I did feel, at times, that the novel was slightly too ambitious and that Wenzel was trying to cram too much in, but there is no doubting that she is an exceptionally gifted writer. These moments are woven in alongside passages which read more like a stream of consciousness as she recounts the insurmountable grief she felt at witnessing her brother take his own life. In New York, she witnesses Trump’s election victory in a strange hotel room and later awakes to panicked messages from friends. In another, she is sitting with her boyfriend by a bathing lake and four neo-Nazis show up. In one chapter, she attends a play about the Berlin Wall coming down and is the only Black person in the audience. The protagonist’s everyday life is peppered with events which shine a light on racism in Germany. Not only is it a beautifully written novel, but it is also masterfully translated from the German by Priscilla Layne. The experimental form won’t be for everyone it’s an unsettling and challenging literary novel which left me completely perplexed at times, but also in awe. I loved how she managed to incorporate these talents into her writing and intertwine them all to create such a unique form, almost a hybrid between autofiction and a play. Since reading the novel, I have come to learn that Wenzel is not just an author, but also a musician and playwright.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |