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Das Brot mit der Feile
Jan Ahlers ist 17. Er lebt bei seiner Großmutter in Hamburg, malocht auf dem Bau, ist nicht zufrieden mit sich und der Welt. »Alles bloß immer Hund!« ist einer seiner Lieblingssprüche. Die Handlung beginnt 1960, und ein breit angelegtes Milieu fächert sich auf: Bundeswehrsoldaten, ein Sozialarbeiter, ein Franzose, Kommunisten, ein Gangsterboss, ein Arzt, ein NDR-Journalist…
In »Kalte Zeiten« (1965) erzählte Christian Geissler einen Tag im Leben von Jan Ahlers. Mit »Das Brot mit der Feile« (1973) ändern sich die Perspektiven und der Tonfall in Geisslers Prosa. Ahlers gerät mitten hinein in den politischen Aufbruch.
Der Literaturwissenschaftler Ingo Meyer setzt in seinem Nachwort das literaturästhetische Profil des Romans in Bezug zu den Debatten um eine linke Ästhetik und arbeitet die Spezifik von Geisslers »Poetik des Widerstands« heraus.
»Dieser Roman ist die erste komplexe erzählerische Realisation des Widerstands, des Protests, des Veränderungswillen, wie sie in den sechziger Jahren in der Bundesrepublik aufkamen.« (Heinrich Vormweg)
In »Kalte Zeiten« (1965) erzählte Christian Geissler einen Tag im Leben von Jan Ahlers. Mit »Das Brot mit der Feile« (1973) ändern sich die Perspektiven und der Tonfall in Geisslers Prosa. Ahlers gerät mitten hinein in den politischen Aufbruch.
Der Literaturwissenschaftler Ingo Meyer setzt in seinem Nachwort das literaturästhetische Profil des Romans in Bezug zu den Debatten um eine linke Ästhetik und arbeitet die Spezifik von Geisslers »Poetik des Widerstands« heraus.
»Dieser Roman ist die erste komplexe erzählerische Realisation des Widerstands, des Protests, des Veränderungswillen, wie sie in den sechziger Jahren in der Bundesrepublik aufkamen.« (Heinrich Vormweg)
400 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2016
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May 18, 2025
A (or is it THE most brilliant) working class anti-fascist Bildungsroman from 1973.
The gist of it? Radicalisation in capitalism will happen if you are not numb enough yet to witness and care about all the injustices of a worker's daily life. Oh and also: there may be a phase when you buy into the meritocracy scam, temporarily, you play the game (which includes nice car and good furniture) but alas if you have not completely lost your soul at some point you will wake up and the hate is still there ....
Post WWII (Western) Germany is NOT a shiny "Wirtschaftswunder" when seen through the astute class analysis of this giant of radical literature.
Dark, gritty, violent. Bleak it was, that Germany in the 50s/60s, at least for workers who intuitively knew (without a lot of Marxist analysis) that this system was oppressive and messed up.
Notstandsgesetze anyone? (a kinda Martial Law Light if you will, German after "denazification" style, kinda what happens in Berlin when cops beat peace activists protesting the genocide in Gaza in 2025) ...
So timely ....
Also for me as a Marxist the descriptions of work days in various industries complete with injuries etc read like Karl's recounting of Manchester capitalism in "Das Kapital" Volume 1.
Radicalisation becomes inevitable and Geissler's insight into his protagonists core - that melange of experiences within the slice of historical realities they inhabit - does "sell" the notion that for some the hate over daily injustices WILL boil over (how timely ....)
Main character Ahlers realizes at age 17 (his first shitty job) that he got a raw deal: "He did not think they could do this to him but he saw that they did. I'm not going to let them do this to me, but, well, one can't help notice: I am in fact letting them."
Later he encounters a middle or upper class Hamburg woman in a streetcar he works in, he seen her once before at department store Karstadt where she asked him what he thought of a modern/abstract painting (back then he is somewhat flattered that she cares and struggles to articulate how the painting actually DOES move him): "And I'm telling you: you can rely on a person like that. She has the same hate that you have, but with insight, because she has time."
When Ahlers is drafted into the Army in 1961 he is not really worried at first because job prospects are dire and eviction notice has been served: "He ran through the iron gate, beyond the walls, underneath the helmet, all with the curiosity of a hopeless man, with the assurance of a prisoner, finally, everything was in order, locked up, counted, dressed, his hunger satisfied, looked after."
God I wish someone would translate these important novels. No offense (coz I still like him) but why is Heinrich Böll translated into a gazillion languages? Geissler is more important IMHO!
I end with (amateur) translation of page 284: "The one who sits in deprivation, no matter how shiny, and you reveal that to him and you don’t tell him how to get out of it, that person will - if he is smart and if he wants to live - withdraw his attention from you. Show booths are preferred, a quiz show or some other dreck, every day, much better than information about the enemy but without tipps on effective weaponry. They switch off. They have no rights. Better to be seen as dumb than weak."
The gist of it? Radicalisation in capitalism will happen if you are not numb enough yet to witness and care about all the injustices of a worker's daily life. Oh and also: there may be a phase when you buy into the meritocracy scam, temporarily, you play the game (which includes nice car and good furniture) but alas if you have not completely lost your soul at some point you will wake up and the hate is still there ....
Post WWII (Western) Germany is NOT a shiny "Wirtschaftswunder" when seen through the astute class analysis of this giant of radical literature.
Dark, gritty, violent. Bleak it was, that Germany in the 50s/60s, at least for workers who intuitively knew (without a lot of Marxist analysis) that this system was oppressive and messed up.
Notstandsgesetze anyone? (a kinda Martial Law Light if you will, German after "denazification" style, kinda what happens in Berlin when cops beat peace activists protesting the genocide in Gaza in 2025) ...
So timely ....
Also for me as a Marxist the descriptions of work days in various industries complete with injuries etc read like Karl's recounting of Manchester capitalism in "Das Kapital" Volume 1.
Radicalisation becomes inevitable and Geissler's insight into his protagonists core - that melange of experiences within the slice of historical realities they inhabit - does "sell" the notion that for some the hate over daily injustices WILL boil over (how timely ....)
Main character Ahlers realizes at age 17 (his first shitty job) that he got a raw deal: "He did not think they could do this to him but he saw that they did. I'm not going to let them do this to me, but, well, one can't help notice: I am in fact letting them."
Later he encounters a middle or upper class Hamburg woman in a streetcar he works in, he seen her once before at department store Karstadt where she asked him what he thought of a modern/abstract painting (back then he is somewhat flattered that she cares and struggles to articulate how the painting actually DOES move him): "And I'm telling you: you can rely on a person like that. She has the same hate that you have, but with insight, because she has time."
When Ahlers is drafted into the Army in 1961 he is not really worried at first because job prospects are dire and eviction notice has been served: "He ran through the iron gate, beyond the walls, underneath the helmet, all with the curiosity of a hopeless man, with the assurance of a prisoner, finally, everything was in order, locked up, counted, dressed, his hunger satisfied, looked after."
God I wish someone would translate these important novels. No offense (coz I still like him) but why is Heinrich Böll translated into a gazillion languages? Geissler is more important IMHO!
I end with (amateur) translation of page 284: "The one who sits in deprivation, no matter how shiny, and you reveal that to him and you don’t tell him how to get out of it, that person will - if he is smart and if he wants to live - withdraw his attention from you. Show booths are preferred, a quiz show or some other dreck, every day, much better than information about the enemy but without tipps on effective weaponry. They switch off. They have no rights. Better to be seen as dumb than weak."
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