Simple Stories

by Ingo Schulze

Prize-winning German writer Ingo Schulze's first novel, Simple Stories , is a marvel of storytelling and craft. Set in the East German town of Altenburg after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it deftly leaps among an array of confused characters caught in the crossroads of their country’s a lovelorn waitress who falls for a visiting West German investor; an art historian turned traveling salesman; a former Communist official plagued by his past; an unsuccessful writer who asks his neighbor to break his leg so that he can continue to live on welfare.
Schulze skillfully intercuts an assortment of moving and comic vignettes about seemingly unconnected people, gradually linking them into an exhilarating whole of tidal unity and emotional force, until we see that all the time we have been reading a novel in glittering fragments, spun by a master. With a piercing eye for detail and a magical ear for dialogue, Schulze portrays the tragi-comedy of ordinary people caught up in the last great historical upheaval of the century.

Genres: Fiction, German Literature, Germany, Short Stories, 20th Century, Novels, Unfinished

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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

[Georgina Thynne · Rating 1 out of 5]

A series of very confusing and minimalist stories, all told by different characters, which only just hang together to give a depressing description of life in Germany after the East and West are united. It is impossible to know who all the characters are, even when turning back constantly to the summaries at the start of each chapter. A very confusing book. And the 'style' is bland and boring (even bearing in mind that I read a translation).

[Roksolana Sviato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Цей листопад став місяцем перечитування.
"Симпл сторіз" читала ще десь 2005-2006 року, коли книжка тільки вийшла друком. Зараз перечитувала з утилітарною метою (для розмови на радіо) і навіть не планувала добиратися до кінця - лише трохи, щоб пригадати стиль, атмосферу і все таке.
Але врешті так захопилася, що перечитала повністю. І була вкотре вражена тим, як же по-різному сприймаються книжки, читані в різному віці.
Тоді Інґо Шульце справив на мене дуже нейтральне враження. Цього ж разу отримала насолоду від усього: і від мови (можу помилятися, але відчула тут і руку Андруховича як редактора і упорядника "Колекції Перфецького"), і від оповіді, і від атмосфери.
"Роман східно-німецької провінції": розділи майже як окремі оповідання, з мінумом пояснень, без розписування наскрізної лінії, лише окремі фрагменти й одні й ті ж персонажі, з яких за бажання можна зібрати більш-менш цілісний пазл і прочитати щонайменше 3-5 окремих сюжетних ліній. Різні долі - різні характери - один часопростір.
Початок 1990-х. Вчорашня НДР, нині - об"єднана Німеччина. І люди, які населяють цей простір і намагаються пристосуватися до нових обставин. Хто успішніше - хто геть провально.
Дуже тонка книжка. І чимось така ностальгійно-затишна. Як перші американські фільми, побачені на відеокасетах, кросівки, передані родичами з Америки, або перша поїздка за кордон.
Хоча ж роман зовсім не про те.
Але щось таке дуже впізнаване. Не про нас. Але й про нас.

[Markus · Rating 2 out of 5]

It gets interesting after 120 pages of 250

[Magdelanye · Rating 5 out of 5]

To allow that this book is rather amazing is not to say that I loved it.
Taking into consideration the fact that it is a translation from the German,
I had to work too hard to ununravel the various tangled threads that weave through
this covoluted tale of dislocation and shifting alliances. I'm sure a lot of the metaphors and allusions went right over my head.
At first I was delighted with the quaint table of contents and it was easy to spot
the connections between the characters. In a way,it was like peering into a dolls house,
observing the parallel lives. But as the number of characters prolifrate, and events
unfold in various time frames, it is necesary to begin each chapter, narrated from a
diffrent perspective, with a radical shift in POV. There is no central protagonest and the
connections between these people, often extremely tenuous, are never clearly articluted.

[Reem · Rating 1 out of 5]

هي الرواية\القصص مش وحشة في حد ذاتها. بس معرفتش اندمج فيها مطلقًا، ومكنتش عارفه احفظ مين بيعمل إيه وده كان مين وإيه علاقتهم ببعض.
رواية مُشتِتة ومقدرتش اكملها حتى.

