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Die Rote
Die 30jährige Dolmetscherin Franziska flieht aus ihrem mondänen Leben und einer anstehenden Wahl zwischen Ehemann und Liebhaber ins winterlich ungastliche Venedig. Doch auch dort findet ›die Rote‹ nicht die erhoffte Freiheit, sondern verstrickt sich bald wieder in seltsame Bekanntschaften. Die Ausgabe entspricht der 1972 von Andersch überarbeiteten Fassung, die von der Kritik einhellig gelobt wurde.
- GenresGerman LiteratureFiction
254 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 1, 2018
Eines dieser Bücher, zu denen ich bereits ein zweites Mal gegriffen habe.
Wunderbar, wie lebendig die Charaktere in meiner Vorstellung wirken.
Wunderbar, wie lebendig die Charaktere in meiner Vorstellung wirken.
July 25, 2025
Alfred Andersch, The Redhead (1960). A psychologically complex novel about - long list coming - guilt, accountability, freedom, desperation, ex-Gestapo agents, Resistance fighters, the Spanish Civil War, revenge, betrayal, indifference, the Orpheus myth, lovers, husbands, aesthetes, how a highly intelligent but impecunious woman alone can survive in 1960 + lots of Venice. Yet it also works as a page-turning thriller, especially as it progresses so there's an element, but no more, of Greene in there. The English translation of the title is indeed rubbish but the German original, Die Rote - which could also mean 'the redhead' is more ambiguous.
The plot follows a 30 year-old, possibly pregnant translator, Franziska, who suddenly leaves her dull, aesthete husband and flees to Venice, where over 72 hours she has to make ends meet financially and is dragged into WW2's nasty end games. Now I dislike Venice intensely - chocolate box tourist tat - and am suspicious of WW2 exploitation novels but this fine book's many compelling, claustrophobic scenes almost all take place in bars, restaurants and other enclosed spaces with characters trying to decode each other's intentions. And the insidious tentacles of WW2's barbarity infecting future decades are engrossing and nuanced. There are no easy moral answers to be had here.
I'd never heard of Alfred Andersch but he was seen as important enough to be on the German school syllabus back in the 80s, literary juggernaut WG Sebald took him to task for various alleged misdemeanours - clearly a literary heavyweight in German post-war literature. And like I say, it turns into a gripping read. (There's a 1962 black and white film of it, free on YT).
Read it slowly in German, was not easy, had to look up words, references and allusions, for a book club this evening. But highly rewarding. All hail book clubs, especially non-democratic ones like this where one individual chooses a book every month, introducing you to yet more unknown but wonderful writers.
The plot follows a 30 year-old, possibly pregnant translator, Franziska, who suddenly leaves her dull, aesthete husband and flees to Venice, where over 72 hours she has to make ends meet financially and is dragged into WW2's nasty end games. Now I dislike Venice intensely - chocolate box tourist tat - and am suspicious of WW2 exploitation novels but this fine book's many compelling, claustrophobic scenes almost all take place in bars, restaurants and other enclosed spaces with characters trying to decode each other's intentions. And the insidious tentacles of WW2's barbarity infecting future decades are engrossing and nuanced. There are no easy moral answers to be had here.
I'd never heard of Alfred Andersch but he was seen as important enough to be on the German school syllabus back in the 80s, literary juggernaut WG Sebald took him to task for various alleged misdemeanours - clearly a literary heavyweight in German post-war literature. And like I say, it turns into a gripping read. (There's a 1962 black and white film of it, free on YT).
Read it slowly in German, was not easy, had to look up words, references and allusions, for a book club this evening. But highly rewarding. All hail book clubs, especially non-democratic ones like this where one individual chooses a book every month, introducing you to yet more unknown but wonderful writers.
December 11, 2022
Dass Andersch und ich mal dauerhaft zueinander finden würden, war nach dem negativen Erstkontakt "Sansibar" vor achtzehn Jahren auch nicht zu erwarten.
February 29, 2020
Arg konstruiert.
July 18, 2012
Franziska: Kadın baş karakter.(Kızıl)
Patrick: Venedikte tanıştığı bir gay. Eski casus.
Kramer: Patrickle geçmişi olan bir katil.
Fabio: Müzisyen (eski siyasi ilişkileri var)
Daha önce içinde casus barındıran bir kitap okumamıştım. Ya da bu kadar çok itkileriyle hareket eden insanları konu alan....
Kitap Almancadan çeviri ve bir çok İngilizce, (sanırım) Fransızca kelime barındırıyor.Kızıl kadın, Franziska, 4 dil bilen bir çevirmen. Üstelik işinde çok iyi.Anlık bir karar ve biraz parayla Venediğe gidiyor: Orada bir iş bulmaya çalışıyor ama nafile, üstelik hamile de olabilir. Orada gezinirken Patrick adlı, gay ve eski bir casus ilr tanışıyor, Patrick ona yaklaşıyor ve mükemmel bir teklif sunuyor. Evliliğe çok yakın bu teklif çok cazip, büyü gibi, tüm sorunlarına çare olabilecek türden.... İşte bu yüzden Kızıl şüpheleniyor. Şüphelenmekte de çok haklı.
Kitap aslında iki kişinin gözünde anlatıyor: Fabio ve Franziska. Diğer iki kişi ise Kızıl'ın Venediğe geldiği sürede karşılaştığı kişiler.Yer yer ağır olsa da okumaya değer bir kitap. Venedik meraklıları içinse çok daha değerli bir kitap olacaktır, zira Kızıl gerçekten detaylı bir şekilde anlatıyor orayı.
September 22, 2014
Great story! Unique, dramatic, full of unexpected twists. The characters were well developed and their internal struggles managed to keep me emotionally invested in the story. I really enjoyed it.
August 21, 2025
What a pleasure to experience Andersh's subtle psychology! Lethargy, melancholy, anxiety (the war continues to breathe, slowly, paralysing the people of Europe). Misty features, souls, the steam from coffee machines and locomotives, breaths – Andersh knows how to bring us closer, to the point of touching his heroine's bodice, to the point of goose bumps on the arm, to the point of the fur of a rat and a cat, clawing at each other in battle – he is able to introduce all too much ‘body’ into his narrative without ever becoming vulgar, intrusive or obtrusive. A body that evokes mental oddities, waves, fluctuations.
I could alternate this with Dürrenmatt, many times, over and over again.
I could alternate this with Dürrenmatt, many times, over and over again.
December 6, 2023
2,5
hab den 2. Handlungsstrang absolut nicht verstanden, aber als sie sich getroffen haben war es kurz ein süßer Moment
habe viele Passagen übersprungen, weil es einfach manchmal zu lang war
bin nicht wirklich in einen Lesefluss gekommen
aber die Charaktere waren wirklich toll entwickelt und mochte es gerne dass es chronologisch war
hab den 2. Handlungsstrang absolut nicht verstanden, aber als sie sich getroffen haben war es kurz ein süßer Moment
habe viele Passagen übersprungen, weil es einfach manchmal zu lang war
bin nicht wirklich in einen Lesefluss gekommen
aber die Charaktere waren wirklich toll entwickelt und mochte es gerne dass es chronologisch war
November 29, 2014
In Venedig treffen sich verschiedene Leute mit speziellen Vergangenheiten und erzählen einander ihre Lebensgeschichten.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews