So German!
Apr 23, 2018 - Elena Ricarda Fellner for SoGerman
Today on World Book Day, we will start a new series on German books to cross off your bucket list. Each post will feature a themed list of books of one genre or for a specific occasion that we highly recommend you read or give to someone else as a present. But for starters, allow me to introduce you to some of my all-time favorite German books. Spoiler-free – I promise.
English title: The Mirrorworld Series
Genre: Fantasy, fairytales for adults
First published: 2010 – ongoing
Look up again. Did you notice the “ongoing”? Consider yourself warned. This series contains three books so far, and every single one of them ends on one of the meanest cliffhangers I’ve ever had the misfortune to come across. They’re set in two interconnected worlds at once (hence the term mirrorworld): 21st century America as we know it, and a magical version of Europe sometime around the year 1900. The main characters Jacob and Fuchs are treasure hunters, an occupation that has made them famous and infamous, hunted and sought-after among the mighty of the Mirrorworld in equal parts. It’s a dangerous life, with mythological creatures lurking in the darkest parts of the forest and the two major species and various kingdoms constantly at each other’s throats, but Jacob and Fuchs are professionals and they manage – until one day Jacob’s younger brother Will stumbles into the Mirrorworld and sets events in motion whose consequences still ripple through the narrative three books later.
Cornelia Funke’s writing style is very lyrical, with many images and allegories, and probably not for everybody. It may take some getting used to, but believe me, it’s worth it. These books are darker than most of her other novels geared towards a younger audience, full of sadness and longing and nostalgia for a world of magic and wonders that is slowly being pushed aside in favor of machines and progress. The characters are older, less certain of themselves and the world, and all drifting in some way or another, but that makes their relationships and interactions with each other all the more interesting, especially for an adult audience. The fairytales that the author works into the narrative fit this atmosphere: these are the old versions of popular fairy tales, the ones to scare children rather than put them to sleep. And she doesn’t confine herself to the standard repertoire: The third book in the series, for example, is all about Slavic mythology, and the fourth is said to explore Japanese lore. Last but not least, they come with beautiful, hand-drawn illustrations that make this series even more magical.
English title: Look who’s back
Genre: Political Satire
First published: 2012
The setting of this book sounds as absurd as it is brilliant. Imagine this: Adolf Hitler wakes up in a dilapidated backyard, somewhere in Berlin in the 21st century, right where his bunker once stood. No questions asked, no explanations given. He doesn’t hide who he is – in fact, he insists upon being called by his own name and title – but nobody takes him seriously. Everyone he meets thinks he’s a brilliant impostor, a provocative new comedian, and his misanthropic views just part of the role. So, they let him into their TV studios, their newspapers, their social media channels, where he goes on to bewitch his audience’s hearts and minds once again.
At times, this book is excruciatingly funny because of the sheer absurdity of the situation and the author’s brilliance in incorporating different dialects and speech patterns – but mostly it’s plain creepy. The accuracy with which the author characterizes today’s media-crazed society and its susceptibility to populism is astounding. It also makes you painfully aware that a phenomenon like Hitler is not bound to a specific context, but can happen anytime anywhere, which is why no one is ever excused from staying alert and fighting it. This book feels very relevant to the present age in that it shows how populism works and which role we as makers and consumers of media play in providing it with a stage. The ending is quite open, and I promised no spoilers, so I’ll leave it at this: it’s not optimistic.
English title: Rumo and his miraculous adventures
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
First published: 2003
Walter Moers is one of those authors with whom you get the feeling that they tell stories not so much from a world of their own creation, but from a real one that they happen to be in contact with. Walter Moers’ world is called Zamonien, and most of his novels of the last 20 years are set there, including this one. Its protagonist is a talking dog named Rumo, and his story is the classic hero’s journey: there are mentor figures, lost and found homes, a mystery to be solved, a mad king to be defeated, a love to be lived, and lots of adventures along the way. Plus, it has one of the sweetest endings I have ever read, which I would love to quote here, but again, spoilers. Just go read the book yourself.
There were two things I especially loved about this book. First, the illustrations. The author does them himself, and they’re not only beautiful but also very useful for people like me who sometimes tend to skip descriptions of the character’s appearance. Especially in this one, where some characters have an unorthodox number of limbs and you’re not always sure where they all go. Second, the world building. When you read this book, you get the feeling that the author was so overflowing with stories he wanted to tell that he couldn’t keep it all in – he just had to incorporate them somewhere. Which is how he ended up with a book that tells one major story and touches on a dozen more that just add to the opulence of this world.
English title: Limit
Genre: Science-Fiction, Thriller
First Published: 2009
Frank Schätzing is known in Germany for his huge books that feature a wealth of different characters and settings, and a number of scientific details that makes you wonder where reality ends and fiction begins. They follow the same structure as a disaster movie: the first half gives you this uneasy feeling you get when you know something’s up, but not exactly what, and no one else realizes – and then suddenly all the pieces come together and all hell breaks loose. This one doesn’t disappoint: its two main threads follow a group of billionaires on the first commercial trip to a hotel on the moon after a groundbreaking scientific discovery, and a detective hunting for a missing girl who stumbled across the wrong secret. As the narrative progresses, the latter two slowly uncover a conspiracy that threatens not only the moon’s very first tourists but the future of the entire planet.
I’ve got to say, this book is a commitment, simply because it’s so incredibly long. On the other hand, if you make it through the first 100-200 pages, you get some prime action scenes, lots of characters that you love to hate, a conspiracy that will make you want to draw charts, and a healthy dose of well-researched facts from fields as diverse as astrophysics and Chinese history of the last century. It’s one of those books that, if it ever gets turned into a movie, will be directed by someone like Roland Emmerich or Steven Spielberg, with an epic score and Oscar-worthy special effects, and that will be the one movie of the year everyone can’t wait to see.
We’ll present more German page-turners in May.
