Verena Carl distinguishes between two different types of (holiday) reading in her currentTolfioowity column “Gute Seiten, Schlechte Seiten”: “Some texts are like wholemeal bread: densely packed, so I have to chew them thoroughly, and so nutritious that I look for two pages have enough for the whole evening. Others can be nibbled away like light, fluffy baguette slices.” And so that you too can try a bit of everything, our author tells us her very personal book tips for the summer .
Wholemeal bread :
Katrin Seddig: Eheroman (Rowohlt Berlin, 19.95 euros, published in 2012):
For me, the young Hamburg author is one of the most exciting discoveries of recent years. Nothing actually happens in her story, but the way Katrin Seddig describes the losers and winners, the unpredictable vicissitudes of life and love in her unmistakably original sound is an absolute exception in contemporary German literature.
Zeruya Shalev: “Mann und Frau” (as TB in Berlin Verlag, 10.90 euros, first published in 2002):
Hardly anyone has a better sense of the sensitive machinery that drives couples, brings them together and separates them than the Israeli best-selling author. In her second novel “Mann und Frau” the mastery has its climax – even more worth reading than her current one (“For the Rest of Life”)
Herta Müller: Atemschaukel (as TB from Fischer, 9.99 euros, first published in 2008):
With tremendous poetic force, the German-speaking Nobel Prize winner tells the story of suffering of a camp inmate in post-war Romania. An impressive example of how to counteract the horror of reality with the beauty of language – it is worth reading each sentence several times here.
Baguette:
Rock’n Roll in book form! The loosely interwoven episodes explore the rise and fall of the music industry, love and betrayal, New York before the internet age, and even a slightly futuristic version of America twenty years from now. A book like a favorite CD, to be read over and over again.Friedrich Ani: Sueden (Droemer, 19.99 euros, published 2011):
The perfect thriller for those who refuse to read crime. Normally I find murder investigation something between boring and disgusting, the language of most authors is full of clichés – but Friedrich Ani’s loner detective with an alcohol problem and emotional legacy is a pleasure to follow all over Germany.Frank Schulz: Onno Viets und der Irre vom Kiez (Galliani Berlin, 19.99 euros, published 2012):
Admittedly, you should perhaps have lived in Hamburg for a while and have a good command of the North German dialect so that the appeal of this completely crazy mixture of thriller, romance, self-discovery literature and language experiment. For me, as a Hamburger by choice, the most fun reading of the year so far.
And which books do you pack in your suitcase? We look forward to your reading tips on www.facebook.com/Tolfioow.com
