Geschichte vom alten Kind

by Jenny Erpenbeck

Ein Mädchen wird gefunden, nachts auf einer Straße, einen leeren Eimer hat es in der Hand. Es ist nicht schön noch häßlich, niemand kennt seinen Namen, niemand weiß, woher es kommt, niemand weiß, wer seine Eltern sind. Niemand, auch das Kind selbst nicht. Also wird es in ein Heim gesteckt und auf eine Schule geschickt. Eine verstörende Aura der Formlosigkeit umgibt dieses Geschöpf; jeder Versuch der Kontaktaufnahme prallt zurück wie ein Ball von der Wand. Nur ganz selten scheint es, als wisse das Kind mehr, als es preisgibt – doch wer versucht, sein Geheimnis zu durchschauen, hat das Gefühl, er blicke in einen blinden Spiegel ...

Genres: Fiction, Germany, German Literature, Novella, School, Mystery

106 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Jenny Erpenbeck (born 12 March 1967 in East Berlin) is a German director and writer.

Jenny Erpenbeck is the daughter of the physicist, philosopher and writer John Erpenbeck and the Arabic translator Doris Kilias. Her grandparents are the authors Fritz Erpenbeck and Hedda Zinner. In Berlin she attended an Advanced High School, where she graduated in 1985. She then completed a two-year apprenticeship as a bookbinder before working at several theaters as props and wardrobe supervisor.

From 1988 to 1990 Erpenbeck studied theatre at the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1990 she changed her studies to Music Theater Director (studying with, among others, Ruth Berghaus, Heiner Müller and Peter Konwitschny) at the Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory. After the successful completion of her studies in 1994 (with a production of Béla Bartók's opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle in her parish church and in the Kunsthaus Tacheles, she spent some time at first as an assistant director at the opera house in Graz, where in 1997 she did her own productions of Schoenberg's Erwartung, Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle and a world premiere of her own piece Cats Have Seven Lives. As a freelance director, she directed in 1998 different opera houses in Germany and Austria, including Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in Aachen, Acis and Galatea at the Berlin State Opera and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Zaide in Nuremberg/Erlangen.

In the 1990s Erpenbeck started a writing career in addition to her directing. She is author of narrative prose and plays: in 1999, History of the Old Child, her debut; in 2001, her collection of stories Trinkets; in 2004, the novella Dictionary; and in February 2008, the novel Visitation. In March 2007, Erpenbeck took over a biweekly column by Nicole Krauss in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Erpenbeck lives in Berlin with her son, born 2002.

Reviews

[Erasmia Kritikou · Rating 4 out of 5]

"[...]ζωντανή βέβαια, επειδή ασφαλώς ενα σώμα ειναι αναγκαστικά ζωντανό, αλλά και καπως νεκρή."

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"Θα ήθελα 5* αλλά θα απαιτούσε πιο συστηματική μελετη της γραφής της, κι εγω βρισκομαι στην παραλια με μια μπυρα στο χερι και το κυματακι να μου γαργαλάει τις πατουσίτσες.
Το ειδα μικρο, 135 σελ σε μικρο φορμάτ και νουβελίτσα, και λεω, α ωραια, θα το τελειωσω αυθημερον.
Αμ δε..

Κρατησα στις σημειωσεις του κινητου κατα τη διαρκεια της αναγνωσης τα εξης:

-Ολο ενα Συμβολο που αποδίδει μια οικουμενικότητα και προκαλεί μια ταυτιση
-Ποιηση κατα κύματα
-Τα μαγνητικά πεδία που δημιουργεί η γραφή της Ερπενμπεκ
-Ένας παντογνώστης αφηγητης που βρίσκει πάτημα να φιλοσοφεί, σχεδόν παραβολικά, πάνω σε ατάκτως και τυχαιως ερρημένα θέματα
-Διαβάζω ότι ειναι και σκηνοθετης -κ αυτό εξηγει απολυτα τις αποσπασματικές σκηνές του ονείρου, όπως τις αγαπάει ο Λυντς, ας πούμε.

