“The world is a stage, and every man plays his part.” Book One: Simplicius’ Early Life The story begins with Simplicius, a naive peasant boy living in the […]
German literature
Hyperion
“But the heavenly ones, they always send the youth forth into life, and smile upon him, and give him companions, and soon he is alone, and goes his […]
German literature
The German Lesson
“A person who doesn’t forget is like a person who carries a stone in his pocket.” Part 1: The Assignment Siggi Jepsen, a young inmate at a juvenile […]
German literature
Morenga
“The dead are not dead, they live in the living.” Morenga by Uwe Timm is a historical novel set during the Herero and Nama uprising (1904–1908) in German […]
German literature
The Invention of Curried Sausage
“Memory is like a net: one finds it full of fish when one takes it from the brook, but a hundred miles of water have run through it […]
German literature
Terror
“Must we follow the law even when it leads to injustice?” Chapter 1: The Trial Begins The novel opens in a German courtroom where Dr. Lars Koch, a […]
German literature
Guilt
“Every crime has two stories—the one the law sees and the one the criminal tells himself.” Chapter 1: The Crime The book opens with a seemingly straightforward crime: […]
German literature
The Collini Case
“Justice is truth in action.” Chapter 1: The Crime The novel opens with the brutal murder of industrialist Hans Meyer in a Berlin hotel. The killer, Fabrizio Collini, […]
German literature
Every Seventh Wave
“Sometimes the right words at the right time can change everything.” Chapter 1: Rekindling the Connection After the abrupt end to their email correspondence in Love Virtually, Emmi […]
German literature
Love Virtually
“Sometimes the most real conversations happen in the most unreal spaces.” Chapter 1: First Contact Emmi Rothner, a married woman, accidentally sends an email to Leo Leike, a […]