Tag Archives: Blogging Event

Announcing German Literature Month X

Posted in Books, German Literature by

10 years, who would have thought it?  But here we are, and in a year when there has been plenty to be glum about, Lizzy and I thought we should buck the trend, and celebrate ten years with a bang! Hence the badge.

Thanks to all who have travelled with us thus far.  We hope you’ll accompany us again. For those who may be new to this, German Literature Month is the month for reading all things originally written in German – in whatever language you wish to read it – and then telling the world about it. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Goodreads. All good. Just use the hashtag #germanlitmonth when you share your thoughts.

Don’t have a clue what to read?  There’s a veritable database of reviews over at www.germanlitmonth.blogspot.com to help you find something appealing.

This year’s programme is a little different. Or, to be more precise, there are two programmes.

Programme 1

Unable to visit Germany this year for pandemic related reasons, Lizzy has an acute case of Fernweh, and has therefore decided on a virtual tour of Germany. One which will include all 16 Bundesländer, one way or another. Primarily through literature interwoven with memory.

Programme 2

I have decided to focus on four authors of interest, and chosen authors mean that there are weeks in which the spotlight will also  shine on Austria and Switzerland. My itinerary looks like this:

November 1-7  Sophie von La Roche

November 8-14 Max Frisch

November 15-21 Ingeborg Bachmann

November 22-28 Siegfried Lenz

The fourth week will include a Literature and War readalong of a recently discovered Lenz novel, The Turncoat. The discussion will take place on Friday 27.11.

As always, you can read as you please throughout the entire month.

We look forward to your company and discovering some scintillating German-language literature together.

Welcome to German Literature Month IX 2019

Posted in Books, German Literature, Literature, Readalong by

Welcome all! It’s that glorious time of the year again – a full month of Germanic literary indulgence! This is just a quick admin post as there may be newcomers who wonder how this event works.

1. Read anything you want in any language you want … as long as the material was originally written in German.

2. You can follow the themed reading schedule, or ignore it completely by reading as you please for the entire month.

3. If you’re joining in the Berlin Alexanderplatz readalong, please leave an email address to receive the readalong discussion questions.

4. Share what you are reading and what you felt about it by using the tag #germanlitmonth on your blog posts, tweets, instagram shots or booktube videos.

5. Please add a link to each review on the linky at www.germanlitmonth.blogspot.com. (This is an invaluable help when pulling together the author index at the end of the event. Check out the indices from previous years if you’re looking for something to read.)

6. Have fun!

Announcing German Literature Month 2019

Posted in Books, German Literature, Literature by

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:

01-02.11.19 Read as You please
03-09.11.19 Ex-DDR week
10-16.11.19 Read as You Please
17-23.11.19 Goethe Reading Week
24-30.11.19 Read as You Please

 

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?



 



			

	
	



			
				


	

					
				
Joseph Roth – Radetzky March Readalong
						

							
			Posted in Books, Literature, Novel		
			
	
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You may remember talk of a spring Radetzky March readalong (or re-readalong for those who are already acquainted) during 2018 German Literature Month.  All who were interested in participating were asked to comment on their favoured month, and it turned out that April was favoured by most.


Now April is beginning to look rather full. Stu is hosting Penguin Classics week at the beginning of the month (8th-15th) and Karen and Simon are hosting the 1965 club at the end of the month (22nd-28th).  So where can Lizzy and I slot this readalong?


As the novel is divided into 3 parts of nearly equal length, we’ve decided on the first 3 weeks of the month. (There is a Penguin Classics edition, so, if you’re reading that, you can kill two birds with one stone!) And to tie in with #translationthurs, we’ll discuss Part One on Thursday  April 4, Part Two on Thursday April 11 and Part 3 on Thursday April 18.


We both loved the detailed discussion of the Effi Briest readalong, way back when during the first German Literature Month. So we’re intending to send out discussion questions for each part of the discussion.  You can answer these or post your own thoughts, entirely as you please.  If you’re intending to participate, please leave a comment and your email below.


More details nearer the time, but we wanted you to pencil in the dates now – before the month of April just gets too full for most of us!

			

	
	



			
				


	

					
				
A Tardy German Literature Month Wrap-up and Radetzky March Readalong Announcement
						

							
			Posted in Books, Literature, Novel		
			
	
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Does anyone else feel November went fast? I only just wrote a welcome post to German Literature Month and now it’s already over. That’s not why I’m late though. I caught a nasty cold.


I’d like to thank everyone who participated. It’s always wonderful to see all of your choices and your enthusiasm. So, thank you very much.


If you haven’t done so already, please add your posts to the German Literature Month Site. I’m still playing catch up and Lizzy’s collecting links for a final wrap-up post.


If you haven’t seen Lizzy’s post, you might not know that we are planning a Readalong of Joseph Roth’s Radetzky March early next year. The date hasn’t been fixed yet, so I’d like to know what would work for you.




We would like to extend this readalong over the course of one month, posting weekly on predefined portions of the novel. There will be questions, for those who’d like to use them, that will facilitate discussion.


I hope you’ll join us.


And thanks again for your participation.


 

			

	
	



			
				


	

					
				
Announcing German Literature Month VIII – November 2018
						

							
			Posted in Books, German Literature, Literature, Readalong		
			
	
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German Literature Month is eight years old this year, and part of the literary calendar. Lizzy and I know that because of the chatter that continues throughout the year about books purchased and set aside for the event. And that makes us very happy.  We’re even happier when you read them during November.


For those though who are wondering what this is all about, and may wish to join us for the first time, November is the month for reading works originally written in German: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, essays, comics, graphic novels.  Anything you fancy really, in any language you fancy, as long as the original language was German. Then tell the world about it: on your blog, facebook, twitter, instagram, goodreads, amazon, wherever. It all adds up to one great banquet of Austrian, German and Swiss literary goodness. This, for example, was last year’s menu. https://lizzysiddal.wordpress.com/2017/12/05/german-literature-month-vii-author-index/


The last couple of years have been entirely read as you please, but this year Lizzy and I wanted to introduce new themes and add in more social reading opportunities. So we’ve devised the following plan.


Week 1: Children and Young Adult Fiction (November 1-7)


November 7 – Readalong with Lizzy: The Book Jumper – Mechthild Glaser


Week 2: Crime Week (November 8-14)


November 14 – Readalong with Caroline: Blue Night – Simone Buchholz


Week 3: 1918 Week (November 15-21)


November 21 – Readalong with Lizzy: The Emperor’s Tomb – Joseph Roth


Week 4: Swiss Literature Week (November 22-28)


November 28 – Readalong with Caroline: A Long Blue Monday – Erhard von Büren


Week 5: Read as you please (November 29-30)


As always, you may read as you please for the month, or you may choose to join in any (or all) of the specific themes and readalongs.  It’s entirely up to you.  The main thing is to enjoy yourself!  Will you join us?

			

	
	



			
				


	

					
				
Welcome to German Literature Month
						

							
			Posted in Books, German Literature, Literature, Readalong		
			
	
		by 	
				

						


		

		


I can’t believe it’s already November. And I can equally not believe how unprepared I am this year. Usually I’ve already read a few books for German Literature Month before it even began. Or at least I’ve made a long list. Not so this time. I think I got a bit discouraged when I realized that most of the books I was drawn to haven’t been translated yet. To review or not to review a book that hasn’t been translated is always a dilemma. Not just during German Literature Month. In the last couple of months I decided mostly against it. I have a feeling, I won’t be able to do that this month. But we will see.


For now I only know that I will be discussing Lion Feuchtwanger’s The Opperman’s, which is part of the Literature and War Readalong. I’ll tell you more about it shortly.




And here is a tiny list.




The Nameless Day – Der namenlose Tag by Friedrich Ani 


After years on the job, police detective Jakob Franck has retired. Finally, the dead with all their mysteries will no longer have any claim on him. Or so he thinks. On a cold autumn afternoon, a case he thought he’d long put behind him returns to his life and turns it upside down. The Nameless Day tells the story of that twenty-year-old case, which began with Franck carrying the news of the suicide of a seventeen-year-old girl to her mother, and holding her for seven hours as, in her grief, she said not a single word. Now her father has appeared, swearing to Franck that his daughter was murdered. Can Franck follow the cold trail of evidence two decades later to see whether he’s telling the truth? Could he live with himself if he didn’t? A psychological crime novel certain to thrill fans of Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo, The Nameless Day is a masterpiece, a tightly plotted story of contemporary alienation, loss, and violence.




Swallow Summer by Larissa Boehning


Two music producers pack up their studio along with their dreams of ever making it in the industry after too many bands fail to pay their bills…

A woman takes up an invitation to visit an ex-lover in Arizona, only to find his apartment is no bigger than a motel room…

A former drama student runs into an old classmate from ten years before, hardly recognising the timid creature he has become…

Each character in Larissa Boehning’s debut collection experiences a moment where they re forced to confront how differently things turned out, how quickly ambitions were shelved, or how easily people change. Former colleagues meet up to reminisce about the failed agency they used to work for; brothers-in-law find themselves co-habiting long after the one person they had in common passed away; fellow performers watch as their careers slowly drift in opposite directions. Boehning’s stories offer a rich store of metaphors for this abandonment: the downed tools of a deserted East German factory, lying exactly where they were dropped the day Communism fell; the old, collected cameras of a late father that seem to stare, wide-eyed, at the world he left behind. And yet, underpinning this abandonment, there is also great resilience. Like the cat spotted by a demolition worker in the penultimate story that sits, unflinching, as its home is bulldozed around it, certain spirits abide.




Der Autor als Souffleur by Undine Gruenter (not translated)


 


I hope you’ve got your books ready and are looking forward to joining us.


Don’t forget the two readalongs:


On 15th November, the date of the Warwick Prize award, Lizzy will be discussing Yoko Tawada’s Memoirs of A Polar Bear.


On 29th November, I will discuss Lion Feuchtwanger’s The Oppermanns as part of her War and Literature series.