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Das mach' ich doch mit links
Der Journalist Florian ist mit seiner kleinen Familie eigentlich recht glücklich. Doch dann soll er vorübergehend in das Haus seines Bruders ziehen, um dessen vierfachen Nachwuchs zu hüten. »Pah«, meint Florian, »das mach ich doch mit links!« Doch wie so oft im Leben stellt sich die Realität dann als ein klein bisschen komplizierter und fieser heraus, als gedacht …
- GenresHumor
334 pages
First published January 1, 1988
9 people want to read
About the author
Evelyn Sanders
43 booksEvelyn Sanders (* 14. Mai 1934 in Berlin; eigentlich Evelyn Stitz) ist eine deutsche Schriftstellerin.
Evelyn Sanders ist in Berlin aufgewachsen. Später siedelte die Familie nach Düsseldorf um. Die gelernte Journalistin widmete sich nach ihrer Hochzeit der Kindererziehung. Ihr erstes Buch entstand eher zufällig, als sie für ihren ältesten Sohn zum Geburtstag ein Fotoalbum zusammen stellte, welches sie ursprünglich nur mit kleinen Texten versehen wollte. Im Folgenden entstanden viele weitere, heitere Familienromane.
Evelyn Sanders ist verwitwet, hat fünf Kinder und lebt als freie Schriftstellerin in Bad Rappenau.
Evelyn Sanders ist in Berlin aufgewachsen. Später siedelte die Familie nach Düsseldorf um. Die gelernte Journalistin widmete sich nach ihrer Hochzeit der Kindererziehung. Ihr erstes Buch entstand eher zufällig, als sie für ihren ältesten Sohn zum Geburtstag ein Fotoalbum zusammen stellte, welches sie ursprünglich nur mit kleinen Texten versehen wollte. Im Folgenden entstanden viele weitere, heitere Familienromane.
Evelyn Sanders ist verwitwet, hat fünf Kinder und lebt als freie Schriftstellerin in Bad Rappenau.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 1, 2023
From the four Evelyn Sanders' Tinchen und Florian novels, the second book, Das mach' ich doch mit links (the title meaning something like I could do this blindfolded, or if translated more literally from the German, that I could do this with just my left hand) is most definitely my absolute personal favourite and yes, by a long shot at that. For with gentle and sometimes also laugh-out-loud humour, the author depicts with realism and entertaining flights of satire the nearly everyday chaos that awaits Tinchen and husband Florian when they reluctantly agree to housesit (and also babysit) Florian's brother's domicile and children (due to the fact that Florian and wife Gisela, both world-renowned archaeology professors, have been given the opportunity to lecture in the United States for a year and of course do not want to leave their luxury home as well as their teenaged children unsupervised).
While I do have to admit that there is at times perhaps just a bit too much potential stereotyping that occurs within the pages of Das mach' ich doch mit links, it is also equally true that especially with regard to how Evelyn Sanders has depicted Florian's brother Fabian and his wife Gisela, she does both appreciatively (and yes, I can say this as an academic myself) also somewhat frustratingly often hit the nail squarely on the proverbial head so to speak. Now Fabian himself, he is really not portrayed all that negatively, simply as rather introverted and a bit akin to the proverbial and standard image of the absent minded professor when it comes to issues that do not pertain to ancient Greece and archaeology (and I indeed literally howled with laughter when one of the sons relates to Tinchen and Florian how during a summer family vacation to Greece, Fabian was flabbergasted that the locals either could not understand him or were rolling their collective eyes at him whenever he attempted to converse in Greek, not realising that he was actually speaking the ancient and classical Greek of thousands of years ago and not modern standard Koine), but generally, Fabian is sweet-tempered and pleasant, a good listener and above all lacking in any and all false grandioseness. However, his equally professorial wife Gisela, well, she is portrayed by Evelyn Sanders as not only an arrogant, miserly harpy, she is also the type of university professor type I have always vehemently despised, full of herself, always "right" and of course believing herself to literally and figuratively be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and yes, also unfortunately the type of university academic that sadly does in fact exist in even somewhat sad abundance and has made many of us despair of the entire system (promoting academically holier than thou attitudes and philosophies that have most definitely made me, personally loathe to even want to become more than just a simple college level language lecturer, as some tenured professors are really and truly intolerable with their arrogance and sense of moral and cultural superiority).
