The Madonna on the Moon

by Rolf Bauerdick, David B. Dollenmayer (Translation)

An award-winning journalist transforms his lifelong fascination with the world of the Gypsies into fiction with this exuberant, deeply enchanting debut novel--both whimsical and suspenseful--winner of the European Book Prize, and translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide.
November 1957: As Communism spreads across Eastern Europe, strange events are beginning to upend daily life in Baia Luna, a tiny village nestled at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains. As the Soviets race to reach the moon and Sputnik soars overhead, fifteen-year-old Pavel Botev attends the small village school with the other children. Their sole teacher, the mysterious and once beautiful Angela Barbulescu, was sent by the Ministry of Education, and while it is suspected that she has lived a highly cultured life, much of her past remains hidden. But one day, after asking Pavel to help hang a photo of the new party secretary, she whispers a startling directive in his ear: "Send this man straight to hell! Exterminate him!" By the next morning, she has disappeared.
With little more to go on than the gossip and rumors swirling through his grandfather Ilja's tavern, Pavel finds curiosity overcoming his fear when suddenly the village's sacred Madonna statue is stolen and the priest Johannes Baptiste is found brutally murdered in the rectory. Aided by the Gypsy girl Buba and her eccentric uncle, Dimitru Gabor, Pavel's search for answers leads him far from the innocent concerns of childhood and into the frontiers of a new world, changing his life forever.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Germany, Family, Ebooks, Crime, Translated Fiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Geboren wurde ich 1957 in Lenhausen, einem Dorf im westfälischen Sauerland. Nach dem Abitur 1976 am Rivius-Gymnasium in Attendorn studierte ich an der Wilhelms-Universität in Münster Germanistik und Katholische Theologie. Nach der Ersten Staatsprüfung für das Lehramt der Sekundarstufe II unterrichtete ich bis 1985 junge Bergleute im Ruhrgebiet in den Fächern Deutsch, Religion und Politik. (www.rolfbauerdick.de)

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes]

It's so hard to give a star rating for this book, because well, the truth is that I loved most of it and then got really cranky about the ending, but the book was so just so quirkily excellent up to that point. If I'm forced to give a number, it's like a 3.85 not rounded to a 4.

Well, you'd think by the updates I posted while reading this book that it would have turned out to be something most wonderful and actually, it was -- up until I got to about the last hundred pages or so. Then I don't know what happened, but when I hear myself speaking out loud to an author who isn't there saying "please don't do this," well, that's a problem. Let me just say it this way: I loved this book up until right around that point, and by the end I was just so disappointed that something so wonderful got so messed up.

I'm not going to go into plot here -- it's all there if you want to click here to my online reading journal blog. Otherwise, despite how I feel about the book's ending, there's so much in this novel to love -- the craziness of two colorful old men whose antics often made me laugh out loud, the people of the village of Baia Luna in general and their responses to what's going outside of their pretty-much isolated world in the modern one, and the historical backdrop of a totalitarian regime -- all of these components, along with Mr. Bauerdick's nearly magical-quality writing and story-telling ability make this book a highly entertaining read. But at some point, it's almost as if having been so deeply involved with the people of Baia Luna and the mysteries that are left to main character Pavel to take care of, the author just got tired. Where the writing before this point was vibrant and the characters filled with life, it's like in the last one hundred or so pages he rushed to finish the book, and in doing so the characters came off sort of hollow. Toward the very end, it's obvious that the author felt compelled to make sure that this book had a happy ending where everything is tied up in a perfect bow, but it was too pat, overly contrived, and in making it this way, it's like the author lost whatever spark he had up until then.

While I realize that there are readers out there who will come unglued without a happy ending of some sort, the way this novel ends was just wrong and not in keeping with everything that came before. Up until then, it was headed for a top place in the one-of-the-best-and-most-entertaining-novels-I've-read category but ultimately, the consistency just wasn't there. Then again, this is Mr. Bauerdick's first novel, so maybe if he writes a second, he can iron things out. And even though I had a hard time with the last parts of the book, up to then I was in reading heaven. I'm just a little disappointed with this one, but it was a great ride while it lasted.

[Stefania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avevo questo libro in casa dal 2014 ma pareva non arrivasse mai il momento giusto per iniziarlo, pensare che l'avevo comprato dicendomi 'con una copertina e un titolo del genere non può non piacermi'. E quando finalmente è arrivato il suo momento, così è stato.
Certo, non riesco a ricordarmi di aver mai letto un libro con una sequenza di teorie così bislacche, ma la perseveranza di Pavel nel portare avanti l'opera di riscatto dell'onore della maestra Barbulescu ha veramente dell'incredibile.
Non sono 5 stelle piene solo perché ho trovato il finale forse un pochino affrettato, ma per il resto chapeau all'autore per aver saputo tessere una storia così complessa senza cadere nell'assurdo. Folle sì, ma con stile.

[Charlotte blijft graag anoniem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het verhaal speelt zich af in een uithoek van Roemenië over een langere periode, gedurende de Koude Oorlog. In het bergdorpje wonen zo’n beetje alle politieke stromingen en groepen van die tijd en er is onderling wantrouwen, maar ook balans. Die balans raakt verstoord als de priester wordt vermoord, de (enige) lerares dood wordt gevonden en de kerk wordt ontheiligd. Tegen de achtergrond van de Koude Oorlog interpreteren 2 oudere mannen de actualiteit als een zoektocht van Rusland en Amerika naar Maria, die op de maan zou leven. Parallel aan die verhaallijn loopt de verhaallijn van een jongere man die opheldering wil over de genoemde doden. Een interessant maar ook stevig boek.
Het taalgebruik is niet eenvoudig. Ik heb de Engelse versie als ebook gelezen, maar had liever de Nederlandse gelezen (ik lees veel in het Engels en heb daar nooit problemen mee, maar dit boek is van taalkundig hoog niveau met soms complexe zinsbouw, die in je eigen taal toch makkelijker te vatten is). Daarnaast veronderstelt het boek dat je enige kennis hebt van het communisme en belangrijke spelers in dat tijdperk: er wordt niks uitgelegd. Het is dus niet zondermeer een toegankelijk boek.

[Marloes D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bauerdick kan meesterlijk vertellen! Ik heb van dit boek genoten.

Het boek opent met de executie van het echtpaar Ceauşecu en een arts die daarbij betrokken was. Hierna worden er pas zaken opgelost die in 1957 in gang zijn gezet: Pavel (15) woont in een knus Roemeens dorpje. De een is er katholiek en de ander socialist en dan zijn er behalve Roemenen ook nog een paar Duitsers en Hongaren en een groep zigeuners. Alleen dankzij de pastoor loopt het er niet uit de hand. Wat ook leeft in het dorpje is als de Russen in 1957 de Spoetnik met Laika lanceren. Dan kunnen Pavel's opa en zijn beste vriend maar 1 reden bedenken waarom ze dat nou zouden doen: volgens Openbaring staat Maria op de maan, en volgens de pastoor is Maria met lichaam en ziel in de hemel opgenomen, dus de Russen zoeken haar natuurlijk! Dan wordt de pastoor vermoord, verdwijnt de dorpslerares en komt de Securitate het dorp binnen...

[Alessandra Altamura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ho preso questo libro attratta esclusivamente dal titolo credendo fosse un romanzo in chiave ironica. Non potevo essere più in errore.

Sullo sfondo di un Unione Sovietica in procinto di allargare i suoi influssi negli stati satellite, la Romania in questo caso, e avviare il processo di collettivizzazione, si svolge la vita di Pavel.
Il quindicenne abitante di uno sperduto villaggio transmontano si trova presto a doversi confrontare con lo strapotere di personaggi intenti nella scalata al potere.

Scene divertenti si intersecano con la cruda realtà dei tempi dove una prospettata “Età dell’Oro” sfocerà in una sanguinosa rivoluzione.

Consigliato a tutti gli amanti di romanzi di ambientazione storica, contemporanea in questo caso.

[Carola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een lastige om te beoordelen. Ik kwam moeilijk in het verhaal, waarschijnlijk door gebrekkige kennis van deze cultuur, dit land, deze tijd, maar de toon was echt goed. Grotesk, grappig, serieus. Helaas voelde het einde gejaagd.
Het feit dat ik er wat moeilijk in kwam lag misschien aan mezelf, dus dit laat ik minder zwaar wegen. Al met al 3 sterren.

[Marinna Riojas · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first this book was hard for me to get into, I think due to the history references that I wasn't familiar with, to set-up the background. Once the stage is set, it's a great story! Definitely kept me intrigued and smiling at the end!

[Chiara Strappaghetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

La storia, ambientata in uno stato dell'Unione Sovietica, parla di un mistero che circonda molteplici omicidi, che verrà risolto, tra tesi bibliche e antitesi blasfeme, dal protagonista e i suoi amici ritrovati oltre 3 decenni. Scrittura complessa, a volte geniale, altre prolissa.

[LauraT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forse anche***1/2; divertente, ironico, bello a tratti. Ma eccessivo. Non c'è niente da fare, sono troppo vittoriana, troppo "naturalistica"!!!

[Carmel Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just fantastic.

[Paolo del ventoso Est · Rating 4 out of 5]

La chiamarono "età dell'oro", mostrarono a tutti il loro sorridente Conducător a bordo di una Dacia nuova fiammante, fecero passare della paccottiglia assortita per le vestigia della Roma antica. Sottrassero le madonne e le licenze commerciali, tolsero la forza al popolo con la paura e la tortura.
La grande masquerade rumena mi ha fatto ricordare le parole di Flaiano: "La condanna a sorridere è più feroce, insopportabile, agghiacciante di quella ideata da Orwell, che ci permetterebbe almeno di restare seri". Il popolo rumeno doveva sorridere, inneggiare, ringraziare; la liberazione era giunta.
In questa cornice angosciosa Rolf Bauerdick fa danzare i suoi personaggi; un paesino che sembrava una fortunata enclave dentro la macchia rossa, il fantomatico Baia Luna, dove l'artiglio della Securitate giunge a compiere subdolamente i suoi misfatti.
Bauerdick è uno di quei giornalisti che "si son fatti le ossa" nei campi rom; per anni ha documentato la vita degli tzigani nell'area geografica dei Carpazi, cogliendone gli aspetti drammatici e poetici. A lui va il merito di restituire dignità ad un variegato e affascinante popolo nomade, trattato in maniera semplicemente schifosa dai governi d'ogni quando e d'ogni dove. Un popolo che ha vissuto un terribile olocausto, che oggi pochi ricordano.
Il paesino al centro di questa storia carpatica (non balcanica, come detto in quarta di copertina) è un melting pot di rumeni, slavi, tedeschi e zigeuner appunto, in una convivenza non semplice ma estremamente genuina; nemmeno le occasionali risse tra promotori del socialismo e conservatori riescono ad intaccare il fortissimo legame di conterraneità.
Attorno al giovane protagonista Pavel Botev inizia l'oscuro intreccio, che si dipana tra la pista di sangue del montante regime comunista ed una bizzarra indagine teologico spaziale sull'assunzione corporea di Maria Vergine tra le silenziose lande della luna. Dal programma Sputnik e la cagnolina astronauta Lajka ai celeberrimi primi passi di Armstrong & compagnia sul satellite della notte, i co-protagonisti della storia - Ilja il nonno di Pavel e il vecchio zingaro bilbiotecario Dimitru - inanellano una serie esilarante di ipotesi bislacche sul soggiorno lunare del corpo di Maria, raffigurato con procace dolcezza dalla statua misteriosamente trafugata dall'edicola sacra in cima al monte.
Una storia che sprofonda nel torbido, tragica come la disillusione di una giovane maestra rumena innamorata di un uomo che poi si sarebbe rivelato diabolicamente come il più crudele tra i predatori.
Un po' in stile ellroyano, marcatamente esteuropeo - guizzi di fiamma sul fondale oscuro della Storia con servizi segreti, morti misteriose e ricatti sessuali - questo Come la Madonna arrivò sulla Luna di Bauerdick riesuma un pezzo di storia dimenticato della Romania, terminato con l'esecuzione-show dei coniugi Ceauşescu nel 1989.
Qualche "scorciatoia" un po' forzata nella trama ma nel complesso una buona architettura, una scrittura agile, un plot avvincente e tanto bel colore zingaro.

