Die Erzählungen

by Siegfried Lenz

Late 20th-cnetury GERMAN-language collection of odd bits by Siegfried LENZ.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Siegfried Lenz (1926 - 2014) was a German author who wrote twelve novels and produced several collections of short stories, essays, and plays for radio and the theatre. He was awarded the Goethe Prize in Frankfurt-am-Main on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's birth. Lenz and his wife, Liselotte, also exchanged over 100 letters with Paul Celan and his wife, Gisèle Lestrange between 1952 and 1961.

Lenz was the son of a customs officer in Lyck (Elk), East Prussia. After his graduation exam in 1943, he was drafted into the navy. According to documents released in June 2007, he may have joined the Nazi party on the 12th of July 1943. Shortly before the end of World War II, he defected to Denmark, but became a prisoner of war in Schleswig-Holstein.

After his release, he attended the University of Hamburg, where he studied philosophy, English, and Literary history. His studies were cut off early, however, as he became an intern for the daily paper Die Welt, and served as its editor from 1950 to 1951. It was there he met his future wife, Liselotte (d. February 5, 2006). They were married in 1949.

Since 1951, Lenz worked as a freelance writer in Hamburg and was a member of the literature forum "Group 47." Together with Günter Grass, he became engaged with the Social Democratic Party and aided the Ostpolitik of Willy Brandt. A champion of the movement, he was invited in 1970 to the signing of the German-Polish Treaty.

Since 2003, Lenz was a visiting professor at the Düsseldorf Heinrich Heine University and a member of the organization for German orthography and proper speech.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die Erzählungen is Lenz's complete short stories -- tremendous versatility of storytelling throughout, from the compellingly dark to the very comic, from the countrified to the sophisticated. No wonder he's a household name in German literature.

For example, "Der Verzicht" tells the tale of a backwater hamlet during Nazi Germany and the undercurrents of antisemitism that allow normal people to participate in genocide. Understated, not didactic, not accusatory but neither is it forgiving.

Contrast to "Der Mann unseres Vertrauens," the comic tale of a journalist who wrecks his car because of loose goats and finds himself imprisoned by farmers for tresspassing.

The range of stories, voices, and versatility of narrative craft is superb throughout.

Highly, highly recommended not only to anyone who savors world literature but also to anyone willing to take an honest look into humanity's mirror of self-examination.

[Seingalt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me more than a year to finish this 1500-page book, not because it was any way slow but because I, with my shaky German, was slow. And although some of the stories are more memorable than others, each one was immediately intriguing. I never felt like not finishing a story. In this respect, and in many others, Lenz is a magician.

Lenz's range here is also unusual: there are stories that are very funny ("Ein geretteter Abend," "Lehmanns Erzählungen," one about a visit to a Finnish sauna, and many others), stories that are disturbing ("Ein Männerspaß," "Die Flut ist pünktlich"), and stories that are wistful and moving ("Die Ferne ist nah genug," for instance). Maybe Lenz's ironic humor is the most appealing trait of these stories; but so much else is good about them, too! Regrettably, not many of them have been published in English translation.

[Franziska Nyffenegger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich habe nicht alles gelesen und auch nicht in dieser Ausgabe, aber doch genug, um die Erzählungen für mich als bemerkenswert in Erinnerung zu behalten, insbesondere „Lukas, sanftmütiger Knecht“, eine Geschichte mit einem unvergesslichen Schluss(satz). Lenz schildert die kolonialen Verhältnisse aus der Perspektive eines weissen Farmers im Kenia der 1950er Jahre auf eine Art und Weise, wie ich es zuvor noch nicht gesehen habe. Show, don‘t tell at its best, somehow.

[Carmen Díaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein grosses Buch mit 150 kleinen Geschichten. Man taucht ein in seine Worte und genießt das Werk. Wunderbar!

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Na 19 jaar nu eindelijk het laatste van de pakweg 170 verhalen gelezen, die Siegfried Lenz tussen 1948 en 1998 heeft geschreven. Zeer gevarieerde vertellingen: humoristisch, ontroerend of duister, spelend in de tweede wereldoorlog, het vooroorlogse Oost-Pruisen (geboortestreek van Lenz) of het Noord-Duitsland/Hamburg in de Wiederaufbau of modernere tijden. In deze tijd is mijn Duits ook beter geworden, waardoor ik de laatste verhalen beter kon vatten (of is hij in de loop der tijd beter of hedendaagser gaan schrijven?). In elk geval een mooie aanvulling op zijn beroemde romans.