent." (My translation)

Regrets - he has a few...

Several stories also look at the distance which exists between two people, a gap which can never quite be bridged.  The first story, 'Die Erwartung' ('Expectations'), looks at a relationship between two neighbours, one which somehow never manages to get off the ground.  There's something not quite right about the man, and the interaction between the couple is stilted (and slightly creepy...).  In 'Fremdkörper' ('A Foreign Body'), this sense of unease is heightened when a cave explorer spends an unusual evening with a couple he's just met.  Even in a moment of intimacy, Stamm uses the subjunctive, indirect speech to create a sense of distance.

"Das mache nichts, sagte sie.  Das könne jedem passieren."
('Fremdkörper', p.33)

"She said that it didn't matter. That it could happen to anyone."

It's a structure that's more common in German than English, but I always feel that Stamm uses it deliberately to create a wall between the reader and the narrator - and the narrator and the people they are interacting with.

Stamm also explores the effect of traumatic events from the past on the present.  'Videocity' is a short piece which shows how a video shop owner has been crushed by the loss of his mother at an early age, and in 'Der Brief' ('The Letter') a widow finds out about her dead husband's infidelities and wonders how she should react to the discovery.  Perhaps the most disturbing of these stories though is 'Drei Schwestern' ('Three Sisters'), in which a housewife with a passion for art is bored, trapped at home with her son.  It is only when we travel back into her past that we realise why we should sympathise - and how many people have conspired to bring her to her current state...

Of course, there's always room, and time, to turn your life around, and two of the better stories look at this idea of a tipping point.  In 'Der Befund' ('The Result'), a man waits for his biopsy results, using the time alone working the night shift at a hotel to work out what he wants from life.  The title story, 'Wir Fliegen' ('We're Flying'), also follows this thought, with a childcare worker forced to care for a child after hours seeing her partner through new eyes - and it's not a pretty picture.

There's not a lot of hope and joy in the collection, but there is a kind of light at the end of the tunnel.  The penultimate story, 'Kinder Gottes' ('Children of God')  involves a priest in a small town somewhere (anywhere) in Central Europe.  When a young woman falls pregnant, claiming never to have had sex, the town initially scoffs.  However, the priest, an outsider, begins to wonder...  Could this really be an immaculate conception - the second coming in his parish?  The story has all the signs of an impending disaster, but it actually provides a happy ending for the collection as a whole.  People want to believe, and it really could happen...

Overall, I found Wir Fliegen enjoyable, and there's definitely enough there to make me come back for another look at Stamm's shorter writing.  Despite the piles of books mounting in my study, I feel another (virtual) trip to The Book Depository coming on...

*****
An English-language version, We're Flying (translated by Michael Hoffman), is available from Granta Books (UK)/ Other Press (US)

'Bozena' by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (Review)

German Literature Month is back with another female writer today, one whose work I've tried (and enjoyed) before.  It's another piece of classic G-Lit, but the bus is taking us further afield for this work - we're off to Slovakia...

*****
Božena was 'Austrian' writer Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach's first major success.  It's set in a provincial town in Slovakia (at the time, part of the Austrian Empire), and it's the tale of the fortunes of the family of a wine merchant, Herr Heißenstein.  After his first wife dies, leaving him with a daughter but no son, he remarries in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to provide himself with a male heir.  Instead, he gains another daughter, and when the old man dies, the outlook is bleak for the elder daughter with a nasty step-mother around.  However, the girl does have someone on her side...

That someone is Božena, the housekeeper, an attractive woman who also happens to be rather big and strong (in my head she was a dead ringer for Xena, Warrior Princess...).  Božena is hard-working and fiercely protective of Rosa, and when her poor girl passes away later in the story, the housekeeper also takes care of Rosa's daughter, Röschen.  With wicked step-mothers, gigantic housekeepers and girls named after flowers, the novel has a decided fairy-tale feel to it: but will there be a happy ending?

Despite the title of the book, the main focus (eventually) is on Regula, the younger Heißenstein daughter, and her niece, Röschen.  Once the elder generation is out of the way, the story hinges on the rather plain and dull woman's attempt to have her wealth snare her a desirable husband, all the time attempting to treat her niece as poorly as possible without affecting her public image of a kind, gracious lady.  The problem is that handsome young men are more inclined to chase pretty faces than ugly purses, and Röschen is very attractive indeed...

The novel is set in the middle of the nineteenth century, a time of social unrest and revolutions:

"Die Revolution ging indessen unaufhaltsam ihren Gang.  Pöbelunruhen in Wien, Bürgerkrieg in Ungarn, die Oktobertage, die Abreise der kaiserlichen Familie nach Olmütz, die Desertion der Tschechen aus dem Reichstage..."

"Meanwhile, the revolution went unstoppably on its way.  Popular unrest in Vienna, civil war in Hungary, the October Days, the departure of the Imperial family for Olmütz, the desertion of the Czechs from the parliament..." (my translation)

These events have several serious consequences for the characters of the novel.  For one thing, Rosa's husband is a soldier, and he is to be sent off into these lengthy and dangerous conflicts taking place in Central Europe.  In a wider sense, the unrest affects the social stability of the region, leading to the rise of the merchant classes and the poverty of nobles - a state of affairs which allows Regula to dream of her alliance.

Božena is a big personality and a great creation, even if she disappears a little from the story at times.  Her strength and honesty are crucial to the plot, and even the moment of her greatest disgrace serves to push the story along, showing as it does her unswerving honesty.  Despite her flaws and low standing, she is not a woman to be crossed lightly - even the men fear her for her fiery temper and her powerful presence.

There is also an impressive cast of bit parts to complement the main characters.  The professor who falls in love with the plain Regula, a man who can't help being attracted to the plain, dull head of the household, is great comic value.  Božena also has a (platonic) admirer in Mansuet Weberlein, Herr Heißenstein's right-hand man, and Weberlein is vital in holding things together when the wine merchant disowns his daughter.

As in Das Gemeindekind (The Parrish Child), the first book I tried by this writer, the story betrays constant touches of humour, especially sarcasm.  A nice example of the light tone is shown in the description of Heißenstein's first meeting with Nannette, where she:

"...enteilte mit so gleichmäßigen kleinen Schritten, daß es war, als rolle sie auf unsichtbaren Rädern über den Kies des Weges dahin."

"...hurried away with such even little steps that it was as if she were rolling away across the gravel on invisible wheels."

This eye for detail is constant throughout the book, although Ebner-Eschenbach can be a lot more cutting on occasion.

To be honest, Božena is not nearly as good as Das Gemeindekind though.  It's fairly predictable, and we always know where we're going, with the plot just plodding along at one pace.  The writing rarely stops to reflect on what's happening, and the story is far too plot-driven, leaving reflection and detail aside.  There's also the rather clichéd step-mother trope, which doesn't exactly leave us wondering where the story's heading...

This book was written eleven years before Das Gemeindekind, and I could really see the difference and the development shown in the later work.  While Božena is enjoyable in parts, it's really a fairly slight work, one that only the purists are likely to read.  Still, there's enough in Ebner-Eschenbach's style to have me trying another work at some point - and I'll be looking for a later novel to see if my hunch is right :)

*****
As far as I can see, Božena isn't available in English.  In fact, I'm not sure if there is anything of Ebner-Eschenbach's work readily available in translation...