2019 is a significant year in terms of German history, both actual and literary. It’s
- 30 years since the Fall of the Wall;
- 100 years since the Founding of the Weimar Republic; and
- 200 years since publication of Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan.
Lizzy and I have decided to include all of the above into the plan for GLM IX!
To commemorate The Fall of the Wall there will be an ex-DDR week. For the founding of the Weimar Republic, the badge has been converted to Bauhaus-favoured sans serif typography and we will host a readalong of Alfred Döblin’s seminal Berlin Alexanderplatz. Last, but definitely not least, there will be a Goethe Reading Week.
There will also be plenty of read-as-you-please time so you can choose from the whole gamut of German-language literary pleasures (writing from outside Germany, historical and crime fiction, graphic novels, etc) entirely according to your heart’s desire.
The reading schedule looks like this:
The Berlin Alexanderplatz readalong will take place on 4 Saturdays commencing on 9.11. More details and sign-up post to follow shortly.
As always, to participate in German Literature Month you can stick to the plan, pick and choose only the parts that interest you, or follow your own path entirely. You can read in any language you want. The only rule is that whatever you read must have originally been published in German.
All that remains now, is for you to search through your shelves, your library catalogues or maybe undertake a shopping expedition! German Literature Month IX will be here before you know it! Will you join us?
Beauty is a Sleeping Cat 
Count me in! I had to read quite a few DDR writers for my university entrance exam back in the days, so I will probably stick to Christa Wolf or some other obvious suspect. And it’s been ages since I last read Goethe…
Wonderful news. I have a fondness for DDR Literature but guess I might go with something lesser known like Irmtraud Morgner.
I’ll be there. I’ve got a couple of books lined up for it.
Wonderful! Very glad to hear that.
I did not realize that there were so many milestone anniversaries this year. It has been a few years since I participated last. I will see if I can sneak a book in this year. Either way, I look forward to everyone’s posts.
It’s one of those years.
I so hope you will participate.
I think I’m going to have to see how it goes this year as work has stepped up a gear recently and it’s our busiest time of the year. It sounds as if you’ve got a great programme lined up, very thought-provoking indeed.
Thanks, Jacqui.
I’m sure you will be very busy during that time but I still hope you might join us.
Looking forward to it! I will try and get organised to join in, but even if I don’t manage it I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s posts.
I do hope you’ll join us. It would be so great.
I’ll certainly do my best to join in – I’ll have to have a dig in the stacks and see what I can find! 😀
Yay. So glad to hear that. I’m sure find great things in your stacks. Maybe some more Kleist?
Hi Caroline, count me in, so far I’ve lined up
Rasha Khayat Weil wir längst woanders sind, this one is already one of the ten books to be read to chose my village’s book prize in December and Volker Kutscher Der stumme Tod. I read the first of his Gereon Rath series, Die nasse Fisch back in 2015 which has since been filmed as the noteworthy tv series ‘Babylon Berlin’. This one is the second in the series
Wonderful. I’m so glad. I haven’t read Kutscher yet but heard such good things.
Recently I took a break from blogging, but I intend to participate again this time. No idea yet which books I will review, there is plenty on my TBR pile. Great that you and Lizzy are hosting this event again!
I haven’t been blogging much either.
I’m delighted to hear you will participate. I can imagine you got loads on your piles.
I look forward to the discussions, as always.
Thanks, Carole.
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Thanks for hosting this again.
I wonder if the readalong would help me go through Berlin Alexanderplatz. I abandoned it when I tried to read it. I’ll give it another try but this is going to be a busy month for me, I don’t think I can keep up with the strict schedule. I haven’t fully made up my mind about it.
I’m glad to hear you might join us. Lizzy chose Döblin because she thought otherwise she might never read it. I’m not sure if she started it before. I’m quite curious to finally read it. You don’t need to stick to the schedule. You could just write a post for the last date. It’s possible we will be sending out questions again. I know you’re not so keen on that anyway. Whatever suits you best. It would be great to have you, of course.
I will do it at my pace then. Like Lizzy I see it as an opportunity to finally read it.
Yes, exactly. I hope it works out.
Never read a word of BA before. It’s a novel I’m very wary of. But, if I don’t read it during my year of Weimar Republic reading, I never will ….
Hey Caroline! I’m a newbie here (both in blogging and German literature) and I was wondering how this kind of event works? Can anyone interested write a post? I’d love to participate since I’ve always been interested in Goethe’s work.
Yes, please do participate. You’re very welcome. There’s normally a dedicated page or Lizzy collects all the posts, so everybody can read everyone else’s posts. Once the month starts we do an intro post and all the necessary info will be provided there. I hope this helps.
My favourite reading event of the year is back! Can’t wait for it to start! I am started making reading plans and I am so excited about it! Love the structure of GLM this year, especially the focus on DDR, Goethe and Berlin Alexanderplatz! Thanks so much for hosting GLM with Lizzy, Caroline!
I’m so glad to hear you’ll join us. I felt like reading more DDR literature for ages. I hope I’ll manage something and not just our readalong. I’m such a slow reader these days. 😦
I saw that you haven’t blogged much recently and you are very quiet these days. I hope everything is okay. I have one DDR book, but it is too big for GLM – Uwe Tellkamp’s The Tower. I need to find a smaller one 🙂
Thanks for asking. I could be better. I’ve been in pain since Last November and misdiagnosed, so it got worse. Headaches, shoulder pain, back pain. Somehow I blocked some ribs and my hip. I couldn’t even read as holding a book was too painful. Then I got a stomach ulcer from the pain killers . . . I’m better now but still have bad days. Apparently it all comes from an accident I had ages ago.
Tellkamp is huge. I picked a huge book for DDR week but not so sure about it anymore as Berlin Akexanderplatz isn’t exactly breezy.
So sorry to know that, Caroline. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for you. Hope you are recovering well and hope you get back to normal soon. Sending you happy and healing thoughts. Take care.
Thank you so much, Vishy. It’s not easy but it’s getting better.
Glad to know that it is getting better, Caroline. Take care.
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