Brummstein

by Peter Adolphsen

Come raccontare un secolo intero, rivoluzioni sociali e artistiche, due guerre mondiali, cadute e rinascite di un continente attraverso le vite di individui del tutto marginali agli eventi? Incarnando la storia nell'oggetto più insignificante, una pietra estratta dalle viscere della terra e perciò in grado di "conoscere", meglio di chiunque, il cammino dell'umanità.
Nel 1907 il geologo Josef Siedler, affascinato dalle teorie su un misterioso popolo da cui avrebbe avuto origine la nostra civiltà, compie un viaggio tra cunicoli e caverne alla ricerca delle tracce della sua esistenza. Quando s'imbatte in una roccia che emette strani suoni, echi di una lingua che gli esseri umani non sanno più riconoscere, è convinto di aver trovato il confine di quel mondo e ne stacca un frammento che porta con sé in superficie. Le vicende di quella scheggia di un mondo perduto - la pietra, ereditata da un nipote di Josef e smarrita durante la seconda guerra mondiale, negli anni Sessanta viene dichiarata opera d'arte e chiusa in un museo - sono una metafora dell'Europa del ventesimo secolo, l'arco di tempo in cui la pietra continua a vibrare e a "parlare".

Quello che Adolphsen mette in piedi è un mondo surreale, impregnato di ambienti mitologici, all'interno del quale la narrazione scorre palpitante tutta protesa a dimostrare come la nostra realtà occidentale tenti ininterrottamente di conciliare gli ideali e il senso pratico. ( Alen Custovic - Il Sole 24 Ore)

Genres: Fiction, Novella, Science Fiction, Denmark, 21st Century, Germany, Historical Fiction

90 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Peter Adolphsen (født 1. september 1972 i Aarhus) er en dansk forfatter. Han er uddannet fra Forfatterskolen (1993-95), hvor han også var ansat som lærer 2008-2010. Debuterede i 1996 med Små Historier. Siden er udkommet Små historier 2 (2000), kortromanerne Brummstein (2003) og Machine (2006), form-eksperimenterne En million historier (2007) og Katalognien. En versroman (2009, skrevet sammen med Ejler Nyhavn). I 2013 udkom den post-apokalyptiske kortroman År 9 efter Loopet.

Adolphsen forsøger i sin prosa at videregive et koncist og mættet indtryk uden for mange uvedkommende omstændigheder. Inspirationen fra Per Højholt, Peter Seeberg, Franz Kafka og Jorge Luís Borges er tydelig. Adolphsen forener en eklatant, tilspidset, men omflakkende, urolig handling, hvor det er en pointe, at det skete bevæger sig i (for mennesket) uforudsigelige og besynderlige retninger.

Adolphsens Små historier er også små i lyotardsk forstand, og kan derfor anskues ud fra et postmoderne perspektiv, idet de ikke foregiver at formidle en fuldstændig, aflukket verdensanskuelse, men punkterer ethvert tilløb til en sådan gennem et bredt spektrum af genrer og synsvinkler. Verden er ikke til at forstå, forstås. Formen er på den måde vigtig for forståelsen af teksterne.

Narrativerne er minimale skiftinge, som ironiserende væver sig ind og ud af populærkulturen, de vil netop adskille sig fra hinanden, vise tilhørsforhold til de forskellige genrer, som kommer til udtryk i tidens massemedier. Disse står i forfatterskabet i et symbiotisk forhold til hinanden: Soap, dokumentar, satire, tragedie, æstetiseret pop.

I sine to romaner Brummstein (2003) og Machine (2006) fremstår Adolphsens budskab mindre svævende (end i Små historier 1 og 2). Begge romaner tager udgangspunkt i hvordan noget der skete for millioner af år siden får indflydelse på forskellige menneskers liv i nutiden (eller i den nære fortid). Den ateistiske Adolphsens pointe er vist nok at det vi mennesker ikke kan forklare (som fx pludselige dødsfald) ikke skyldes guddommelig indgriben, men derimod en årsagssammenhæng der går ud over vores forstand. – Og som altså kan ledes helt tilbage til alpernes tidlige orogenese (Brummstein) eller sågar Big Bang (Machine)! I 'Machine' henviser fortælleren til Aristoteles' opfattelse af tilfældighedsbegrebet netop som en begivenhed, man ikke kan placere i en årsagssammenhæng.

