I received a review copy of this title from the New York Review of Books. The original book was published in 1929 in German and this English version has been translated by Basil Creighton.
My Review:
The Grand Hotel is the place to stay for anyone who wishes to be surrounded by luxury and high society in 1920’s Berlin. The guests that have all checked into the hotel in March of 1929 are an interesting mix of misfits whose stories all collide in a cleverly intertwined plot.
The first character to whom we are introduced is Dr. Otternschlag. He sits for hours each day reading the paper and watching people go in and out of the revolving doors of the hotel. He asks the porter several times if a letter has come for him and it is sad that no letters ever arrive for this lonely man. He suffered a horrible injury during World War I which has left his face horribly scared. He is utterly lonely, sad and has no zest for life. He is the absolute opposite of Baron Gaigern who is also a guest at the hotel.
The Baron wears the finest clothes, has impeccable manners, is charming and extremely handsome. He enjoys life to its fullest with gambling, fast cars, and lots of women. But little does everyone know that the Baron is actually a petty thief and has no money other than that which he steals from his unsuspecting victims. He latest mark is an aging ballerina named Grusinskaya whose famous string of pearls are said to be worth over 500,000 marks. He has been secretly following the dancer around so that he can best ascertain how to get his hands on those pearls without being caught. His plan for the heist is one of the most amusing and thrilling parts of the plot. In the course of carrying out his carefully laid out plan, the unexpected happens to the normally cool and collected Baron–he falls in love with the woman who is supposed to be his victim.
The next person to check into the Grand Hotel is Otto Kringelein who is a lowly and badly paid clerk from a small town. He is very sick and has only been given a few weeks to live so he gathers up all of his life savings, leaves his miserable wife and books a room at the hotel where he intends to have an exciting adventure before he passes away. When his boss, Mr. Preysing, also checks into the hotel, he won’t let this angry and horrible bully spoil his fun. Kringelein finds a companion in the doctor for a while and even goes to the ballet with him. But it is not until Kringelein meets up with the Baron that he really starts to feel alive. The adventures that the Baron takes this provincial and naïve man on, which include boxing, gambling and flying, are absolutely hilarious.
The final adventure that Kringelein takes is of his own making as he comes to the aid of a beautiful young woman. The story ends well for Kringelein even though it is still likely that he doesn’t have long to live. He, like many others, checked into the Grand Hotel, as a solitary misfit. But his exploits with the other guests turn him into a more worldly and confidant man who yearns to experience all that life has to offer. The New York Review of Books has managed to reissue another fantastic classic that I devoured in just a few sittings. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
About the Author:
This slim volume of four short stories by Bernhard is difficult to describe in a brief review. I experienced them and reacted to them as I would poetry and as a result my instinct is to analyze just about every line in these stories; but then my review would be the same length as this edition of stories. One must really read Bernhard for oneself in order to fully grasp what is the Bernhard literary experience. The stories are dripping with dark satire and are laden with a rebellion against his native home of Austria. No topic related to his homeland is off limits as he pokes fun at the Austrian government, Catholicism, Austrian literature and even his relationship with his Austrian parents.
The narrative of this book takes places during the 1980’s and 1990’s as the communism regime in Bulgaria collapses and the government goes through a transition to democracy. The narrator jumps from one time period to another in an erratic and almost frantic method. The book opens when his father-in-law, a man named K-Shev who is the cruel dictator of Bulgaria, has fled to Germany. The narrator is visiting the now sick and dying old man in the hospital and delivering a giant suitcase of money that K-Shev stashed away before his hasty retreat.
Georgi Tenev, before penning the Vick Prize-winning novel Party Headquarters, had already published four books, founded the Triumviratus Art Group, hosted The Library television program about books, and written plays that have been performed in Germany, France, and Russia. He is also a screenwriter for film and TV.
Petterson presents us with the story of Tommy and Jim who grew up together under difficult circumstances in the same small town in Norway. They lose touch with one another and a chance meeting on a cold morning on a bridge brings them back together and causes memories of their troubled childhood to flood their lives. The story alternates between 2006, when they are middle-aged men and the late 1960’s and early 1970’s when they are teenagers. Since their early years are full of tragedy, we get the feeling that for the rest of their lives they are fighting a constant emotional battle, pushing back against the darkness and continually having to say “I Refuse” to unpleasant circumstance.
Petterson knew from the age of 18 that he wanted to be a writer, but didn’t embark on this career for many years – his debut book, the short story collection Aske i munnen, sand i skoa, (Ashes in the Mouth, Sand in the Shoes) was published 17 years later, when Petterson was 35. Previously he had worked for years in a factory as an unskilled labourer, as his parents had done before him, and had also trained as a librarian, and worked as a bookseller.
The first reaction that I had to the writing style and narrative of this book is that it feels like a series of flash fiction stories. When we first meet the narrator he lives in Porto Alegre with his mother is a decrepit, abandoned apartment. Other miscreant vagabonds also spend their days idling around the lobby of this building and doing drugs. The narrator’s actions and thoughts in the book reflect his aimless and disjointed life; he talks to his mother, he tries to write poetry, he sleeps, he wanders around the city.
The Book Binder's Daughter 