German literature

[rodanho]

Hello, I am now taking a course about German literature, but i have got quite a lot of difficulty in finding some good books by German writers to read. It seems that there are much less great writers in the history of Germany than there are in that of Britain, right? So can you recommend me some famous of excellent books by German writers, and tell me why do you like them?

[mono]

Hello, rodoanho.
German literature, to state it bluntly, can have some very fascinating, and very confusing and dark sub-divisions. Additionally, it really depends on reading level - some German literature can seem easy, others significantly more difficult (particularly in philosophy).
If you search for something relatively simple, one can never go wrong with works by the brothers Grimm, famous for many fairy tales; for something more moderate in difficulty, try some plays by Heinrich von Kleist (like The Broken Jug); but for a challenge, try Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust - incredible, beautiful, yet somewhat complicated. Other than that, you could look into some works by Friedrich Schiller, Ludwig Tieck, Gottfried Keller, or E.T.A. Hoffman.
Good luck! ;)

[Koa]

I am not a big fan of German literature, possibly because I am not a fan of the German language and I believe that the language gives to German books a very heavy feeling, even when the story is brilliant.

That said, my ideas about German literature at school are rather confused as my teacher was mad and made us acquainted with like 85 authors during one year... needless to say, we didn't really appreciate any of them...

To answer to the question with no more dealy, one author I kind of like is Thomas Mann... Death In Venice and Tonio Kroeger are really good, even if Death in Venice is a hard read due to the style (see my theory about the language, which transpares even in translations... or maybe my translation just sucked!). I just liked the story somehow.
I also enjoyed Heinrich Mann's The Blue Angel, again another good-structured story.
And I guess I should mention Kafka, he belongs to German literature despite not being really German, and it's worth a try... I personally don't like it but many people do.
Same for Hesse and Siddharta, everybody loves it, for me it's a really terrible book... but again, I'd advise to try it and see what you think of it, if you're interested in spiritual stuff maybe you'll appreciate it.
And there's an author of the 20th century which was supposed to be quite funny and I've even thought of trying to read something, but now I forgot the name... :( (that's what you get for doing 85 authors in one year...:mad:)

[Themis]

Hello, I am now taking a course about German literature, but i have got quite a lot of difficulty in finding some good books by German writers to read. It seems that there are much less great writers in the history of Germany than there are in that of Britain, right?

Why, thank you! I thought the same about English writers. Perhaps it's because English is not my first language and I know more about German literature. Could the same be said for you? Just maybe? (Vice versa, of course.)



And I guess I should mention Kafka, he belongs to German literature despite not being really German, and it's worth a try... I personally don't like it but many people do.

You're wrong there. Kafka was Austrian because Prague (his home town) was part of Austria at that time.


So can you recommend me some famous of excellent books by German writers, and tell me why do you like them?

I'd recommend books by Friedrich Dürrenmatt (like "The Visit of the Old Lady" or "Physicians") or Max Frisch's Biedermann und die Brandstifter (I guess it's something like "Biedermann and the arsonists" in English). Wedekind's Spring`s Awakening also shouldn`t be too hard to read.

Goethe's Faust is of course a great book, but I wouldn't recommend you to read it. It can be fairly difficult to understand even for native speakers.

Schiller's great, too. His "Wallenstein", "Don Carlos" and "Bandits" are really good. Although, personally I like his poems better.

There are lots of great writers but to pick just another one: Heimito von Doderer's books are excellent. I'm currently reading "A murder everyone commits" and I'd recommend it. Or Doderer's "Die Strudlhofstiege"

[ArcherSnake]

The only book that I can remember reading that was by an actual German author was called The Reader, by a man named Bernhard Schlink. It's one of my favorites, but I don't know if you would call it literature per se.

[Koa]

You're wrong there. Kafka was Austrian because Prague (his home town) was part of Austria at that time.




I perfectly know that, but that means that culturally he was a Praguese, which in the modern world would be a Czech... I phrased my thought in that way cos not long ago I was talking with a Czech who said that Prague is linked with Kafka's work in the sense that it's the cultural environment that shaped his mind and his work... and I think I agree, even if I'm not that familiar with his work cos I just don't like to read it... I guess he was probably between the two worlds, using the German language and belonging both to the Austrian culture (btw was he 'ethnically' Austrian or Czech?) and the Praguese one.

