A fascinating glimpse into the world of one prosperous man, set upon by the forces of the new world.Bernd Willenbrock is the owner of a used-car dealership in the newly unified Germany. In the nascent free market of Central Europe, the former East German engineer seems to be the paradigm of the new world: a successful businessman, an owner of real estate, and a generous husband. Prosperity seems guaranteed by a steady stream of cash-only clients from Eastern Europe, and plans for a glitzy new showroom are firmly underway. Yet little by little, a series of ever-more menacing incidents—an attempted break-in, the theft of several cars, a vicious beating--erode his innermost certainties. No amount of locks and latches, it seems, can contain his growing obsession with external safety or stop the coming violence.

Willenbrock: A Novel

HEIN, CHRISTOPH

Literature & Fiction

Picador

Text: English, German (translation)

DISTANT LOVER

Contemporary

Pantheon

An edgy portrait of a successful wheeler-dealer on a downward slide, and a peek beneath the smug surface of life in modern-day Berlin In the new unified Germany, Bernd Willenbrock is the perfect man for the season. A latecomer to the free-market feast, this former East German engineer has shown a downright Darwinian ability to adapt to the new environment. Proud owner of a thriving used-car dealership and an attractive second home, he is a generous husband, pleased by his role of provider. The business practically runs itself, leaving Willenbrock free to spice up his days with extramarital adventures. Prosperity seems guaranteed by a steady stream of cash-only clients from Eastern Europe, and plans for a glitzy new showroom are firmly under way. Willenbrock's self-satisfaction appears impregnable. Yet little by little, a series of ever-more menacing incidents-an attempted break-in, the theft of several cars, a vicious beating-erode his innermost certainties. No amount of locks and latches, it seems, can contain his growing obsession with external safety, relieve his suspicion of those closest to him, or stop the coming violence. In cool, detached prose, abundant with subtle ironies, Christoph Hein's portrait of a newly minted man of the West reveals a disturbing and all-too-familiar world where affluence comes at the price of lurking aggression, freedom is pervaded by insecurity, and contentment is undermined by mistrust.

Literary

Metropolitan Books

In “one of the most important German novels of recent years,”* a man, a town, and a country wrestle with fifty years of displacement and political upheaval
Provincial Guldenberg is still reeling from World War II when a flood of German refugees arrives from the east, Bernhard Haber’s family among them. Life is hard enough—Bernhard’s father has lost an arm and his carpenter’s income. But added to this injury comes an accumulation of insults, as the upright town turns hostile toward the newcomers. After a string of mysterious losses—from the killing of the boy’s dog to the unexplained death of his father—Bernhard is set on extracting revenge.
Rich with psychological insight, Christoph Hein’s acclaimed novel tells Bernhard’s story across nearly fifty years, chronicling his remarkable rise from victimized outsider to Guldenberg’s most prominent burgher. What began as a geographic dislocation evolves into a personal quest: the thirst for vengeance yields to the deeper need for a home and settling down proves more important than settling grudges. As the socialist state gives way to reunification and the capitalism of the 1990s, Hein’s masterful, multivoiced narration charts the transformation not just of one man but of an entire nation struggling to leave history behind and claim a home.—*The Times Literary Supplement (London)

Settlement: A Novel

Genre Fiction

Set in 1968 Leipzig, Christoph Hein's novel is the story of Dallow, an apolitical academic who has just returned to civilian life after serving twenty-one months in prison. His crime: he was the substitute piano player in a student cabaret in which seditious verses were sung. Dallow returns to a life in of loveless sex, police harassment, and brutality, revealing how a corrupt system perverts all human interaction, and how lives are ruined by malicious caprice.

The Tango Player (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

Northwestern University Press

Everything you need: the 20 most important things in life (Hanser range)

Children's Books

dtv Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG

Horns Ende

Suhrkamp Verlag

Willenbrock: Roman (German Edition)

Von allem Anfang an

Suhrkamp Verlag KG

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