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"Tο κοριτσι μπορούσε να κάνει τον εαυτό του να πιστεύει ότι τα πάντα κρατάνε την ανάσα τους και μένουνε οικεια. Δεν κοιτάζει έξω απ το παράθυρο, που τα δέντρα βγάζουνε σιγα σιγα πράσινα φύλλα. Μες στο κεφάλι του συνέχεια χιονίζει"

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Εχω ξαναδιαβασει Ερπενμπεκ, η γραφη της εχει αυτο το μοναδικό του πρωτοπόρου, το οποιο επεκτεινεται και σε αλλες μορφες τεχνης, που το βλεπεις και αναγνωριζεις οτι ειναι δικο της, οτι δε θα μπορουσε να ειναι κανενός αλλου.

4αστερια και ευχομαι να βρω κατι δικο της στο πρωτοτυπο, γιατι εχω μια αισθηση οτι χανονται αρκετά στην μετραφραση, και οι 'γερμανισμοί' που συναντησα με ενοχλησαν ελαφρως και με εβγαζαν απ το κειμενο.

[Karen· · Rating 3 out of 5]

A monolithic block of flesh, hermetically sealed against contact from the outside and almost throughout the whole German text referred to as 'it' - the grammatically correct pronoun for the diminutive ending on 'Mädchen' - doesn't sound like the kind of protagonist that will enter your heart and touch your emotions, does it? And indeed she (it?) doesn't. This distance is certainly a desired effect: we are required to examine and evaluate with considered dispassion. Critical faculties please, not empathy. But the trouble is that the side-effect is a lack of engagement. I found my mind meandering off on all sorts of personal by-paths. The old child: well, it was clear that something very odd was going on, this 'child' is not what she (it) seems, but apart from the natural curiosity that we all have, the desire to know where this is going to end, I found it very hard to summon up the motivation to find out much more than that. Which is just as well, because we are offered no indication at all of why the 'child' has chosen to escape real life and take refuge in a children's home that all the other children would be more than happy to leave. This is so obviously an act of will, a choice, that presumably we're meant to think about age and how it is just as much a social construct as gender. But why this old child chose her (its) line of action remains a mystery.

[Friederike Knabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the age of fourteen, girls tend to be preoccupied with growing up in all its various aspects. Not so the 'Mädchen', the "old child" in this strangely compelling story by Jenny Erpenbeck. Her age, however, is the only thing the girl remembers about herself when she is found by the police one night, standing alone, looking abandoned, gently swinging an empty bucket as if she needed its low wailing noise for company. This child looks bigger than her age, with a large head and a body shape that is more that of a big block rather than of a girl's. The police, not able to elicit more information from questioning the girl, takes her to the city's largest children's home/orphanage...

There the child - Erpenbeck quite deliberately uses the neutral "it" throughout the German text - adjusts to the routines. It appears quietly observing and imitating its room mates, it endures being bullied, teased and harassed, physically and verbally by the other girls and boys. In school, it avoids participation or gives wrong answers so that it is soon at the bottom of the pecking order. That, the narrator hints at, is where it wants to be all along: not being noticed, never standing out, just closely following the group... not growing up?

Erpenbeck applies her exquisite prose to narrating the externalities of the girl's life in the home in a precise, yet almost dead-pan voice. But then, before you realize it, her voice is also intimately connected with the child's mind - she can see beyond what is there and shares glimpses with us of what she discovers. I read parts of the book twice to follow this dual perspective in depth. For example, when describing the girl's passive behaviour in class, this sentence jumps at the reader: "The lesson proceeds, the girl, however, sits still, and all the leaden inscription of its brain now falls into the blue sky that stands in front of the school windows, it releases each word and each thought until it just sits there and is totally empty, and, one could justifiably say of it: It is a blank slate. " Such insightful moments are sprinkled throughout the text, each time giving the reader pause and wondering what is behind it all, what trauma brought the girl to this life-negating point? A few times a timid "I" voice recalls memories that suggest to be the girl's.

The end of the story cannot be revealed. It is dramatic, even, when reading the narrative with its different voices and perspectives carefully, it is not altogether surprising. But any clues are hinted at in oblique ways, leaving the reader to imagine, question, wondering... Erpenbeck invites such active engagement of us as readers also when looking for symbolism and deeper societal meaning of the story. It is quite likely, given her own background in East Germany that Erpenbeck wants us to understand the children's home with its rules and regulations as a stand-in for East German society during its socialist past: the strictures were accepted for the security and safety that that state guaranteed its citizens. The girl's behaviour would then be a parable for that of many East Germans who could not or would not want to explore the new world after the Fall of the Berlin Wall and wanted - like the girl - to have time stand still. Having read Erpenbeck's later, brilliant books in reverse order of publication, I can look back on this, her first work of prose fiction (published in Germany in 1999) with the hindsight of what I learned from her style and her preoccupation with larger themes that she manages to encapsulate succinctly into small and beautifully crafted gems of literature. A thought provoking brilliant short novel that deserves to be read more than once.

[Ivy-Mabel Fling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This strange tale of a girl picked up on the streets with an empty bucket in her hand can be interpreted in several ways: is it a political parable based on the fall of the Berlin Wall (and the consequences thereof) or could it be a purely personal trauma and a refusal to accept the metamorphoses of adolescence (for whatever reasons)? Or something else completely? (a fantasy based on some letters passed on to the writer by a relative) Jenny Erpenbeck leaves us to choose, presenting us solely with a laconic narrative which provides us with more questions than answers. Should you be a non-German speaker, I suspect you may find some of the long, complex sentences somewhat of a challenge: less of a struggle than Thomas Mann but harder work than most straightforward, modern texts.

[Kaltmamsell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Der schmale Roman (Novelle?) wurde offensichtlich bei Erscheinen 1999 vor allem als Parabel rezipiert - ich kann nachvollziehen, dass die eigentümliche, naive, schlichte Sprache, die mich an Märchen erinnerte, dorthin führt.

Ich wiederum ließ mich ganz von diesem Sound der Geschichte fangen und genoss es, auf der Oberfläche zu lesen, Assoziationen und Stimmungen über mich fließen zu lassen, mich davon überraschen zu lassen, wie auch diese Schlichtheit witzige Pointen ermöglicht.

Inhaltlich bleibt viel offen. Wir sind beim Lesen meist ganz in nah an diesem titelgebenden Mädchen (namenlos und durchgehend "das Mädchen"), an seinem mächtigen Körper, seinem Mondgesicht, seinem Erinnerungs-losen Zurechtfinden im Heim und unter den anderen Kindern. In den nur gut hundert Seiten ohne Nebenhandlung und charakterisierte Nebenfiguren bleibt doch genug Platz für Wendungen und Überraschendes.

Wieder mal erwies sich als für mich genau richtig, dass ich vor der Lektüre keine Rezensionen kannte und auch nicht die Entstehungsgeschichte des Romans, die der Verlag offensichtlich zum Verkauf des Buchs verwendete: So konnte mich auch das Ende aus erster Hand mitnehmen (praktisch alle Rezensionen spoilern, WARUM). Mal wieder fühlte ich mich in meiner Haltung bestätigt, dass der Autor, die Autorin und die Genesis besser keine Rolle beim Lesen spielen.

Ein kleines Meisterwerk - dennoch würde ich es ob seiner Seltsamkeit nicht jedem und jeder empfehlen.

[M. Sarki · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://rogueliterarysociety.com/f/th...

