Comments on: Settlement, by Christoph Hein

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:11:06 +0000

Crake: I am quite interested in reading Willenbrock — while it is set in the same transitional Germany as Settlement, it apparently features a used car dealer as the central character. Shades of Rabbit Angstrom.

By: Crake

Crake — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:54:47 +0000

I was checking the Impac site and found out that Settlement was Hein’s second shortlisted novel. He had been previously shortlisted in 2005 for Willenbrock.

By: Tom Cunliffe

Tom Cunliffe — Wed, 19 May 2010 06:30:10 +0000

Thanks for that Kevin. I’ll be publishing something about it in June.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:40:07 +0000

I agree, Tom — and feel that Hein has done a very good job at portraying those post-War consequences. I think you have every reason to look forward to reading the book.

By: Tom Cunliffe

Tom Cunliffe — Fri, 14 May 2010 06:57:35 +0000

I was pleased to read your review of this as I own the book and will be reading this soon. I have an interest in German fiction, and this one is unusual in dealing with the aftermath and consequences of the War, rather than dealing with its build-up or the war itself.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Thu, 13 May 2010 21:39:08 +0000

John: I do think you will enjoy it — your experience with earlier 20th century German fiction is much broader than mine, but I do think this book helps to bridge the gap between the end of WWII and the present. And I think there is a lot more to be written about that period in Eastern European history as well.

By: John Self

John Self — Thu, 13 May 2010 21:10:29 +0000

Thanks for reviewing this, Kevin. I’m normally quite big on European fiction so this title caught my eye when it was IMPAC shortlisted, though I have resisted buying it so far (even though, in a dramatic break with tradition for a book which isn’t a chart title or chicklit, my local bookstore actually has it in stock). Your recommendation is enough to overturn that caution. I look forward to reading it.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:50:00 +0000

Alison: I’m also very interested in his 2000 novel, Willenbrock, another post-unification novel, this one featuring a used-car dealer, another East German for whom things go wrong. I’m pretty sure Updike’s Rabbit books are the only other novels I have read that feature a car dealer.

By: alison

alison — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:38:25 +0000

Thanks for the excellent review. I am also very intersted in the former east germany and look forward to reading this book.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:59:49 +0000

Max: The publisher is Metropolitan Books which is an imprint of Henry Holt which is a subsidiary of Macmillan. A quick scan of their website seems to indicate they specialize in international affairs, mainly non-fiction (actually I didn’t see another novel). This is a very handsome (but hardback) volume — the design, typography and physical production are all excellent.

I wouldn’t rush out to buy it but the next time you have a file with German connections you might want to contemplate giving it a try. While the individual characterization and experience is the strongest part of the book, you can’t help but think what the disruption, not just of the war but its terrible aftermath, produced in the Germany of today. Which is, of course, playing out in the latest Euro-crisis and the recent German elections. In that sense, I think this is a very timely novel even if it was written a few years ago.