“Memory is a gushing fountain.” Part One: Childhood in Wasserburg The novel opens in the fictional village of Wasserburg, a small German town on Lake Constance, during the […]
German literature
Runaway Horse
“A man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings.” Chapter 1: A Seaside Vacation Helmut Halm, a middle-aged high school teacher, arrives at a […]
German literature
While We Were Dreaming
“We were young, we were wild, and we thought we’d live forever.” While We Were Dreaming follows a group of friends in Leipzig during the tumultuous years before […]
German literature
Bricks and Mortar
“Everything was different back then, but everything was the same.” Chapter Summaries Bricks and Mortar by Clemens Meyer is a fragmented, multi-perspective novel set in an unnamed German […]
German literature
Traveling on One Leg
“The border is not at the border.” Traveling on One Leg follows Irene, a young woman who flees the oppressive regime of Ceaușescu’s Romania for West Germany. Disoriented […]
German literature
Nadirs
“The village is a mouth that chews and swallows.” Nadirs (originally Niederungen) is a collection of short stories and vignettes by Herta Müller, depicting life in a rural, […]
German literature
The Hunger Angel
“Everything I have, I carry with me.” The Hunger Angel follows Leo Auberg, a young man from Romania, who is deported to a Soviet labor camp after World […]
German literature
The Appointment
“They’re always watching. Even when you think you’re alone, they’re there.” The Appointment follows a young Romanian woman, a factory worker, as she rides a tram to an […]
German literature
The Mussel Feast
“We were waiting for father, and as we waited we ate mussels.” Chapter 1: The Waiting Begins The novel opens with a mother and her two teenage children […]
German literature
The End of Days
“Every life has many possible endings, but only one true one.” Chapter 1: The Infant’s Death The novel opens in early 20th-century Galicia, where a Jewish family mourns […]