Peter Holtz - Autoportrait d'une vie heureuse

by Ingo Schulze

«Avec Peter Holtz – autoportrait d’une vie heureuse , Ingo Schulze a écrit le roman allemand le plus drôle et le plus intelligent de l’automne.  » FAZ

Peter Holtz, le héros de notre roman, est né en RDA. Orphelin, il est élevé dans un foyer. Naïf et clairvoyant, il se bat pour un monde meilleur – et s’étonne souvent, car il est régulièrement mal compris. Sa vie heureuse commence en 1974, l’année de ses douze ans, quand il décide qu’il faut abolir l’argent pour atteindre les promesses du socialisme. Au fil des années, il fondera un groupe de rock, se fera baptiser en essayant de concilier communisme et christianisme et il sera même approché par la Stasi en vue d’un recrutement, mais en vain. Après la chute du Mur de Berlin, c’est presque naturellement qu’il devient millionnaire en travaillant dans l’immobilier ... Comment tout cela a-t-il pu se passer  ? À quel moment ses idéaux ont-ils déraillé  ? Et surtout comment va-t-il réussir à se débarrasser de tant d’argent avec bienséance et dignité  ? 

Genres: Novels, German Literature

489 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

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

[Simona Moschini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Romanzo picaresco, lo definiscono l'editore e certe recensioni.
Sarà.

Alla mia seconda lettura di Schulze devo di nuovo constatare un gelo interiore della scrittura che me lo rende respingente e alieno.
Che poi l'ambientazione tra Berlino e Dresda prima e dopo la caduta del Muro avrebbe dovuto affascinarmi, invece niente, il protagonista buono, intelligente e un po' coglione, il suo idealismo assoluto, le sue giravolte da ipercomunista a ipercapitalista a gallerista che in una performance brucia denaro, ricavandone altro denaro, non mi cattura, come un po' in tutti i romanzi dove l'ideologia prevale.

[Marie-Christine Wattiez]

Peter Holtz est le parfait représentant de l’Allemagne communiste , la RDA .
Orphelin , il arrive toujours à tirer son épingle du jeu , prenant tout à la lettre au grand dam de ceux qu’il croise .
Puis vient la réunification, ou le jeune homme confiant , attend les allemands de l’Est , persuadés qu’ils vont être nombreux à vouloir venir dans le paradis communiste.
Mais ne nous en faisons pas pour lui , il va garder sa nature optimiste , la nouvelle situation lui sera toujours aussi favorable .
Candide par excellence pour toujours .
Le communisme n’a pas vécu , rattrapé par la société de consommation pour tous , beaucoup de désillusions , de pertes de sens , de nostalgiques de cette société où tout le monde avait un travail , certes souvent peu valorisant mais travail tout de même , où l’immobilier était abordable , en contrepartie il y a eu le spectre de la Stasi comme dans le très beau film , La vie des autres .
C’est tout ça que nous rappelle ce roman de façon déjantée .

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book only got 2 stars instead of 1 bc while I REALLY didn't enjoy this book it also didn't have anything too horrible in it. Anyway, it took me a grand total of 9 months to finish it and now I'm finally done. The main character was infuriating, there was no plot, and the story was barely structured. I might have slightly enjoyed it if it was 200 pages or so, but almost 600 was definitely way too much.

[Sayra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unterhaltsames Buch im Stile des Schelmenromans. Gut geschrieben, sehr kurzweilig, wenn auch nicht so lustig, wie oft angepriesen. Es ist aber ein schönes Buch, um diese 24 Jahre deutsche Geschichte erneut und aus einer anderen Perspektive zu erleben.

[Jennifer Creech · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really loved the first 200-250 pages. Put it down around page 350.

[Katrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really don't understand why male authors always need to bring in detailed genital descriptions when it had nothing to do with the story. Otherwise, a very interesting book to read.

[Linus Kilches · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starker Anfang des Buches, ab der Mitte wurde es allerdings sehr zäh und verworren. Ganz am Ende wurde es dann wieder gut.

[VE Koeper-Saul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ingo Schulze, Peter Holtz: I have only just started. The book is an easy read with short chapters and witty. However, as I progress I am getting the feeling that behind the apparent „naivity“ of the main character who conforms letter by letter to official educational GDR mantras lies the intention to present GDR ideology as the better one, finally destroyed by evil capitalism. „Evil capitalism“ sneeks into Peter‘s idyllic world in the form of bad mannered youths dressed in western clothes and the old, now dispossessed elite, some of whom are afflicted with a „dicke Nase“ (p. 58).
Unfortunately the book got more dreary the further I read on; I had to force myself to finish it. Basicly just another Ossi whine story. Not particularly funny once you get the drift. Ingo Schulze must have grasped the rules of capitalism very well in order to get this oevre on the best seller list. Thankfully there was only one more antisemitic trope I became aware of.