haeddoti

[haeddoti]

The Reader Trilogy

Traci Chee

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure fiction

“Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the

wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped,

leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin's been

taken, or if she's even alive. The only clue to both her aunt's disappearance and her father's murder

is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book-a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed-and punish the people responsible.”

I highly recommend the book to everyone who likes the genres mentioned above and if you don’t want to get spoiled please stop reading and BUY THE BOOK.

SPOILER DOWN BELOW

These days, a lot of plot is so similar to another that the story blur into each other and you sometimes even forget what you’re reading in the first place. Happens to me quite often but that’s also due the fact that my usual attention span is like, 5 seconds. This got worse over the years but what can I do.

This being said, it did not happen once while I read the books. It takes one of two things for me to be complete absorbed into a story

A). The story is so entertainingly written that I have fun while reading and/or the character dynamics are so interesting that I keep reading to see how the relationship develops.

B). There are some sort of secrets in between the lines and I really, really want to find them.

These books had both. Interesting, intricate relationships and fully developed story strings that deserve whole books of their own. Multi-faceted characters with interesting lives and A LOT of diversity. Speaking of diversity, I personally feel like some authors implement their LGBTQ+ characters in a way that sometimes just doesn’t feel natural or even just plain forced. Again, not the case with this book, the non hetero relationships were constructed carefully and the dynamics felt real and heartbreakingly beautiful.

Even the love relationship between Sefia and Archer, the two main characters, is great and the pain the two experience is displayed perfectly and doesn’t feel unnecessary because the story actually wouldn’t work if they were just “really good friends”.

I mentioned above that there are a lot of different strings of story and characters that at first don’t have anything to do with each other. The way Chee managed to fiddle all these different strings together into the best character-connection-net I’ve ever seen amazes me.

We have Sefia and Archer, an infamous pirate captain, a wanna-be sailor, a dying king and his lover and many, many more. This feels overwhelming at first but once you understand the concept of the book, it all makes sense.

Speaking of which, the concept. The fucking concept. It says on the first page (this is translated roughly into English, I only have the German book) the following

“Hello

If you’re reading these words, you may know that you have to read all of it. And maybe you know that you have to read really carefully. Because between the lines there is magic and a bit of witchcraft. And once you learn how to find secrets in the dust and how to discover the secrets of the ocean, then you learn what it means to be reading.

This is a book. You are the reader. Look closely. This is magic.”

The only thing Sefia has left from her parents is a book.

Some pages of the actual book the reader is reading seem to be pages of the book Sefia has and there are secrets woven into the letters and pages. Bolt letters form warnings or names of things that will happen in the future. Some pages have written words on the bottom of the page and these form a poem.

The Sefia is magical. If you know how to use it, it shows you what happened, what is happening right now, and also what will happen. And there is a mantra repeated throughout the book, the sentiment that whatever is written down WILL eventually happen. And while at first you don’t really notice what this means at all, you later realize that this is what is happening EVERY TIME you read a book. If you are on page 50 of a 400 page book, the characters’ destinies are already written, literally.

Sefia struggles with this reality throughout the books and at first you don’t think much of it but at some point you as the reader, the one who wants to read a good ending, you realize and understand BEFORE THE CHARACTER IN THE BOOK that some endings are inevitable. This hurts, the ending hurts but any other ending would have destroyed the story and to be fair, you basically learn how the whole story will end during the first book but that doesn’t make the story in between the start and end or in between the lines less captivating.

Are you the reader or the read is also a big theme in the book and it makes sense. With the book, Sefia can see what will happen and she basically reads what will happen to her and the people around her. But sometimes the book doesn’t show all of the stories she wants to see but only snippets. The book is magical.

Kelanna, the world the story takes place, isn’t as magical. There are 5 nations spread over 5 islands and gigantic oceans between them. Stories are shared trough speaking since there is no known alphabet and the inhabitants don’t believe in ghosts or mourn the dead. When someone dies, their corpse will be laid down on a boat, set on fire and send away on the ocean.

Even explaining doesn’t really take the magic of these books away. Please read the books. They are so good and I was captivated to an extent I never thought I’d reach ever.

See you around!

[haeddoti]

The Early Graves- F. G. Klopstock

“Welcome, o silver moon, Fair, silent companion of the night!

You flee? Hurry not, stay, friend of thoughts! See, it stays, the cloud only billowed towards it.

May’s awakening is only More beautiful still, like the summer night,

When the dew drops from May’s locks, clear as light And up to the hill it comes, reddish.

You more noble ones, alas solemn moss Already grows on your tombs! O how happy I was, as I still saw with you The dawn redden, the night shimmer.”

I kid you not, I almost cried when we read that in class and once I understood what it was about.

This isn’t an exaggeration but my friends with whom I sit did think I was over-emotionalizing the poem (I was on my period so my hormones were running WILD) but this poem is actually really sad.

This poem is a “Sentimental” one, written during the age of the Enlightenment but in the style of the “Stream of Sentimentalism”. Sentimentalism became popular in Europe after 1720 until the French Revolution as a “Counter” of the strictly logic-based society. This rational society obviously only included the people of higher standing (because they could read) but for some intellectuals of the time, they were tired of the lack of emotions and feelings. They started Sentimentalism as a counter-act against Rationalism. They didn’t think the Enlightenment was bad per se, but that not only own thinking but own feelings too were the thing that should make up oneself.

The poem describes someone sitting on a hill throughout the day. It starts with them looking up to the moon in the night and them wanting the moon to stay. Clouds cover the moon occasionally and the narrator is getting anxious because of that. The second verse takes place during sunset. They look around and compare the current state of beauty of nature to the only thing more beautiful, sunsets in may when the sun reddens the hills and forests. The third verse is the actual sad one. The narrator looks over the graves of their friends and thinks back to the times where they would spend the nights together and wait for the sun to rise and for the nights to disappear. The narrator lost their friends. The moon is the only one left and even the moon has to go away.

Characteristics of Sentimentalism is the usage of strong imagery, the display of emotions and the weird sense of an in-between times or a general sense of a fantasy-like world far, far away. This is portrayed in this poem perfectly. Not only the fact that the narrator has an inner monologue but also the setting it self. The scenes described are the night, which is a magical time to begin with, and sunset and sunrise, both times that are frequently used to describe some sort of “twilight zones”, zones where supernatural things are possible and the strict structures of reality can be bend and rearranged.

The reason why I was so touched by the words was because I imagined the narrator sitting on a hill all alone next to their friends graves and the day passing by. I dunno. I just thought it was really sad.

Well anyway, I just wanted to share this poem with everyone because it’s so good lmao.

See you around,

Marie

[haeddoti]

Hey there once again! This time I talk about mycurrent favorite songs, my most-listened-to songs and my all-time favorites as well! Actually, I think I can make a whole separate post about k-pop, there is so much more to talk about!

Most-listened-to songs

Whistle- Black Pink

Pop/Stars- K/DA

favOriTe- Loona

Touch- NcT 127

Wow Thing- SM Station

Google Play Music lets you see how many times you listened to a song, so that’s what this list is based on. I don’t use Spotify as much (at least not now) plus I don’t think it would change the ranking too much.

Current faves

Runaway Kids- Harbour

Talk too much- COIN

Tick Tock- Day 6

9 and three Quarters- TXT

modern loneliness- Lauv

For my all time favorite songs, I actually want to go more in-depth than with these previous songs because I actually care a lot about how music makes me feel and I like talking about things I like.

Now let’s get into the songs that are my all time favorites, songs I have enjoyed for a long time already or songs I don’t think I will get bored of. Note that these songs don’t include my “emotional well-being songs”, aka songs that I listened to in really emotional situations and songs that will make me cry if I listen to them in the wrong moments. I do love them too tho.

“Fireflies”- Owl City

“Cause they fill the open air

and leave teardrops everywhere

You’d think me rude but I would just stand and stare”

Oh wow this song is a masterpiece. It was my first ever CD that my parents got me for my birthday and I loved listening to this song even when I was a kid. It has this dreamy atmosphere and the lyrics are so beautiful yet creepy at the same time. It paints this image in my head and I attempted to draw it a lot of times already but I’ve got it quite right, so I guess I have to keep trying. The song also has a certain kind of melancholia which I really enjoy.

This song fits somehow every mood I’m in. Happy? Yes. Sad? Yes. In need of comfort? Yes. Need to calm down? Yes. It is such a timeless artwork and I’m sure I will listen to it many more times.

“Cruel Summer”-Taylor Swift

“I don’t wanna keep secrets just to keep you”

(I’m aware this sounds like Stylish but eh)

Ahh my summer-romance-dream-wish song. If this song would be a photo, it would be the sky right before dawn with little pink clouds. It sounds like vintage camera videos look, you know, the one’s where the video is squared and the screen flickers slightly and everything is sepia-ish yellow.

It sounds like late night talks in the summer and eating watermelon and swimming in a lake in the forest and hiding your clothes behind a tree. It sounds like summer nights. And I love it so much. It sounds so sad somehow, almost like a heartbreak. This is one of my summer road trip music songs, which is a genre you’ll find quite often among my favorites.

This song makes me wanna dance and draw and cry all at the same time.

“Summer Days”- Macklemore& Patrick Stump

“Pull the roof back just me, you and the stars

Toast to the Gods”

Did I mention I like summer road trip music? Yeah. This is coincidentally also my favorite walking-through-the-city-song at any time of the year. It boosts my confidence, my self-esteem and even though I’m not that into highly sexual songs, this one is really nice. I actually listened to this song for the first time on the radio while driving to Lake Constance and it took me a solid 3 days to find this song on YouTube because I couldn’t make out the singers voices as much and they didn’t say the title of the song afterwards. The imagery sounds like the “The Last Resort” Map from Hitman 2, at least that’s what I thought of when I listened to this song another time. I really like the song and the ~vibes~ it has when you play it as a background music while chilling with your friends.

“rooftop”-N.Flying

“Every time I look up in the sky,

There’s not a single star,

It’s alright, you’re my universe

shine bright for me”

Do you believe in love at first sight? Or rather, first listen? I certainly didn’t but BOY, this wasn’t love at first sight but a whole marriage proposal on my part. I randomly listened to this because someone on twitter said they were underrated so I just looked for their most recent comeback and I instantly fell in love with every single thing about this song. This is another road trip star gazing song, which I absolutely love. It literally says so in the lyrics.

This is also such a pretty, romantic love song, I can’t.

“Butterfly”-LOONA

“Fly like a butterfly”

Best K-Pop MV and Choreography of 2019, don’t @ me. This song is my favorite Loona whole-group song and the best Music video of every genre I’ve ever seen. Aesthetically pleasing? Superb editing? Diversity? An expensive looking MV with optimal usage of minimal built sets? You name it. This MV has it all. The song itself is also a work of art. It sounds dreamy, like early mornings and soft music in the city.

Some people criticize that the chorus doesn’t have actual vocals but honestly, that would ruin it. The  chorus is fine as it is and from a performing pov, it also makes sense; as a viewer, you are supposed to focus on the dance and the atmosphere and not the singer.

Idk man, this song is just so good and I highly suggest it to everyone who at least wants to see a really good music video.

“Vegas Lights”- P!atD

“We gotta be starting something,

would you change it if you could?”

My favorite P!atD song. It’s another road trip song and the song that would play in a teenager movie, when they are in the park during summer eating pizza pretending to be in Vegas. This song is so fun, and fast paced and an instant mood maker and I love every second of it. The bridge of the song is also really good, amazing contrast between the chorus.

The sass in the voice of Brandon is also amazing. Walking through the city while having an “Oh if you only knew, what we’ve been up to” is very much amazing and confidence-boosting, even though I’m just walking to the supermarket.

“I just”- Red Velvet

“I just leave”

This song is the epitome of melancholic-break-up-love songs. They way it summarizes the want tot run away from pain and sadness is projected really well through their voices and it is definitely my favorite RV B-Side. It makes me want to cry sometimes. There are, in fact, not as many lyrics because they repeat the “I just leave” and Ah-y-ah quite a lot, but the actual text lyrics are so powerful and deep, it’s amazing. I usually don’t listen to b-sides at first and the only reason I found out abut this song in the first place was because they actually did a “vertical MV” and I watched it because I thought it was a title song and then I was shocked because I learned it was in fact a b-side. This is one of those songs I could show to my nonkpopfans-friends because it doesn’t sound too k-pop-y and the instrumental provides enough atmosphere to make everyone understand what the song is about: Break-ups, fear and longing of something new.