[Marina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Il titolo dice la verità, queste storie sono davvero semplici. Scrittura minimalista, fin troppo. Storie minimaliste, decisamente troppo, per i miei gusti. Banali: ed era certo quello l'intento dell'autore, descrivere la banalità della vita post-caduta del muro, la DDR subito dopo. A me, però, faceva venire un gran sonno ogni volta che lo aprivo. Mi aspettavo di più.
Note:
* mai fidarsi troppo della quarta di copertina;
* ogni tanto essere un po' meno rigidi e abbandonare la lettura.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ero abbastanza scettica e l'inizio è stato un po' faticoso, i personaggi sono introdotti alla Verga, come se già li conoscessimo tutti ed è difficile orientarsi. Poi una volta "preso il ritmo" con la lettura si nota una certa poeticità della descrizione, il piacere dei piccoli oggetti specifici, delle marche, delle etichette. Una sorta di mania da autore della Germania Est. Tante storie che si intrecciano per rappresentare simbolicamente la difficoltà di rifarsi un'identità da capo, con oggetti pieni di nomi, ma che non comunicano nulla del nostro passato.

[Simona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Credo che il titolo "Semplici storie" riassuma molto bene le storie che Schulze ha voluto raccontare.
Le storie raccontate in questo libro che si intrecciano l'una all'altra hanno come cornice la Germania dell'Est, la Germania post caduta Muro di Berlino, in cui i protagonisti sono alle prese con delusioni, illusioni, amarezze, come in "Soldi nuovi" in cui una cameriera conosce un uomo giunto in città per sbrigare alcuni affari, se ne innamora, ma il mattino dopo scopre che se ne è andato senza lasciare traccia o in "Sorrisi" in cui padre e figlio si ricongiungono dopo 24 anni.
Sono storie semplici, ma anche banali, accomunate da speranze che si sciolgono come neve al sole.
Sono storie che ci fanno capire che la semplicità è forse la chiave per raggiungere la serenità.

[Karschtl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dass mir Short Stories nicht liegen, ist ja nicht neu. Dennoch hatte ich gehofft, diese hier wenigstens alle lesen zu wollen. Weil mich das Thema an sich sehr interessiert. Aber nach circa der Hälfte hatte ich wirklich keine Lust mehr, da mich keine der einzelnen Schicksale so wirklich gepackt hatte. Manchmal kommt später auch eine Referenz auf eine Figur aus einer früheren Geschichte, die man aber schon längst vergessen hat (und nachblättern ist zu mühsam, zumindest wenn man das Buch wie ich im Fitnesstudio am Stepper liest). Dadurch, dass die Einblicke in die einzelnen Leben immer nur so kurz sind, entstand bei mir keine wirkliche Basis für Identifikation oder zumindest Interesse für die Figuren. Noch dazu waren die geschilderten Erlebnisse komisch oder uninteressant.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy weaves a set of short stories into a unified whole so subtly and cannily that you don't notice its happening until well into the book - suddenly you realize - as you are reading - that it is a novel! - the sneaky part is that you don't think about it and decide the author must have been trying to do that - the experience actually shifts from reading a (very) good short story collection to reading a novel - sort of felt like a figure-ground switch in those Gestalt visual illusions, but mental....pretty impressive! I want to read more by this guy....(great translation btw!)

[Georg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eine klasse Idee, brillant umgesetzt. 13 Kurzgeschichten, die - jede für sich - schon lesenswert sind, ergeben einen schlüssigen, spannenden und unterhaltsamen Roman. Selbst wenn man - wie ich- kein Freund von Ostwestgeschichten ist: Ein richtig gutes Buch.

[Ana Cretiu · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting experience to begin with, but it's not enough there to sustain it, so I put down the book barely at its half. I don't think I missed anything, though.

[Sozan Ebrahem · Rating 1 out of 5]

قصص بسيطة
رواية من ألمانيا الشرقية
إنجو شولتسه
ترجمة أستاذ : سمير جريس
العربي للنشر والتوزيع
الطبعة الأولى 2018
416 صفحة

من مقدمة المؤلف (شولتسه) :

**أسأل بالطبع نفسي : لماذا كتبت قصصي عن ألمانيا الشرقية بأسلوب القصص القصيرة الأمريكية تحديدا ؟ أحد التفسيرات الممكنة : بحدوث الوحدة النقدية في الأول من يوليو 1990 أصبحنا فعليا ، وبين يوم وليلة ، جزءا من الثقافة المتأثرة بأمريكا في خاتمة المطاف . بين عشية وضحاها أصبحنا نعيش في نظام رأسمالي . **

و من مقدمة المترجم ( أستاذ سمير):

**تماما ، ومثلما تبين مقدمة " إنجو شولتسه " ؛ فالقارئ يستطيع أن يطالع كل " قصة " من قصص الرواية على نحو مستقل ، لكن القصص لن تعطي معناها الحقيقي إلا في سياق الرواية . إنها مجرد أحجار صغيرة في لوحة فسيفسائية ضخمة عن تلك الفترة . البنية الروائية المتشظية تعكس على نحو جيد التمزق الداخلي لمعظم الشخصيات . لذلك تتطلب قراءة الرواية بعض التمهل حتى يستطيع القارئ تركيب فسيفساء " القصص البسيطة " ، عندئذ سيفهم القارئ العلاقات بين الشخصيات ، والتفاصيل الصغيرة التي ينثرها الكاتب بين ثنايا النص ، وسيدرك أيضا ما بين السطور .**

