Reading German Books in 2020 discussion

For the 2nd quarter, we will read Käsebier Takes Berlin / Käsebier erobert den Kurfürstendamm by Gabriele Tergit

Superb choice! Looking forward to this!

I just bought it because it would be an interesting choice for my German reads! Very excited.

I heard about Gabriele Tergit for the first time last year due to the re-publication of the 'Effingers' novel. I'm happy to see that Käsebier erobert den Kurfürstendamm is available as ebook in my library and will read along.

Looking forward to this, got on Kinde today.

Yay :) so glad to hear you are excited :)

Since my online library didn‘t have the print version available when I wanted to start Käsebier, I borrowed the audio book first. Maybe that‘s why I was confused by all the different characters, especially since they are referred to sometime by first name, sometimes last name. Nevertheless, I found the narrator engaging and easy to listen to.
When the print version became available I switched to reading and found it an easy and fast read. I especially liked Tergit‘s dialogues because of her realness. Quite a lot of people speak Berlinerisch which made me wonder how that was translated and how well it even could be translated. As a native speaker I found her vocabulary very interesting and thought it provided a nice look at the people of the late 20s. I‘m thinking of the word Rente which nowadays means pension or retirement (payments) but is used here more like the English rent or the steady income you have from an investment (like renting out an apartment).
It also helped that I had been watching the Netflix series Babylon Berlin which takes place at the same time, also in Berlin, though the series is much darker and messed up. But I was already in this kind of 1929 mindset, so this book fit perfectly.
My edition had an afterword which explained the circumstances of the writing of the book, Tergit‘s work at the newspaper, her relevance, and also the problems of the title. Käsebier erobert den Kurfürstendamm might indeed not have been the best choice. Even though Käsebier ties all the characters together, we never really learn much about him, in fact we know more about his wife.
I found it interesting that the book was almost forgotten, and while I know of Hans Fallada and other contemporaries, I had never heard of Tergit, and German Literature was my major 😳. It was rereleased in the 70s when it was thought to be relevant to the times then. And having read it now in 2020, I have to say I find it relevant to my time too.
Thank you for choosing this book and ‚making‘ me read it.

It's a shame that this book is all but forgotten.
Tergit's writing style is 'different' and not everybody might get along with it, but she chronicles late 1920ies Germany better than anyone.
4*

I really liked Kasebier. The quick witted dialogue of the journalists, the absurd foibles of bourgeoisie, all against the slow drip of troubling economic issues were so well done. Things were falling apart and that was the background of the greed of developers, the slow disregard for quality of craftsmanship, while the fad of Kasebier was evaporating. Tergit paints that backdrop while her characters didn’t see it- until it was too late. Good read.

Just finished, and not as bowled over as I expected to be. From previous comments I’m wondering if something (a lot maybe?) has been flattened in the English translation.

Full review to follow.

(Any news re readalong title for quarter 3?)

Full review in which I conclude there is more to this than at first appears.

https://lizzysiddal.wordpress.com/202...

Excuse me, I was apsent for a long time, I'm afraid. Will there be another group read?

It was a great pleasure to read this book and it is an equally great reading recommendation. I'm very grateful to the group for having me on it and I don't understand why a book that is rightly compared to books by Kästner or Fallada is not much better known.

A more detailed review can be found at: Babette's trip on the Großglockner

Finally finished this at the end of July and I have to say had it not been the group read I might have DNFed it. Seeing it in context to the time when it takes place, it felt like a required reading for school and I was waiting for questions to pop up about how to analyze it. I was overwhelmed by the large personell and not really interested in the story, especially the undertaking of building those appartments and theatre when you actually know from the beginning that it will end in desaster. Adding to that the knowledge that the characters will have to endure WW2 next made me feel even worse while reading. Nevertheless, I'm still really interested in 'Effingers', hoping there is less talk about the layout of appartments in it ;-)