“Letting Go”- Day6

“Holding onto you will do you no good,

I know, so I struggle to get you out,

The times we had together, our dear memories,

I let go, let go, let go

So you can smile someday.<i> “ </i>

Let me present to you the most underrated and under appreciated Day6 song to this date. This is, in my humble opinion, not only their best but also their most heartbreaking song. Its different to “How can I say” or “I need somebody” because it depicts a different kind of pain. The pain of wanting someone else to be happy while knowing that you’ll never be the reason they’re happy. Its just so...wow genius Young-k, we stan. Anyways, this is also the only K-Pop song I can sing in Korean and actually know all the lyrics. Definitely a must listen, even if you don’t listen to K-Pop on a regular basis.

[haeddoti]

Hey there everyone! Though I already uploaded another post, I’ve always loved to write these kinds of self-checklists and therefore chose 50 questions from a random internet site. Without further due, let’s get started!

What is your full name?

My name is Marie and I sadly don’t have a second name…

What does your name mean?

Apparently it’s Hebrew and/or Egyptian and means either the well-fed or the loved one. Guess which origin I prefer lmao.

Are you named after anyone?

No, no one in my immediate family is named Marie, I guess my parents just liked the name. My sister is named Eve but my family is like, not religious at all.

Does your name make any interesting anagrams?

Well it makes Maier, which is a surname in my country but other than that, no.

If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?

I always loved the name Louisa or any name that can be shortened into a cute nickname since Marie doesn’t have any options in that area. Probably never gonna change my name tho, since “Louise” is the name of my grandmas hated step-mom...

Where are you from?

I’m German and I’m pretty sure 99% of my family is ethnically west/centre-european.

Where were you born?

I was born Germany.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in the rural/suburban areas of Hesse, a federal German state, so basically between fields and LOTS of forest.

Who did you look up to growing up?

I looked up to a lot of football players and now I don’t even play football anymore. Sad times.

What are your best characteristics?

I consider myself to be very optimistic and I’m able to talk to anyone about anything.

What are your favorite things about yourself?

That sounds weird, but I am really good at picking up on the atmosphere in a room, a conversation or somebody’s mood. Like I feel like the emotions and the ~vibes~ of the room as… colors? It’s weird to describe but I’m really proud of that ability.

Which of your parents are you closest to?

I think I’m on a similar level of “closeness” but if I had to pick it would probably be my dad since we have a lot of the same interests.

Which of your parents are you more like?

My character is basically carbon copy of my mom, so yeah.

Are your grandparents still married?

Yes they are!

What relative was important to you growing up & why?

My cousins! I have 6 of them and two are really close to my age (one is less than 30 days and one is a year and a half) and I used to spend practically every week-end at their place since they lived so close by.

What is one thing that you’ve never revealed to your parents?

My sexuality and my concerns about my mental health oompf #dontbelikeme

What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender?

Felix or Oskar

What do you call your grandparents?

Oma and Opa

What is your best physical feature?

I have really curly blond hair which I guess is nice? As I previously said, I’m pretty strong and I have a lot of inner strength and muscle mass. I’m not bulky tho.

What is your biggest accomplishment?

No idea.

What is your biggest fear?

Spiders, Heights and being left alone.

What is your biggest regret?

Not expressing my appreciation for my friends/family enough.

What is your eye color?

The average person would call it light brown, my best friend called it diarrhea-swamp-dirt-brown. Lovely, isn’t she.

What inspires you?

Books and written pieces in general. Music videos, songs and the like, so things that I guess are meant to inspire others.

What is the most important thing in your life?

My own happiness.

What has required the most courage of you in your life so far?

Talking to my friends about my mental health issues. Still got a lot of things to tell and lots of things to do.

Who is your favorite actor?

… Tom Holland? I dunno.

Who is your favorite actress?

Scarlett Johansson. Black Widow is cool. And she can sing well too.

Who is your favorite celebrity?

I don’t really care about celebrity culture nor can I name someone rn that I really like, follow and keep up with.

Who is your favorite musician?

I like lots of different artists from lots of different genres so picking a favorite is hard…

Who’s your favorite person in the world?

Once again, I don’t have one favorite person, I have a group of people who I consider to be my favorite people in the world, people with whom I get along great.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Summer at my cousins place, role-playing as warrior cats, playing Dragon Quest IX until 2 am and them sleep till 10 and repeat.

What is your favorite color?

Sunflower yellow, light blue, gold and really soft purple-pinks.

What is your favorite cultural activity?

(had to google what that meant lol) uhh, I like visiting old cities and looking at old architecture and castles. City tours and museums and getting a feeling for the atmosphere within the town.

What is your favorite drink?

Sparkling water (I’m German, what did you expect), coffee, smoothies and hot cocoa.

What is your favorite fairytale?

Rapunzel! I’m from the town where the fairytale originated and also the general area the Grimm brothers lived.

What is your favorite food?

Dampfnudeln (lit. translated steamed noodles, but its more dough-y and sweet), Spaghetti con salmone, eggplant anything (I love eggplants), veggies with feta and salmon and my moms cherry-chocolate-cake.

What is your favorite holiday destination?

I like visiting new places but I love the alps.

What is your favorite ice-cream flavor?

Yogurt and stracciatella.

What is your favorite music genre?

I enjoy most genres except metal and german music in general.

What is your favorite physical activity?

Volleyball. I played volleyball for nearly 8 years now (but I’m not that good lol)

What is your favorite quote?

Be as you wish to seem -Socrates

What is your favorite snack?

Strawberries

What is your favorite song?

Oof, too many. I’ll make a separate post lmao.

What is your favorite sport?

Apart from obv Volleyball, Ice skating and dancing but I’m not good with either.

What is your favorite time of the day?

The morning. Since my windows face east, the sun lightens and heats my room really early in the morning, so I can sleep no longer than 8am max in the summer. Not too bad tho, I’m a morning person.

What is your favorite type of clothing?

If I could, I’d like to steal Jasmines (cup of jasmine on youtube) wardrobe. I really like “asian street style” type of clothes. But I don’t have the confidence, the money or the willpower to change my clothes like that. So rn, my clothe are pretty basic.

What is your favorite way to pass time?

Drawing.

What are the names of your favorite restaurants?

“La Siesta”, “La dolce vita” and “Schalander”.

What is your all-time favorite town or city? Why?

Stockholm and Munich are very high up there even tho I only visited both cities only one time. Hamburg is nice too.

Oh well, that were 50 questions! I got some more ideas what I could post so I will update sometime soon since summer holidays are approaching and there will no more school work.

Till then, see you around!

[haeddoti]

This is my first blog-post and it is about some of the books I read between year 7 and 11 in my German high school. These books aren’t in a particular order, I just wrote all of them down and took some notes to guide me along. I’ll give a brief summary and then my thoughts about the books.

Without further due, let’s get into the series!

Nr. 1 “Hexen in der Stadt-Ingeborg Engelhardt”

We read this book in seventh grade and immediately after reading (actually during reading as well) we asked ourselves how and why someone thought “Hell yeah, that’s a topic for 11 year olds” since the book is originally listed for grade 5 and 6.

The story takes place in a German town during the Thirty years war, the witch hunts are running wild and the church is all over the place. The story follows a family of four who live in this town, the father is a doctor, one daughter is read-headed and the other a sleep walker. And although the father is greatly needed in this time, the towns people are really suspicious of the family, and they have to flee the city.

First of all, the book was so dense, it was almost unbearable. Definitely not something for children and yet the book won the “Youth literature award” in Germany, so I guess it wasn’t too bad after all. I honestly don’t remember a lot from it, I know we watched a horrible movie about it and I also remember that the pacing(?) in the book was weird, because the first 80% or so took reaaaally long to read through and virtually nothing happened and then in the last 20% everything happened all at once and it was just too much.

Nr. 2 “Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee-Thomas Brussig”

The only (apparent) reason why we read this book was because we had our final class trip to Berlin in year 10.

 The setting is the DDR, East-Berlin to be precise, somewhere around 1970ish. Our protagonist Micha lives in a street which was cut in half my the Berlin Wall and he, unfortunately enough, lives in East-Berlin. He frequent meets with his friends in a nearby park where they listen to West-Music and swoon about Miriam, the neighborhood beauty who is kinda a not-like-other-girls-girl.

All in all, the books is about searching happiness and thinking about how it is so very close and yet never being able to reach it.

It was comfortable to read and overall it was an okay novel. I don’t remember much about it, although I literally read it a year ago. The insight about east-Berlin was cool, and the author definitely implemented own experiences and as someone who grew up in post-split Westgermany it was rather informative and interesting. The quote on the back of the book was also pretty.

“Happy people have a bad memory and rich memoirs”

Nr. 3 “Frühlings Erwachen-Frank Wendekind”

(Springs Awakening)

Oh. My. God. This whole topic was such a BS and I hated every second of it.

The book takes place, once again, in a German Town in a time where there is no Sex-Ed, aka 1900th century, which is also the topic of the book; Sex-Ed gone wrong. Our first protagonist Wendla grows up in a home with a loving, strict mother and far, far away from everything unholy like sex. Our second protagonist, Melchior, is a really smart, really handsome boy who is the top of his class and who likes to read provocative literature which makes him think about masturbation. His best friend is also handsome but really stupid but the social pressure keeps him from dropping out of school- that and his strict, abusive father. Melchior and Wendla fall in love (he hits her with sticks after she metions that she has never been hurt before), have Sex(he rapes her) and after Wendla gets pregnant and dies after an attempted abortion via poisonous plants her aunt have her, Melchior is only mildly devastated. He turns sad, and kinda crazy, after his best friend commits suicide. He has a rendez-vous with the ghost and death itself, he is happy again? I dunno, the whole book was all over the place.

Worse than the book was the discussions we had in class afterwards. One time we had to argue whether it was in-fact rape or if it was just sex. Second discussion we had was about Wendla being a masochist.

The worst thing about the whole topic was the stupid ass movie adaptation.

You think Percy Jackson has it bad? Oh boy. Ohhh boy. The movie plays in the 2000s, graffiti, cool skater boys, rapper-wannabes and early 2000s fashion included. The names stayed tho, cause why not name the male protagonist Melchior in 2001. There are scenes where teenagers, TEENAGERS, go to a brothel. Ah, I forgot.

They are 13-14, book and movie alike.

10/10 would NOT recommend.

Nr. 4 “Der Besuch der alten Dame-Friedrich Dürrenmatt”

(The visit)

(No, not the horror movie)

Oh my goodness, I loved this book.

Picture this. A small town in a German province far away from any major cities with a single trail connection between Hambourg and Zurich, aka the whole length of Germany, where virtually nothing happens. One day, a former resident, comes for a visit. But not just anyone, Claire frikking Zachanassian comes for a visit.

And for blood, because this sixty-something, badass multi-billionaire who got her fortune by marrying a bunch of men who died coincidentally one after the other proposes to the town an offer.

One billion for the head of the man, Alfred the third, who expelled her out of the town after getting her pregnant and lying about it in court after she sued him.

They sent her away in the train, called her a hoe and laughed about her. She lived in a brother for a little while, her son died, and a horny, rich man decided to marry her because why not.  

At first the towns people are disgusted by the offer, outraged by the immoral offer and they straight up deny it. “I’ll wait, Claire says”.

You see, the town is really, really poor. Not only because it is in a terrible location commercially wise, but also because Claire bought every factory in the town and brought them all to a stand still to slowly dry the city out. She planned this revenge.

And you see, the proposal of 500 million split between the inhabitants and 500 million for the industry of the city sounds great if you are on the brink of disaster and hunger and misery. But surely, with such an immoral offer, no one would want to commit a crime? Or would they.

Because, now that I look at it, Alfred really did something horrible… maybe, just maybe I can allow myself to stack up some dept.

And Alfred grew more and more paranoid. Begging Claire to stop this, apologizing on his knees, crying and sleeping with one open eye at all times.

We discussed in our class what we would do. We didn’t really came to a conclusion since we had nothing to compare, not one of us was ever asked to make such a decision. “It depends” was our final answer.

They do kill him in the end. It doesn’t end happy, Claire isn’t happy, but she does give the towns people their money. I really enjoyed reading this book. The female “antagonist” was refreshingly bad-ass and the moral despair was entertaining to read.

We learn that Claire is rich and powerful, but that she lost so much innocence, so much energy to enjoy her life in such young years that, as a reader, you cannot not sympathize with her.

Nr. 5 “Das Versprechen-Friedrich Dürrenmatt”

(The pledge)

Hands down the best book I’ve read in school.