Well as to the general flow of the narrative of Das mach' ich doch mit links, I would (and should) probably be ranking the novel with a high three stars, but there is indeed one episode that has totally made me reconsider and grant a sparkling and smiling four star rating. For in the spring of the housesitting year, Florian and Tinchen (and the diverse children of course) are literally invaded by Great Aunt Clara (who lives in the USA but has no idea that Fabian and Gisela are lecturing there, for Fabian and Gisela have obviously and for good reasons not wanted to let her know, as she is a bit like a nasty family curse and parasite who enjoys travelling and visiting but then never wants to leave, and while indeed a very rich widow, is also incredibly cheap and with a tendency to foist her used clothing and other such rubbish on family members as gifts, as Mitbringsel). And for me, the manner in which said Aunt Clara is described by Evelyn Sanders as physically appearing when she first arrives in Germany to visit, it rather strongly if not totally reminds me of the description of another USA-based Clara (namely the nasty, creepy and dangerous, in all ways artificial and prothetics wearing main character of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's brilliant play Der Besuch de alten Dame, The Visit, and so much are both the physical appearances and yes even the first names akin and alike, with both characters appearing as basically unnatural, wig, makeup and other artificial accoutrements wearing "ladies" that I do have to at least wonder whether the author has indeed created in Florian's and Fabian's great aunt Clara somewhat of a deliberate parody of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's own Clara figure, and even if that is not the case, even if the parody might in fact and indeed be inadvertent, I for one have and continue to notice the similarities and always do chuckle with very much academic and literature-based glee whenever I read that particular episode of Das mach ich doch mit links). Warmly recommended as a fun and entertaining story of "Trivialliteratur" (perfect for the beach, perfect for reading a German novel where one can smile and chuckle, where one does not have to be constantly thinking philosophically and heavily), but with the caveat that Das mach' ich doch mit links is penned entirely in German and thus an at least high intermediate reading fluency is strongly suggested (and you also absolutely do NOT have to have read the first Tinchen und Florian novel Bitte Einzelzimmer mit Bad in order to enjoy and appreciate the sequel, as Das mach ich doch mit links is most certainly a stand-alone story in its own right).
While I do have to admit that there is at times perhaps just a bit too much potential stereotyping that occurs within the pages of Das mach' ich doch mit links, it is also equally true that especially with regard to how Evelyn Sanders has depicted Florian's brother Fabian and his wife Gisela, she does both appreciatively (and yes, I can say this as an academic myself) also somewhat frustratingly often hit the nail squarely on the proverbial head so to speak. Now Fabian himself, he is really not portrayed all that negatively, simply as rather introverted and a bit akin to the proverbial and standard image of the absent minded professor when it comes to issues that do not pertain to ancient Greece and archaeology (and I indeed literally howled with laughter when one of the sons relates to Tinchen and Florian how during a summer family vacation to Greece, Fabian was flabbergasted that the locals either could not understand him or were rolling their collective eyes at him whenever he attempted to converse in Greek, not realising that he was actually speaking the ancient and classical Greek of thousands of years ago and not modern standard Koine), but generally, Fabian is sweet-tempered and pleasant, a good listener and above all lacking in any and all false grandioseness. However, his equally professorial wife Gisela, well, she is portrayed by Evelyn Sanders as not only an arrogant, miserly harpy, she is also the type of university professor type I have always vehemently despised, full of herself, always "right" and of course believing herself to literally and figuratively be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and yes, also unfortunately the type of university academic that sadly does in fact exist in even somewhat sad abundance and has made many of us despair of the entire system (promoting academically holier than thou attitudes and philosophies that have most definitely made me, personally loathe to even want to become more than just a simple college level language lecturer, as some tenured professors are really and truly intolerable with their arrogance and sense of moral and cultural superiority).
Well as to the general flow of the narrative of Das mach' ich doch mit links, I would (and should) probably be ranking the novel with a high three stars, but there is indeed one episode that has totally made me reconsider and grant a sparkling and smiling four star rating. For in the spring of the housesitting year, Florian and Tinchen (and the diverse children of course) are literally invaded by Great Aunt Clara (who lives in the USA but has no idea that Fabian and Gisela are lecturing there, for Fabian and Gisela have obviously and for good reasons not wanted to let her know, as she is a bit like a nasty family curse and parasite who enjoys travelling and visiting but then never wants to leave, and while indeed a very rich widow, is also incredibly cheap and with a tendency to foist her used clothing and other such rubbish on family members as gifts, as Mitbringsel). And for me, the manner in which said Aunt Clara is described by Evelyn Sanders as physically appearing when she first arrives in Germany to visit, it rather strongly if not totally reminds me of the description of another USA-based Clara (namely the nasty, creepy and dangerous, in all ways artificial and prothetics wearing main character of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's brilliant play Der Besuch de alten Dame, The Visit, and so much are both the physical appearances and yes even the first names akin and alike, with both characters appearing as basically unnatural, wig, makeup and other artificial accoutrements wearing "ladies" that I do have to at least wonder whether the author has indeed created in Florian's and Fabian's great aunt Clara somewhat of a deliberate parody of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's own Clara figure, and even if that is not the case, even if the parody might in fact and indeed be inadvertent, I for one have and continue to notice the similarities and always do chuckle with very much academic and literature-based glee whenever I read that particular episode of Das mach ich doch mit links). Warmly recommended as a fun and entertaining story of "Trivialliteratur" (perfect for the beach, perfect for reading a German novel where one can smile and chuckle, where one does not have to be constantly thinking philosophically and heavily), but with the caveat that Das mach' ich doch mit links is penned entirely in German and thus an at least high intermediate reading fluency is strongly suggested (and you also absolutely do NOT have to have read the first Tinchen und Florian novel Bitte Einzelzimmer mit Bad in order to enjoy and appreciate the sequel, as Das mach ich doch mit links is most certainly a stand-alone story in its own right).
September 29, 2022
Sehr lustig 😁
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews