Verbrecher und Versager: Fünf Portraits

by Felicitas Hoppe

Felicitas Hoppe nimmt sich fünf historische Figuren vor – fünf Fälle von seltener Hoffnungslosigkeit. Sie folgt den krummen Lebenslinien von Gaunern, Aufschneidern, Maulhelden und Pechvögeln, die eines vereint: Um sich möglichst weit vom Ort des eigenen Versagens zu entfernen, treibt es sie hinaus aufs Meer und in die Welt.

154 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Her work often deals with transitory themes, as in "Picknick der Friseure", in a comical, but nevertheless thrilling way, which make her stories seem to be absurd. She also uses the technique of quotation for her novels, as in "Johanna", where she reconstructs the story of Joan of Arc using official case records.[1] As a relatively young, successful and female writer, she belongs to a group of writers which literary criticism calls the "Fräuleinwunder".

For her work as a writer she received the following awards: in 1994 Alfred-Döblin-Stipendium (a scholarship), in 1996 Aspekte-Literaturpreis and the Ernst-Willner-Preis at the Festival of German-Language Literature in Klagenfurt, in 1997 the Rauriser Literaturpreis, in 2004 the Nicolas Born-Preis des Landes Niedersachsen, the Heimito von Doderer-Literaturpreis and the Spycher: Literaturpreis Leuk, in 2005 the Brüder-Grimm-Preis der Stadt Hanau. In 2005 she also held the Poetikdozentur: junge Autoren der Fachhochschule Wiesbaden. In 2007 she received Literaturpreis der Stadt Bremen and the Roswitha-Preis. In 2008 Hoppe held the Bert Brecht Gastprofessur at the University of Augsburg.

In 2012, Felicitas Hoppe was awarded the most prestigious literary prize in German literature, the Georg Büchner Prize.

Reviews

[Melanie Fritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is...different. To be honest, I'd give it three stars for this fact alone, because much of German contemporary literature does not take any risks, especially in narrative voice/style. So, a short form like Hoppe's "Verbrecher und Versager" is definitely not gonna be for everyone, but I'm lifting my imaginery hat to Hoppe for her guts to experiment.

This small book contains 5 portraits, 4 of them of historical figures, one of a fictional character, which the blurb sneekily doesn't tell you. They are: Georg Meister, Franz Joseph Kapf, Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn, John Hagenbeck and Leonhard Hagebucher. They have one major trait in common: the desire to leave their country and travel overseas, to see the exotic places that other people can only dream or read about. Indonesia and Africa play a prominent part in these adventures. While all of these men certainly encountered some bad luck in their days, and some made their livelihood through such dishonorable means as smuggling and stealing, they were not quite what I had expected when I picked up a book titled "Criminals and Losers" - the title is irritatingly misleading. Each of the men is given their own narrator who presents them - be it a researcher, the person's landlady, or a relative.

These are not straightforward narratives though. Felicitas Hoppe writes in a lyrical, associative style which strings together an array of images, whose significance only becomes apparent later on. She also works with the repitition of motifs or specific sentences which sometimes evokes a melancholic tone. There were a few passages that delighted me with their playful use of language, and I wanted to give a short example. This comes from the portrait of Georg Meister, who was a gardener and botanist:

Aber darf man schreibenden Gärtnern trauen, die genau wissen, wie man die Wirklichkeit pfropft? Hier wird beschnitten, da wieder bewässert, hier etwas zu wenig, da etwas zu viel. Und immer bescheiden in Gartenmaßen, Zäune vor Frauen und Kinder in Hecken, ein Sinnspruch gegen den nächsten Krieg, der die Wörter gegen den Wind verteidigt, bis die Flüche barock und lächerlich werden...Tatsächlich, er lebt noch, der König der Kisten, der Kräuterkaiser und Erdensohn, Züchter von frischem Soldatensalat. Bis er schließlich nach Afrika kommt.

[Xiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3,5

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leider so gar nicht meins, trotz (oder gerade wegen?) Interesse an solchen historischen Figuren. Nennt man das Formzitat? Oder das Hoppes genereller Stil?

[Fruchtfleisch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich weiß nicht recht ... das Buch konnte mich leider nicht vollkommen für sich einnehmen. Die nachgezeichneten Charaktere wirken alle ähnlich, da Frau Hoppe ihren Stil wie eine edle Decke über das ganze Buch gelegt hat.