Lead Review
- Book: Journey through a Tragicomic Century: The Absurd Life of Hasso Grabner
- Location: Corfu, Germany
- Author: Francis Nenik, Katy Derbyshire (Translator)
3.5*
This is an imaginative re-telling of the life of Hasso Grabner. Who is he? A writer who was born in 1911 in Germany and who, over his life time, saw a huge amount of change taking place in his own country.
This book brought to mind Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann. That novel may have been set in 17th Century Germany but the levity and humour, despite harrowing times, felt familiar in both books. Indeed, both highlight the picaresque nature of the character’s adventures, as each moves through life and the changing political landscape. Both have an absurdity that is engaging.
Hasso Grabner starts off in Leipzig, he has a stay in Buchenwald because of his communist leanings and his stand against the rise of the right prior to WW2. He heads for Greece and eventually comes back to Leipzig via Albania. He originally trained as a book dealer and seller which did not preclude him from having to carry out more menial work as the country splits in two in the second half of the 20th Century.
The author gives this little known writer and activist a voice that makes his life quite accessible. It is beautifully translated and flows as a narrative. It will have quite a niche audience, I think.
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