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A tranquila cidade de Freiburg é tomada por estranhos incidentes. No Hospital Universitário, mortes inexplicáveis acontecem, e um dos médicos é brutalmente assassinado. O filho de um renomado físico é raptado e o sequestrador exige a morte de um homem como resgate. Resta ao comissário de polícia Junko investigar a ligação de um homem acima de qualquer suspeita com esses trágicos eventos. Ao mesclar embates filosóficos e física quântica, Juli Zeh expõe os limites e as obsessões humanas e discute a própria noção de realidade.
350 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
67 people are currently reading
1211 people want to read
About the author
Juli Zeh
54 books1,248 followersJuli Zeh is a German novelist.
Her first book was Adler und Engel (in English: Eagles and Angels), which won the 2002 Deutscher Bücherpreis for best debut novel.
Juli Zeh has lived in Leipzig since 1995. Zeh studied human rights law in Passau and Leipzig, passing the Zweites Juristisches Staatsexamen - comparable equivalent to the U.S. bar exam - in 2003. She also has a degree from the Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig.
Her first book was Adler und Engel (in English: Eagles and Angels), which won the 2002 Deutscher Bücherpreis for best debut novel.
Juli Zeh has lived in Leipzig since 1995. Zeh studied human rights law in Passau and Leipzig, passing the Zweites Juristisches Staatsexamen - comparable equivalent to the U.S. bar exam - in 2003. She also has a degree from the Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
April 17, 2021
This is altogether one of the most extraordinary books I have ever read. Expertly translated from the original German by Christine Lo, it concerns two physicists, both brilliant, closest of friends from student days on. Oskar works on the Large Hadron Collider at Geneva, but Sebastian has opted for marriage and a professorship at the University of Freiburg.
Oskar has never really forgiven Sebastian for settling for this safe option, and their monthly meetings are peppered with violent arguments about physics and the space-time continuum. Please don’t let these erudite subjects put you off – I know little or nothing about them but was riveted from first to last.
Sebastian’s young son is kidnapped on the way to his scout camp. This is followed by the grisly murder of an anaesthetist from the local hospital. Then two extremely eccentric detectives enter the scene.
On one level, this is a murder mystery with an investigation and a solution. But it is so much more, covering life, love, death, everything. It would spoil your enjoyment to tell you anything further about the plot. Just read it.
Oskar has never really forgiven Sebastian for settling for this safe option, and their monthly meetings are peppered with violent arguments about physics and the space-time continuum. Please don’t let these erudite subjects put you off – I know little or nothing about them but was riveted from first to last.
Sebastian’s young son is kidnapped on the way to his scout camp. This is followed by the grisly murder of an anaesthetist from the local hospital. Then two extremely eccentric detectives enter the scene.
On one level, this is a murder mystery with an investigation and a solution. But it is so much more, covering life, love, death, everything. It would spoil your enjoyment to tell you anything further about the plot. Just read it.
August 3, 2018
Speed dating with books 6/6
Personal Challenge From A to Z around the world – G is for Germany
The last book that I chose for my experiment is also the first that I managed to finish. It is extremely hard for me to properly review this novel because I cannot decide what this book actually is. Reading the blurb, I might have framed it as a detective novel. After I finished, the mystery of the murder felt the less important aspect.
It’s a complicated novel. It is sprinkled with philosophy, quantum physics and psychology. It was dark and strange but somehow also gripping. I would lie if I said I understood every message the author tried to convey since It was confusing inside the main characters minds. However, I did not regret my time spent there.
Personal Challenge From A to Z around the world – G is for Germany
The last book that I chose for my experiment is also the first that I managed to finish. It is extremely hard for me to properly review this novel because I cannot decide what this book actually is. Reading the blurb, I might have framed it as a detective novel. After I finished, the mystery of the murder felt the less important aspect.
It’s a complicated novel. It is sprinkled with philosophy, quantum physics and psychology. It was dark and strange but somehow also gripping. I would lie if I said I understood every message the author tried to convey since It was confusing inside the main characters minds. However, I did not regret my time spent there.
October 2, 2020
Die Geschichte beginnt wirklich sehr gut mit einer Analogie auf die Big Bang Theory und deren Figuren (musste im Internet nachschauen wer sich hier von wem inspirieren ließ, aber es war wohl Juli Zeh die Big Bang geschaut hat, denn die berühmte Fernsehserie ist 2007 im Herbst herausgekommen und die Autorin hat den Roman im Dezember 2007 beendet): Zwei Freunde, Oscar, ein theoretischer Physiker, wenig seinen Mitmenschen zugeneigt, der sich für einen total genialen Überflieger hält und ein Experimentalphysiker namens Sebastian, der eigentlich ebenso klug aber nicht so ehrgeizig ist und seinen Lebenszweck eher bei Frau und Kind sucht.
Weiters extem kluge Passagen, wie die beiden gegeneinander im intellektuellen Disput brillieren und in denen sehr smart quasi in der Manier der alten Screwballkommödien mit Wissenschaftstheorie, physkalischen Grundsätzen und der Metaphysik gespielt wird - eine echte Wohltat wie Wissenschaftler der 3. Generation die Grenzen der Diziplinen zu Querschnittsmaterieen auflösen.
"Er schimpfte seinen Freund als einen schöden Deterministen. Um Oskar und alle Umstehendne zu ärgern, bezweifelte er die Gültigkeit der Empirie als Erkenntnisverfahren. Ein Mensch, der am Flussufer 1000 weiße Schwäne vorbeiziehen sehe, könne daraus nicht schlussfolgern, dass keine schwarzen existierten."
Diese Aussage ist sehr polemisch, hinterhältig und grundfalsch denn bei 1000 Flussufern wählt der Empiriker genau einen Schwan aus.
Zudem gibt es noch ein bisschen witzige Kindererziehung eines sehr begabten Knirpses mit Heisenberg, Bohr und Schrödinger.
"Was ist ein Mengele?", fragt Liam, der im Kampf gegen die Salatblätter noch keinen einzigen Gegner bezwungen hat. "Das ist jetzt nicht so wichtig", sagt Maike schnell. "Immer, wenn es nicht so wichtig ist, geht es um Sex oder um Nazis!", kräht Liam.
"Weißt du", sagt Oscar zu Liam, "dass sich immer, wenn Du einen Keks stiehlst, eine zweite Welt abspaltet, in der du den Keks nicht gestohlen hast?" "Die Paralleluniversen", sagt Liam. "Wenn Mama fragt, ob ich genascht habe, antworte ich immer: Ja und nein. Aber das funktioniert nicht."
Nach der großartigen Einführung wird der Sündenfall konstruiert. Sebastian begeht unter Zwang eine unglaubliche Tat. Jemand versucht, sich eines Mitwissers durch den perfekten Mord zu entledigen. Er findet Sebastian, der ein starkes persönliches Motiv gegen das Opfer hat, entführt sein Kind während die Frau auf Urlaub ist und zwingt ihn zum Stillschweigen und anschließend zum Mord am Opfer."
Anschließend dümpelt die Geschichte so dahin es gibt einen ganz normalen Krimi, der recht absehbar erscheint. Kommissar und Kommissarin in Freundschaft verbunden aber dennoch in berufliche Konkurrenz verwickelt, Staatsanwälte, die schon auf Aufklärung drängen, Sebastian, dessen heile Welt und Familie ob des Verbrechens total zusammenbricht, der Erpressertäter im Hintergrund und der beste Freund Oscar, der sehr absehbar als alternative Handlung und Täter das lustige Mörderraten einläutet.
.... und dann kommt das Finale - atemberaubend, in sich schlüssig bezüglich Täter und Motiv und doch glaube ich von niemandem genauso vorhergesehen. So etwas muss einem Autor zuerst mal einfallen!!! Das ist genial!!!
Fazit: Ein ausgezeichneter Krimi - vor dem Finale hätte man ein bisschen straffen und das Tempo etwas anziehen können, weshalb ich nicht die vollen 5 Sterne vergebe - mit einem gradiosen Finale!
Weiters extem kluge Passagen, wie die beiden gegeneinander im intellektuellen Disput brillieren und in denen sehr smart quasi in der Manier der alten Screwballkommödien mit Wissenschaftstheorie, physkalischen Grundsätzen und der Metaphysik gespielt wird - eine echte Wohltat wie Wissenschaftler der 3. Generation die Grenzen der Diziplinen zu Querschnittsmaterieen auflösen.
"Er schimpfte seinen Freund als einen schöden Deterministen. Um Oskar und alle Umstehendne zu ärgern, bezweifelte er die Gültigkeit der Empirie als Erkenntnisverfahren. Ein Mensch, der am Flussufer 1000 weiße Schwäne vorbeiziehen sehe, könne daraus nicht schlussfolgern, dass keine schwarzen existierten."
Diese Aussage ist sehr polemisch, hinterhältig und grundfalsch denn bei 1000 Flussufern wählt der Empiriker genau einen Schwan aus.
Zudem gibt es noch ein bisschen witzige Kindererziehung eines sehr begabten Knirpses mit Heisenberg, Bohr und Schrödinger.
"Was ist ein Mengele?", fragt Liam, der im Kampf gegen die Salatblätter noch keinen einzigen Gegner bezwungen hat. "Das ist jetzt nicht so wichtig", sagt Maike schnell. "Immer, wenn es nicht so wichtig ist, geht es um Sex oder um Nazis!", kräht Liam.
"Weißt du", sagt Oscar zu Liam, "dass sich immer, wenn Du einen Keks stiehlst, eine zweite Welt abspaltet, in der du den Keks nicht gestohlen hast?" "Die Paralleluniversen", sagt Liam. "Wenn Mama fragt, ob ich genascht habe, antworte ich immer: Ja und nein. Aber das funktioniert nicht."
Nach der großartigen Einführung wird der Sündenfall konstruiert. Sebastian begeht unter Zwang eine unglaubliche Tat. Jemand versucht, sich eines Mitwissers durch den perfekten Mord zu entledigen. Er findet Sebastian, der ein starkes persönliches Motiv gegen das Opfer hat, entführt sein Kind während die Frau auf Urlaub ist und zwingt ihn zum Stillschweigen und anschließend zum Mord am Opfer."
Anschließend dümpelt die Geschichte so dahin es gibt einen ganz normalen Krimi, der recht absehbar erscheint. Kommissar und Kommissarin in Freundschaft verbunden aber dennoch in berufliche Konkurrenz verwickelt, Staatsanwälte, die schon auf Aufklärung drängen, Sebastian, dessen heile Welt und Familie ob des Verbrechens total zusammenbricht, der Erpressertäter im Hintergrund und der beste Freund Oscar, der sehr absehbar als alternative Handlung und Täter das lustige Mörderraten einläutet.
.... und dann kommt das Finale - atemberaubend, in sich schlüssig bezüglich Täter und Motiv und doch glaube ich von niemandem genauso vorhergesehen. So etwas muss einem Autor zuerst mal einfallen!!! Das ist genial!!!
Fazit: Ein ausgezeichneter Krimi - vor dem Finale hätte man ein bisschen straffen und das Tempo etwas anziehen können, weshalb ich nicht die vollen 5 Sterne vergebe - mit einem gradiosen Finale!
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November 2, 2014I do like a book that comes to a suitably satisfying solution, one that I had had an inkling of all along, but is still not too obvious, so that I can lean back and sigh and say, yessssssss, I thought it was him, yes, I read those subtle hints correctly, pat on the back, didn't miss a trick, you don't put much past me.
I do like a book that makes me sit up, startled into a whoop of WOW! I never saw that coming! And sends me scurrying back to page 127 to read the telephone conversation between Oskar and Sebastian all over again, because, wow, yes, it has a whole new meaning now, gosh!
So what about a book that can do BOTH?
I do like a book that opens up a whole new field of knowledge to me, something I knew nothing about, in this case physics. Schrödinger's cat; multiple universe theory; the improbability of this world, this planet that we live on emerging in this form, the chances of it happening are one to ten to the power of fifty nine; the nature of time; and the way even scientists paste labels over holes in reality, the phenomena that they cannot account for, measure, explain. Gravity for example.
I do like a book that is fast-paced, exciting, so that it is hard to put down for long, it calls out from the table next to the sofa, c'mon, just a few more pages before you start the ironing, c'mon. Will Sebastian really do that dastardly deed?
So what about a book that can do BOTH?
I do like a book in whose characters I can believe and whose fate affects me. I want to know what happens to them, I feel, I care.
I do like a book that is an intellectual game, a chess board on which the pieces are moved around in a pattern that I recognize as too perfect to be quite realistic.
So, what about....
What about a book that is a comforting, recognizable genre, the classic detective story, but that can take that classic form and twist it into a new and unsettling shape. Oh yes, I loved it.
'Schilf' is the German word for plants of the genus phragmites, reeds. Reeds were commonly used for roofing, for insulation, it was favoured as a sweet smelling flooring material, for cleaning and disinfection, for lighting. Hardly surprising then that it should be connected with protection and cleansing, but also with communication, other-wordly communication - the song of the reeds as the wind passes through. Here, rather mundanely, it is but the name of the detective. And why not indeed.
And apart from the contents, I also loved this edition, which has a fittingly Hitchcockesque picture of rooks blackly gathering in the trees. For the birds in this story are watchful, threatening, malevolent, with their beady lifeless eyes. Even the two fat ducks (Bonnie and Clyde!) bobbing on the stream that runs past Sebastian's house in pretty little Freiburg. They watch. They know. They know.
December 31, 2023
Nach über der Hälfte abgebrochen. Es ging für mich beim besten Willen nicht weiter. Ich habe nichts gegen Juli Zeh, finde sogar Unterleuten richtig gelungen. Aber hier war auf den ersten Seiten bei der Beschreibung der Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau für mich schon klar, dass dies stilistisch ganz anders ist. Positiv würde man es metaphorisch und süffisant bezeichnen. Für mich wirkte es aber unecht, gewollt, zu ambitioniert. Ich wurde das Gefühl nicht los, dass sie sich die Aufgabe gestellt hatte, einen Krimi gepaart mit diffizilen physikalischen Theorie über Raum und Zeit, gespickt mit skurrilen Figuren und jedes Nomen garniert mit einen mehr oder weniger sinnlosen Adjektiv (gelangweilte Kiefern, teilnahmslose Schränke) zu schreiben. Das ist ihr auch in dieser Komplexität gelungen, hat aber leider zur Konsequenz, dass es mich wirklich langweilte, teilweise sogar richtig ärgerte. Keine annähernd echte Menschen verhalten sie in ihren jeweiligen Rollen so wie beschrieben. Völlig klischeehaftet und überkonstruiert. Überhaupt nicht mein Geschmack.
February 24, 2018
This was a very enjoyable read, whimsical, quirky and I'd say the main highlight was the exquisite characterization of the main characters. Some philosophical discourse and interesting debates as well as inner monologues were very readable and original and I often laughed about the eccentric metaphors the author has created here. It's definitely not your usual, classical detective story, so don't be misled by the genre it's been put under.
June 26, 2010
Like my man Wally Abish, you crack the spine and ask, "How German Is It"? Über, mein gelehrter freund!
Seriously, what is more German than a high brow police procedural about physicists and a murder in a university town on the edge of the Black Forest? Also, peep the author's photo. It's endearingly weird and Teutonic.
Positioned on the moderately arty end of the crime novel spectrum, Zeh has leavened genre convention with a hearty dose of epistemological thinkables and nuggets o' quantum mechanics. So, beyond its fun Central European essence, Zeh's book is well worth copping for this delightful use of physics as both literary device and zesty seasoning. Also, the characters, especially Oskar and Sebastian and family, are magnificently made and draw one in instantly. Lastly, this reader bestows the grandest props for the genius bird motif. Shit begins in the opening pages, encompasses mad avian classes and species, and pays lyrical dividends.
Alas, there are flaws, meine GoodReads kameraden! While it opens beautifully and proceeds for the first third so brilliantly, Zeh began to lose steam with the introduction of Detective Schilf (who is the titular character in the German version, Schilf, AKA Super Kop). Thereafter, the plotting becomes a little more choppy; still good, but more than a touch off the opening gallop.
Nevertheless, if this book gets 1/1000th of that Stieg Larsson money (wink-wink, Random House!), then all's right with the world.
Seriously, what is more German than a high brow police procedural about physicists and a murder in a university town on the edge of the Black Forest? Also, peep the author's photo. It's endearingly weird and Teutonic.
Positioned on the moderately arty end of the crime novel spectrum, Zeh has leavened genre convention with a hearty dose of epistemological thinkables and nuggets o' quantum mechanics. So, beyond its fun Central European essence, Zeh's book is well worth copping for this delightful use of physics as both literary device and zesty seasoning. Also, the characters, especially Oskar and Sebastian and family, are magnificently made and draw one in instantly. Lastly, this reader bestows the grandest props for the genius bird motif. Shit begins in the opening pages, encompasses mad avian classes and species, and pays lyrical dividends.
Alas, there are flaws, meine GoodReads kameraden! While it opens beautifully and proceeds for the first third so brilliantly, Zeh began to lose steam with the introduction of Detective Schilf (who is the titular character in the German version, Schilf, AKA Super Kop). Thereafter, the plotting becomes a little more choppy; still good, but more than a touch off the opening gallop.
Nevertheless, if this book gets 1/1000th of that Stieg Larsson money (wink-wink, Random House!), then all's right with the world.
December 20, 2017
What a surprise! I picked up this book thinking it was a Sci-Fi novel of the same name (Dark Matter by Blake Crouch), and was a few chapters into it before I realised it wasn't (I never read the blurb of a book I am about to read as it always gives too much again). Luckily by this time, I was hooked, as I really enjoyed this book - would even go as far to say as this was the book of 2017 for me. Excellent writing, which is rare for a book that is translated, so kudos to translator. Also fascinating plot, great characters and even a bit of quantum physics. This book is difficult to characterise - at its heart is a terrible event, provoked by coincidence - what follows is part police procedural, part an exploration of relationships and how they fall apart, and part a search for redemption from the main detective character. Told from several different points of view, I found all the characters extremely sympathetic, but perhaps no more so than the elderly detective on his last case, who wants to save the man he is investigating. A brilliant read - have already requested more from Juli Zeh.
July 11, 2015
Zwei Stockenten namens Bonnie und Clyde, die immer wieder auftauchen und skurrile Charaktere wie die Kriminalkommissarin, die „ironische Kleider und sarkastische Sandalen“ trägt, gehören zu den zahlreichen Einfällen, die das Lesen dieses Romans zu einem Vergnügen machen. Neben diesen allerhand amüsanten Einfällen überzeugen aber die Charaktere trotz aller Schrägheit mit ihrer Verzweiflung, ihrem Hadern mit der Wirklichkeit und wie diese überhaupt zu erfassen sei.
December 20, 2019
A murder story wrapped up in quantum language, that's this book in a nutshell. It starts fascinating by the rousing friendship between two top physicists and their discussions about reality as multiple universe. But then, the dramatic turn the story takes, is all too predictable and repeatedly also quite incredible, especially the almost grotesque final. Once again, the characters Zeh has created seem automates that cannot deviate from their preset route. However, I want to give Zeh another chance, because this book occasionally contains passages that indicate that she really has some talent.
August 27, 2019
Just WOW!!!!!
A book of the finest quality. This book had me hooked from the first words, every sentence is so beautifully constructed, every word has a life of it's own. The characters and their environs jump out of the page. The plot is wonderfully challenging and so well set up from the start. This experience was like reading the Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole) for the first time and the sheer brilliance of it makes me remember Catch 22 too. I thought the use of words and their places on the page had the strength of Dylan Thomas. I am an instant fan of Juli Zeh.
This is a must read for every lover of the written word.
A book of the finest quality. This book had me hooked from the first words, every sentence is so beautifully constructed, every word has a life of it's own. The characters and their environs jump out of the page. The plot is wonderfully challenging and so well set up from the start. This experience was like reading the Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole) for the first time and the sheer brilliance of it makes me remember Catch 22 too. I thought the use of words and their places on the page had the strength of Dylan Thomas. I am an instant fan of Juli Zeh.
This is a must read for every lover of the written word.
October 27, 2019
“U hebt me vernietigd,” zegt Sebastian met een stem die speciaal voor dit ogenblik is uitgevonden. “Ik behoor u toe.”
Dit zou een misdaadroman zijn en goed, er was een dode, maar er zat verder niets van spanning in en ik heb me tot aan de laatste alinea afgevraagd wat de personen in het boek nou eigenlijk aan het doen waren. Wel een goed boek als je op zoek bent naar een niet te volgen, onrealistisch en langdradig verhaal over diverse kerels en hun filosofische overpeinzingen over fysica en elkaar.
Dit zou een misdaadroman zijn en goed, er was een dode, maar er zat verder niets van spanning in en ik heb me tot aan de laatste alinea afgevraagd wat de personen in het boek nou eigenlijk aan het doen waren. Wel een goed boek als je op zoek bent naar een niet te volgen, onrealistisch en langdradig verhaal over diverse kerels en hun filosofische overpeinzingen over fysica en elkaar.
July 21, 2015
J'aimerai avoir plus de lectures comme ça même si j'en voulais toujours plus, même si j'en veux encore plus. J'aurai aimé que l'auteur aille encore plus loin, souvent. Qu'elle soit encore plus folle et qu'elle ose encore plus. J'ai beaucoup aimé son écriture et une question philosophique débattue par deux grands scientifiques au point d'y laisser leur vie ne pouvait que me plaire. Juli Zeh, I'm honored.
January 16, 2018
Noch mehr doppelte Böden kann man in einem schrägen Kriminalroman wohl nicht unterbringen. Juli Zeh ist es mit "Schilf" gelungen, aus dem typisch deutschen Buch um einen Mordfall, zwei Physiker und leicht durchgeknallte Polizeibeamte eine Geschichte zu zimmern, die weit über das normale Rätselspiel hinausgeht. Mit ureigener Sprache, teilweise absurden Metaphern und immer wieder komplexe, wissenschaftliche Überlegungen überzeugt dieses Buch auf unvergleichliche Weise.
Auch wenn mich all diese Punkte zu Beginn noch eher verwirrt haben, entfaltet "Schilf" spätestens nach der Hälfte einen Sog und macht aus allen Kritikpunkten absurderweise Stärken. Wer also für einmal einen komplett andersartigen Krimi lesen will, der wird bei Frau Zeh fündig.
Auch wenn mich all diese Punkte zu Beginn noch eher verwirrt haben, entfaltet "Schilf" spätestens nach der Hälfte einen Sog und macht aus allen Kritikpunkten absurderweise Stärken. Wer also für einmal einen komplett andersartigen Krimi lesen will, der wird bei Frau Zeh fündig.
January 11, 2022
A metaphysical anti-thriller about Physics and Philosophy. I was actually with this book for a good while, following the friendship and rivalry between two physicists who have conflicting theories of time and the universe.
It was the meditative, dying detective that wore me down. Somehow we slowed to a crawl and I was actually surprised when the book presented a resolution. I had assumed it was uninterested in such things.
I have been hit and miss with Zeh, she is always doing something interesting, it just doesn't always work.
It was the meditative, dying detective that wore me down. Somehow we slowed to a crawl and I was actually surprised when the book presented a resolution. I had assumed it was uninterested in such things.
I have been hit and miss with Zeh, she is always doing something interesting, it just doesn't always work.
August 29, 2025
Hem aralık vermeden okumak istedim. Hem de hiç bitmesin. Bitmesi ve bitmemesi aynı anda mümkün olur muydu acaba?
Çok keyif aldım. Ki 3-5 yıl önce alıp 15 sayfa sonra bırakmıştım. Belki de paralel bir dünyadaydım. Kimbilir?
Oscar karakterini Benedict Cumberbatch olarak canlandırdım gözümde. Tam onluk bi karakter.
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December 14, 2022Ich mag andere Bücher von Juli Zeh sehr.
Dieses scheint mir Überambitioniert und Überfrachtet. Quasi wie eine Etude in einer Schreibwerkstatt.
Dieses scheint mir Überambitioniert und Überfrachtet. Quasi wie eine Etude in einer Schreibwerkstatt.
September 22, 2024
Der Anfang mit viel pseudo deepem philosophisch-Quantenphysikalischem Gehabe hat mich eher genervt als abgeholt. Als der Krimi wirklich anfing hat es mich gepackt, das Ende empfand ich aber als enttäuschend.
January 24, 2025
Borderline femma! Har vandrat runt Zeh ett tag men inte riktigt känt suget. Överraskas nu av den här lågmälda berättarglädjen, formuleringskonsten. Knasiga metaforer som sitter klockrent och fina detaljer som berättar en större historia. En bok jag kommer på mig med att längta till medan jag måste göra annat.
Det här temat med flera världar och kvantfysikonanin slår över lite grann, och jag vet inte heller om jag grips av den lite Poirotska upplösningen på kriminalhistorian som ytligt sett bär berättelsen. Men ändå. Riktigt bra. Så gött att bli riktigt positivt överraskad av en ny författare då och då.
Det här temat med flera världar och kvantfysikonanin slår över lite grann, och jag vet inte heller om jag grips av den lite Poirotska upplösningen på kriminalhistorian som ytligt sett bär berättelsen. Men ändå. Riktigt bra. Så gött att bli riktigt positivt överraskad av en ny författare då och då.
July 7, 2025
I liked the beginning of the book a lot to the point that I was halfway through it and I thought it was gonna be one of my favourite books so far this year. But then things went downhill as characters started behaving very unbelievably. The whole mystery gets completely broken down, and there are no plot twists. None of the characters behave as if they were real humans, including a 9-year-old child who apparently behaves like a grown-ass adult. There is a physical fight and a break up and the way that it is resolved is just so completely unrealistic. That's when I began to really hate this book with passion.
By the time I reached 3/4of the story I was over it. I did not care anymore about anything that happened. It just seemed like the author chose the most obscure way to move the characters along so that the reader doesn't know what is going on, as if that made it cool and mysterious. Well, write some proper mystery then! Characters meet with each other and nothing happens. They meet with other characters again, and nothing happens again. They all then meet, despite not having any business meeting up and they have planned an picnic outing together, there is a decapitated head in the cooler and everyone's chill with it. I don't understand anything and I don't care anymore.
By the time I reached 3/4of the story I was over it. I did not care anymore about anything that happened. It just seemed like the author chose the most obscure way to move the characters along so that the reader doesn't know what is going on, as if that made it cool and mysterious. Well, write some proper mystery then! Characters meet with each other and nothing happens. They meet with other characters again, and nothing happens again. They all then meet, despite not having any business meeting up and they have planned an picnic outing together, there is a decapitated head in the cooler and everyone's chill with it. I don't understand anything and I don't care anymore.
May 7, 2021
J’abandonne. Le début me paraissait intéressant, mais en fait j’ai dû mal avec le style que je trouve très alambiqué. La traduction peut-être ? Et puis … eh bien je n’accroche pas.
September 10, 2017
Van Juli Zeh las ik reeds Nultijd, een boek dat me zeer voor haar innam. Waar Nultijd al de genregrenzen oprekte, gooit de schrijfster in Vrije Val of Schilf in het Duits, er een blik moeilijke wetenschappelijke theorieën tegenaan van 2 geniale fysici, die je ook doen stil staan bij de filosofische gevolgen ervan voor de wereld. Dit was dus toch wel even andere koek om doorheen te bijten, maar ze smaakte uiteindelijk weer zeer goed!
Oskar en Sebastian zijn 2 fysici die elkaar leerden kennen op de middelbare school. Door hun opvallende kennis en dito beider lengte waardoor ze in elkaars zicht komen, ontwikkelen ze een bijzondere vriendschap, als je hun relatie zo kan benoemen, en gaan ze samen naar de universiteit van Freiburg (het Duitse Freiburg im Breisgau welteverstaan). Oskar blijft alleen, Sebastian trouwt met Maike en samen krijgen ze een zoon Liam.
Sebastian heeft in een populair blad de zogenaamde 'vele-werelden-theorie' uit de doeken gedaan nav een moordzaak waarvan de dader zich beriep op parallelle universums om zijn moorden als 'louter experiment' te betitelen. Oskar, die nu in het Zwitserse CERN werkt, en nog een genialere fysicus is als hem, lacht hem er voor uit en vindt dat hij het zich te makkelijk maakt om de wereld uit te leggen en hierbij zowel de idee van God als meester als de vrije wil van de mens onmogelijk maakt. De discussie tussen de vroeger bevriende fysici wordt bitsiger en bitsiger en hun relatie wordt er van langsom veel moeilijker en complexer op.
Dan wil Sebastian enkele vrije dagen voor zichzelf hebben om zich aan zijn theorieën te kunnen wijden terwijl zijn vrouw op vakantie gaat en zijn zoontje op een padvinderskamp zal trekken. Bij de rit naar het kamp die hij zelf met Liam aflegt, loopt het echter mis. Zijn zoontje wordt ontvoerd, hoewel deze er zich blijkbaar totaal niet van bewust is geweest.
En dan gebeurt er ineens van alles: in het lokale ziekenhuis vindt er een schandaal plaats, en een arts van de beschuldigde dienstchef wordt vermoord. Zo komen zowel politierechercheur Rita Skura als politiecommissaris 'Schilf' of 'Riet' (in de Nederlandse versie) in het verhaal terecht. En deze personages hebben ook beide hun speciale kenmerken. Schilf komt daar nog als origineel personage zeer sterk uit. De thrillerelementen zijn dus wel degelijk aanwezig: een ontvoering die nadien niet meer zo wordt genoemd, een moord, een ziekenhuisschandaal, de dader die gezocht wordt, de politie die hem wilt identificeren...
Het draait echter om zoveel meer in dit verhaal: de wetenschappelijke theorieën en de filosofische gevolgen voor de wereld, vriendschap, liefde (de relatie tussen Schilf en zijn nieuwe vriendin), de houding tov de dood (Schilf heeft een 'vogelei' in zijn hoofd, namelijk een tumor), moraliteit, ... Er zijn referenties naar Orwell en zijn theorie van de 'double think'. Zeh maakt het haar lezers niet gemakkelijk en de vreemde taal maakt het allemaal nog een graadje moeilijker. Zo kan je wel nog meer haar barokke taal leren kennen zonder dat deze vertaald is: meestal is dit zeer knap, soms maakt het sommige beschrijvingen ook wel eens onnodig zwaar. Ook combineert ze deze stijl wel met vlotte dialogen die het boek toch voldoende toegankelijk maken. Voorbeelden van haar schrijfstijl ga ik hier niet geven wegens een gebrek aan de Nederlandse citaten. Geïnteresseerden kunnen deze zeker in andere recensies of op Goodreads ook vinden. In ieder geval is deze Zeh weer een heerlijke aanrader!
Oskar en Sebastian zijn 2 fysici die elkaar leerden kennen op de middelbare school. Door hun opvallende kennis en dito beider lengte waardoor ze in elkaars zicht komen, ontwikkelen ze een bijzondere vriendschap, als je hun relatie zo kan benoemen, en gaan ze samen naar de universiteit van Freiburg (het Duitse Freiburg im Breisgau welteverstaan). Oskar blijft alleen, Sebastian trouwt met Maike en samen krijgen ze een zoon Liam.
Sebastian heeft in een populair blad de zogenaamde 'vele-werelden-theorie' uit de doeken gedaan nav een moordzaak waarvan de dader zich beriep op parallelle universums om zijn moorden als 'louter experiment' te betitelen. Oskar, die nu in het Zwitserse CERN werkt, en nog een genialere fysicus is als hem, lacht hem er voor uit en vindt dat hij het zich te makkelijk maakt om de wereld uit te leggen en hierbij zowel de idee van God als meester als de vrije wil van de mens onmogelijk maakt. De discussie tussen de vroeger bevriende fysici wordt bitsiger en bitsiger en hun relatie wordt er van langsom veel moeilijker en complexer op.
Dan wil Sebastian enkele vrije dagen voor zichzelf hebben om zich aan zijn theorieën te kunnen wijden terwijl zijn vrouw op vakantie gaat en zijn zoontje op een padvinderskamp zal trekken. Bij de rit naar het kamp die hij zelf met Liam aflegt, loopt het echter mis. Zijn zoontje wordt ontvoerd, hoewel deze er zich blijkbaar totaal niet van bewust is geweest.
En dan gebeurt er ineens van alles: in het lokale ziekenhuis vindt er een schandaal plaats, en een arts van de beschuldigde dienstchef wordt vermoord. Zo komen zowel politierechercheur Rita Skura als politiecommissaris 'Schilf' of 'Riet' (in de Nederlandse versie) in het verhaal terecht. En deze personages hebben ook beide hun speciale kenmerken. Schilf komt daar nog als origineel personage zeer sterk uit. De thrillerelementen zijn dus wel degelijk aanwezig: een ontvoering die nadien niet meer zo wordt genoemd, een moord, een ziekenhuisschandaal, de dader die gezocht wordt, de politie die hem wilt identificeren...
Het draait echter om zoveel meer in dit verhaal: de wetenschappelijke theorieën en de filosofische gevolgen voor de wereld, vriendschap, liefde (de relatie tussen Schilf en zijn nieuwe vriendin), de houding tov de dood (Schilf heeft een 'vogelei' in zijn hoofd, namelijk een tumor), moraliteit, ... Er zijn referenties naar Orwell en zijn theorie van de 'double think'. Zeh maakt het haar lezers niet gemakkelijk en de vreemde taal maakt het allemaal nog een graadje moeilijker. Zo kan je wel nog meer haar barokke taal leren kennen zonder dat deze vertaald is: meestal is dit zeer knap, soms maakt het sommige beschrijvingen ook wel eens onnodig zwaar. Ook combineert ze deze stijl wel met vlotte dialogen die het boek toch voldoende toegankelijk maken. Voorbeelden van haar schrijfstijl ga ik hier niet geven wegens een gebrek aan de Nederlandse citaten. Geïnteresseerden kunnen deze zeker in andere recensies of op Goodreads ook vinden. In ieder geval is deze Zeh weer een heerlijke aanrader!
February 13, 2016
DARK MATTER is one of those books that I picked up with considerable happy anticipation, so was more than a little startled to find myself really struggling to get into the start of it. Until a point at which I found I wasn't struggling and was completely absorbed.
And I suspect that's very much what the book is set out to do. Set in Freiburg near the Black Forest, the book starts out with two men and their obsessions. Their friendship begins at University, studying physics - Sebastian, retains his love of physics opting for academia, sharing his love of physics with his love for his wife Maike and young son Liam. Oskar is less traditional, hanging onto many of the eccentricities of their university days - he goes onto research, pure physics. Despite a falling out between the two, they continue to meet on the first Friday of every month and debate - argue - discuss late into the night. Then Liam is kidnapped and Sebastian is told that he must kill a man to regain his son. Understandably his life shatters, he feels set adrift from everybody and everything and he makes some choices which seem to the reader, the outsider, inexplicable.
It's through the early phase of the book that I really found myself struggling - firstly with the relationship between Sebastian and Oskar which, whilst interesting, didn't seem to be telling me anything in particular, and secondly with how Sebastian, a supposedly intelligent man, managed to let himself be manipulated to that point (despite father love and the desire to do anything to protect your child, without giving the plot away, there are factors which seem inexplicable).
But enter the police Detective Schilf and things get really interesting - the book shifts focus from an almost mocking, frivolous tone into a profoundly emotional character study. Not just a character study, this book quickly evolves into one in which the reader is forced to consider some hairy questions - what would you do if you had weeks or hours to live, one final case, and a guilty man in extenuating circumstances?
It's also at this point that the structure of the book begins to makes sense - and those chapter introductions stop being slightly quirky (Chapter one in seven parts. Sebastian cuts curves. Maike cooks. Oskar comes to visit. Physics is for lovers. / Chapter four in seven parts. Rita Skura has a cat. The human being is a hole in nothingness. After a delay the detective chief superintendent enters the scene) and start to have a point - sometimes they ask a question / sometimes they state a thought to be explored / sometimes they just intrigue. All in all it's at this point that DARK MATTER stops being a slightly darker version of TV's The Big Bang Theory and starts to become a character study of depth, layers and great emotional impact.
All in all I'd have to say, stick with the early part of DARK MATTER. It's not crime fiction just for entertainment, and it's often confusing and slightly odd and there are parts of the book that will make you stop and think, and maybe back-track a bit. But this is crime fiction for thought provocation and boy does it manage to do exactly that.
Merged review:
DARK MATTER is one of those books that I picked up with considerable happy anticipation, so was more than a little startled to find myself really struggling to get into the start of it. Until a point at which I found I wasn't struggling and was completely absorbed.
And I suspect that's very much what the book is set out to do. Set in Freiburg near the Black Forest, the book starts out with two men and their obsessions. Their friendship begins at University, studying physics - Sebastian, retains his love of physics opting for academia, sharing his love of physics with his love for his wife Maike and young son Liam. Oskar is less traditional, hanging onto many of the eccentricities of their university days - he goes onto research, pure physics. Despite a falling out between the two, they continue to meet on the first Friday of every month and debate - argue - discuss late into the night. Then Liam is kidnapped and Sebastian is told that he must kill a man to regain his son. Understandably his life shatters, he feels set adrift from everybody and everything and he makes some choices which seem to the reader, the outsider, inexplicable.
It's through the early phase of the book that I really found myself struggling - firstly with the relationship between Sebastian and Oskar which, whilst interesting, didn't seem to be telling me anything in particular, and secondly with how Sebastian, a supposedly intelligent man, managed to let himself be manipulated to that point (despite father love and the desire to do anything to protect your child, without giving the plot away, there are factors which seem inexplicable).
But enter the police Detective Schilf and things get really interesting - the book shifts focus from an almost mocking, frivolous tone into a profoundly emotional character study. Not just a character study, this book quickly evolves into one in which the reader is forced to consider some hairy questions - what would you do if you had weeks or hours to live, one final case, and a guilty man in extenuating circumstances?
It's also at this point that the structure of the book begins to makes sense - and those chapter introductions stop being slightly quirky (Chapter one in seven parts. Sebastian cuts curves. Maike cooks. Oskar comes to visit. Physics is for lovers. / Chapter four in seven parts. Rita Skura has a cat. The human being is a hole in nothingness. After a delay the detective chief superintendent enters the scene) and start to have a point - sometimes they ask a question / sometimes they state a thought to be explored / sometimes they just intrigue. All in all it's at this point that DARK MATTER stops being a slightly darker version of TV's The Big Bang Theory and starts to become a character study of depth, layers and great emotional impact.
All in all I'd have to say, stick with the early part of DARK MATTER. It's not crime fiction just for entertainment, and it's often confusing and slightly odd and there are parts of the book that will make you stop and think, and maybe back-track a bit. But this is crime fiction for thought provocation and boy does it manage to do exactly that.
And I suspect that's very much what the book is set out to do. Set in Freiburg near the Black Forest, the book starts out with two men and their obsessions. Their friendship begins at University, studying physics - Sebastian, retains his love of physics opting for academia, sharing his love of physics with his love for his wife Maike and young son Liam. Oskar is less traditional, hanging onto many of the eccentricities of their university days - he goes onto research, pure physics. Despite a falling out between the two, they continue to meet on the first Friday of every month and debate - argue - discuss late into the night. Then Liam is kidnapped and Sebastian is told that he must kill a man to regain his son. Understandably his life shatters, he feels set adrift from everybody and everything and he makes some choices which seem to the reader, the outsider, inexplicable.
It's through the early phase of the book that I really found myself struggling - firstly with the relationship between Sebastian and Oskar which, whilst interesting, didn't seem to be telling me anything in particular, and secondly with how Sebastian, a supposedly intelligent man, managed to let himself be manipulated to that point (despite father love and the desire to do anything to protect your child, without giving the plot away, there are factors which seem inexplicable).
But enter the police Detective Schilf and things get really interesting - the book shifts focus from an almost mocking, frivolous tone into a profoundly emotional character study. Not just a character study, this book quickly evolves into one in which the reader is forced to consider some hairy questions - what would you do if you had weeks or hours to live, one final case, and a guilty man in extenuating circumstances?
It's also at this point that the structure of the book begins to makes sense - and those chapter introductions stop being slightly quirky (Chapter one in seven parts. Sebastian cuts curves. Maike cooks. Oskar comes to visit. Physics is for lovers. / Chapter four in seven parts. Rita Skura has a cat. The human being is a hole in nothingness. After a delay the detective chief superintendent enters the scene) and start to have a point - sometimes they ask a question / sometimes they state a thought to be explored / sometimes they just intrigue. All in all it's at this point that DARK MATTER stops being a slightly darker version of TV's The Big Bang Theory and starts to become a character study of depth, layers and great emotional impact.
All in all I'd have to say, stick with the early part of DARK MATTER. It's not crime fiction just for entertainment, and it's often confusing and slightly odd and there are parts of the book that will make you stop and think, and maybe back-track a bit. But this is crime fiction for thought provocation and boy does it manage to do exactly that.
Merged review:
DARK MATTER is one of those books that I picked up with considerable happy anticipation, so was more than a little startled to find myself really struggling to get into the start of it. Until a point at which I found I wasn't struggling and was completely absorbed.
And I suspect that's very much what the book is set out to do. Set in Freiburg near the Black Forest, the book starts out with two men and their obsessions. Their friendship begins at University, studying physics - Sebastian, retains his love of physics opting for academia, sharing his love of physics with his love for his wife Maike and young son Liam. Oskar is less traditional, hanging onto many of the eccentricities of their university days - he goes onto research, pure physics. Despite a falling out between the two, they continue to meet on the first Friday of every month and debate - argue - discuss late into the night. Then Liam is kidnapped and Sebastian is told that he must kill a man to regain his son. Understandably his life shatters, he feels set adrift from everybody and everything and he makes some choices which seem to the reader, the outsider, inexplicable.
It's through the early phase of the book that I really found myself struggling - firstly with the relationship between Sebastian and Oskar which, whilst interesting, didn't seem to be telling me anything in particular, and secondly with how Sebastian, a supposedly intelligent man, managed to let himself be manipulated to that point (despite father love and the desire to do anything to protect your child, without giving the plot away, there are factors which seem inexplicable).
But enter the police Detective Schilf and things get really interesting - the book shifts focus from an almost mocking, frivolous tone into a profoundly emotional character study. Not just a character study, this book quickly evolves into one in which the reader is forced to consider some hairy questions - what would you do if you had weeks or hours to live, one final case, and a guilty man in extenuating circumstances?
It's also at this point that the structure of the book begins to makes sense - and those chapter introductions stop being slightly quirky (Chapter one in seven parts. Sebastian cuts curves. Maike cooks. Oskar comes to visit. Physics is for lovers. / Chapter four in seven parts. Rita Skura has a cat. The human being is a hole in nothingness. After a delay the detective chief superintendent enters the scene) and start to have a point - sometimes they ask a question / sometimes they state a thought to be explored / sometimes they just intrigue. All in all it's at this point that DARK MATTER stops being a slightly darker version of TV's The Big Bang Theory and starts to become a character study of depth, layers and great emotional impact.
All in all I'd have to say, stick with the early part of DARK MATTER. It's not crime fiction just for entertainment, and it's often confusing and slightly odd and there are parts of the book that will make you stop and think, and maybe back-track a bit. But this is crime fiction for thought provocation and boy does it manage to do exactly that.
May 2, 2021
Wow, I’m speechless. So in awe of this brilliant woman.
March 12, 2020
Yer yer güzel tasvirler içermesine rağmen çok sıkıcı bir roman. Tuhaf detaylara takılıp çorba haline gelmiş bir polisiye. Yazarın niyeti de buydu muhtemelen ama kalıpları kırayım derken dağılmış.
July 23, 2010
In In Free Fall, author Juli Zeh combines murder, mental health, and the time-space continuum to create cinematic murder mystery. Originally published in German and titled Schilf, after the detective who solves the case, there is very little mystery about who the killer is, or his motive for that matter. It's the contrast between the characters, their thought processes, and how they come to terms.
Detective Schilf, for one, is a combination between an ancient mystic and an idiot-savant. He literally stumbles onto the answer to his cases by visiting cafes, and looking for coincidences. He doubts his own perceptions, and isn't even sure that his new girlfriend actually eists outside of his mind. His former student, and primary investigator for the case, Rita Skura, has learned to be a detective by always following the opposite of her instinct--if she believes a confession, she must assume the confessor is actually innocent, and vice-versa. While these two are not necessarily the primary characters, they provide an interesting comparison of the two major types of detectives. Schilf is a transcendental Hercule Poirot, his "little grey cells" capable of synthesizing evidence on an apparently subconscious level. Skura is the prototypical strong female cop in any police procedural. She follows leads, tests DNA, interrogates suspects and persons of interest, all of the usual police work.
The protagonist, Sebastian, is a physics professor interested especially in the multiple worlds theory of time. Essentially, this theory suggests that at any given moment, there is a world in which I am typing this book review, and a world in which I stop, turn off the computer, and do a multitude of other things instead. Time is like a foam, and at each moment, more and more worlds are able to bubble off, each existing distinctly, but derived from a common history. Honestly, I've never found physics so interesting.
As for the writing itself, I'm eager to my hands on a copy in German, but this translation by Christine Lo seems very accurate. It leaves intact many of the more cinematic elements of the novel. The book is split into seven sections, each prefaced by a few brief sentences, reminiscent of a playbill's description of acts. And, as this novel is set to be made into a movie (which I am excited to watch), the sort of passive descriptions given and the brief thoughts and motivations outlined in the narration are of a sort that will translate easily into action, not dialogue, in a film.
Zeh's subtlety in writing is a great strength, and a great asset to the reader. While there are many standout moments, it is the book as a whole which is strong, and the narration which carries the reader to the end.
Detective Schilf, for one, is a combination between an ancient mystic and an idiot-savant. He literally stumbles onto the answer to his cases by visiting cafes, and looking for coincidences. He doubts his own perceptions, and isn't even sure that his new girlfriend actually eists outside of his mind. His former student, and primary investigator for the case, Rita Skura, has learned to be a detective by always following the opposite of her instinct--if she believes a confession, she must assume the confessor is actually innocent, and vice-versa. While these two are not necessarily the primary characters, they provide an interesting comparison of the two major types of detectives. Schilf is a transcendental Hercule Poirot, his "little grey cells" capable of synthesizing evidence on an apparently subconscious level. Skura is the prototypical strong female cop in any police procedural. She follows leads, tests DNA, interrogates suspects and persons of interest, all of the usual police work.
The protagonist, Sebastian, is a physics professor interested especially in the multiple worlds theory of time. Essentially, this theory suggests that at any given moment, there is a world in which I am typing this book review, and a world in which I stop, turn off the computer, and do a multitude of other things instead. Time is like a foam, and at each moment, more and more worlds are able to bubble off, each existing distinctly, but derived from a common history. Honestly, I've never found physics so interesting.
As for the writing itself, I'm eager to my hands on a copy in German, but this translation by Christine Lo seems very accurate. It leaves intact many of the more cinematic elements of the novel. The book is split into seven sections, each prefaced by a few brief sentences, reminiscent of a playbill's description of acts. And, as this novel is set to be made into a movie (which I am excited to watch), the sort of passive descriptions given and the brief thoughts and motivations outlined in the narration are of a sort that will translate easily into action, not dialogue, in a film.
Zeh's subtlety in writing is a great strength, and a great asset to the reader. While there are many standout moments, it is the book as a whole which is strong, and the narration which carries the reader to the end.
March 27, 2014
If you are looking for an absorbing and fast moving crime thriller, you will be disappointed in Juli Zeh's "In Free Fall" ("Schilf" in the original German). In this novel the crime and its perpetrator are known pretty much from the beginning; the perpetrator even tells us about it in detail. There is some doubt about the state of mind of the killer at the time of his action and his rationale for it. His claim that he was commandeered by phone by the "kidnappers" of his son falls apart very quickly: the son is exactly where he is supposed to be... The only issue to investigate and that puzzles chief police inspector Schilf is the WHY? Why would a 'nice guy', a well-respected physicist and academic teacher, with a lovely wife and an adorable son, commit murder?
Award winning German author, lawyer and political activist Juli Zeh presents us with an unusual and inventive psychological drama. At the centre of it we find two friends, Sebastian and Oskar, whose close relationship dates back to their student days. Their depiction and surroundings reminded me somehow of scenes from Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Both qualified as physicists but their friendship suffered from increasing disagreement over the scientific theory on 'multiple universes' – and the ensuing philosophical debate on time and existence … and, at the personal level, one choosing family life over their continued intensely lived twosome.
"Oskar is the type of person who understands life as a game that one has to win…" explains Sebastian to Schilf who is intrigued by the theory and the falling out (or not?) of the friends. He has his own existential questions about time and reality to deal with and uses the debates with the friends to find answers to his own doubts. Sebastian's "good" and lovely wife and the smart child are additional characters but don’t add much to the core of the story. To add more complexity to the "crime" aspect of the novel, Zeh has added a rather unusual female inspector into the mix. The strength of Schilf's investigative reasoning to come to a conclusion on the two characters and the case as a whole is what kept my mind reasonably engaged.
What stands out in this novel overall is Zeh's exquisite use of words and phrases. Her images can be as unexpected as they hit the mark totally. Her language is precise and effective. I have read the book in German and cannot judge whether this, for a German reader most interesting aspect of the novel, can be adequately or even better transposed. [Friederike Knabe]
Award winning German author, lawyer and political activist Juli Zeh presents us with an unusual and inventive psychological drama. At the centre of it we find two friends, Sebastian and Oskar, whose close relationship dates back to their student days. Their depiction and surroundings reminded me somehow of scenes from Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Both qualified as physicists but their friendship suffered from increasing disagreement over the scientific theory on 'multiple universes' – and the ensuing philosophical debate on time and existence … and, at the personal level, one choosing family life over their continued intensely lived twosome.
"Oskar is the type of person who understands life as a game that one has to win…" explains Sebastian to Schilf who is intrigued by the theory and the falling out (or not?) of the friends. He has his own existential questions about time and reality to deal with and uses the debates with the friends to find answers to his own doubts. Sebastian's "good" and lovely wife and the smart child are additional characters but don’t add much to the core of the story. To add more complexity to the "crime" aspect of the novel, Zeh has added a rather unusual female inspector into the mix. The strength of Schilf's investigative reasoning to come to a conclusion on the two characters and the case as a whole is what kept my mind reasonably engaged.
What stands out in this novel overall is Zeh's exquisite use of words and phrases. Her images can be as unexpected as they hit the mark totally. Her language is precise and effective. I have read the book in German and cannot judge whether this, for a German reader most interesting aspect of the novel, can be adequately or even better transposed. [Friederike Knabe]
January 23, 2012
It's only after a harrowed search on Goodreads for a copy of Dark Matter for days did I chance upon the fact that it Zeh's novel, originally in German, was released in America as In Free Fall. Thanks, USA.