I have reviewed several of Erpenbeck's books separately. This review deals specifically with The Old Child. I wish I had read the other shorts collected in the book published by New Directions as my rating could change, but so far I have not gotten my hands on that particular book.

The Old Child is by far the weakest link in the current Erpenbeck/Bernofsky trilogy. Not that the book was a bad read, just not up to the same quality standards of The Book of Words and Visitation. Not even close. Of those latter two mentions, of course, you could say Erpenbeck came from the seed of Walser and Bernhard, but in no way is it permissible or advised by me to mention the same for this thin offering, The Old Child.

I am a big fan of Jenny Erpenbeck. Perhaps an even bigger fan of Susan Bernofsky, the gifted translator of both Erpenbeck's and Robert Walser's literary works. But I missed something here, or these two missed their chance for feeding it to me. Maybe I needed to be force fed with this one. OK, so our fat girl just didn't want to grow up, or she didn't want to face the truth of her existence, or accept the lot she was handed by the powers that be? And that fourteen year old kids are mean and the grownups are too? I am making this novella sound immature and undeveloped because I think it is. I am also admitting that perhaps I myself am not sophisticated enough to "get" what Erpenbeck was getting at. But there was nothing in the personality of the book that made me want to make a new friend, ugly and grotesque as she possibly was. I was made to feel nothing for any of the book's characters. I was dead as she was dead and all my reading died too soon. I never got anywhere. I was taken to no higher plane. I was not scared of anything, nor did I need to feel courageous. There was nothing taken from me but my time, and that is too much to take from me without a proper payout in return. I will not boycott the next Erpenbeck I am offered to read, but I will insist on there being some extremely positive or important critical review that makes me first have to want to read it. It isn't enough to drop the anointed names of Bernhard and Walser to me, and then offer some mystical or spiritual idea that Erpenbeck was spawned from them. Not with this work. Not on my time.

[Anna Varna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Φοβερή νουβέλα από μια συγγραφέα που δεν είχα ξαναδιαβασει.

[Spiros Γλύκας · Rating 5 out of 5]

Η νουβέλα της Έρπενμπεκ μας μιλάει για ένα 14χρονο κορίτσι που βρέθηκε στον δρόμο χωρίς να γνωρίζει κανείς τίποτα για το παρελθόν του και μετά μεταφέρθηκε σε ένα ορφανοτροφείο. Το κορίτσι δεν φαίνεται να νοιάζεται για το αν θα βρεθεί κάποιος να το υιοθετήσει. Είναι ένα παιδί που εγκλιματίζεται σιγά σιγά στο περιβάλλον του ιδρύματος και ενσωματώνεται μαζί με τους άλλους τρόφιμους που αποδέχονται την υποτονική συμπεριφορά του. Μετά από λίγο καιρό αρχίζει να δείχνει σημάδια κόπωσης και αδυναμίας να παραμείνει ξύπνια και την τοποθετούν στο αναρρωτήριο.
Η γραφή της Έρπενμπεκ είναι γοητευτική, ιδιαίτερη αλλά και απαιτητική κάνοντας αυτές τις εκατό περίπου σελίδες να φαίνονται γεμάτες, πυκνές, έτοιμες να τις επισκεφτείς εκ νέου για να αναζητήσεις πράγματα που σου διέφυγαν. Περισσότερα εδώ: https://spirosglykas.blogspot.com/202...

[MarjaHannele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erikoiset/lyhyet-sarjassa vuorossa tämä kirja. En ole kovin hyvä näiden vertauskuvallisisten teoksien tulkinnassa, joten suuri osa meni varmasti yli hilseen. Räävitön kertomus 14-vuotiaasta tytöstä, joka löydetään kaupungilta seisomasta ämpäri kädessä. Löydettäessä, ja pitkään sen jälkeenkin, tyttö on "tyhjä", kuin tuo kädessään löytöhetkellä ollut ämpäri.
Surrealistinen tarina saa surrealistisen lopun.
Ei huono tarina, muttei kyllä hyväkään!

[Seregnani · Rating 2 out of 5]

« Quando la trovarono, era per strada di notte con un secchio vuoto in mano, lungo una via piena di negozi, e non disse nulla. Quando la polizia la prese in consegna, fu sottoposta all'interrogatorio d'ufficio: come si chiamava, dove abitava, chi erano i genitori, quanti anni aveva. Aveva quattordici anni, rispose la ragazzina, ma non sapeva il suo nome, e nemmeno dove fosse casa sua. Sulle prime i poliziotti le avevano dato del lei, adesso le davano del tu. Le dicevano: Ma devi pur sapere da dove vieni, dove stavi prima di finire qui per strada con il tuo secchio vuoto. La ragazzina semplicemente non se lo ricordava, non riusciva a ricordarsi l'inizio. Era smarrita, e tutto ciò che aveva e conosceva era quel secchio vuoto che teneva in mano, che continuava a tenere in mano, mentre la polizia la interrogava. Uno dei poliziotti provò a offenderla e disse: E allora, buonanotte al sec-chio! Ma lei non capì che doveva essere un'offesa e rispose semplicemente: Sì.»

2,5 ⭐️ La ragazzina la trovarono per strada di notte con un secchio vuoto in mano. Fisicamente era grassoccia: si sapeva solo l’età, quattordici anni, e che era smarrita.
La polizia la porta in un istituto, un orfanotrofio dove la bambina è contenta perché vuole essere reclusa, mentre a scuola ambisce all’immutabilità e a occupare uno degli ultimi posti, il più basso della gerarchia, ossia il più sicuro. Mentre i suoi compagni vogliono passare alla classe successiva lei vorrebbe essere dimenticata e lasciata da parte. Si ammala spesso, ha il raffreddore anche d’estate. Ma a lei piace tanto, perché così dorme e segue le indicazioni dei medici, come una macchina. Così facendo però potrebbe suscitare compassione e anche considerazione dai suoi compagni che possono interpretare queste assenze come “marinare” la scuola. Ma lei non lo vuole, non vuole alzarsi di livello. Col passare del tempo però la ragazzina non viene più esclusa e partecipa sempre di più agli scherzi e ai giochi dei ragazzi. Finché si ammala di nuovo e da la faccia da ragazza/bambina diventa quella vera, quella che doveva essere fin dall’inizio. Non vi svelo troppo, se volete leggerlo. A me non mi ha entusiasmato come credevo. Volevo leggere un altro libro di questo autore per cui ci riproverò…

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

„Opowieść o starym dziecku”, debiut Jenny Erpenbeck z 1999 roku, zaczyna się od znalezienia na ulicy anonimowego dziecka z pustym kubłem w ręce. Nie można od niej wyciągnąć żadnych informacji, toteż dziewczynka ląduje w sierocińcu i o jej dalszych losach dowiadujemy się w zdystansowanych akapitach przypominających raczej sprawozdanie z eksperymentu medycznego niż historię coming of age, choć perspektywa samej dziewczynki wkrada się niepostrzeżenie i pozwala na moment zerknąć w jej świat wewnętrzny. Bohaterka Erpenbeck jest tak specyficzna jak można sobie tylko wyobrazić: pulchna, powolna, rówieśnicy unikają jej, dopóki jej milczenie nie jest im na rękę, a i to wiąże się dla niej z wątpliwym awansem w hierarchii, właściwie „najlepsze, co można zrobić, to machnąć na nią ręką” (str. 6).

