Ewald Arenz: "The Great Summer"
In Ewald Arenz's "The Great Summer," the book title is the program. When you read this novel, you smell sunscreen, chive bread, the outdoor pool, and freshly mown grass, and hear the swifts calling. This is not least due to Arenz's characteristic narrative style, with which he describes sensory impressions in such detail that you feel as if you are part of the story: "It was mild, and above all it smelled good everywhere, quite different than during the day. The smell of earth at the cemetery and a little of the bitter aroma of the chestnut leaves, which already reminded me of autumn. It’s nice to drive through such a scent on a summer night," reflects the first-person narrator Frieder, for whom this summer is going quite differently than planned. Because he has failed Latin and Math and has to take resits, the family vacation this year is off for him. Instead: studying at Grandma Nana's and the rooty grandfather, also called "Professor" – a nightmare for the teenager. But fortunately, he has his best friend Johann and his sister Alma. And then there is Beate. Beate, in her bottle-green swimsuit, who twists Frieder’s head with her challenging demeanor between diving into the pool and underwater kissing. Everything could be so easy – if there weren’t an end in every beginning ...
A coming-of-age story in the shadow of birches and planes with the scent of linden trees, encountering all the great themes with ease: love, friendship, and also death.
"The Great Summer" has been published by Dumont and has 320 pages. In September, Arenz's new novel "Two Lives" will be released, with which he will also embark on a reading tour to NRW.