I sine to romaner benytter Adolphsen sig ligesom i de små historier af mange forskellige tekstlige virkemidler. Fælles for romanerne er desuden fortællerrollen, en fortæller som Adolphsen selv kalder "Hyper-olympikeren". Den super-alvidende fortæller som ved stort set alt om verdens gang og de medvirkende personers tanker.

Både 'Brummstein' og 'Machine' skildrer forholdet mellem østens kommunisme og vestens kapitalisme. 'Brummstein' handler om Tysklands historie i det 20. århundrede som oplevet fra mange forskellige personernes synspunkt, mens det nærmeste man kommer en hovedperson i 'Machine', Djamolidine Hasanov/Jimmy Nash, filosoferer over kulturforskellene mellem sit barndomsland, det sovjetiske Aserbajdsjan, og sit nye land, USA, som han i frustration flygter til i løbet af romanen.

Sammenlagt er disse to korte romaner oversat til ti sprog, bl.a. engelsk, tysk, nederlandsk, spansk og fransk.

En million historier (2007) indeholder præcis en million forskellige historier, er inspireret af den franske digter Raymond Queneaus digtsamling Cent mille milliards de poèmes (1961). Bogen er på ti sider, hver skåret i seks vandrette strimler. Der er derfor ti forskellige begyndelser, der hver har ti mulige fortsættelser osv. Strimlerne er nummereret 0 til 9. Et tal mellem 0 og 999.999 angiver en konkret tekst.

Sammen med Ejler Nyhavn har han i 2009 udgivet 'Katalognien. En versroman' (Samleren), hvor blandt andet idéer fra gruppen Oulipo er benyttet. Bogen er en mosaik-roman af i alt 33 forskellige faste, lyriske former (fx alexandrinere eller hexametre), i alfabetisk rækkef

Reviews

[Antonomasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5] This tiny novella was one of the first books I discovered entirely through Goodreads, nearly three years ago. Now the overall average rating is 3.23; average friends rating 4.5. I've been reading the right people, then.

It's a story which follows the successive owners of an object - an idea I've loved since childhood, but which is saved unexpectedly from cliche by being used only rarely in adult fiction. (The only other time I've encountered it since joining GR was in part of The Secret Knowledge by Andrew Crumey, which follows a musical manuscript.)

The Brummstein - the title for some reason untranslated from Danish - is a humming stone. The early chapters are full of geology and the development of the theory of plate tectonics (which I for one loved hearing about, some revision, a little new) - a very calming subject. An early twentieth century German amateur scientist, hoping to find a gateway to the underworld, explores deep in a Swiss cave system, and discovers rock which hums and tremors, and chips off a piece. He stores it in a box with a note exhorting some future owner to investigate it.

The rest of the story has a heartwarming charm but never neglects the grimmer aspects of history, and, as others have noted, also a nihilistic, fatalistic streak . I particularly liked ... most of the characters ... the Second World War era people... trying not to give away too many spoilers... the story of an artist brought to mind an article about supportive literary husbands (of Woolf, Millay among others).

Another female character stood out as so very real, with antisocial living-alone habits a mixture of the traditionally 'feminine' and 'masculine': she might live for months on pancakes which she ate standing as she cooked them, she breathed noisily when she did yoga, and she went to the bathroom with the door open, all the lights off, and Hendrix thumping on the stereo; she usually ignores the news, her mind is mostly occupied with academic interests, but she is also seen crying, and in outdoorsy derring-do. All this (and a sort of person I'd understand and like) in a brief sketch made a lot of characters in far longer works seem stereotyped by contrast.

The Brummstein clearly isn't to everyone's liking, but I became very attached to this odd little story.

[Mark Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little novella took me quite by surprise. Peter Adolphsen has created characters who are archetypal, original and utterly believable. I enjoyed the gorgeously geographic description of how subterranean caves are formed. I loved the cyclical nature of the story, which goes full circle over the course of a century.

In 1907, Josef Siedler descends into the Hölloch Caves in Switzerland, searching for an opening to the subterranean world which he believes is home to a race far more advanced than humans. Local folklore states that deep in the Hölloch is the gate to Hell, but Siedler's obsession overcomes his fear. Josef doesn't find the opening he seeks, but at the nadir of the caves discovers a humming rock that deafens him for ten minutes when he presses his ear to it. He chisels off a piece of this mysterious stone and takes it back to the surface. The rest of the novella follows the rock's journey from keeper to keeper, decade to decade, through two World Wars and communist regimes, until it is eventually returned to the cave from whence it came.