To taka książka, gdzie mogłabym skorzystać z posłowia. Susan Bernofsky, autorka angielskiego przekładu, punktuje na końcu „The Old Child”, czego tłumaczenie nie dało rady przeszczepić z niemieckiego, skupia się tam co prawda na innej noweli Erpenbeck ze zbioru, ale nawet tutaj w opiniach przytacza się, że w oryginale dziewczynka (Mädchen) jest w rodzaju nijakim, z zaimkiem „es” (to), co potęguje bezosobowość całej historii, ale też jej paraboliczny wydźwięk. O tym musiałam sobie doczytać, a myślę, że taki kontekst przydałby się polskim czytelnikom i czytelniczkom. Ostatecznie poczułam, że zabrakło mi jakiegoś klucza do zrozumienia tej książki, ale może być to też jedna z tych pozycji, które muszą się trochę uleżeć w człowieku. Na pewno była to jedna z bardziej cudacznych rzeczy przeczytanych w tym roku, więc jeśli ktoś ma ochotę na lekko ponad 110 stron rozglądania się na boki ze wzrokiem „co się tutaj dzieje?” - to może być dla Was.


Za egzemplarz dziękuję Znak Literanova! [współpraca barterowa]

[Karol Kleczka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Urzeka frazami, daje wgląd w świat złożonej przemocy, ale jakoś rozminąłem się z tą książką. Czy to jest metafora, czy faktyczny obrazek? Jak myśleć o głównej bohaterce? Wiele tu jest pytań bez odpowiedzi, co tworzy klimat do lektury, ale obawiam się, że zostawia z niezrozumieniem (przynajmniej w moim przypadku).

[Kaia Brunborg-Øye · Rating 5 out of 5]

respiratory burst

[| Marvikkis | · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.0 / 5.0] ★★★★✩
Ebok, Norsk, Bookbites/Biblioteket

[Merja Kiviniemi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olipas erikoinen ja outo.

[What Ever Happened to baby Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

[Κατερίνα Τοράκη · Rating 5 out of 5]

Συγκλονιστικό! Μια ιστορία αντίστασης ενάντια στη λήθη για ένα παιδί πεταμένο έξω από το χρόνο. Έχω γράψει εδώ: https://katerinatoraki.blogspot.com/2...

[nariyae · Rating 5 out of 5]

nostalgia is going to kill me

this was too relatable, I'm not going to be ok for a while

[Erika Hagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hva var dette mon tro? Fascinerende lesing!! Tidvis briljante beskrivelser som fikk meg til å le meg i hjel. Eksempel: dette er hvordan det beskrives at hovedpersonen forsøker å hoppe over bukken i gymtimen:
«Hun lusker over bommen som en blek deigklump med hode. Læreren må se opp mot sin vilje. Hun må se storøyd på dette dyret. Dyret fremfører en slags treg dans på bommen. Overgangen fra liv i vann til liv på land i urtiden.»
Sjelden jeg opplever meg så representert i litteraturen!

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

intriguing and upsetting, or would be upsetting if you (me) could engage more. A child who chooses to be bottom of the class, is happy to be the 'fall-guy', the bullied, the forgotten as it gives her a place, a rung in the society around her, she is not expected to be good at work or at play, she is the butt of practical jokes and name calling. She speaks little, because The less the girl speaks, the less she can do wrong.

A big, awkward, clumsy girl with no past (found on a street with an empty bucket and unable to tell who she is) she knows her body is a transgression, she would like to atone for it, and so she obeys the decrees issued by her classmates to the letter. Thus she willingly stands with her eyes closed in the middle of the sports field, waiting for the others to hide and call her. But then they do not call,and not just for quarter of an hour, but for many hours on end, at first because they have permitted themselves a joke at her expense, and later out of sheer forgetfulness, but the girl remains standing there all these many hours.. for she stubbornly refuses to violate a decree.

Despite some strange first person paragraphs that peter out in the second half it read more like an essay than a story. The formality and stiffness of the language above (maybe partly to do with the translation but I think it is intended), the lack of dramatised events (they are always commented on in the manner above rather than enacted), the distance from the protagonist (she is unnamed) made it hard for me to care too much about what was going on, despite the weird ending. I'm sure this intellectual (rather than dramatic) approach was intended, and others may get more out of it, but I was kind of glad when it finished.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rückblickend erinnert mich das Buch an eine der ungewöhnlichen Begebenheiten aus Johann Peter Hebels „Kalendergeschichten“. Doch ist mir die Person des alten Mädchens fremd geblieben. Fast jeder kennt aus seiner Schulzeit eine solche Mitschülerin, die irgendwie nie dazugehörte, unauffällig am Rande stand, deren „Leben, dort wo es stattfindet, keine Spuren hinterlässt.“ Die Erzählweise aus Sicht des neutralen Beobachters, wechselnd mit wenigen Selbstreflexionen, hat mir den Charakter nicht nahe gebracht. Allerdings enthält das Buch einige erstaunliche Bilder, wie die des Hohns als der „schwarzen Variante der Anerkennung“. Oder der Gedanke, dass die völlige innere Leere des Mädchens, das „innerlich ganz und gar ausgeräumt ist wie ein Fisch vor dem Braten“ ihr letztendlich Anerkennung verschafft als Kummerkasten seiner Mitschüler.

[Katerina Koltsida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το μεγαλείο των σπουδαίων διανοητών είναι οτι επιτυγχάνουν να εκφράσουν με απλό τρόπο συνθέτες και δύσκολες έννοιες.

Στην αντίπερα ακριβώς όχθη, η Τζέννυ Έρπενμπεκ γράφει, σ αυτή την πρώτη της, βέβαια, συγγραφική προσπάθεια, απλά πράγματα με δύσκολο ή/και ενίοτε δυσνόητο τρόπο. Ίσως βέβαια τούτο να είναι εσκεμμένο για να μπορέσει να εκφράσει έμμεσα την ψυχική κατάσταση του κεντρικού προσώπου.

Μολαταύτα, η ιστορία καθεαυτή είναι πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα, και θα επιχειρήσω να διαβάσω κάποιο ακόμα βιβλιο της Έρπενμπεκ.

Κι ενα μεγάλο μπράβο στις Εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη για την ποιότητα και των ebooks τους.

[Merete Bratsberg Aae]

Omtale av Det gamle barnet av Jenny Erpenbeck, utgitt på tysk i 1999, oversatt til norsk i 2025 av Ute Neumann.
En underlig historie som sier mye om utenforskap, men som jeg synes det er vanskelig å tolke. Boka handler om et barn som ingen vet noe om. Hun blir funnet, 14 år gammel, tatt med til et barnehjem og blir der til hun blir syk. Det er en merkelig oppførsel på henne. Det samme er utseende. Hun skiller seg ut på alle måter. Nederst på rangstigen, taus, alltid sulten, uten interesse for å gjøre det godt på skolen eller hevde seg blant de andre barna.
Jenta har ikke noe navn, hun har sped stemme og høy og bred kropp. Hun svarer med vilje feil i timene, men etter hvert hjelper hun av og til de andre elevene. Hun er tilsikta dum. Det forstår ikke lærerne. Skildringene av livet i klasserommet har en indirekte kritikk av relasjonene i seg.
Jenta underkaster seg alt og alle. Hennes underkastelse er fullkommen (s 39). Hun blir lykkelig av å være syk. Men hun er ryddig. De strenge reglene om å ha klærne liggende med brettekanter i skapet, følger hun nøye. Hennes ufeilbarlighet på det punktet er som et svik, synes de andre elevene.
Noen steder brukes «jeg». Det er på s 28, 31, 42 og 92. Ellers er det en allvitende forteller. Jeg er ofte litt forvirra under lesinga.
De andre bruker henne som en skriftestol, fordi hun aldri forteller noe videre. Lærerne ser henne ikke. Legene forstår seg ikke på henne. Når de tar henne inn på sykehuset, og hun må gå på en streng diett, skjer noe rart med kroppen og ansiktet hennes. Det er her boka blir en slags magisk realisme. Hva er alder? Hvordan er forholdet mellom kropp og sjel? Handler det om familie? Tilhørighet? Manglende relasjoner? Utenforskap?
Originaltittelen er Geschichte vom alten kind. Viser at det er en historie, og jeg tenker at det kanskje er en slags fabel.
Forfatteren er prisbelønt.

