German Literature Month X11 is nearly here!

It’s the end of October and German Literature Month XII is happily almost upon us. Now, though I may be tardy in setting out my reading stall, I have in fact been mulling over my selected reads for a little while now. I’m following the suggested scheme set out by Lizzy in her blog, Lizzy’s Literary Life, and here’s the plan:

November 1-7 First time for everything.

I’m going to read Yael Inokai’s book Ein Simpler Eingriff. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and was the novel that most appealed to me this year from the German Book Prize 2022 longlist. Then I’m reading Dunkelblum by Eva Menasse, again, a new author for me, though she’s been in my sights for a while: I remember browsing her book Wien while in that city, and this one comes heartily recommended by a German and an Austrian friend.

November 8-14 Second helpings.

For this I’m going back to Theodor Storm. I plan to read Grieshus in the great Angel Classics edition translated by Denis Jackson. I hugely enjoyed The Dykemaster in this edition, with its helpful maps and introduction. The second return is to Katerina Poladjan  whose book Zukunftsmusik, shortlisted for the Leipzig Book Prize 2022 I really enjoyed earlier this year.  This time I’ll read In einer Nacht, woanders, about the protagonist’s return to her grandmother’s house in Russia.

November 15-21 Firm favourites

Now I’m returning to Christa Wolf. I’ve still only touched the surface of her work but have read, enjoyed and reviewed der geteilte Himmel, Nachdenken ueber Christa T. and the short story collection August. This time I’m going to her work Kassandra, because it fits in with another of my current reading themes, the reworking of classics by women writers, focussing on the women’s stories. Natalie Haynes’s A Thousand Ships has a chapter on Cassandra. (Not to mention Florence and the Machine, whose new album Dance Fever features the song Cassandra). Clearly she continues to capture the imagination and I’m curious to read how Christa Wolf sees her story.

November 22-28 Something different

I’ll be getting out of the comfort zone by reading a different genre. I’m going to reread Brecht’s die Dreigroschenoper. This is because I had the incredible good fortune to see a production of the opera at the Berliner Ensemble this September 22, but was ashamed to find that I’d forgotten some elements of the plot in the second half—I get too carried away with the songs.

November 29-30 Read as you please

I really doubt I’m going to get this far. If I do, the books are going to be Vielleicht Esther by Katja Petrowska, because I’m interested in family history and Ukraine/ Eastern Europe. The author was awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann-Preis for this book in 2013. And Juli Zeh’s recent novel Ueber Menschen. In fact, looking at the size of Dunkelblum, this may well all spill over into 2023, but hey, what a great way to start the New Year! See you on the other side und einen guten Rutsch!