Life Goes On

by Hans Keilson, Damion Searls (Translation)

Published when the author was just twenty-three, Life Goes On was Hans Keilson's literary debut, an extraordinary autobiographical novel that paints a dark yet illuminating portrait of Germany between the world wars. It is the story of Herr Seldersen--a Jewish store owner modeled on Keilson's father, a textile merchant and decorated World War I veteran--along with his wife and son, Albrecht, and the troubles they encounter as the German economy collapses and politics turn rancid.



The book was banned by the Nazis in 1934. Shortly afterward, following his editor's advice, Keilson emigrated to the Netherlands, where he would spend the rest of his life.

Life Goes On is an essential volume for readers of Keilson's later work. At the age of one hundred, with his one copy of the first edition of Life Goes On in hand, Keilson told The New York Times that he would love to see his first novel reissued, and translated as well. Then you would have my whole biography, he told them. He died at the age of one hundred and one.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Germany, War, World War II, Jewish

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1933

About the author

Hans Keilson is the author of Comedy in a Minor Key and The Death of the Adversary. Born in Germany in 1909, he published his first novel in 1933. During World War II he joined the Dutch resistance. Later, as a psychotherapist, he pioneered the treatment of war trauma in children. In a 2010 New York Times review, Francine Prose called Keilson a “genius” and “one of the world’s very greatest writers.” He died in 2011 at the age of 101.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/hanske...

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a very, very, very hard time reading this book. It took me about a month to read it, and I can usually finish a book of this length in about a week. I read Dr. Keilson’s Comedy in a Minor Key last year, and I enjoyed it tremendously … and finished it in about two days. Yes, it packed one heck of an emotional punch, but it didn’t cut me to the bone the way Life Goes On has.

Life Goes On – Dr. Keilson’s first novel, published when he was only 23 – is slow moving but unbelievably raw. Like his other novels, Life Goes On borrows heavily from Dr. Keilson’s real life, this time mining the struggles of ordinary people in the waning days of the Weimar Republic, shortly before the Nazis came to power. It’s a small story with a generic plot, but it’s how the story is told – and Dr. Keilson’s unique place in history from which to tell the story – that makes it memorable. There were times when I couldn’t read more than five pages before having to put the book down for a couple of days. Life Goes On is the literary equivalent of a boa constrictor, winding its way around its characters and slowly tightening around them while onlookers (the readers) are unable to stop or slow the events. There’s never a question that the end, when it finally arrives, is going to be tragic. As a reader, even though I knew it wouldn’t happen, I hoped that there would be an eleventh-hour, Capraesque reprieve (full disclosure: at one point, I so needed a saccharine sweet happily ever after that I watched The Sound of Music).

For me, knowing the events and situations about to befall the characters – and knowing how much worse things will get – is part of the story’s power, especially since the author, in 1933, didn’t know what was coming. For him, that would include the Nazis banning Life Goes On a year after its initial publication, his escape to the Netherlands and, several years later, the death of both his parents in a concentration camp. But none of that has happened yet: in Life Goes On, events seems hopeless and bleak and, the terrifying thing is, with the benefit of retrospect, things were still comparatively good compared to what is coming in the next decade.

The unknown of what will be – to say nothing of today’s economic climate – is part of the story’s power, but I don’t want to undersell Dr. Keilson’s talent at tapping into the emotions of his characters. That he would go on to work with traumatized war orphans is not surprising. The depth of understanding he shows for the human psyche is extraordinary, especially given his young age when he wrote Life Goes On. This book is not only important as a literary work, but also as a historical document of a terrifying and desolate time in human history. In telling his story, Dr. Keilson allows readers to glimpse at the powerlessness of ordinary citizens, unable to fight or even escape what was happening to them. It's a piece of emotional memory, one that can't be fully replicated in nonfiction accounts or historical fiction.

