Neue Herrlichkeit

by Günter de Bruyn

Viktor Kösling ist die Hauptfigur dieses Romans von Günter de Bruyn; eher ein Antiheld, denn "er ist gewöhnt, der zu sein, der gewünscht wird". Viktor, Sohn von Jan Kösling, der eine hohe Stellung einnimmt, und einer ehrgeizigen Mutter, soll, ehe er in den diplomatischen Dienst seines Landes eintritt, die Doktorarbeit schreiben. Aus diesem Grund zieht er sich zurück in das sehr entlegene staatliche Heim "Neue Herrlichkeit". Es ist Winter, Viktor hat wenig Interesse an seiner Arbeit, um so mehr läßt er sich auf die Mitbewohner dieser vermeintlichen Idylle ein. Die Binnenbeziehungen werden nur einmal durch den kurzen Besuch eines Lehrgangs gestört. Dann macht der große Schnee die "Neue Herrlichkeit" unzugänglich.
In der Isolation bricht rasch das Gleichgewicht dieser kleinen Gruppe auseinander. Es entsteht ein Streit zwischen den Werten Ordnung (Disziplin, Karriere etc.) und Unordnung (Leben, Selbstbewußtsein etc.). Alle Figuren neigen auf ihre Weise zu einem selbstbestimmten Leben: sei es durch die Rückkehr in die Vergangenheit oder durch Märchenphantasien und Wiedergeburtsträume, sei es durch sinnvolle Arbeit außerhalb des Leistungsdrucks oder durch Rauchen und Trinken ... Es kommt zu einer Kollektivdepression, zu einer neuen Traurigkeit.
Nach dem großen Schnee gerät die geordnete Unordnung wieder auseinander. Viktor hat seine Dissertation nicht geschrieben und möchte bei Thilde, einer Frau, die er dort kennengelernt hat, bleiben. Ein Telegramm aus dem Ministerium ruft ihn nach Berlin zurück. Er muß sofort sein Land im Ausland vertreten.

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At the time "New Glory (Neue Herrlichkeit)" was published in 1984, most dissident authors had fled the German Democratic Republic, then in its final years. Gunter de Bruyn courageously remained to satirize the regime from behind the Iron Curtain. He is a popular writer and cultural commentator in unified Germany. "New Glory" tells the story of Viktor Kosling, a privileged young man from the GDR about to embark on a diplomatic career. He retreats to 'New Glory', a state-run resort in rural Brandenburg run by a corrupt director, to finish his dissertation on 'The Foreign Policy of the Prussian Government During the French Revolution with Particular Emphasis on the Effects of Artisan and Peasant Unrest in the Provinces'. While there he falls, against his parents' wishes, for the lisping chambermaid, Thilde. The complex drama that follows, which pays tribute to Mann's "The Magic Mountain" and its ironic view of human nature, exposes the moral weakness of Viktor's character and the farcical distance between official East German ideals and the opportunistic functionaries who enabled the system.

215 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Norman Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Großartig. Ein Kammerspiel beinahe, handlungsarm (Ein schwacher und bindungsscheuer Mann profitiert von seinen Privilegien.) und voller Ironie. Ungeheuer deutsch, wie nur Bücher im geteilten Deutschland es sein konnten.

[Sverre · Rating 2 out of 5]

== A psychological novel about contrasts and quirks of personalities ==

For me this novel written by an author who resided in communist East Germany (GDR) all his life is more noteworthy for its qualities of remoteness or alienation than for closeness and intimacy. Viktor, the main character is a dispirited young man impaired by an innate case of the blahs. New Glory is the name of the isolated rest home where Viktor spends a winter to complete his research and thesis for graduation. Academically he sets goals for himself but lacks conviction to pursue them. He dawdles and procrastinates, being more intent on socializing with the operators and guests of the establishment. He does pursue a love interest, Thilde—the only girl in his sequestered environment that could possibly be a sexual attraction. But she is fixated on taking care of her eccentric and senile grandmother and lacks emotion commitment to form anything even approaching a passionate liaison with Viktor. Their relationship, overshadowed by Thilde’s deteriorating health, endures more by lingering insufficiencies, inadequacies and failures than by heartfelt engagement. Viktor’s father is a blowhard functionary, highly placed and admired in the GDR’s bureaucratic maze. As his son Viktor rides on his father’s coattails, receiving attention and deference from the common folk because of it. But his father disapproves of Thilde who lacks education and breeding as well as having a swarthy, Gypsy-like, complexion.

This is a psychological novel, a study in behavior contrasts and quirks between the inhabitants of New Glory. It lacks any kind of emotional intensity or any suspenseful anticipation, Like, Viktor, it has a case of the blahs. It offers some irony and humor. It does not give much insight about the political environment of the GDR or the domineering Soviet influence. The book was first published in West Germany but the book’s appearance in East Germany was repeatedly delayed due to de Bruyn’s failure to highlight GDR’s achievements and the merits of Marxism. New Glory received popularity and praise in the West which resulted in the East being shamed into releasing it there, with some ‘revisions’ to correct some of its failings.

I was interested in learning about conditions in the GDR in the 70s and 80s. This book provided little information. Not only that but in terms of historical fiction it does not offer much to maintain reader interest other than learning about the characters’ humdrum habituated existences. But overall this tale is about Viktor’s failure to confront his wimpish approach to life.