In order to keep my German=language skills sharp, I'm planning to order some novels from Germany... The problem is that I'm not familiar with the literary landscape over there (outside of the classics). In a nutshell, I'm looking for entertaining reads and genre is not a factor. ie. pageturners. Please let me know what books or authors you recommend and a little about why you recommend them. Thanks!
D S
Favorite Answer
Since you have not indicated age or previously read books or anything else, it is very difficult to recommend 'page turners'.
The other question is what books you actually can get your hands on outside of Germany.
Lebenserinnerungen einer Bäuerin Wimschneider, Anna
Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein Simmel, Johannes Mario
Die Feuerzangenbowle: Eine Lausbüberei in der Kleinstadt Spoerl, Heinrich
Der Hauptmann von Köpenick. Ein deutsches Märchen in drei Akten. Zuckmayer, Carl
Der Besuch Der Alten Dame Dürrenmatt, Friedrich
Proper Literature:
Anything by:
Heinrich Mann
Thomas Mann
Hermann Hesse
Siegfried Lenz
Heinrich Boell
Friedrich Duerematt
Martin Walser
has kept me turning the pages in the past.
There is a free community website called goodreads.com. There you get book descriptions, reviews by readers and recommendation what else to read. Check out their German section to get an idea of what the authors and books are all about.
More modern books have been mentioned above but very few are actually worthwhile reading in my mind:
Patrick Suesskind
Bernhard Schlink
Daniela Kehlmann
are ok, easy reading but not must reads.
Adamo
Sven Regener's novel "Herr Lehmann"
Patrick Suskin: "Perfume"
Robert Lohr: "Der Schachautomat" ("The Chess Automat")
Bernard Schlink's novel "The Reader"
"Die Vermessung der Welt" ("The Measurement of the World"), a historical novel by Daniel Kehlmann, wound around the 19th-century lives of a mathematician and an explorer, has been bought by publishers in most of Europe and in North America. Perhaps less surprising, Michael Wallner's "April in Paris," a polished story of love between a German soldier and a French resistance fighter in World War II, has also been sold abroad.
Arno Geiger, a 37-year-old Austrian, won for his novel "Es Geht Uns Gut" ("We're Doing Well"), a tale of a fractured family in postwar Vienna.
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Some years ago I read several novels by a writer named Lion Feuchtwanger. They were translated into English -- unlike you, I am clueless about the German language. I'm sure they would be even better in the writer's original language, untranslated. Anyway, I was so impressed with Feuchtwanger's novels, I read every one of the several that were in the library where I lived at the time. They were set in the mid-20th century, and dealt with issues faced by ordinary people (are there any such creatures, really?) facing the tough issues of their lives. If you are not familiar with Feuchtwanger, you can check him out in Wikipedia, and see if you think his work would spark your interest. Good luck!
Amy
I have a German copy of Paulo Coelho's novel The Alchemist. It is one of my favorite books.