بإسلوب القصص الأمريكية القصيرة، وبتركيب الفسيفساء للقصص البسيطة، كتب شولتسه هذه القصص ليعبر عن البسطاء في ألمانيا الشرقية وتحديدا في مدينة ألتنبورج ويظهر تمزقهم الداخلي، بعد إتمام الوحدة بين شطري ألمانيا وإنهيار جدار برلين. بمرور الوقت شعر العديد من الألمان الشرقيين بالحنين إلى تلك الأيام القديمه ما قبل الوحدة ربما كان منبع ذلك الهزات الاقتصادية والاجتماعية التي حدثت بعد الوحدة.

رأي الشخصي:
أعجبني عنوان الكتاب وكذلك مقدمة المؤلف ومقدمة المترجم، لكن لم تعجبني طريقة سرد وحكاية القصة، فطريقة الكتابة مجهدة جدا للقارئ، لم أشعر بالأبطال أو شخصيات العمل، ولم أجد الهدف منها ��لهدف الذي كان في المقدمة، للأسف لم تعجبني.

**على ارتفاع أربعة أو خمسة أمتار كان متسلق الجبال يقف على إفريز يمتد أفقيًّا على طول السور، فاردًا يديه على الجانبين، لاصقًا كتفه إلى الجدار ساد هدوء غريب، وكأن هذا المتسلق من السائرين أثناء النوم، لذلك خشي الناس أن يستيقظ لأدنى صوت ويسقط. الجليد الأبيض ضوؤه الباهر جعل „جابرييلا“ ترمش بعينيها. آخرون ظللوا بكفوفهم فوق أعينهم ليروا بشكل أفضل حذاؤه نصف الرقبة كان مُلقى أسفله تمامًا. مد رأسه إلى الأمام، وكطائر ألقى نظرةً علينا في الأسفل بعين واحدة كلا الجوربين كانا عالقين بأطراف أصابع قدميه بدا التسلق سهلًا لمَن تدرب عليه ولو قليلًا ربما وصل إلى البرج الصغير عن طريق تسلق أحجار المدخل، ثم وقف على الإفريز إلى أن وجدت قدماه مكانًا على الأحجار البارزة وعلى السقالات. **

[Barry Avis · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started reading “simple stories, a novel” I thought it was a series of short unrelated stories but as I progressed, I realised that it is a single novel with several intertwined characters and timelines which would make a great movie. Indeterminately based sometime after the fall of the the Berlin wall some actions take place in the DDR whilst others are clearly based in the time just after when Germany was still not quite unified. People and actions are referred to and later appear in chapters often using a first-person narrative. This makes it a little complicated to follow at times with much referring back to previous chapters to remember who is who and how things were described earlier.
This makes the novel interesting as you are never quite sure where something or someone will be referred to as you go through the story.
The main negative for this book is that not much actually happens. A group of people interact, some one dies but that is referred to almost in passing and there is a badger and a child who may or may not have been killed in a car accident.

[bxa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Furioser, klug verschachtelter Beginn, tragikomisch-rasantes Mittelstück - und am Ende dann irgenwie nicht das Ende (jedenfalls nicht auf dem vorherigen Niveau) hinbekommen.

Man muß auch als Autor dann zum Schluss kommen, wenn's am Schönsten ist. Das wurde hier leider verpasst, damit auch der vierte Stern, aus meiner Sicht.

Ein wichtiges sozialpsychologisches Stück Nach-Wende-Osten bleibt das Buch dennoch. Und sehr eigenen Humor hat es auch. Deshalb ist und bleibt's definitiv eine klare Leseempfehlung.

[Grace Clover · Rating 4 out of 5]

At some points completely baffling and confusing. But also baffling in how it manages to be so gripping whilst describing the mundane experiences of normal people. It feels like a puzzle which slowly comes together in your head whilst reading it but isn't fully completed at the end - I enjoyed working out all the tenuous connections between the different characters. Certainly more of 'Ein Roman aus der ostdeutschen Provinz' than a collection of sh0rt stories.

[Marc Bless · Rating 1 out of 5]

Belanglose, langweilige Momenterzählungen aus der Perspektive einzelner Figuren, die mich in keiner Weise interessierten. 1/4 gelesen, 1/4 quergelesen, ab der Hälfte nur noch die kurzen Kapitelübersichten gelesen.

