I've been preparing for Caroline and Lizzy's German Literature Month, which begins tomorrow November 1. Along with Carl's RIP reading event, this is one of the very few group readalongs that I always join (this is the third year) and manage to accomplish most of what I set out to do. Hopefully the same will be true this year. My plans are a little on the ambitious side, but hopefully I can stay on track. I've already started dipping into a couple of the books, so I am looking forward to reading in earnest now. My line up will hopefully coincide somewhat with the structure Caroline and Lizzy have set out--alternating between female and male writers. I may not finish a book a week but I hope to get through my stack by the end of the month. In any case I'll be writing about my reading each week. My planned reads:
The Wall by Marlen Haushofer, which Caroline wrote about earlier this year and I immediately noted in anticipation of the GLM. It has a dystopian slant to it, though I think that's not entirely an accurate description of it either. I have a feeling it is going to be a slightly disturbing read, but from the first page the story has grabbed me.
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. I've read some of Kafka's letters and diary entries. I've read a very few of his short stories, and I've read about the women in his life, but I have never read any of his longer fiction (though The Metamorphosis is novella-length actually). I had several book tokens saved up at Audible, so I decided to look for some German literature to listen to. In the end I chose the audio version also of The Metamorphosis (since I tend to think of Kafka as one of those formidable modern writers). Why not listen as well as read along?
I've also got a biography on audio for background material. It is Louis Begley's The Tremendous World I have Inside My Head: Franz Kafka: A Biographical Essay. The book is just over 200 pages and the audio something like six hours. I've been listening to it on my walks home from work and am finding it fascinating. I'm learning some very interesting things about Kafka that I didn't know before. I have yet to start the Kafka story, however. This weekend I think I'll finally crack open the book.
Christa Wolf's One Day a Year: 1960-2000 has long been sitting on my shelves. This is a compilation of diary entries--she wrote about one day of each year, September 27, for forty consecutive years, which I find highly impressive. The entries chronicle an ordinary life, and in her case, life in the German Democratic Republic before and after the fall of the Wall. It is a chunky book (and here is where some of my ambition comes in!), so I have set myself the task to read one diary entry a day if possible, through the month of November. If I can do it, I should be able to finish it by the end of the month (if I can double up on diary entries on a few days). Since my Sundays are now open with my ghost stories finished for the year, I hope to write about my reading each weekend. As they are essays--anywhere from a few pages to more than twenty in length, I think I might be able to share an overview of my reading--bits that are especially interesting or noteworthy. I'll start this Sunday, so more about Wolf and her work this weekend.
And lastly I have another audio to listen to. Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus is another book Caroline read and wrote about and that I noted down. When I spotted it on Audible it seemed like another perfect choice for my daily walks. Caroline called it a 'solid police procedural' and 'gripping', so it should be a good choice to round things out a bit. I'll save it for later in the month. Kafka first.
I've got a few more choices that are peripheral or supplementary reading. If I get to them--wonderful. If not, I might just browse or read a short story or two.
I would love to read more of Stefan Zweig's work. It seems I usually read a novel, novella or short story most years. I like his writing very much, so I brought home from the library a small collection of short stories and a novella (which also includes a short story):
Twilight & Moonbeam Alley -- "A French country estate, and a German port's dive bar privide backdrops for these two exquisite stories."
The Governess and Other Stories -- "An eclectic collection of four brilliant stories, including a Renaissance trategy and an English whodunit." I'm especially keen to read these stories, so I might try squeezing in a few short stories along the way.
I also brought home Kafka's Dearest Father (which Begley writes about in his essay that I've been listening to), and Jeremy Adler's Franz Kafka, which is in the Overlook Illustrated Lives series. I may not read the book, but it is chock full of illustrations, which I can look at in tandem with my other reading.
I'm pretty excited about my line up of books, but I have a feeling I might well be tempted by what others are reading this month and pick up another book or two--if not to read now, then for sometime later! I still am finishing up a few other books from October, but November should hold lots of German Literature reading for me.