For a month, this book has dogged me, never straying far from my thoughts, no matter how much I tried. I’ve read books with more tragedy and with characters with whom I more closely connected – for that matter, I agree with some of the criticism about this book's shortcomings – but I can’t change how strongly this book grabbed me. To borrow a book title: this is, indeed, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius and, for all it has emotionally drained me over the last month (frankly, I’ve gone through break ups that left me less emotionally exhausted than this book), I’m glad I took the time to both read and finish Life Goes On. It’s not a happy book or an easy book or a perfect book, but it’s an important book, and I’m glad it’s getting, several decades later, the attention it deserves. Highly recommended.

[Bart Van Overmeire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een zeer pakkend verhaal over het Duitsland tussen de twee wereldoorlogen. Beklemmend, deprimerend doch zeer goed neergeschreven hoe een hele maatschappij langzaam maar onomkeerbaar de dieperik ingaat. U wezen gewaarschuwd, huidige maatschappij.

'Als mijn vader blij is, huilt hij, niet zozeer van louter geluk maar eerder omdat hij op zo'n moment des te beter beseft hoe ongelukkig hij is.'

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can not review this book, I find it too painful. Much of my Father's extended family was lost in the German concentration camps. Many relatives went through the painful post WWI years.

We have also seen the changing economic model of the US job market and the uncertainty of our future. I find many parallels to this book. I gave this book 3 stars, not because I enjoyed it, but because it was a well written documentation of the times.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the words of the late author Hans Keilson (as per the afterword), this book tells the story of an independent small businessman and his economic downfall, set in the political, social, and economic upheaval of the years after the First World War, the period of the Weimar Republic, the hyperinflation, and the rise of National Socialism.

What made this book come alive for me was attending a seminar and learning about Germany during the Weimar Republic, German elections, and Hitler's consolidation of power.

The book is anchored in a specific time period, but its philosophical underpinnings are timeless.

Some selected quotes:

"...bearer of traditions in an era that had lost its guiding threads, or actually torn them apart on purpose. These traditions had lasted centuries, and had once seemed permanent and enduring, but had now, apparently, lost their validity."

"Being content with what you have, living your life as the times require, simply and without making great demands - that was important too, and honorable, just as bringing your little ship safely into port is under healthier, more straightforward conditions."

"Today only someone with capital behind him can survive, everyone else is going to go under."

"...the infinite tragedy that comes from being condemned to act in the world while the spirit is already redeemed."

"They were on a huge carousel that turned, turned, without stopping, and anyone who wanted to get off did so at his own risk."

In light of current political and economic conditions, this book is timely as ever.

[Janneke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het verhaal gaat over de gymnasiast Albrecht. Hij woont in een stadje in Duitsland. Het verhaal speelt zich af een jaar of 4 na WO I. De tijden worden steeds slechter, steeds meer mensen worden werkloos. Dit merkt ook de vader van Albrecht, meneer Seldersen die een winkel heeft met kleding, fournituren e.d.
Doordat zijn klanten steeds minder te besteden hebben, kan ook meneer Seldersen zijn schuldeisers maar nauwelijks betalen. Een aantal jaren weet hij nog met veel kunst- en vliegwerk het hoofd boven water te houden. Hij wil dit koste wat kost volhouden om Albrecht te kunnen laten studeren. Albrecht gaat ook naar Berlijn, maar komt daar nauwelijks aan studeren toe omdat hij ook moet bijverdienen.
Het leven in Berlijn drukt Albrecht met de neus op de feiten. Hij leeft in een wereld die steeds minder goed functioneert. Als uiteindelijk zijn beste vriend Fritz zelfmoord pleegt, omdat hij geen werk kan vinden, en zijn vader failliet gaat, besluit Albrecht in de politiek te gaan.
Een boeiend boek over wat de neergang van de maatschappij, zowel economisch als sociaal, doet met een jongeman die nog zijn weg moet vinden.

[K C · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most depressing books I've ever read. Written in pre-Hitler Germany and set at the same time and location, it tells the story of a late middle-aged shopowner trying to keep his head above water and live a normal life uninvolved with the politics and sociology of the day, while all around him is falling apart. Shows how isolation is almost impossible in a completely interdependent world, with lessons for today.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. First published in German in 1933, then banned by the Nazis in 1934, this novel has just appeared in English recently. The tale of a family and their hardships during the hyper-inflationary period and high unemployment following World War I, it looks at the same world as Hans Fallada's Wolf Among Wolves and Little Man, What Now? (though without the humor of the latter). Keilson was only in his early 20s when the book was written, so it's an impressive achievement.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Everything was coming slowly apart…" "You could wait and see - that was it, wait and see how things turned out."
Hyper-inflation, unemployment, bankruptcy, social and political chaos. The Weimar Republic, between the two World Wars; a time when traditions that had lasted centuries and had once seemed permanent and enduring now seemed to lose their validity.