Very satisfying. Beautifully written. A little eccentric. I recommend it as a good way of spending an hour or two.

[Niki Vervaeke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het is even nadenken bij het lezen van dit dunne boekje, nadenken en herlezen om te snappen wat gezegd wordt
Geologie voor dummies, gelinkt aan een bijzondere steen en meerdere levensgeschiedenissen, gelinkt aan de Europese geschiedenis.
Een klein pareltje waarbij je je niet mag laten afschrikken door de zwaarte van de zinnen maar gewoon kan en mag proberen volgen.
Knap!!

https://www.groene.nl/artikel/tijdsnedes

[Tobias Cramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

At blive tæt knyttet til en Peter Adolphsen-karakter er ligesom kun at elske malingen, så længe den ikke er tørret endnu. Adolphsen går ganske vist altid den modsatte vej og gør tørre karakterer vådere. Vådere i forstanden: udsmattede og bloddryppende.

De har med andre ord en meget kort levetid.

I modsætning til den titulære Brummstein, der har ligget dybt i en drypstenshule og brummet løs i geologisk uoverskueligt lang tid.

Den bliver fundet og en flig af den går så på runde mellem kortlivede Adolphsen-karakterer i et århundrede inden den vender tilbage til sin hule.

Det er i princippet en komplet ligegyldig historie, men Adolphsens syrede blanding af tyske digte, geologiske digressioner, splatterkomik og frifabuleren er litterært bland-selv-slik i Irmaklassen.

Jeg knuselsker det.

[Larissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review published at Three Percent: http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran...

***

By examining the minute connections, unlikely coincidences, and painstaking natural processes that give shape to the daily world, the work of Danish author Peter Adolphsen encapsulates—both in form and content—Blake’s image of “a world in a grain of sand.” This has never been more literally true than in his most recently translated work, The Brummstein. Beginning in 1907, and ending over eighty years later, the novella follows a mysteriously humming stone found deep within a Swiss cave through its series of unlikely owners: a hapless German anarchist and his young Jewish sweetheart, a retired ticket clerk at a railway station lost & found, an orphan boy living alone in the woods, an avant-garde artist, and a museum curator. In following the ownership of the stone, The Brummstein also traces a crash course through European (German) history—in less than 80 pages, the reader experiences both World Wars, Spanish Flu, the rise of the Soviet GDR, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. But, rather than focus on a larger, more sweeping narrative, The Brummstein is told on a much more personal, human scale.

Adolphsen has not yet been fully translated into English, but a good start has been made with the 2009 translation of his excellent novella Machine, and excerpts from his collections Small Stories I and Small Stories II, which were included in 2011’s Best European Fiction Anthology. Readers familiar with these other works will recognize many of the author’s prevailing thematic interests, as well as his favorite formal constraints in The Brummstein.

The book starts with a playful explanation of “the constant orogeny of the Alps,” and how the formation of the earth might be conceptualized on a time-line. “. . . if we apply the famous metaphor which depicts the Earth’s age as a calendar year,” the narrator begins,

when dinosaurs became extinct on Boxing Day, hominids emerge on New Year’s Eve, and when, at the time of writing, ten seconds have passed since the Roman Empire’s five seconds expired, then these events took place on December 19 and 23 respectively. In the West, the process of comprehending this vast expanse of time commenced just one and a half geological seconds ago...

There’s a PBS-narrator quality to Adolphsen’s explanations of the natural world, which manage to be clinical and dignified while simultaneously geeking out about how awesome geology is. (Machine, with its first page explanations of the petrification of a prehistoric horse, which eons later becomes a drop of gasoline, maintains the same delightful tone.)

But the book’s concern is not really the Brummstein—the mysterious humming stone that an amateur explorer looking for the entrance to another world finds at the beginning of the story is basically a MacGuffin. This has been true for many other “lives of objects” narratives as well—Jenny Erpenbach’s Visitation and Nicole Krauss’s Great House come to mind—and is not in itself that unique a premise. What makes The Brummstein special, then, is Adolphsen’s incredible specificity and gift for compressing deeply incisive observations into just a few short passages.

It’s rare that the full emotional weight of a relationship or a life can be concisely summarized—just think of how bland many obituaries are. But this is precisely what Adolphsen excels at. Consider a passage in which we’re introduced to Georg Wiede, an elderly retiree in Germany during WWII. After his apartment was destroyed by Allied air raids, Georg moves to a railway station lost and found hut:

It wasn’t until December 1943 that Georg finally overcame the inhibitions which had so far deterred him from helping himself to the lost items. He was driven by a noble motive: hunger. One of the suitcases might contain a tin of goulash or a bag of boiled sweets. He organized clothing such as coats and hats in neat piles at one end of the hut, making sure that each item retained its original ticket. Then he turned his attention to the suitcases, briefcases, et cetera. One by one he placed them on the table, and feeling like a surgeon with a patient on the operating table, he opened them up and laid out the contents in regimented lines. Then he returned the items in reverse order less anything he needed, which included two fountain pens, a small pile of books, a little money, some clothes, and an antique pocket watch. Whenever he took something, he would replace it with a small note with a brief description of the object and the following sentence: “I, Georg Weide, took this item of lost property in a time of great need.”

When it doesn’t work, The Brummstein tends to undercut its emotional resonance with an unsettling sense of absurdity that borders on nihilism. More than one character is dispatched in a freak accident—for instance, a married couple survives Spanish Flu only to be crushed by a chaise lounge falling from an apartment window. The narrative also drops off abruptly and unresolved, which may be alluding to the continuation of the story outside of the novella, but instead feels slightly apathetic.

If, in the end, The Brummstein has some shortcomings, these are mostly recognizable only in comparison to Adolphsen’s more polished Machine which, it should be noted, was written a few years later. Overall, it is a remarkably creative, unique, and resonant work, which can—and should—be read in one satisfying sitting.

[Maya Panika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardly even a novella, The Brummstein is very short, just 78 pages. I loved it, the writing had a softness, a gentle touch which was very beguiling, the story - of a strange geological specimen that passes from hand to hand - was utterly compelling and I wished with all my heart there had been more of it, MUCH more; this is not a story that can be told at this length, this is a story that needs a good, solid 130,000 words or more to truly meet its promise.

The characters were wonderful, but they were skeletons in desperate need of flesh. Each vignette of a tale held the seed of something tremendous, but they weren't in any way sufficient to tell this tale as it ought to be told, they really needed chapter length exposition to fully develop.

A truly great short story is perfect as it is, it gives you all you need in just a few perfect paragraphs; The Brummstein wasn't that, it was just a novel cut short, which seems a shame, and a terrible waste.

But I'd still recommend it, it's much too short but it's a wonderful story, and beautifully told.

[Bjorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Adolphsen's Brummstein is a peculiar little novella; the story of a weird, vibrating stone that's chipped off an ancient rock at the bottom of a Swiss cave in 1908, and its travels from hand to hand throughout the 20th century in Germany. It should be a drily humorous tall tale in the classic Scandinavian tradition (lately represented by Paasilinna, Jonasson etc), but it's ultra-condensed to 64 pages, with passages in allegedly untranslated German (Adolphsen is Danish), with long asides on tectonic plate theory and starting the story billions of years ago, both reducing and emphasising the changes of the last 100 years as just a blink of an eye in the larger scheme of things. And suddenly, the people who pass by become both completely inconsequential and completely alive, caught up in a whirlstorm of ideologies flashing by, all promising a revolution of political, spiritual, racial or artistic thought while the stone keeps humming with the same frequency it's done for millions of years. Weird. But I love it.

[Leif · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slim novella concerned with a historical take on an ahistorical subject: the strange vibrations of a particular outcropping of rock in a Central European cavern. Geological continuity stresses the humans whose lives the rock crosses through suffering and through joy - more of the former than the latter, I must say. It is not inaccurate.

At the end of the sitting, you might be left a little empty, slightly confused. There are many apertures onto human life in this short narrative. They do not happen to be revelatory ones.

[Günter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Auch dieses Büchlein ist großartig, aber nicht ganz so sehr wie das Herz des Urpferds. Beide Texte haben im Grunde das gleiche Muster: Ein sehr kleines Ereignis in der tiefen Vergangenheit wirkt sich über die Jahrhunderte und Jahrzehnte hin aus, dokumentiert von einem allwissenden Erzähler. Der Brummstein wirkt wie eine Fingerübung für das fulminante Herz des Urpferds.
Wie gerne würde ich mehr von diesem Autor lesen, aber bisher scheint nichts weiteres ins Deutsche oder auch Englische übersetzt zu sein.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This odd little work by a Danish writer appears to be an exploration of time and humanity, and the preeminence of the former over the latter. I say "appears" because it's an oblique work that makes several references to the span of geologic time in relation to that of recorded human history, but its ultimate meaning is very much open to interpretation. Either way, it certainly doesn't drag the reader in: the book opens with six pages of geological history before getting into the story. That story (in as much as there is one), revolves around a mysterious fragment of vibrating stone, and follows its series of owners across the 20th century (a narrative device that's been used to great effect in fiction and film, the most recent well-known example probably being Annie Proulx's Accordion Crimes).

The stone is first unearthed from the Hölloch Caves in Switzerland (one of the longest cave systems in the world) by a man obsessed with the possibility of a subterranean race of men as described in 19th-century writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton's book, The Coming Race, (which also popularized the "Hollow Earth" theory and was hugely influential in the development of the science-fiction genre). The stone then passes through several hands over the course of the two World Wars, Cold War, and beyond, allowing Adolphson to peek into the lives of ordinary Germans affected by the tides of history -- while always reminding the reader that the cataclysmic events being experienced by his characters are mere nanoseconds in the span of geologic time. Indeed, the central theme appears to be that however extraordinary we believe the events of our life to be, they are completely insignificant on a macro level. While that might be interesting on a metaphysical level, it didn't prove to be all that engaging to me. I did like the windows into time and place, and found them to be well crafted, the larger themes the author appeared to be grappling with didn't inspire me.

[wally · Rating 3 out of 5]

First from this writer, begins:

The constant orogeny of the Alps is caused by the breakup of the microcontinent Adria from Africa in the Jurassic, its subsequent rotation over the then existing Tethys Sea, and its collision with Eurasia; if we apply the famous metaphor which depicts the Earth's age as a calendar year, when dinosaurs become extinct on Boxing Day, hominids emerge on New Year's Eve, and when, at the time of writing, ten seconds have passed since the Roman Empire's five seconds expired, then these events took place on December 19 and 23 respectively.

WTF was that! Well...it is a short work...so...onward and upward.

update...finished...7:23 p.m. e.s.t. Monday, 23 APR 12

ummm. yeah. okay.

a rock. through time and place, back to the place it began to be a rock recognized by others. why do some presume to speak for the rocks? perhaps the rocks prefer to be left alone? i suspect this is the case.

so like about 30% into the story, we come to the rock, chipped off a larger mass below ground, and the rock wanders around, here there, people die, the rock maintains its rockdom...eventually, as noted, winding back up where it began.

there's some nice scenes, description about the people in contact with the rock, through a war or so, through this that the other...

there is about five dozen titles at play in this one, none that seem to have any consequence to me...there's no shortage of titles.

anyway.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the heart of Brummstein are the connections that bind complete strangers together. The story begins with a somewhat dry explanation of the Swiss Alps used to set up a metaphor of geologic time compressed into a single calendar year; just remind us how short and insignificant human history is when considering the cosmic stage. A rather dramatic way to start a story about a curious humming stone - the Brummstein - as it passes through the life of one person to the next. Each life the stone touches is tragic or comes to a sudden often tragic close, but the stone lives on as an enigma that begs to be solved. But what Adolphsen really excels at here is packing the full emotional weight of a relationship or a life in just a few short pages. However, there are times when the story breaks down and the events become borderline absurd. Also, the story just comes to the end without really wrapping up the narrative about the stone that ties the story together. The Brummstein has some shortcomings, these are mostly recognizable in comparison to suberb novella Machine. Overall, it is a remarkably creative, unique, and resonant work, which can be read in one satisfying sitting.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Josef finds a "humming" stone deep in a cave in the Swiss Alps at the end of the 19th century. He thinks the stone is a doorway to another world. Takes a small rock out of it in order to analyze it. Dies later without having the slightest clue of what its origin was. The stone will then pass from hand to hand throughout the 20th century to this day, as a "witness" of the evolution of (mainly) the german society. The narrative style varies from pages that look like wikipedia pages on geology to poetry to classic novelization...all of this in 90 pages. Which is probably as much as I could have stood...a good little book, funny at times, but with a structure probably too complex (wish I knew more about litterary theory, there's probably a lot to be discussed there) to satisfy the polished plot lover I am. The backcover sells it as an "impressionist" book, which might be part of the problem as I've never been charmed by impressionism myself.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think 'brummstein' translates as grumbling or murmuring stone. The stone in this unusual story has a stored memory of geological history. The book starts with a geology lecture on the Alpine orogeny and the formation of cave systems in limestone. (I studied geology at A-level when plate tectonics was newly accepted so I knew all this, but I think the author explains it well.) This is needed to show how some ancient rock might be revealed deep in a cave system in the Alps.
One of the early visitors to the cave system listens to the ancient rock and hears its history. He chips a piece off and takes it with him. The book now switches to human history, particularly that of Germany in the twentieth century, by telling the stories of the various people who own the stone chip. Human history is on a much smaller timescale than geological history, but both have what could be considered as seismic events with long periods of calm between them. The comparison works well in this story.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished my 78 page book The Brummstein which is probably a novella. Based very much on geology and not science fiction but science fact. Intelligent, well thought out with some interesting observations about humanity versus rocks. The human spirit versus geological continuity and durability. It is a book in translation and the English is impeccable. It is a very cleverly constructed piece which touches on the meaning of human existence, life, the universe and everything. It was a quick read but added so much perspective to my thinking. It was interesting to see how much each person revered the humming rock (Der Brummstein) . It is that reverence which becomes a key factor in the story as it unfolds. Economically written but profound in its impact. I could have read more!

