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Einstein überquert die Elbe bei Hamburg: Erzählungen
German
340 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
Siegfried Lenz
275 books151 followersSiegfried Lenz (1926 - 2014) was a German author who wrote twelve novels and produced several collections of short stories, essays, and plays for radio and the theatre. He was awarded the Goethe Prize in Frankfurt-am-Main on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's birth. Lenz and his wife, Liselotte, also exchanged over 100 letters with Paul Celan and his wife, Gisèle Lestrange between 1952 and 1961.
Lenz was the son of a customs officer in Lyck (Elk), East Prussia. After his graduation exam in 1943, he was drafted into the navy. According to documents released in June 2007, he may have joined the Nazi party on the 12th of July 1943. Shortly before the end of World War II, he defected to Denmark, but became a prisoner of war in Schleswig-Holstein.
After his release, he attended the University of Hamburg, where he studied philosophy, English, and Literary history. His studies were cut off early, however, as he became an intern for the daily paper Die Welt, and served as its editor from 1950 to 1951. It was there he met his future wife, Liselotte (d. February 5, 2006). They were married in 1949.
Since 1951, Lenz worked as a freelance writer in Hamburg and was a member of the literature forum "Group 47." Together with Günter Grass, he became engaged with the Social Democratic Party and aided the Ostpolitik of Willy Brandt. A champion of the movement, he was invited in 1970 to the signing of the German-Polish Treaty.
Since 2003, Lenz was a visiting professor at the Düsseldorf Heinrich Heine University and a member of the organization for German orthography and proper speech.
Lenz was the son of a customs officer in Lyck (Elk), East Prussia. After his graduation exam in 1943, he was drafted into the navy. According to documents released in June 2007, he may have joined the Nazi party on the 12th of July 1943. Shortly before the end of World War II, he defected to Denmark, but became a prisoner of war in Schleswig-Holstein.
After his release, he attended the University of Hamburg, where he studied philosophy, English, and Literary history. His studies were cut off early, however, as he became an intern for the daily paper Die Welt, and served as its editor from 1950 to 1951. It was there he met his future wife, Liselotte (d. February 5, 2006). They were married in 1949.
Since 1951, Lenz worked as a freelance writer in Hamburg and was a member of the literature forum "Group 47." Together with Günter Grass, he became engaged with the Social Democratic Party and aided the Ostpolitik of Willy Brandt. A champion of the movement, he was invited in 1970 to the signing of the German-Polish Treaty.
Since 2003, Lenz was a visiting professor at the Düsseldorf Heinrich Heine University and a member of the organization for German orthography and proper speech.
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October 30, 2025I have owned this book for a while, probably over twenty years. I am not sure if I had read it before. Certainly the second and the title story (the seventh) were familiar, but the rest were not. It is entirely possible that I had read those two stories but not the others. Anyway, I noticed that over tge last couple of years I had started to take this book with me when travelling as a reserve book in case, horror of horrors, I finished the principal books that I had with me to read. So eventually I decided to be sensible and read it, on a journey. As it happened on the outward journey I managed to read seven pages - which was about half of the first story. On the return journey I was more settled and got about half way through the book but at a cost, because I found I was very sleepy. In that restful state, turning pages was easy, but I don't think that I absorbed much of what my eyes passed over.
As a result, the standout story for me was the first one, the very one which I had read the most slowly, at odd moments, while my monstrous niece was sleeping , over a period of days.
These stories were written, or at least completed in, from 1966 to the mid 1970s, with maybe slightly less than half of them written in 1969.
Lenz, I think, was above all a short story writer, with several used in schools which I can imagine provided him with a comfortable retirement. He was part of the same group of writers as Günter Grass, and like him was a refugee from eastern parts of Germany who settled in North Germany at the end of the second world war. Quite a few stories had a feeling of improvisational nature of the early period of West Germany, people in flux, things feel provisional, made up, and potentially temporary. Some people are displaced, and I suppose like Lenz and some of his contemporaries could reinvent themselves to some extent.
A two or three of the stories were constructed around conversations, with two or three voices. I wondered if this was a technique to encourage his own creativity; imagining a character and how they would respond to another, and so on.
I found his novel the german lesson more substantial, still I don't feel motivated to get hold of more of Lenz's short stories and to consume them on the strength of this collection quite possibly because the story wie bei Gogol reminded me of Kafka rather than Gogol.
As a result, the standout story for me was the first one, the very one which I had read the most slowly, at odd moments, while my monstrous niece was sleeping , over a period of days.
These stories were written, or at least completed in, from 1966 to the mid 1970s, with maybe slightly less than half of them written in 1969.
Lenz, I think, was above all a short story writer, with several used in schools which I can imagine provided him with a comfortable retirement. He was part of the same group of writers as Günter Grass, and like him was a refugee from eastern parts of Germany who settled in North Germany at the end of the second world war. Quite a few stories had a feeling of improvisational nature of the early period of West Germany, people in flux, things feel provisional, made up, and potentially temporary. Some people are displaced, and I suppose like Lenz and some of his contemporaries could reinvent themselves to some extent.
A two or three of the stories were constructed around conversations, with two or three voices. I wondered if this was a technique to encourage his own creativity; imagining a character and how they would respond to another, and so on.
I found his novel the german lesson more substantial, still I don't feel motivated to get hold of more of Lenz's short stories and to consume them on the strength of this collection quite possibly because the story wie bei Gogol reminded me of Kafka rather than Gogol.
March 26, 2024
Kniha mi byla poskytnuta v rámci spolupráce s @knihkupectvi_luxor za účelem recenze. #spoluprace
Po delší době jsem přečetla knihu z edice Knihovna klasiků z Odeonu a rovnou tu nejnovější. Jedná se o sbírku třinácti textů Siegrieda Lenze, který patřil k určujícím postavám německé poválečné literatury.
Povídky se odehrávají v letech 1966-1974 a každá je z úplně jiného soudku - pár čeká, až přijdou hosté na večeři, plavba na lodi, do detailu popsaný druhý poločas zápasu…
A navíc se od sebe liší i po stylistické stránce - celá jedna povídka napsaná jen ve třech odstavcích, pak rozhovor mezi dvěma postavami, věty ukončené třemi tečkami, vyprávění z několika pohledů…
Příběhy u nás vycházejí poprvé v překladu Jany Zoubkové. Jsou sice krátké (dvacet stran a méně), ale velmi náročné a některé z nich jsem četla i dvakrát. Buď mi jedno čtení nestačilo z nedostatku porozumění, nebo mě natolik zaujal, že jsem si ho chtěla přečíst ještě jednou.
Po delší době jsem přečetla knihu z edice Knihovna klasiků z Odeonu a rovnou tu nejnovější. Jedná se o sbírku třinácti textů Siegrieda Lenze, který patřil k určujícím postavám německé poválečné literatury.
Povídky se odehrávají v letech 1966-1974 a každá je z úplně jiného soudku - pár čeká, až přijdou hosté na večeři, plavba na lodi, do detailu popsaný druhý poločas zápasu…
A navíc se od sebe liší i po stylistické stránce - celá jedna povídka napsaná jen ve třech odstavcích, pak rozhovor mezi dvěma postavami, věty ukončené třemi tečkami, vyprávění z několika pohledů…
Příběhy u nás vycházejí poprvé v překladu Jany Zoubkové. Jsou sice krátké (dvacet stran a méně), ale velmi náročné a některé z nich jsem četla i dvakrát. Buď mi jedno čtení nestačilo z nedostatku porozumění, nebo mě natolik zaujal, že jsem si ho chtěla přečíst ještě jednou.
November 6, 2016
Mõnus lugemine.
Kogus absurdiga rikastatud lühijutte, pildikesi erinevate inimeste eludest.
Juttude stiil varieerub ning kohati on keeruline seetõttu ühelt loolt teisele üle minna. Näiteks raamatu nimilugu on kuus lehekülge pikk, ent koosneb vaid kolmest lausest.
Kogus absurdiga rikastatud lühijutte, pildikesi erinevate inimeste eludest.
Juttude stiil varieerub ning kohati on keeruline seetõttu ühelt loolt teisele üle minna. Näiteks raamatu nimilugu on kuus lehekülge pikk, ent koosneb vaid kolmest lausest.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews