Robert Seethaler: The Café Without a Name
Robert Seethaler's novel reads like a love letter to storytelling, in which the power of words seems more important than a convoluted plot: It is 1966 in Vienna, and young Robert Simon has had enough of working as a temporary laborer at the Karmeliter Market. When he notices an empty venue near the market, his decision is clear: he wants to open a café, which remains nameless due to a lack of original ideas.
This detail alone reflects the essence of the story, which doesn't concern itself with adventurous storytelling but instead celebrates the powerful simplicity of language. Not much happens, yet it is never boring: We accompany Robert Simon to his café, smell the spicy punch scent in winter, feel the heat bubbling in summer, and meet a parade of colorful characters who breathe life into the narrative: Boxers and fishmongers, master butchers and gasworks cashiers sit at the tables and bar, drinking plum brandy and cold beer, playing cards and sharing their stories. It is precisely these stories that make the novel so heartwarming. Seethaler tells of failed existences, fine ladies and alcoholics, athletes and snobs, lovable madmen and madly in love individuals. His almost old-fashioned language recalls storytelling traditions of the 20th century – just much more streamlined and thus wonderfully light. It feels good to read clearly defined characters instead of complex psychograms: "A huge man appeared in the doorway, his short black hair uncombed, his nose broken, above it small, watery blue eyes […] a hero in short silk shorts, in whose skin, glistening with sweat and oil, the sun reflected." Guaranteed head cinema.
Robert Seethaler lives in Berlin and Vienna and enjoys international renown as an author for his popular successes like "The Traficant" and "A Whole Life." His books have been translated into over 40 languages. The Café Without a Name has been published by Claasen and has 288 pages.
Rebecca F. Kuang: Yellowface
What happens before a new book lands on our nightstand is unclear to many of us. The publishing world is a mystery. Rebecca F. Kuang's freshly released novel "Yellowface" opens the door for us, letting us into the world of the book industry. It illustrates what young authors endure to land the hit DEBUT that we finally hold in our hands. "Yellowface" is therefore, in a way, a meta-novel. The story of the story.
June Hayward is a young author in Washington whose first novel was a flop. In stark contrast to the books of her classmate Athena Liu, with whom she is not really friends but habitually goes out for cocktails. Athena is already a star in the literary scene; she has the better publishing house, the better agency, the better Instagram community, and above all – the better stories. When Athena dies an absurd choking death before June's eyes, June impulsively acts: she steals Athena's manuscript for "The Last Front," a novel about Chinese labor corps in World War I and later submits it, revised, as her own. The success is overwhelming – as is the shitstorm. June is accused not only of cultural appropriation of a Chinese story, but suddenly rumors also arise that "The Last Front" is not even hers. With this original story, Rebecca F. Kuang has crafted a plot that makes the novel a brilliant page-turner – one urgently wants to know if the secret will be revealed. In doing so, the author skillfully weaves in essential discourses of the current art scene: What does it mean to be at the mercy of a shitstorm on social media? What pressure is one subjected to? Who is a friend, who is an enemy? What can one write about and, above all: How far is one willing to go?
Rebecca F. Kuang is a New York Times bestselling author and has received multiple awards for her work. "Yellowface" has been published by Eichborn and has 383 pages.
Sina Scherzant: On the Day of the Apocalypse, the Wolf Swallowed the Sun
There are many coming-of-age novels. However, when searching for a female teenage protagonist, the selection gets thinner. In her debut novel (here's an interview with her), Sina Scherzant places such a protagonist in the spotlight, recounting her puberty in the 2000s in Dortmund. A must-read for all millennials from the Ruhr area. Bro'Sis, Big Brother, and BVB references guaranteed!
Katha is 14 years old when her parents separate, and she moves to Dortmund with her mother and little sister in 2003. The fact that she could not save the marriage and that her sister revolts against the new situation saddens Katha, the self-proclaimed "life craftsman" who always wants to please everyone but does not want to take up too much space. Through her adaptability, she quickly makes friends at school and becomes part of a girls' clique. The one in charge is especially the tough Sofie: they summon ghosts, secretly smoke cigarettes behind the sports hall, and coolly ignore their female teachers. But, of course, all this coolness is just a facade. The adult Katha knows this. She tells the story retrospectively and organizes her memories, knowing today that hair stubble in the bikini area should not be a reason for shameful visits to the public swimming pool. And that she was not to blame for her crush brutally penetrating her with his finger.
It is the feminist perspective on a female protagonist in her teenage years that makes the novel so special. This feminist undertone resonates throughout without ever being overwhelming. In the story, it primarily finds its literary expression in the character Angelica: "Lica" is Sofie's mother and lives the life of an independent lesbian woman in a kind of Petterson-and-Findus oasis amidst the concrete gray of Dortmund. She becomes Katha's role model, her mother's substitute, providing her with loving wisdom. When Lica ultimately receives a tragic diagnosis, Katha's life is shaken by an emotional earthquake that is hard to put into words. Scherzant finds a humorous yet highly sensitive language for her novel, sensitively recalling concerns between Gillette advertisements and the Male Gaze.
Sina Scherzant, born in 1991 in the Ruhr area, is a podcaster, screenwriter, and the person behind the comedy account "alman_memes2.0" on Instagram. Her debut novel "On the Day of the Apocalypse, the Wolf Swallowed the Sun" is published by park x ullstein and has 368 pages.