[Schokokeks]

Which german books to recommand in my opinion mainly depends on whether you want to read them in German or the translated ones ;)

Thomas Mann is really great, but his sentences are like pages long and even for me as a native speaker it's thus sometimes very knotty to follow the plot. Same goes for Goethe, as Themis has already mentioned.

Hermann Hesse in contrast is easier to read, I reckon. I liked "Der Steppenwolf" and "Das Glasperlenspiel" very much, though "Siddhartha" is very good as well, but a bit too religious, I thought.

If you might want to try some more contemporary German literature (still easier to read than some 300-year-old German ;)...), I'd say you should opt for Günter Grass. He won the Nobelprize for literature in 1999 and his books and caracters really provide a lot of food-for-thought. "Im Krebsgang" and "Die Blechtrommel" were my favourites.

Have fun and my respect to you if you're not scared off by the German language, awfully difficult even for the natives! ;)

[Koa]

Yay! I was going to ask who wrote the Blechtrommel cos that was the book I had in mind in my last sentence on my first post, but you answered already Schokokeks! :)

Btw I have a feeling that rodanho is going to read a translation but well, a literature classifies as a national literature even when it's translated, and I still have my theory that I could feel the 'heaviness' of the German language even in translation at times... (see Mann's sentences...)

[Themis]

I perfectly know that, but that means that culturally he was a Praguese, which in the modern world would be a Czech... I phrased my thought in that way cos not long ago I was talking with a Czech who said that Prague is linked with Kafka's work in the sense that it's the cultural environment that shaped his mind and his work... and I think I agree, even if I'm not that familiar with his work cos I just don't like to read it... I guess he was probably between the two worlds, using the German language and belonging both to the Austrian culture (btw was he 'ethnically' Austrian or Czech?) and the Praguese one.

Mähren and Böhmen (today that's the Czech republic) were part of Austria. And Kafka was Austrian. And I do mean "ethnically", too. His works were written in German.


Oh, well ... @Koa, again: Mann is an exception. His sentences are just as long as Caesar's in "De bello gallico."Most people write shorter phrases.
But you aren't really judging the german language like this because you read something by Mann, are you?
Because, personally, I don't like Mann myself. He isn't a good example, even though his works are considered "literature" by ... I'm not sure who, except my german-teacher..

[Koa]

Eheh no, it's not just Mann. I studied German for 3 years at school and it was the only language which didn't passionate me and which I found really difficult - I also blame the teacher and her dictatorial methods, you can't force people with a basic German to read bits of Mann and Kafka and write comments in German... Maybe I would have liked it more in another situation, but it's just a language I can't feel passion for...

And ok about Kafka - I know he wrote in German, I tried to read Die Verwandlung (eheh look at my German) in original to see if I managed not to think of the insect,but it didnt work...:D

[Themis]

And ok about Kafka - I know he wrote in German, I tried to read Die Verwandlung (eheh look at my German) in original to see if I managed not to think of the insect,but it didnt work...:D

Oh, you shouldn't have. I like repeating he's Austrian *g* but I´m not too fond of him and especially not of the 'Metamorphosis'. I couldn't stop thinking of the insect, either.

Alright, I think I'll stop here. It's just I love German and think it's really a beautiful language.But of course, reading Mann when German is not your native tongue is really dumb. (Sorry.) And so it's understandable you don't like German very much.

[Koa]

well thanks for the understanding ;) I'm just not saying it sucks in general etc, it's just my opinion and if others like it well good for them... but are you German then? Or you speak German?

[Schokokeks]

Yay! I was going to ask who wrote the Blechtrommel cos that was the book I had in mind in my last sentence on my first post, but you answered already Schokokeks! :)

hehe, you're welcome! ;)


Btw I have a feeling that rodanho is going to read a translation but well, a literature classifies as a national literature even when it's translated, and I still have my theory that I could feel the 'heaviness' of the German language even in translation at times... (see Mann's sentences...)

I agree with you there. Just read in a magazine yesterday that especially German people generally tend to be melancholic and atrabilious, whomever they examined to meet these results...:rolleyes:, our literature seems to reflect that very plainly :lol:
Kafka's always making me feel very "heavy" whenever I read of his short stories...very obscure, in my opinion. After reading about 10 Kafka-stories for an exam I almost had the feeling one more of his metaphors and I go all depressed and kill my father :lol:

Yet there are certainly many German authors very well worth reading, especially the contemporary ones. "Heaviness" seems to have decreased throughout the centuries ;)

[Koa]

Ehehe I wouldnt mind reading some contemporary stuff, German or not... I know so little about recent books...

[Themis]

but are you German then? Or you speak German?

I am Austrian, that's a big difference. ;) And yes, I speak German, it's my native language.

[Schokokeks]

as for the recent German ones, I could also recommand to you and to all the other future lovers of German literature :D

"Das Parfüm" by Patrick Süskind,
"Homo faber" by Max Frisch,
furthermore "Berlin,Alexanderplatz" by Alfred Döblin (well, that's not sooo recent a book..., but fine, too! ;))
or "Die Schachnovelle" by Stefan Zweig.

Hope your experiences with the German language haven't been bad and shocking enough to be everlasting :). German that is taught in school however must be horrible I believe, but that's not what it's really like, luckily. I heard from several people who came to Germany and hadn't experienced any German but these tough and complex school lectures, that they actually grew to like the language once they could use it outside school ;)

[Koa]

I am Austrian, that's a big difference. ;) And yes, I speak German, it's my native language.

I happen to know the difference between a German and an Austrian ;), and the language spoken there, and all (like I did know Prague was Austrian...even my place was Austrian...) ... now look down your border...watch me wave... :wave: I'm Italian so we're pretty much neighbours ;)

[Koa]

Hope your experiences with the German language haven't been bad and shocking enough to be everlasting :). German that is taught in school however must be horrible I believe, but that's not what it's really like, luckily. I heard from several people who came to Germany and hadn't experienced any German but these tough and complex school lectures, that they actually grew to like the language once they could use it outside school ;)


Yeah that's for sure, it always happens...
I've been to Germany when I had studied German for 2 years, just for the sake of adventure...it was hard to speak and to understand, but sometimes I understood things I wasnt supposed to understand... It's just that I don't like it as much as many other languages, and it's a shame cos it's really useful here...I think I can somehow still have a basic conversation, but that's all.

[P_G_Fischmann]

as for the recent German ones, I could also recommand to you and to all the other future lovers of German literature :D

"Das Parfüm" by Patrick Süskind,
"Homo faber" by Max Frisch,
furthermore "Berlin,Alexanderplatz" by Alfred Döblin (well, that's not sooo recent a book..., but fine, too! ;))
or "Die Schachnovelle" by Stefan Zweig.



I wouldn't say that "Berlin, Alexanderplatz" by Alfred Döblin is good recommandation for someone who tries to learn the German language because there is much dialect used in it and because of that very it's quite difficult to understand.

Max Frisch is always a good read... and other than for Thomas Mann's books the books written by Frisch don't loose too much of their characteristic when you read them as translations. The same goes for "Das Parfüm"; there exist a pretty good English translation of the book.

[chatnoir1311]

I actually like the 'heaviness' of German literature.When I first read English literature ( I think I started with Bronte , Poe and Richardson), I was kind of dissapointed because the structure of the sentences were too simple for my taste and it was not at all as good verbalised as in German books.
I just thought wether they really call that literature, but then I got used to it and realized that all in all German is a much more difficult language than English.
Well, now I love English literature and I look up to everyone who tries to read German books.


I also think that a lot of people don't like the German language as much as other languages because it is extremely hard to speak fluently and you need a lot of years of experience.

As a start I would also recommend you : The Perfume by Patrick Süskind

[Quoth-the-Raven]

Hello there!

As fas as I can see, the suggestions so far have been pretty heavy-weight: Mann and Grass -- in German, we call these "dicke Schinken" (fat hams), thick books that bend your bookshelf ;)

For some "lighter" reading, that is, easier to read and fewer pages, I have two excellent books for you:

Patrick Süskind -- Das Parfüm: about a young man with an extraordinary sense of smell attracted by the odour of virgins. A delicious historical crime story/page-turner.
Stefan Zweig -- Schachnovelle: a novella (60 or so pages). On a cruise liner in the 1950s, the guests challenge the world chess champion, who happens to be one of the travellers, to a match. They lose dismally until a mysterious man joins them; as it turns out, the man is brilliant at chess -- but underneath his skills on the board lurks a tragic past.

Have fun reading,

Raven.

[Quoth-the-Raven]

Curious! I didn't see chatnoir's recommendation of Süskind before! Ah well, now you definitely have to go and read Das Parfüm! :)

Edit: *mental note* Read previous posts more closely; the perfume has been mentioned twice or thrice already, as has been Zweig's Schachnovelle. :(