Die Asche vergangener Winter

by Michael J. J. Kogler, Daniel Lang (Translator)

Tal Linden is a musician in his early thirties who suffers from bipolarism and struggles with drug abuse. For nearly half his life, Tal’s been living on the edge, the abyss before his eyes staring right back at him. When his girlfriend Hanna breaks up with him, Tal grows serious doubts whether the life he’s led was even worth living anymore. Dedicating what’s left of him to finding his own great catharsis, Tal seeks refuge from the ones he loves inside a hut in the mountains, a gloomy and sunlight-deprived place where the snow doesn’t melt before the last days of spring. Haunted by nostalgia, Tal more and more becomes one with the darkness that fills every corner of this dismal place which he now calls his home. Despite what seems to be utter hopelessness, Michael J. J. Kogler presents a novel with „Snowburial“ a novel about both dark and light. Regardless of all the tragic happenings and love that’s been lost somewhere along the way, it also recounts instances of how its protagonist had learned to live and love in the first place.

214 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2022

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never in my life read a book that is so unique. this books reads and is written like a catalogue of memories from someone who is on their way out of this world. it is very bittersweet and sad as you move through the pages wondering if things will get better for the main character Tal but they don't. it also catlogues problems with substance abuse, depression and lots of other hard to talk about subjects. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who like very unique books and I hope the author releases another book because this was absolutely amazing.

p.s. I know the title on goodreads is in german/austrian but the English name is Snowburial

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a very unique read - certainly different from what I initially expected.
You can tell it's a debut novel (as far as I know): the first quarter felt a bit clunky. However, the prose improves as the story progresses, in my opinion.

While this started out as a 2-star rating, I leaned more towards 2.5-3 stars towards the end. Even though I never quite warmed up to the somewhat arbitrary shifts in topic and the almost stream-of-consciousness style narration, I found many of the anecdotal stories genuinely interesting.