London's Goethe Institut has uploaded a magnificent and truly wonderful project: Text and the City. It is a collection of English translations that present German cities - from old favourites such as Thomas Mann, Alfred Döblin and Heinrich Böll, but also a good few contemporary writers like Sibylle Berg, Sarah Khan and - I have to point out - Clemens Meyer on Leipzig.
Take a good hour or two to scout around for a whistle-stop literary tour of Germany. Just don't click on the map as it'll take you back to the German site.
I'm sure you saw the TLS story devoted to some of the books you reviewed. But just in case you missed it:
ReplyDeletehttp://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article5423569.ece
I found it through sightandsound.com - http://www.signandsight.com/features/1812.html
I did indeed, Harvey, thanks. It even prompted a brief debate on the definition of a turtle (see below: 2009 kicks off in 2009).
ReplyDeleteHow did I miss that post?! Must've been when I suspended my feeds over the holiday break.
ReplyDeleteI've been a Maxim Biller fan for awhile, so I appreciated the link you gave.