[Dick Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the story of a “rock that hums,” a peculiar geological artifact that was discovered in 1907 and makes its way from owner to owner through the 20th century. The humming rock is merely a prop that allows the author to tell the stories of each of the owners. The trouble is that the book is so short that the reader learns precious little about each owner, and is left at the end with the feeling that he has not learned much about the owners or about 20th century history. I give this book about a 5 out of 10.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short fast read, intriguing, enticing. I was left wanting more and more: more back story for every character, more about the rock, more ... more everything. I will be looking up author Adolphsen in the future to see if he can sustain this kind of fever pitch emotional blending for an entire novel's length.

[Paul Korkhin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little novella which tells the story of a piece of rock through the different owners it had through out the 20th century. As follows it also shows the history of Europe in the 20th century from a somewhat unusual viewpoint. I especially liked the seemingly random connections between people, objects and places that the story makes, random and yet showing a clear trail of cause and effect.

[Alaíde Ventura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Como si tomáramos "El atlas de las nubes", "El abuelo que saltó por la ventana y se largó" y una pizca de Bioy, los echáramos a la licuadora y luego los condensáramos con algún método de cocina molecular. El resultado, este libro, es una burbujita brillante y riquísima, inolvidable, que te deja con ganas de más.

[Helen Maltby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I strange short novel. It was a very interesting idea - the progression of a stone from one person to another over the course of 100 years.

It started off like a geology text book but once I got past that it was worth reading.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This slim little novel is the story of a small rock from it's creation and how it was passed on from person to person after it was chipped off a larger rock. A strange little novel, but appealing because of the spare but descriptive writing.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has got off to a slow start, with a long and detailed explanation of the formation of the Alps. Now I have got through the geological part, I am quite enjoying the story and looking forward to seeing how it develops. More later!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only thing that could make this work better would be for there to be more of it. It is, believe it or not, the fictional provenance of a fictional rock, and yet the writing is utterly absorbing and charming.

[Kory · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had its ups and downs, mostly it was a slog. There were some great parts to it, but for the most part the novella was bogged down by the overly scientific language in its beginning. The whole thing was just so European.

[Asha Zarr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A practical and yet fey and enchanting read. An ending that makes the book worth rereading.

[Ruth Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fascinating little book and only geta three stars because I wanted to know what happened but instead the ending is a cliff hanger and the mystery is never solved.

[Kath Fell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different storyline but enjoyable.

[Brenda Boro]

I couldn't get into this book.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barely a Novella, almost an extended short story The Brummstein feels very much like an opportunity missed. The premise is fascinating - the finding of a rock that hums and it's journey forward from that time.

I don't know what I expected from this, it's been on my TBR list for a very long time, so long in fact that I don't know why I added it. Short but still overly wordy in some places - I question the need for the level of geological detail which added little to the story. Those words would have been better spent exploring the concept of the rock and it's journey IMHO.

It is well crafted but left me dissatisfied, with the feeling of a tale half told. I can't say it matches the cliff notes which may be the cause of my dissatisfaction. What is there piques the interest but then goes nowhere - a pity.

[Erna Juhl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brummstein er en lang novelle eller kortroman, måske. nok mest en fortælling, hvor vi følger et stykke klippe fra dens tilblivelse til nutiden. Vi møder forskellige ejere og igennem dem oplever vi, hvordan Europa ændrer sig fra begyndelsen af det 20. Århundrede til nutiden.

Smukt og genialt fortalt og absolut klassisk Adolphsen.