Die Widmung

by Botho Strauß

Ein glutheißer, unerträglicher Sommer in Berlin. In der Einsamkeit seines Zimmers sitzt bei geschlossenen Vorhängen Richard Schroubeck, einunddreißig, Buchhändler. Durch seine Freundin Hannah, die ihn ohne eine Erklärung, verlassen hat, ist er zu einem »Sozialfall der Liebe« geworden, der sich gehen lässt und täglich den Zustand seiner Trauer inspiziert. Er schreibt die »Biographie seiner leeren Stunden«, das »gewissenhafte und entsetzliche Protokoll« der Trennung, damit Hannah bei der erhofften Rückkehr von seiner Liebe erfährt.

Genres: Germany, Fiction

113 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Botho Strauß is a German playwright, novelist and essayist.


Botho Strauß's father was a chemist. After finishing his secondary education, Strauß studied German, History of the Theatre and Sociology in Cologne and Munich, but never finished his dissertation on Thomas Mann und das Theater. During his studies, he worked as an extra at the Munich Kammerspiele. From 1967 to 1970, he was a critic and editorial journalist for the journal Theater heute (Theater Today). Between 1970 and 1975, he worked as a dramaturgical assistant to Peter Stein at the West Berlin Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer. After his first attempt as a writer, a Gorky adaptation for the screen, he decided to live and work as a writer. Strauß had his first breakthrough as a dramatist with the 1977 Trilogie des Wiedersehens, five years after the publication of his first work. In 1984 he published his important work Der Junge Mann (The Young Man, translated by Roslyn Theobald in 1995).

With a 1993 Der Spiegel essay, "Anschwellender Bocksgesang" ("Swelling He-Goat Song"[N 1]),[2] a critical examination of modern civilisation, he triggered a major political controversy as his conservative politics was anathema to many.

In his theoretical work, Strauß showed the influence of the ancient classics, Nietzsche, Heidegger as well as Adorno, but his outlook was also radically anti-bourgeois.

His work as a writer has been recognized with numerous international awards and his dramas are among the most performed in German-language theatres.

Strauß presently lives in Berlin.

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 3 out of 5]

BOTHO STRAUSS È UN INDIANO MOHAVI


Cate Blanchett e Botho Strauß. Nel 2011 l’attrice australiana ha intepretato con la Sydney Theatre Company “Big and Small” scritto da Strauss.

Una volta ho letto dell'abitudine degli indiani Mohavi di continuare a parlare anche quando il partner si è congedato da un pezzo ed è andato via. Lo stesso succede a me. L'indiano e io non badiamo alle normali distanze; crediamo che le nostre parole raggiungano ancora il partner, anche quando non lo si vede più.
Non è una splendida metafora per descrivere l'effetto che la buona letteratura produce sul lettore?

Un esempio, fra i molteplici di queste asciutte pagine: una riflessione che il libro ispira e che mi seguirà a lungo suggerisce che in fondo anche Dio è solo un sentimento fra i tanti.


Maddalena Crippa in “Der Park” di Botho Strauß messo in scena al Piccolo di Milano da Peter Stein.

Questo racconto era molto caro a Pier Vittorio, il percorso per cui ci sono arrivato.
Devo anche aggiungere che il mio primo incontro con questo scrittore non è dei più felici. Ma ci riproverò.

PS
Peccato ci siano diversi refusi di stampa, troppi per sole cento pagine.


Cate Blanchett in “Big and Small” sui palcoscenici parigini.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Η αφιέρωση»
Συγγραφέας: Μπότο Στράους
εκδόσεις Αλεξάνδρεια
μετάφραση Δήμος Βαρθολομαίος

«Η αφιέρωση» , ή αλλιώς το "μετά" ενός χωρισμού , είναι από τα βιβλία, όπου ο αναγνώστης μπορεί,μέσα από το αίσθημα της εγκατάλειψης ,να βρει τον ίδιο του τον εαυτό.
Ο Ρίχαρτ Σρούμπεκ, ένας τριαντάρης Βερολινέζος βιβλιοπώλης, έχει μόλις χωρίσει από την ερωμένη του και νιώθει εγκλωβισμένος,ανήμπορος , παραδομένος, λες και πέφτει στο κενό χωρίς σταματημό. Προσπαθεί μέσα στην εσωστρέφειά του να ανακαλύψει γιατί η Χάννα τον εγκατέλειψε τόσο ξαφνικά. Συγχρόνως, δεν χάνει την ελπίδα του και την περιμένει με αγωνία να γυρίσει αφού δεν μπορεί να ζήσει χωρίς αυτήν.

Κυριολεκτικά «δεν μπορεί να ζήσει»: εγκαταλείπει τα εγκόσμια και τη δουλειά του, παύει να πλένεται και να ξυρίζεται για εβδομάδες, εγκαταλείπει την ίδια την ζωή. Όσο οξύμωρο κι αν ακούγεται,η μόνη του "παρηγοριά" είναι η ίδια του η απελπισία.
Από αυτήν αντλεί έμπνευση για να καταγράψει τις παράλογες σκέψεις και τις εμμονές του. Ο κόσμος γύρω του καταρρέει και ο Ρίχαρτ απευθύνεται στην Χάννα μέσα από έναν ιδιότυπο μονομερή διάλογο,αδειάζοντας πάνω στις σημειώσεις του τις τελευταίες του ελπίδες και τους στοχασμούς του για τη ζωή.

[Henrique Santsper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book at my workplace thinking it was a play....Then I realized it was a novel. But I chose to believe it was a one person show and kept reading.

The main character annoyed the shit out of me. He disturbed me a little bit. Yet, I found him fascinating. A man waits for his (ex) girlfriend to come back, because he doesn't know why she even left in the first place. The more he told, the clearer it got. It provoked anxiety, anger, disgust, sadness, compassion...all at the same time.

Not the best book I've ever read, by all means. But it caught my attention, and I couldn't put it down.

[Dionysia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ξεκινώντας να γράφει ως μέσον επιβίωσης από τη δεινή ψυχική κατάσταση στην οποία έχει περιέλθει μετά από τον χωρισμό, ο συγγραφέας γράφει τελικά για την ίδια τη συγγραφή και τη γλώσσα, για τον τρόπο που λειτουργούν/ή απονεκρώνονται οι αισθήσεις του, ώστε να/ή να μην αντιλαμβάνεται τον κόσμο γύρω του.
Προσωπικά βρήκα ιδιοφυή τον τρόπο έκφρασης του και όχι την κοινότυπη, άλλωστε, ιστορία ενός χωρισμού.

[Victor Ramón Beltrán · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una historia de desapego hacía una expareja, interesante en la forma, desconexa a veces, complicada, pero me pareció muy fluida dentro del caos que tiene, al igual que en las partes de narración me gusto. En definitiva es una obra extraña, supongo que no para todos.

[Iohannes · Rating 3 out of 5]

some great, almost aphoristic, observations & digressions here and there; the actual story isn't as compelling tho

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liest sich ein bisschen wie Poesie. Hat mich aber nicht so begeistert.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good. Economical, fairly original in style and substance.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strauß' Schreibstil ist wie Lindt-Schokolade auf der Zunge... nur irgendwie besser.

[Fish on Earth · Rating 1 out of 5]

For uni
Laaaaaaaaangatmig! Too stretched out. Didn’t enjoy it very much 😅 another book for uni ✅

[Moran Likely · Rating 5 out of 5]

"She borrowed her appreciation of her own nakedness from the imagination of a lover whom she had been turning down for a long time."