[Marie Wesener · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brillant!!!

[Emily Reinhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

My German teacher made us read some of this before the semester. Kind of confusing but a good brutally honest look into early reunified Germany. I guess it’s good prep for my trip though? 😋

[camryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for German History course

[Zapatoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein bisschen hatte es sicherlich die Form von Gedenktagsliteratur, als ich mir im Herbst das Buch fürs Lesen in näherer Zukunft zurechtgelegt hatte - auch wenn ich diese Simple Storys dann doch nicht aus unmittelbaren Anlass gelesen hatte. Meine Leseerwartungen erfüllten sich aber: die sozialen Verwerfungen, der Zwang zu den völligen Neuorientierungen im Lebenswandel anhand von vielleicht zwei Dutzend Personen der thüringischen Kleinstadt Altenburg der '89 nachfolgenden Jahre.
Die nicht im Sinne einer chronologischen Erzählung aus einer Perspektive zusammenhängenden kurzen Geschichten als Bestandteil dieses Romans, hängen nicht nur über die immer wieder auftretenden gleichen Personen zusammen, sondern auch darüber dass in ihnen allen in der Nachwendezeit jemand seinen Alltag verliert und aus der Bahn geworfen wird. Diese Verwerfungen mit ihren kleinen Grausamkeiten von Einsamkeit und Vereinzelung erst, auch wenn man ihnen erst später völlig gewahr wird, bilden das Bindematerial des Romans. Das Bild vom neueingerichteten Arbeitsamt, das im Treppenhaus ein Fangnetz aufspannte, um Suizide zu verhindern, verdeutlich die Vorstellung des 'Sozialen Netzes' der annektierenden BRD überdeutlich. Gegen diese neue Gegenwart schafft es die Vergangenheit nicht, Sehnsuchts- oder Hoffnungsort zu bleiben - sie kommt nur selten vor und wenn mit Bitternis, mit Verweis auf den Bruch von Handlungs- und Lebensweisen der Anderen. Die Zukunft allerdings droht noch mehr, bereits aus dem Misstrauen der Gegenwart: 'Ihr Klingelschild', fragte Petra, als spräche sie mit dem Kater. 'Ich dachte....' 'Heinrich [urspr. Enrico] ist einfach nur eingedeutscht. Ich wollts jetzt machen. Besser, man regelt das, bevors losgeht.' 'Bevors losgeht?' fragte ich. Er musterte mich. 'Die Karriere', sagte er zögernd.' (294)

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read! Not least of all because of the way the story (or rather the stories) are told. At the beginning of the book one might perhaps think that this is going to be a series of independent stories, with each chapter telling the tale of a different character - but that is not the case. Instead it is gradually revealed how all of the tales are carefully woven into each other, with characters meeting and talking about each other, bit by bit revealing how they're connected and detailing how the story of person A ends up influencing the story of person B. It's truly a very exciting read, as the full picture of the community is only gradually revealed to the reader, and the tiniest mention of an event in one of the early chapters might end up being a hint to the outcome of the story of another person who only gets his tale told towards the end! I loved almost every second of reading this book - even though I had to read it for uni ;)!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schulze has really done something different with this book. Although it's a novel, it is really more like a collection of short stories whose characters' lives all intertwine to create a masterful (yet confusing) tapestry that explains what life was like in East Germany after 1989. Although I know a lot of people who absolutely hated this book, I loved it. It was very well written and entertaining.

[Kate Picher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of unusually described and sometimes confusing stories of life in a small East German town directly after the fall of the wall. I found some of the description filled with anachronisms, which confused me about the time frame. Can't say I would recommend the book, but a few of the stories were entertaining.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vielleicht nur deswegen, dass wir in meiner Sitzung das Buch nicht komplett durchgelesen haben, war die Lektüre ziemlich schwierig zu folgen, beziehungsweise die Zeitstruktur. Sonst sind die Geschichten sehr ineinandergreifen, interessant, und kreativ.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

13 short fragmented stories that will give you a glimpse of how disjointed the lives of East Germans were after the wall came down.

[Mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der Roman ist nicht so simple zu lesen wie der Titel. Beim Lesen ist empfehlenswert, einen Stift, ein Papier zu haben, um die Namen zu notieren. Sonst verliert man schnell den Faden.

[Katalin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I complex and beautiful novel about the difficult lives of east and west germans around the time of unification. i wish a hungarian had the guts to write something like this book.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wrote my Honours thesis on this book in 2003. It's a great insight into Post-Wende East Germany.

[Gabriele Girolamini · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tanto tanto minimalista: in confronto a lui, Carver è Proust. E poi è troppo noioso.