They say Germany is a hard country to read. A hard language as well, but the literature that has come of the place is spellbinding, to say the least. My experience with German Literature began when I started feasting on Franz Kafka. I think that is the beginning for everyone when it comes to German Literature, For though Kafka was Czech, he wrote in German.
The books, of course, took my breath away. From a man waking up one day realising he is a giant insect – Metamorphosis was published 100 years ago – to a man on a trial, for a crime he doesn’t know he committed, Kafka created what is often considered the foundation of modern literature.
Gunter Grass and Thomas Mann
I then realised that maybe there are more German authors out there who are as good or, dare I presume, better. After Kafka, Gunter Grass entered my life. His The Tin Drum is almost quintessentially German. The story of Oskar Matzerath, the dwarf – a clear metaphor for post-war, post-Nazi Germany, much the same way that Saleem Sinai was to represent independent India in Salam Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children – who writes his memoirs from a prison, it is remarkable for its blending of personal experience with a larger national history. The other books by Grass that you must read are Cat and Mouse, My Century and Dog Years.
German literature is possibly under-read in India. Moreoever, to many people it represents the Holocaust in one for or another. To know that that’s not the case, one writer worth going back to is Thomas Mann, who wrote before the war. His writing isn’t easily accessible, and it takes time to get into his novels, but once you do, you are captivated by the descriptions and the characters.
Mann’s books Buddenbrooks, The Magic Mountain and Death in Venice (a beautiful novella depicting, among other things, Mann’s bisexuality) are all centred in German culture that was slowly dying. Stuggle is central to this works – the mind, or the soul, and the body at war with each other.
Robert Musil and Herman Hesse
Let me know tell you something about a writer whose works are lesser known (not in literary circles, of course) - Robert Musil. The Man without Qualities, published in three volumes, is an unfinished novel. The core of this work comprises truth and opinion, and how society forms its own ideas. The book is set in the time of Austro-Hungarian monarchy’s last days. Musil worked on this one for more than twenty years, and even after 1700 pages it remained unfinished. I have always wanted to know what happens next.
Right up there in the Germal literary pantheon would be Hermann Hesse, whose Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game demonstrate his versatility. The first work, charting the spiritual journey of a man named Siddhartha in the time of the Buddha, is lyrical but profound, while the other plays tricks with your mind.
Herta Muller and Walter Moers
Unfortunately, German woman writers are not spoken off in the same breath as their male counterparts. There are Erika Mann, Hilde Domin, and Christa Reinig - all masters of the short story in their own ways. And, if you haven’t already, it is time you took to Nobel laureate Herta Muller. Muller’s writing is about totalitarian societies and ordinary men and women who have no choice but to deal with what they are surrounded by. The Land of Green Plums, The Appointment and The Passport are written most succinctly, with every word speaking to the reader.
Among contemporary writers, I am partial to Walter Moers, who is a strange mix of funny and science fiction. The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear, A Wild Ride through the Night, The City of Dreaming Books, and The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books are all weird, laugh-out-loud reads that glance obliquely at socio-political systems. His comic characters are also quite hilarious. There are three of them and my personal favourite is Adolf, die Nazisau – an interpretation of Adolf Hitler in today’s world.
German fiction is not as hard to figure and follow as it seems. It is rich with language and irony – the kind of literature that makes you stop, wonder and reflect. Spanish and Italian novels are known for their sex appeal, and the French ones, for their profundity, but German works represent a philosophical investigation of the human condition that few countries match.
Vivek Tejuja works at Flipkart and loves to recommend books.
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The books, of course, took my breath away. From a man waking up one day realising he is a giant insect – Metamorphosis was published 100 years ago – to a man on a trial, for a crime he doesn’t know he committed, Kafka created what is often considered the foundation of modern literature.
Gunter Grass and Thomas Mann
I then realised that maybe there are more German authors out there who are as good or, dare I presume, better. After Kafka, Gunter Grass entered my life. His The Tin Drum is almost quintessentially German. The story of Oskar Matzerath, the dwarf – a clear metaphor for post-war, post-Nazi Germany, much the same way that Saleem Sinai was to represent independent India in Salam Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children – who writes his memoirs from a prison, it is remarkable for its blending of personal experience with a larger national history. The other books by Grass that you must read are Cat and Mouse, My Century and Dog Years.
German literature is possibly under-read in India. Moreoever, to many people it represents the Holocaust in one for or another. To know that that’s not the case, one writer worth going back to is Thomas Mann, who wrote before the war. His writing isn’t easily accessible, and it takes time to get into his novels, but once you do, you are captivated by the descriptions and the characters.
Mann’s books Buddenbrooks, The Magic Mountain and Death in Venice (a beautiful novella depicting, among other things, Mann’s bisexuality) are all centred in German culture that was slowly dying. Stuggle is central to this works – the mind, or the soul, and the body at war with each other.
Robert Musil and Herman Hesse
Let me know tell you something about a writer whose works are lesser known (not in literary circles, of course) - Robert Musil. The Man without Qualities, published in three volumes, is an unfinished novel. The core of this work comprises truth and opinion, and how society forms its own ideas. The book is set in the time of Austro-Hungarian monarchy’s last days. Musil worked on this one for more than twenty years, and even after 1700 pages it remained unfinished. I have always wanted to know what happens next.
Right up there in the Germal literary pantheon would be Hermann Hesse, whose Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game demonstrate his versatility. The first work, charting the spiritual journey of a man named Siddhartha in the time of the Buddha, is lyrical but profound, while the other plays tricks with your mind.
Herta Muller and Walter Moers
Unfortunately, German woman writers are not spoken off in the same breath as their male counterparts. There are Erika Mann, Hilde Domin, and Christa Reinig - all masters of the short story in their own ways. And, if you haven’t already, it is time you took to Nobel laureate Herta Muller. Muller’s writing is about totalitarian societies and ordinary men and women who have no choice but to deal with what they are surrounded by. The Land of Green Plums, The Appointment and The Passport are written most succinctly, with every word speaking to the reader.
Among contemporary writers, I am partial to Walter Moers, who is a strange mix of funny and science fiction. The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear, A Wild Ride through the Night, The City of Dreaming Books, and The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books are all weird, laugh-out-loud reads that glance obliquely at socio-political systems. His comic characters are also quite hilarious. There are three of them and my personal favourite is Adolf, die Nazisau – an interpretation of Adolf Hitler in today’s world.
German fiction is not as hard to figure and follow as it seems. It is rich with language and irony – the kind of literature that makes you stop, wonder and reflect. Spanish and Italian novels are known for their sex appeal, and the French ones, for their profundity, but German works represent a philosophical investigation of the human condition that few countries match.
Vivek Tejuja works at Flipkart and loves to recommend books.