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Der Naturbursche
Deutschland im Herbst 2001, zwischen Big Brother und Harald Schmidt Show. Andreas Martin von Hohenstein, angesagter Popliterat der 90er Jahre, verpasst – von Trennungsschmerz und einer Schreibblockade geplagt – die Anschläge vom 11. September. Er gibt das Koksen auf, zieht von Berlin aufs Land in das Haus seiner verstorbenen Eltern und begibt sich auf einen naturromantischen Selbstfindungstrip. Der findet seine Erfüllung in der homoerotisch aufgeladenen Freundschaft mit dem charismatischen Heilpraktiker Christian. Von Hohenstein entdeckt das Wahre, Schöne und Gute – und will der Ironie endgültig abschwören. Mit »Der Naturbursche« legt Josefine Rieks einen gnadenlosen Roman vor: Mit feinem Spott seziert sie ihre schriftstellerische Vorgängergeneration, sie fühlt sich ihr verpflichtet und kann ihr doch nicht mehr ganz vertrauen – ein poetologisches Spiel, das auf abgründige Weise die Frage nach der richtigen Literatur zwischen popliterarischem Erbe und Autofiktion stellt.
192 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2022
21 people want to read
About the author
Josefine Rieks
4 books1 followerJosefine Rieks was born in Höxter in 1988, studied philosophy, and lives in Berlin. She wrote the screenplay for the no-budget film U3000 – Death of an Indie Band. In 2017, she received the Alfred Döblin Scholarship. Her first novel, Serverland, was published by Hanser in 2018.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 30, 2025
What an incredible novel. Goddamnit there ARE good contemporary German writers. Why have I ignored them? I can't blame the fact that I was out of the country for so long can I?
Oh man, I am talking about myself like the main protagonist who is lost in Berlin and divorced but keeping his ex wife's aristocratic sounding last name, who is lost because his first novel was successful however a kind of flash in the pan perhaps, he moves to the countryside where he grew up - same house same street same old friendly neighbor who cleans and sometimescooks - after his parents die (we are not told how).
This Andreas character, a performative, superficial guy, obsessed with brands and entertainment, from a middle class milieu of (former) left-wing teachers, the mother hyper critical of his debut novel because it apparently is way too a-political for her taste = this character I know so well, I met these guys, the way he navigates crowds, the way he "massages the truth" (his lie about 9/11 is an incredibly fun throughline!!), perhaps I was like him for a brief period in my life, the obsessiveness, the fragile ego, was I like him when I enrolled in sociology back in 1992 in Tübingen before I went to the US to pursue music, I am not sure, I would have to reread my journal and then oh boy I would become like Andreas, oh Jesus the ending is sooo brilliant too, I won't spoil it, anyways: there is this weird narcissism, there is this unease about him in a variety of circumstances, he does not seem to know how to belong, but then he does too, he can converse with people from different walks of life, he is like a chameleon, oh man I can't figure this guy out but I know he is unreliable because - like the narrator in Bolaño's "The Third Reich" - he is essentially lying to himself.
Despite this densely textured yet relatively short novel playing with well known elements of literature it is soooo good and damn it, it is soooooooo unique!
I have become a Josefine Rieks superfan and have started on her debut "Serverland" as well now, which entitles me to state definitively: she has a instantly recognizable style of prose and I love it!
Let's finish with an attempt to translate a passage, where main protagonist Andreas talks about himself back in his university days (page 51), as he tells the reader that since he watched Oliver Stone's "Wallstreet" in 10th grade he would wear only shirts in the style of Gordon Gecko but since he started university, he kind of moved up and alternated between a Van-Laack and a button down by Uli Knecht (German brands? no idea):
"Despite this new, albeit fictitious maturity, which inscribed into my regimented adolescent style of dress a certain sense of compromise, I remained a country bumpkin, who even in the big city - in the absence of further insights - had no other option but to stick to his early youth as far as inspiration in the fashion department is concerned."
Damn good s*** !!! Looking forward to Josefine's new novel!
Oh man, I am talking about myself like the main protagonist who is lost in Berlin and divorced but keeping his ex wife's aristocratic sounding last name, who is lost because his first novel was successful however a kind of flash in the pan perhaps, he moves to the countryside where he grew up - same house same street same old friendly neighbor who cleans and sometimescooks - after his parents die (we are not told how).
This Andreas character, a performative, superficial guy, obsessed with brands and entertainment, from a middle class milieu of (former) left-wing teachers, the mother hyper critical of his debut novel because it apparently is way too a-political for her taste = this character I know so well, I met these guys, the way he navigates crowds, the way he "massages the truth" (his lie about 9/11 is an incredibly fun throughline!!), perhaps I was like him for a brief period in my life, the obsessiveness, the fragile ego, was I like him when I enrolled in sociology back in 1992 in Tübingen before I went to the US to pursue music, I am not sure, I would have to reread my journal and then oh boy I would become like Andreas, oh Jesus the ending is sooo brilliant too, I won't spoil it, anyways: there is this weird narcissism, there is this unease about him in a variety of circumstances, he does not seem to know how to belong, but then he does too, he can converse with people from different walks of life, he is like a chameleon, oh man I can't figure this guy out but I know he is unreliable because - like the narrator in Bolaño's "The Third Reich" - he is essentially lying to himself.
Despite this densely textured yet relatively short novel playing with well known elements of literature it is soooo good and damn it, it is soooooooo unique!
I have become a Josefine Rieks superfan and have started on her debut "Serverland" as well now, which entitles me to state definitively: she has a instantly recognizable style of prose and I love it!
Let's finish with an attempt to translate a passage, where main protagonist Andreas talks about himself back in his university days (page 51), as he tells the reader that since he watched Oliver Stone's "Wallstreet" in 10th grade he would wear only shirts in the style of Gordon Gecko but since he started university, he kind of moved up and alternated between a Van-Laack and a button down by Uli Knecht (German brands? no idea):
"Despite this new, albeit fictitious maturity, which inscribed into my regimented adolescent style of dress a certain sense of compromise, I remained a country bumpkin, who even in the big city - in the absence of further insights - had no other option but to stick to his early youth as far as inspiration in the fashion department is concerned."
Damn good s*** !!! Looking forward to Josefine's new novel!
January 20, 2024
Sehr vergnüglicher Abgesang auf die reaktionäre Pose der deutschen Popliteratur. Selten habe ich einer literarischen Figur lieber beim Scheitern zugesehen, wollte dringender Wissen, welch schlimmes Schicksal diesem deutschen Christian, der sich sein "von" erheiratet hatte, zuteil wird - und ich wurde nicht enttäuscht. Es heideggert durch den Wald, dass es nur so kracht und immer mal wieder hat man das Gefühl dass Ernst Jünger am Horizont vorbeizieht. Und dann beginnt er auch noch zu malen! Sprachlich ausgereift, pointensicher und von einer analytischen Schärfe von der Harald Schmidt nur träumen kann.
January 22, 2026
auch ich begreife mich als konservativ
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews