Celular

by Ingo Schulze

“A literary event” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung): thirteen new stories from one of Germany’s finest writers.

New Year’s Eve 1999, Berlin. At a party to kick off the twenty-first century, Frank Reichert meets Julia, his lost love. Since their separation in the fall of 1989, he’s drifted through life like an exile, remaining apathetic toward the copy-shop business he started even as it flourishes apace. Nothing has the power to move him now: his whole life lies under the shadow of Julia, of the idea that things could have worked out differently. But as night draws on to day, the promised end becomes an unexpected new beginning.

Ingo Schulze introduces us to characters as they stray outside the confines of East Germany into other, newer lives—into Egypt, where the betrayal of a lover turns an innocent vacation into a nightmare; into Vienna, where life starts to mimic art; into Estonia, where we meet a retired circus bear in an absurd (and absurdly hilarious) dilemma—or as they simply stay put, struggling to maintain their sense of themselves as the world around them changes.

Mixed in with these tragicomic tales are some of the most beautiful love stories ever to feature cell phones. And throughout, Schulze’s masterfully controlled style conceals an understated, but finally breathtaking, intricacy.

Genres: Short Stories, German Literature, Fiction, Germany

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Ingo Schulze is a German writer born in Dresden in former East Germany. He studied classical philology at the University of Jena for five years, and, until the German reunification, was an assistant director (dramatic arts advisor) at the State Theatre in Altenburg 45 km south of Leipzig for two years.

After oversleeping the events of the night of November 9 1989, Schultze started a newspaper with friends. He was encouraged to write. Schultze spent six months in St Petersburg which became the basis for his debut collection of short stories 33 Moments of Happiness (1995). He has lived in Berlin since the mid 1990s.

Schulze has won a number of awards for his novels and stories, which have been translated into twenty languages, among them into English by John E. Woods.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frankly, this book made me feel really stupid. Okay, so that happens to me a lot - I miss the joke and am on the outside looking in. This collection of 13 stories is extremely well written so I was vexed that I couldn't connect the dots. Many of the stories appeared to be autobiographical anecdotes referencing previous works and identifying his English translator by name but then the character names didn't match up. Were names changed to protect the innocent or was he just playing with the reader? In all likelihood, there were numerous allegorical references to Germany's unification that sailed right over my head even though I'm 5'8".

[Gijs Zandbergen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Soms kom je iemand tegen, die een clou vertelt en vervolgens omstandig gaat vertellen hoe het tot die clou is gekomen. Bij een aantal van de dertien verhalen bekroop me de gedachte dat Schulze geen maat wist te houden, hoe soepel hij ook schrijft. De verkering is uitgemaakt, omdat de vriendin vreemdging. Gelukkig hield hij toch al niet zo erg van haar. Vervolgens volgen 25 pagina’s, waarin wordt verteld hoe en wanneer ze de verdenking van vreemdgaan op zich laadde. Ik vond het te veel van het goede en mij bekroop de gedachte: nu weet ik het wel. Ander bezwaar: ik snapte in de verhalen niet altijd waarom het een uit het ander volgde.

[Doris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beim Lesen gemerkt, dass die Geschichten allesamt meisterhaft komponiert sind, jede Geschichte kann für sich allein stehen. Trotzdem nur zwei Sterne? Ich habe nicht verstanden, warum mir das alles erzählt wird, die Pointen huschten auch an mir vorbei. Außerdem scheint mir die Befindlichkeit der Protagonisten seltsam entfernt, fast schon historisch. Entweder, die Texte sind schlecht gealtert, oder sie knirschen mit meiner aktuellen Lebensrealität.

[Lyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag and very German. Offers a glimpse into post-reunification life.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I know they're considered opaque but that's what I like about them. There's something so ECE about this oblique approach, it makes me very homesick.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Están bien escritos, se dejan leer, pero están muy alejados del humor y la originalidad de 33 momentos de felicidad.

https://liblit.com/ingo-schulze-en-li...

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection of short stories--more polished than the St. Petersburg stories, but perhaps a little less inspired. Schulze is fairly unique in his Eastward orientation: his focus remains on East Germany and eastern Europe in general. Although illuminating, I can't unreservedly recommend Schulze: his stories can be quite opaque and it's sometimes quite difficult to see what he's getting at. I'm not sure that it's worth the struggle.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 5 out of 5]

One more story was an amazing book.
"Pig
Jackass
Pig
Jackass
Pig!!!"


This book is filled with thirteen short stories and they all involve a love story one way or another. But, they all seem to end in not the sweet romantic ways you would think. With true love, cheating and even lies. They all seem to fit in together. These short stories wil make you think and feel remorse for some of these characters. I would definitely recommed this book to everyone who doesnt like a typical love story.

[John Hatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each of these novellas reads like a novel in its own right. A very good book.

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

Trans'd by Woods which is a pretty good indicator.

I don't know what happen'd to the interview, but::
http://www.new-books-in-german.com/en...

[Lizzy]

Except the German version: Handy.