[DeWereldvanKaat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het leven gaat verder' van Hans Keilson werd na uitgave snel als verboden boek gelabeld door Duitsland. Gepubliceerd in 1933, zagen ze er er een gevaarlijk boek in.
Duitsland gaat - net als overigens de hele wereld gebukt onder de recessie.
In dit boek volgen we het dagelijkse leven van het gezin Seldersen. De man heeft een winkel waar hij met hart en ziel voor werkt.
Door de economische situatie moeten echter steeds meer mensen of afbetaling kopen, meestal lukt het zelfs niet om het ooit helemaal te betalen.
Wat volgt is een onvermijdelijk dominospel, ook Sedersen raakt in financiële problemen, hij voelt de hete adem van zijn leveranciers waar hij ook op krediet koopt.
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Het boek is sober geschreven, er gebeurt weinig, maar daardoor is het des te beklemmend. Je voelt hoe iedereen werkelijk vastzit, ondanks hopeloze pogingen. Een hele maatschappij waarin geen hoop is. Leven dat samenvalt met overleven. Op de achtergrond is er sprake van rellen en leiders die opstaan, maar die komen niet expliciet aan bod.
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Hans Keilson werd door The New York Times een 'genie' genoemd, auteur Arnon Grunberg is vol lof over dit boek. Auteur Keilson stierf in 2011. Hij was van joodse komaf en verloor zijn ouders in de kampen. Pas in de 21ste eeuw, kort voor zijn dood, werd zijn werk herontdekt.
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Door dit boek te lezen voelde ik bijna aan den lijve wat het moet zijn om in een uitzichtloze maatschappij te leven en werkelijk te moeten leven zonder perspectief. Eén van de personages vlucht naar de Verenigde Staten, maar ook daar is het niet echter beter.
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Een bijzonder tijdsdocument over de periode 1925-1933. Ook al wordt het nazisme niet eens vernoemd, het geeft een duidelijk beeld over de grond waarin het wortels kon krijgen. Compleet radeloos zocht men een oplossing, wou men uit deze situatie ontsnappen. Ondertussen weten we allemaal hoe dat is afgelopen.

[Danice · Rating 5 out of 5]

The autobiographical novel reflects the time which my Jewish family members lived in Germany. One if them, Ludwig Michel, was a WW1 veteren who was forced to leave Germany and go to Belguim in 1934. The portrayal of life attempting to return to its pre-war normalcy, was meaningful to me as I have read about that time but never saw it put in a casual personal manner. I would recommend this book to anyone exploring their German Jewish family history.

[Micebyliz]

An unusual story that takes place during the period between the wars as Germany suffers economic troubles. People are not coping very well both in their homes and businesses. There are no social services to help families get through these rough times so it is relatively easy for new and draconian ideas to take hold in few years time. Everyone is looking for help and someone to blame, it's only too easy. The end is this story is ominous.

[Judith Gunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story set in Germany after the post-World War I hyperinflation has destroyed everybody's savings and portrays a family whose store is gradually failing. Depressing but enlightening. One has to admire the efforts the characters put forth to keep on eating and living.

[Pannacotta Penguin · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10
Keilson knows how to write characters that feel real. Written and set in pre-WW2 Germany as we follow a 50+ years old shopowner and his family trying to survive while all around them is falling apart.

[Bob Niemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bleak but wonderfully written - a revealing glimpse of Weimar-era Germany.

[daisy j. · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just okay.

[Jill Cordry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too depressing, but point made.

