Reading German Books in 2020 discussion

Starting my thread - I’m going to aim for 4 books over the course of the year which seems eminently doable.

I’m currently reading The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth. I have a copy of The Tin Drum on my TBR shelf, so that will no doubt feature. Other than that, I’d like to read more Jenny Erpenbeck or Stefan Zweig; and I’d also like to try Christa Wolf (I’ve been keeping an eye out for a copy of They Divided The Sky for ages) and/or Peter Schneider (The Wall Jumper)

Sounds like a great beginning, I really love that particular Roth novel so really hope you enjoy it, also very keen on Erpenbeck and Wolf.

>>> 1 down... finished The Radetzky March over the weekend. Brilliant, really savoured every page.

>>> Two down, finished Jenny Erpenbeck’s ‘End of Days’ this morning. Absolutely brilliant, as I’ve come to expect from her and Susan Bernofsky. Not sure what’s next - I have a couple of Joseph Roth (‘What I saw’ and ‘The String of Pearls’ on the TBR pile, alongside Ferdinand von Schirach’s The Collini Case. Tips on which of those to pick up next are welcome!

>>> Three down, with Volker Weidermann’s ‘Summer before the dark’, the story of Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth’s final summer together at Ostend in 1936. Super insights into their relationship, and obviously a horrendous backdrop, against which they’re remarkably optimistic, on the surface at least. V good.

>>> And I’m done! 4️⃣/4️⃣ :)

Weidermann put me in the mood for more Roth, and this week I’ve read his ‘What I Saw’ reportage from Berlin in the 20s. Really good - short, sharp well-observed pieces that together give you a real flavour for a city that was radically changing, in good ways and bad.

>>> Read five now, with Birgit Wanderbeke's "You Would Have Missed Me", translated by Jamie Bulloch. A novella that packs a lot in - the family's escape from East Germany, but the daughter's ongoing need to escape from her father, and the strategies she employs to do so, at least psychologically if not physically. Not sure where next for me - completed my 4 book target, and this level. Still have some Roth, Zweig and Grass on my TBR pile, so will get to those at some point.