This book is originally a critique by Dürrenmatt about the emerging detective novel genre where everything always works out.

The setting is in a Swiss town, 1950ish, and in the beginning the reader takes on the role of an author who meets a certain Dr. H who works for the police. They become friends and take a ride through the mountains. Upon taking a stop at a gas station, Dr. H introduces us to a seemingly old, smoking, alcohol-reeking man and a scruffy looking girl. The narrator is confused, asks who these people are, and back in the car, we learn that this is the former detective, no-one-escapes-me, super-brain Matthäi.

From that point on the narrator switches and we are now in a third person narrator perspective.

Matthäi is introduced again, this happening in the past, as a hard-working, clean, structured man who doesn’t smoke, drink or disobeys rules. No one really likes him in the office, but they value that he just so good at his job. But because he is so unapproachable, they want to sent him away to Jordan.

The week he was planning to travel there, a young girl is raped and then brutally murdered in a small town nearby. And because he is Mister Superbrain, he goes there to help investigate.

The other officers at the crime scene are (understandably) uncomfortable, they don’t want to talk to the family, or the people there in general. So Matthäi talks to everyone. He is a very calm, collected, cold man. So he meets with the family, tells them what happened to their daughter and is utterly, completely shocked when the mother just blankly stares in his face, and asks him to promise her to find the murderer of her daughter. He is shocked by the lack of emotion in this moment and sees himself in this cold visage of the mother. He promises her, just to get away from her as fast as possible, and drives back to be office.

I don’t want to spoil too much because this book is just so good, but oh my god

I’m in general a sucker for drastic changes in character or demeanor (hence why I liked The Visit so much as well) but his book takes everything to another level. They “plottwist” is so incredibly frustrating and nerve wraking to read, the perspective changes provide so much more depth.

And for the first time I finally read a really intricate, morally gray character.

Nr. 6 “Nathan der Weise-G. E. Lessing”

(Nathan the Wise)

This book was kinda eh. If I had so summarize it as fast as possible it would probably be “Religion and accidental incest”. It is about the three world religions and stereotypes between them, about genocide and also about stigmatization. It ends on a nice note, tho.

The only really remarkable passage of this book is the so-called “Ringparabel” in which Nathan answers to the question which religion is the real, big OG of them all. It is pretty nice and the symbolism is really fitting as well. The beginning of the book is incredibly boring but it does get better in the end. All in all not a total waste of time and money but nothing I would read again.

Nr. 7 “Die Leiden des jungen Werther- Goethe”

(The sorrows of young Werther)

Ah yes, no German class without Goethe. This book is written in a way that lets the reader really seep into Werthers emotion because it is written as a letter-novel. Werther is a young, nature-loving guy who (in the beginning of the book) is just really happy, go-lucky and over all nice. Then he meets Lotte, a young, pretty, smart and book-loving woman who is empathic to all those around her.  He falls in love with her, despite knowing that she is literally engaged and about to marry. She knows he loves her, her fiance know he loves her and literally everyone knows he loves her and they are ok with it? I dunno. Werther has a severe Seasonal-affective-Disorder. He kinda makes it through the first winter after meeting Lotte but never really recovers, even during summer. In the second winter, he can’t take it anymore and he commits suicide.

I liked the book (not only because I can identify with the SAD). In the end we learn that Lotte isn’t as good as we originally think she is; She is actually really possessive of Werther and although she wants him to be happy, she doesn’t think anyone is good enough for him and thus he should just stay close to her. She enjoys the attention given by her husband, who is actually really nice and whom she does love, and by Werther who is utterly and completely obsessed with her.

Opinions on this book split 50/50 with my friends. Some of them think like me and they see the heart break and the desire to move on but ultimately, the way attraction is so so strong. Some other friends, more specifically my Help-with-Maths-Go-to-Guy hated this book with a burning passion. I can see why. The imagery is sometimes a tad too far-fetched and the wording is, in true Goethe-Fashion really hard to read and the sentences are kinda messed up as well.

But in the end it is still the book which opened the way for Goethe to be one of the greatest writers in Europe and I can see why.

Oh wow. This concludes all the books I read thus far. There will be definitely more to come next year and maybe I’ll do another post like this once I read some more.

I hope you enjoyed to read my thoughts and maybe felt inspired to look into one of these as well!

See you soon!