There are books you read and love, and then there are the ones you read when you're going through a personal crisis and the words on the page seem like a hallucination. Surely the author didn't know exactly how to articulate your dense, impenetrable chaos? You read the book in a drunken frenzy, coming up every now and then, in absolute shock, wondering if this is all happening. You pick up highlighters, pens, post-its and start marking your territory, tearing the sanctity of the text, underlining sentences three, four times with a pencil, as if to point out to the stranger sitting next to you that this here, is it. This is your life. These are your thoughts. This is no coincidence.
This is entirely relative, and it will cloud my review of the book, but I consider Zeh's masterpiece a life-changing event. To be given the power of articulation during a tough time, is, for me, one of the highest acts of mankind. The book is dense, but not in the way you always imagined Joyce's Ulysses or Kafka's Metamorphosis to be (I say imagine, because I haven't). It can be really annoying to read if you're not in the zone, although, so you've been warned. I don't know what your "zone" should be for reading this book, but I know it'll change the way you see things around you, marvel at the brimful of talent available in the world.
The summary, as usual, you'll have to look up. My reviews tend to spill into the realm of my own personal experience of them, and I hate that I didn't read this book in 2011, so I could say this is the best book I've read in 2011, and it would mean something. To call a book the best you've read all year in January, is a little presumptuous.
Please pick up the book and go in armed with an open mind and a pencil. The language is exquisite, magical and powerful, for which the translator must be commended as much as Zeh. Science geeks can have their orgasm, literature-philes can have their orgasm, philosophers can have their orgasm, and murder mystery/thriller enthusiasts can have their orgasm.
It really is THAT good.
I held the book a lot closer to me after I finished reading it.
5 philosophers sitting in a room, discussing the worth of your life to Dark Matter by Zeh.
There are books you read and love, and then there are the ones you read when you're going through a personal crisis and the words on the page seem like a hallucination. Surely the author didn't know exactly how to articulate your dense, impenetrable chaos? You read the book in a drunken frenzy, coming up every now and then, in absolute shock, wondering if this is all happening. You pick up highlighters, pens, post-its and start marking your territory, tearing the sanctity of the text, underlining sentences three, four times with a pencil, as if to point out to the stranger sitting next to you that this here, is it. This is your life. These are your thoughts. This is no coincidence.
This is entirely relative, and it will cloud my review of the book, but I consider Zeh's masterpiece a life-changing event. To be given the power of articulation during a tough time, is, for me, one of the highest acts of mankind. The book is dense, but not in the way you always imagined Joyce's Ulysses or Kafka's Metamorphosis to be (I say imagine, because I haven't). It can be really annoying to read if you're not in the zone, although, so you've been warned. I don't know what your "zone" should be for reading this book, but I know it'll change the way you see things around you, marvel at the brimful of talent available in the world.
The summary, as usual, you'll have to look up. My reviews tend to spill into the realm of my own personal experience of them, and I hate that I didn't read this book in 2011, so I could say this is the best book I've read in 2011, and it would mean something. To call a book the best you've read all year in January, is a little presumptuous.
Please pick up the book and go in armed with an open mind and a pencil. The language is exquisite, magical and powerful, for which the translator must be commended as much as Zeh. Science geeks can have their orgasm, literature-philes can have their orgasm, philosophers can have their orgasm, and murder mystery/thriller enthusiasts can have their orgasm.
It really is THAT good.
I held the book a lot closer to me after I finished reading it.
5 philosophers sitting in a room, discussing the worth of your life to Dark Matter by Zeh.
November 13, 2012
book that made waves and I kept an eye on it, finally bought a copy...
read only a chapter or so but very deserving of the acclaim so far
a little disappointing in the end; very clever and well written but reads more like a puzzle than a novel with characters that are flat and lifeless with few exceptions
the physics involved is very 20-30's rather than modern (as a few tidbits, the many worlds interpretation in its modern Multiverse incarnation is something taken very seriously today not a fringe part of physics, while the physicist as Einstein the all conqueror is again a 20-30's image as today the groundbreaking papers have hundreds of authors and are obtained by tons of statistical analysis of very short life particle events), but that wouldn't be an issue if the novel would have more external reality
this way, it reads like a clever game/puzzle than a novel you can believe in "its reality"; also the main conceit of the word confusion is a bit silly to be honest
another thing I found disturbing but included in spoiler brackets
Overall, well written but artificial and I take away one extra star for its disturbing arguments about justifiable murder of a stranger
read only a chapter or so but very deserving of the acclaim so far
a little disappointing in the end; very clever and well written but reads more like a puzzle than a novel with characters that are flat and lifeless with few exceptions
the physics involved is very 20-30's rather than modern (as a few tidbits, the many worlds interpretation in its modern Multiverse incarnation is something taken very seriously today not a fringe part of physics, while the physicist as Einstein the all conqueror is again a 20-30's image as today the groundbreaking papers have hundreds of authors and are obtained by tons of statistical analysis of very short life particle events), but that wouldn't be an issue if the novel would have more external reality
this way, it reads like a clever game/puzzle than a novel you can believe in "its reality"; also the main conceit of the word confusion is a bit silly to be honest
another thing I found disturbing but included in spoiler brackets
Overall, well written but artificial and I take away one extra star for its disturbing arguments about justifiable murder of a stranger
February 22, 2013
Zeh hat sich ein bisschen am Thema übernommen. Die Diskussionen auf höchstem Niveau schrammen immer ein wenig an den relevanten Punkten vorbei, und die Behauptung, Kopernikus habe die flache Erde wiederlegt einem hochgebildeten Physiker in den Mund zu legen ist beinahe schon ein wenig peinlich, das Buzzthema freier Wille ist angeklebt - nur weil der öffentliche Diskurs Zufall und Freiheit andauernd verwechselt, müssen die Fachleute in Romanen das ja nicht auch tun - und die Natur der Viel-Welten-Interpretation nicht recht verstanden; es ist ja eine Interpretation, das heisst eine ontologische Deutung der mathematischen Modelle, und keine eigene Theorie, die andere Vorhersagen machen würde.
Aber kurioserweise störte mich das alles fast ebensowenig wie die teilweise überzogenen und schiefen Sprachbilder. Das Buch durchzieht eine leicht märchenhafte Stimmung, das Gefühl, dass immer alles auch hätte anders sein können, und es doch nicht ist, und ein Fatalismus, der die Aufgeladenheit einer Krimihandlung nimmt, und in einer Missverständnis mit einem kaum hörbaren Puffen vergehen lässt. Dass der Verhörer, um den sich alles dreht, und der Plot an sich, sich dem Glauben, der Zeh zufolge die Bedingung des Wissens ist, so widersetzt: auch das egal.
Seltsam, aber so wurde es gelesen.
Aber kurioserweise störte mich das alles fast ebensowenig wie die teilweise überzogenen und schiefen Sprachbilder. Das Buch durchzieht eine leicht märchenhafte Stimmung, das Gefühl, dass immer alles auch hätte anders sein können, und es doch nicht ist, und ein Fatalismus, der die Aufgeladenheit einer Krimihandlung nimmt, und in einer Missverständnis mit einem kaum hörbaren Puffen vergehen lässt. Dass der Verhörer, um den sich alles dreht, und der Plot an sich, sich dem Glauben, der Zeh zufolge die Bedingung des Wissens ist, so widersetzt: auch das egal.
Seltsam, aber so wurde es gelesen.
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