Price of the e book honest: In Leipzig, the urgent presence of the elegant escapism wins | EUROtoday

It is a pleasant thoughts recreation to think about that the books of a shortlist can be elements of a single plant written in a number of volumes. Sometimes solely nonsenses come out of it, however a number of the fiction titles nominated this spring for the value of the Leipzig Book Fair, however when studying it was so astonishing similarities and left that one might nearly think about that any literary tremendous mind was behind it. Katrin Schumacher, MDR journalist and the jury chair, should have meant one thing like that when she mentioned to the fiction shortlist, the books appeared to “get into conversation”.

This impacts the fundamental concept of ​​interwoving two actions and on the similar time to make the boundaries of fiction and actuality to be permeable on this aspect and past a particularly authentic approach. So Wolf Haas constructed his literary excessive rope act “wobbly contact” like a kind of difficult drawings by MC Escher, through which two initially seemingly fully separate worlds merged. The historical past of the funeral speaker and Hagestolzes Franz Escher (sic!), Who is in debt the demise of an electrician, and the thrilling crime historical past of a crown witness hunted by the mafia, which is submerged in Germany that this Escher reads in a e book. Both strands prove in a virtuosity as two sides of the identical novel story, between which the reader turns backwards and forwards, by no means solely in a single and by no means within the different.

Christian Krachten “Air” is predicated on a really comparable building: Here is the extremely unemployed taste nerd Paul, an inside designer who has withdrawn on a Scottish island in entrance of the despised banal world. There is a narrative of Ildr and a mysterious stranger situated in a improbable Middle Ages who’re on the run from the cruelty of a merciless duke. And in fact the “stranger” within the parallel world is none apart from Paul. So here’s a crash-made distinction setting on the border to self-parody, a fantasy plot someplace between Game of Thrones, Arthur Epik and “Brothers Löwenherz”.

In reality, Kracht has included his e book lots of Astrid Lindgrens traditional, not least the two-world idea of his novel, which seems in Cemile Sahin’s wild motion movie travesty “Command Ajax” in Cemile Sahin’s Wild Action Film Travesty. Here it’s the nation of origin of Kurdish migrants in Turkey, a misplaced, legendary world that continues to find out the ideas and fates of the extensively branched Korkmaz household. Highly hanging, as is performed in all three novels with style fashions: at Haas the Mafia novel (not so shocking within the profitable crime author), at Kracht the fantasy and youth e book worlds (that meets the writer of the writer to trivial, black and white determine drawing), the James bond or “Mission Impossible” postal objects, Mafia-Epen à la “Scarface” and “the godfather”. At Sahin, flashbacks correspond to onerous, movie clichés between the instances and worlds, this additionally leads to a “wobbly contact” impact for the reader and a form of dialog with the past “Air”.

Decided dedicated and unironically

Almost scary {that a} third world seems in every single place, specifically artwork. Paintings play a central position in all three tales: At Haas, the puzzle of well-known works in artwork historical past and in the long run even a stolen masterpiece that was minimize into the smallest elements. At Cemile Sahin, the seller items are comprised of a legendary artwork streak behind the complete plot about order killers, revenge information and museum burglaries. And at Kracht, the surviving foremost characters find yourself in a portray, as if the more and more flattened, two -dimensional world, which complains to the uninterested in civilization Paul, was finally rescue actuality in portray.

So a lot escape of actuality was not often on a shortlist, so it appeared very appropriate when Katrin Schumacher quoted the Tocotronic track “But live here, no thanks”. So all world loss and escapism in Leipzig, of all issues in these instances? It was in all probability a bit queasy for the jurors, given the sign, which is probably emitted by the e book honest. Instead, Kristine Bilkaus Mother-Daughter novel “Peninsula” then received a e book that was most concrete to Schumacher’s demand for “contemporary” books: The psychological collapse of her grownup daughter confronts the narrator together with her personal un-unpleasant previous, the demise of the husband, and together with her unclear future.

Even on this quiet, compared to the favorites akin to Haas or Kracht unspectacular e book, there’s a (pure) portray in a outstanding place, nevertheless it serves extra to set off or additionally the factor of a world. In her fainting assault throughout an activistly dedicated lecture on local weather change, it’s unintentionally broken by the daughter, which isn’t with out penalties. As Climate fiction Can one describe this story and, in contrast to the misanthropic ice world Christian Krachten, as a devoted dedicated and unironian variant. “Escapism was not so elegant for a long time,” Juror David Hugendick had aptly mentioned. This escapism in fact was rejected, the magnificence too. And final however not least, the joke that may be discovered above all, however not solely in Haas’ e book.

One might additionally say that probably the most bitterly heard questions have (or once more) prevailed in opposition to the re -strengthening pattern in direction of creative play and lustful self -logic of aesthetics. The impression elevated by the choices within the different two classes: In the non-fiction e book, Irina Rastorguevas received analysis of the true present Putinism in “Pop-up propaganda. Epicrise of Russian self-poisoning”. As a translator, Thomas Weller was awarded for the primary time to switch the eyewitness reviews of Nazi crimes in Belarus to German. All jurors appeared overwhelmed by the stunning content material of the “Feuerdörfer”. And all three award winners of their acceptance speeches made the sheet to the assorted crises of our time, from the Ukraine warfare to the AfD’s falsifications.

The Kristine Bilkau, born in Hamburg, born in 1974 and already very profitable with earlier works, broke a lance for the younger technology. While “we older” has been defending a world filled with crises for a very good decade, this everlasting disaster is the one world of world that youthful folks would know in any respect. It was tough to contradict that. Your e book is due to this fact additionally extremely really helpful – as a intelligent touch upon the established order and the present challenges for all generations. However, whether or not this narrative, in sound, setting and subject of Judith Hermann’s most up-to-date novel “Dausheim”, actually deserves this prize in view of such sturdy competitors might be a query of primary aesthetic settings and reader expectations. The e book commerce will like it.