[Trunatrschild · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, this book reminds me of Herman Hesse's "Peter Camenzind" even though I haven't read that book in nearly 35 years. Like a mix of Peter Camenzind and Don Quixote. Though the blurb makes this book out to be about gypsies, their plight or lives are really not a part of the book, though one of them is a main character, this book is not about Gypsies really in any way but that they are human and are at the whim of history like anyone else.
This story takes place in a small village in a fictitious Eastern European country in the Carpathians. The village is a petrie dish of humanity that doesn't seem to be touched as much by the events and history of the communist world during the cold war. The lesson primarily being taught is futility and the passage of time erodes everything, but this is a complicated book featuring people of great worth and people who are weak and people who are of little worth and basically are just evil and enjoy hurting people after they've used them up. I think the message I'm going to take away is that life is fleeting and one must grab at it and make it the best one can or it will slide away from you and you will end up with just dust.
The story is well written, or I should at least say well translated. It definitely is written from an Eastern European standpoint that may seem odd to Westerners. The characters are complicated and seem to fit into their world which is rather grim with poverty and pastorialism and the threat of losing the little livelihood that they have to communism. The mystery of Angela Barbulescu almost enables Pavel to rise above the drab and dreary early communism to turn the world on it's head, but he doesn't seem to have the strength to quite rise above, he struggles but then seems to sink into the normality of country life.
This book is bizarre as a quote calls it, but only in the efforts of some people to find answers to why life is what it is. It has it's slow spots and is not perfect, but well worth the read.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of my favorite thing about all books is the way you can be immersed in a completely different world - regardless of your own surrounds. Buses filled with people, noisy people outside or even your daunting to-do list all melt away for as long as you can let them. And with an ever-growing To Be Read pile, I have in the last few years adhered to the fifty page rule. If a book doesn’t hook me within its first fifty pages, I set it aside. This usually happens about three or four times a year, and this book marks the third (and hopefully last) book of 2013 that I could not bring myself to finish. Like Kent Wascom’s The Blood of Heaven and A. L. Kennedy’s The Blue Book, even getting to that fifty page mark became something of a struggle.

Perhaps my frustration with the novel lies at the feet of the translator. Originally written in German, this English version uses words in the rambling prose that greatly contrast with the clearer language in its dialogue. Though not all blame should be placed on the translator. The concept of a fictional country set in the Cold War-era somewhere in the Transylvanian Mountains is disorienting with real, authentic facts and locales mentioned alongside this faux background. Marketed as a coming-of-age novel, its overall point-of-view is that of an older Pavel looking back on these events, which really takes away from that “coming-of-age” feel. This coupled with an inconsistent verb tense, an entire village of characters all shallowly described and the odd use of vocabulary all make this book difficult to connect with on any level. Maybe someday I will try this one again - it certainly seems to have received some rave reviews from other readers - but for now, I just can’t make myself look at it.

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As socialism comes marching in to a small village called Baia Luna in the Carpathian's, young Pavel's teacher, Angelina Barbulescu, beseeches the boy as he hangs up a picture of the new leader in class, to 'send this man straight to hell.' How can young Pavel accomplish such a thing, and why should he? This act of Barbu, sets Pavel on a collision course with the new dictators who are leading the country to a new golden age.

Pavel lives in Baia Luna with the tavern keeper, his wonderful grandfather Ilja and his mother. Ilja is in cahoots with the Gypsy Dimitru and they get some wonderful, crazy ideas about the Virgin Mary residing on the moon. Does the Bible say she ascended and is the Pope correct in his declaration? The pair believe she lives on the moon and they set out to prove it.

In the meantime, Baia Luna's priest is murdered and Barbulescu meets an untimely end as well. The eternal flame is extinguished in the church and the aged statue of the Madonna mysteriously disappears. It's up to Pavel to solve the mysteries presented in Baia Luna.

At times, The Madonna On The Moon is a light hearted romp in a remote village in the Carpathian Mountains, but at its core, this story is about survival and belief and what lives in the soul.

This book is very unique but solidly tells a story of the takeover of socialism. It's got some great history of space launches and the space race in the 1960s between the USA and Russia.

This is a very enjoyable read. It's very hard to categorize and is therefore, very unique and highly readable.

[Casper · Rating 4 out of 5]

De opening van dit boek klinkt als een aflevering van Midsomer Murders: een dorpspriester wordt vermoord aangetroffen en vlak daarna verdwijnt een lerares op mysterieuze wijze. Alleen speelt dit alles zich af in een bergdorpje, diep in de Roemeense Karpaten. Hier woont een curieuze mengeling van Duitsers, Hongaren, Roemenen en zigeuners, die elkaar het liefst in de haren vliegen. Het verhaal begint in de jaren vijftig, als zelfs in dit afgelegen gebied het communisme begint door te dringen. Dat de gebeurtenissen rondom de priester en de lerares iets met de communisten te maken hebben beseft al gauw iedereen. De oplossing van dit mysterie zal echter pas vele jaren later duidelijk worden, na de val van Ceauşescu. De tussenliggende periode weet Bauerdick met veel vaart te beschrijven. Hij zet de verschillen tussen alle figuren in het dorp lekker vet aan en laat op hilarische wijze zien wat de onafwendbare moderniteit voor deze mensen betekent. Het levert een smakelijk boek op.
Lees hier meer van mijn besprekingen

[Garryvivianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Pavel lives in a small village, Baia Luna by the Carpathian mountains. He lives with his grandfather Ilja whom he adores & his mother. His grandfather has a very close friendship with Gypsy Dimitri. Pavel narrates the story of the seriousness, silliness that goes on between his grandfather & Dimitri. This is during a time when socialism was creeping into all the villages, & they always thought they would not be easily found. The title refers to how Ilja & gypsy Dimitri believe that the Virgin Mary resides on the moon & they want to prove it.

Altogether a great story, somewhat serious, somewhat lighthearted. I loved how it ended, sometimes you wish the characters would last forever, but I did like the ending.

[Phoebes · Rating 5 out of 5]

La prima volta che sentii parlare di questo romanzo di sicuro rimasi colpita dal titolo. Insomma, a chi non verrebbe voglia, già solo da un titolo così, di leggerlo?! Il fatto poi che sia una lettura stupenda ovviamente non guasta! :) Consigliatissimo a tutti, un romanzo fresco e appassionante, che emoziona e diverte anche se spesso parla di argomenti decisamente non allegri. Proprio una bellissima lettura!

http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

[Debbie White · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was hard for me to get into. Not too terribly crazy about it, but it was free to me from Goodreads and looked like a good read, so I gave it a try. Just too hard for me to get into, and too hard to decipher on the English barrier. Nice try, though. Thank you Goodreads for this book as it was a free book from a Goodreads giveway.

[Peter Hakkenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read... I was disappointed when it was finished... I wanted more. Set in fictional Baia Luna in Transmontania in the Fagaras mountains, takes us on a great journey from the late fifties to the nineties. A must read for anyone who has any interest at all in Romania and its recent history.

[Cloudbuster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mezzo secolo di storia rumena, dalla nascita della repubblica socialista al crollo dell'impero di Causescu, raccontata dal punto di vista insolito di un paesino isolato tra le montagne dei Carpazi e con una buona dose di follia.

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique story of friendship, mystery and the stories we tell ourselves to get through! I enjoyed the writing, the mystery and the story! I received this book for free as a first read through Goodreads.

[Doug]

Strange events happen in Eastern Europe in the days of Sputnik and Communism taking over countries. Religion, science, ethnic groups, and time all affect the lives of the village of Baia Luna during the changing land scape from 1957 to around 1990. I enjoyed the story.

[lärm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly above average, both in style as in plot. I like the setting (communist Rumania) and the hilarious views on the Assumption of mother Mary. But it's not mind blowing, just a fun read. File under holiday literature.

[Toon]

Je leeft mee in dit kleine dorpje in Roemenië

[Marielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Verrassend boek over een klein dorpje in Roemenië.

[Mills College Library]

Fiction B34495m 2013

[Ximena · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extra star just because it's set in Romania...

[emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

On one hand, I'm sort of a sucker for the small mountain town deal. On the other, in terms of solid characterization, people who talk like actual people, things like that? Not so much.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique storyline. Tough to rate. More a 3.75. I haven't been in the "need to read" mode so this was perfect. Enjoyed the slow pace and quirkiness.

[Kalie]

Once I got into it, this book was hard to put down! It was interesting and different from what I normally read, and I liked the story.