[Esmeralda Van Der Veen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een heel mooi verhaal over het leven in de moeilijke jaren in Duitsland en kracht om te overleven

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Keilson's highly-autobiographical novel -- published when he was just 23-years-old in 1933 and burned by the Nazis a year later -- is the story of one small family of merchants being slowly squeezed into financial ruin by the economic downfall in Germany between the wars. Albrecht (a thinly-veiled version of Keilson) and his mother and father struggle under crippling debt to borrow enough money to keep their small store stocked. Since their customers are also strapped for cash and borrowing on credit, the family finds themselves in the same dark hole as everyone else: they borrow items from bigger shops, selling them at a loss, and buy items on credit that their customers in turn buy on credit, thus ensuring that no one can ever dig themselves out of the hole, not matter how hard they work. As this happens, those who already have the money to survive continue to prosper -- sometimes through shady means, such as burning their own businesses for insurance settlements -- which only makes it more and more difficult for the impoverished workers to find jobs. Everyone purchases on credit, including those who are relatively financially secure, and no one has the money to pay back the loans, much less the interest.

The novel is ultimately about Albrecht's transformation from naive schoolboy to college-educated man, working as a struggling musician as he comes to embrace the leftist politics that might unite the working class against this endless cycle of exploitation and labor strife. It is a sobering, melancholy read that presents a realistic depiction of economic hardship, offering no brazen solutions or false hope. Indeed, the novel ends with Albrecht and his father continuing to struggle in Berlin, but finally acknowledging the need for solidarity with workers, as opposed to going-it-alone in the spirit of independent entrepreneurship, which had only succeeded in isolating the family from their community as everyone's finances sink.

Even before the novel was banned and burned, the publishers required Keilson to change the ending to be more ambiguous so as not to stir the wrath of the burgeoning NAZI regime. Although not a classic, the novel stands as the quiet protest of a young writer who understands that literature has the capacity to document injustice and transform the attitudes not only of those who live through difficult times, but also those generations who follow. His novel is a living document that still speaks clearly to anyone struggling in the 21st century with employment, economic inequality, and social injustice. As Keilson wrote in his afterward in 1983: "Literature is the memory of humanity. Anyone who writes remembers, and anyone who reads takes part in those experiences. Books can be reprinted. The fact is, there are archival copies of books. Not of people."

Keilson shows us that books can only go so far in preserving memory. It's up to those of us who are living to carry on the lessons and traditions of the men and women whose memories and lives are preserved in literature. Their stories live not just in the printed word, but in how we share their experiences, burdens, and joys, and in how we take up their causes during our own lives.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

“[Herr Seldersen’s] poverty had made him deaf and blind; he was excessively sensitive only within painfully narrow confines.”

This sentence, about 50 pages from the end of LIFE GOES ON, strikes me as a pretty good synopsis of the story. The Seldersens--father, mother, and teenage son Albrecht--are owners of a small shop in a small (unnamed) German town at the end of the 1920s during the economic collapse and unemployment of that era. Though the story involves a few other characters, the Seldersens are the focal point, and indeed most of the novel is very narrowly trained on their anxiety and misery. Herr Seldersen sees fewer and fewer customers in his shop, and those that do come in have to be allowed to buy on credit, when it’s obvious that their debts are unlikely ever to be repaid in full because the hard times are dragging almost everyone in his circle down. Meanwhile, Seldersen has to resort to borrowing himself in order to stock his store, knowing that his ability to repay is as dim as his customers’. He dreads the daily mail delivery, as it brings inevitable notices of overdue bills. The downward spiral for everyone concerned seems bottomless. Meanwhile, Albrecht struggles to find meaning in his life amidst the gloom and has to take jobs as an occasional musician, even though working leaves him little time and energy for his studies.

The characters ruminate continuously about their plight, regrets about the past, and fears for the future, and there is virtually no evidence that any of the political turmoil in Germany during that time (the rise of the Nazis from an obscure and fringe party to the verge of national domination, which eventually culminated when Hitler became Chancellor in 1933; the battles between Nazi SA hooligans and communists; etc.) is anything they even think about. These are not coffeehouse intellectuals discussing world events; they are lower middle class shopkeepers who can barely see their way to the next day.

This does not make for a scintillating story--in fact, it’s often quite repetitious and naturally depressing--but it seems true to the mental state of people in economic straits, whose minds beat futilely against their problems, trying to find a way out. I tend to believe that for many Germans during this period, their lives were very much like the Seldersens’.

[Marjolein Staal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik kon tot het eind aan toe niet in het boek komen. Het is zeer saai en langdradig geschreven, wat waarschijnlijk ergens wel de bedoeling is geweest van de auteur. Het verhaal ging met name over hoe de recessie na WO1 een arbeidersgezin trof, die na jarenlange trouw steeds meer moeite krijgen met hun rekeningen betalen. Voor mij persoonlijk niet heel erg boeiend om daar tot in detail over te lezen. Ik hoopte op een breder beeld van de tijdsgeest voor WO2. Maar helaas…

[Papalodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this gem in the new book section at the library.
Originally published in 1933 as Das Keben geht weiter, translated 2012 by Damion Searls.
Hans Keilson - 1909-2011. Published when Keilson was just twenty-three, his literary debut. An autobiographical novel; a portrait of Germany betwen the world wars.
The book was banned by the Nazis in 1934. Shortly afterward Keilson, following his editor's advice, emigrtated to the Netherlands, where he would spend the rest of his life.

Translators note- Shortly before his death in 2011, Keilson corresponded with Serls and told him the the publsher in 1933 had made him change the ending of the book, hoping to avoid political difficulties.

Keilson, living in Bssum, the Netherland, wrote a hort afterwoor in the Spring of 1984. An interesting, 50 year update.

Remarkably, the story does not have the writing style used eighty years ago. Several phrases, in use to this day, caught my attention. I had never heard "truth be told" until the 1990's. When I suspect it became in vogue again.
Thankfully, comments we hear the most today (like, ya know, whatever or just sayin') are missing.

In all it is a heart wrenching account of life in the '30s. It makes you wonder how things will pan out for us in the '20s...the haves and have nots.

[Elsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book. The book is a biographical novel written by Keilson after the first World War and published in 1936. It deals with two families and their associates who are suffering from the devastating economic situation in Germany which arose after the First World War. Most of the book is a plodding, depressing tale of the members of these two families and how their lives are crumbling under economic strain. It paints an unrelentingly sad picture of well-meaning, middle class members of German society who want to live, work and contribute to their society but are thwarted at every turn. Some are crushed and some survive.


The writing seems a bit didactic until the final part of the book where the author finally gives the characters a chance to verbalize their thoughts and feelings. As a result, decisions are made and, as the title states, life goes on.

I've heard a lot about what Germany was like following WWI, but this piece brings alive the cruel chipping away of the meaning of daily life and ordinary hopes and dreams. I think it helps elucidate, in a very small way, how economic pressure led to the horrific later 20th century history of Germany.

If you read this book, don't neglect the afterward written by the author - it fills in some details what would have been interesting to know while reading the book.

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know academically the events in Germany that preceded the Second World War. I know the economic fallout, and the sanctions against Germany that the Treaty of Versailles imposed. I've never read a fiction, albeit autobiographical, set in Germany during the period.

And what a grim picture it paints. The poverty, the inflation, the strikes, the unrest, the disillusionment, the suicides and the general hopelessness. It doesn't excuse the excesses of Hitler, of course. But it puts it in a very real context. I have not read Hans Keilson's follow-ups to this book. I don't know what happens, whether Herr Seldersen and his wife Trudy make it out. I hope they do, but I have the nasty feeling it's not going to end well. (duh!) I feel a certain sympathy for the poor Albrecht, an academiac and a dreamer, but what does he have at this point in Germany but to turn to politics in the hope of making things better? And knowing the party he will join is the Nazi party, and that bad goes straight to hell, is heart-wrenching to take.

I wish I had more time to spend with this novel. I rapid-read it, and I have a feeling that took something out of my experience. But it's a depressing book, and I have no wish to return to this soon.

[Linda Munro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is the single problem I have with the library as my only source of reading material; I order books and most times wait for the book (either due to the acquisition of the book or a long list of requestors before me), when it finally arrives it arrives with several other new, waiting list, seven-day books; this was one such book. I did read the book, I had to use my speed reading faculties to get through it, and I truly believe that the book needs more time spent reading it.

This book helps give a bit of insight into life in Germany from WWI through1933 (even though it was billed as a book showing what life was like in Germany between WWI & WWII, which was misleading, the book was published in 1933, the war started in 1939). I think by speed reading I missed some essential information and I regret that, but I will get this book again at a later date.

To think I almost didn’t read it because I nothiced it claimed on the back to be an autobiography, while the publishing firm had printed fiction on the top. I felf;’with such a contradiction, is it really worth reading.’ I guess I got my answer, yes!

[Katy Berman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting more from this book, but I think I will find the sequel "Death of the Adversary" more interesting. Life Goes On is an autobiographical novel about a German family struggling to survive an economic crisis in the early 1930s, just as the Nazi Party was rising to power. The book is mostly about the father, a shop owner, and his struggles with identity, pride and economic stability. He feels ashamed when his business falters as his store begins to lose customers and he must invent schemes to at least seem as though he is increasing his sales and competing with other store owners. He subsequently gets further and further into debt. Meanwhile, his wife begins to secretly go to neighbors and acquaintances for money and other needed items to maintain the household. The son finishes school and is in for a shock when he goes to Hamburg to live on his own. A friend of his also meets with adversity. This sets the stage for the unrest and disaffection of the German people as their economy crashes after World War I. The people must choose who to support: join the leftist labor movement or the national socialists.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rather sad book, about a German merchant and his family after World War I and the condition of the economy and how it affected their lives and those around them. Well written, and although it is averaging 3 1/2 stars, it still is very good, but obviously a different kind of story. I'm glad I read it.

The book was banned by the Nazis in 1934. Shortly afterward, following his editor’s advice, Keilson emigrated to the Netherlands, where he would spend the rest of his life.

Published when the author was just twenty-three, Life Goes On was Hans Keilson’s literary debut, an extraordinary autobiographical novel that paints a dark yet illuminating portrait of Germany between the world wars. It is the story of Herr Seldersen—a Jewish store owner modeled on Keilson’s father, a textile merchant and decorated World War I veteran—along with his wife and son, Albrecht, and the troubles they encounter as the German economy collapses and politics turn rancid.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow to start, slow all the way through, but it becomes increasingly gripping despite the stagnant pace to end up as a horrifying narrative of the miseries of life in Germany post-WWI. The suffering people claw their way up only to be hit with further setbacks, again and again. I just wanted Herr Seldersen to be put out of his misery far earlier. But the ultimately horrifying thing is that this is close to real life. Hans Kielson experienced this and more and fled Germany, although his parents weren't as lucky as the Seldersens and eventually died in a concentration camp.
I think the almost dull tone of the writing has something to do with translation, or translation from the hardly lively language of German. I didn't find all the characters to be well drawn, I didn't warm to Albrecht in particular although I feel I was meant to! But this was Hans Kielson's first novel after all.

A heavy read, but fantastically insightful into a particular time and place.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book as a FirstRead.

Life Goes On tells the story of the Seldersen family in post-World War I Germany. Germany is in the midst of an economic depression, and Herr Seldersen is struggling to keep his store afloat.

I had previously not given much thought to the problems Germany must have had after losing the first world war, and this book was eye-opening to the problems the average Germans faced. It makes me sad that this book is based on what actually happened to the author and his family during this time.

The book was a slow read, partially because of the depressing material and possibly partly because it's the way books were written in 1930s Germany. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy historical books, but it is definitely not a light read for those looking to be entertained.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Life Goes On", banned by the Nazis, was written when Keilson was very young(23) and it shows. This book, part memoir, is interesting because it offers us a candid picture of the economic turmoil of Germany in the early 1930's unfortunately it's just not that well written. The language is stilted especially during Albrecht's conversations with his teacher, Dr. Koster. Part of the problem may be with the translation but I suspect it's due to the youth of author. As he tries to express the angst of the young German male he falls into a trap of affected language which plagues many young writers. Overall I would recommend this book only for those who are interested in a point of view written as the events were actually unfolding. The afterword is very interesting also.