[Linn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Det besynderlige med å lese nylig oversatte bøker uten å vite noe om dem på forhånd er overraskelsen du får på slutten når du finner ut at boka er mye eldre enn du først trodde. Det Gamle Barnet er debutromanen til Erpenbeck. Gitt ut i 1999. Oktober Forlag har valgt å publisere en oversettelse i 2025. Tid er et menneskeskapt konsept og det er tydelig i romanen også. Hva er et gammelt barn, liksom?

Tre-stjernern var på vippen men jeg bikket den opp til fire på grunn av at fortellingen er så gåtefull. Vi følger en jente som blir funnet på gata, som blir plassert på et barnehjem og nederst på rangstigen i skolehierarkiet (er det en plass hun har valgt selv eller en plass de andre ilegger henne?). Handlingen blir derimot oppfattet som distansert. Jeg oppfatter ikke den navnløse Jenta som et individ. Leseren blir alltid holdt på en emosjonell avstand fra jenta — en avstand som får meg til å gruble mer over jentas omstendigheter enn å føle medlidenhet for jenta. Spesielt når slutten avslører hvordan jenta har kamuflert seg i tiden, spør jeg meg selv hvorfor en vil leve på hennes vis. En slags søken etter svar i hodets grop leder meg mot alt fra traumerespons til en søken etter et barns trygghet.

Så få sider, men så mye å hente ut fra dem.

EDIT: Jeg leverte tilbake boka men setningene forblir i hodet - kom på en strofe om at lengselen til Jenta er sementert i betong. elsker språklige bilder, elsker dette

[Mikko Saari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taitavasti kirjoitettu, mitä vähän osasin toivoa Mennä, meni, mennyt -kirjan pohjalta, mutta eehkä vähän jätti kuitenkin kylmäksi. Erikoinen juttu, mutta pointti oli mikä? Mutta omituisen, vaikenevan tytön tarinassa tapahtui kuitenkin sen verran kasvua ja kehitystä, että mielenkiinto säilyi koko pienoisromaanin verran, jotta loppu saattoi sitten ihmetyttää, että kuinkas tässä nyt näin.

[Bjorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das Dasein des Neutrums.
Das Werden?
Das Verstecken?
Das Erwachsen?
Das Enthüllen?

Schade, dass "das" so unübersetzbar sein soll.

Beat ya tin drum, son.

[Maria Altiki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Τόσο μικρό βιβλίο και όμως έκανα 3 μέρες να το διαβάσω, με κούρασε απίστευτα ο μακροπερίοδος λόγος του και το στυλ γραφής. Όσο για την ιστορία δεν βρήκα κάτι ιδιαίτερο.

[didisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

take me back to Deutsch LK

[Barbaraw - su anobii aussi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il disagio

Il disagio non è solo quello, monolitico, di questa "bambina" gigantesca, aliena in un mondo di cui non conosce le regole, imbarazzata e imbarrazante, è anche il mio, nel leggere il libro.
Disagio con lei, verso di lei e verso l'autore. Mi è successo spesso con autori che vengono da quella Germania aliena che era la Germania dell'est. Un segno di una frattura tra mondi.
Ora, devo ancora terminarlo ma il paragone con la bella e inquietante trilogia di Agota Kristof aleggia, e vince lei, la scrittrice "che non parla". Questa bambina senza nome, come in altre opere che assumono l'andamento della metafora, a mala pena pensa, non parla, ma non so se ci parla.

[adenike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Das beste Buch, das ich jemals gelesen habe.