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Rauschgiftwirtschaft

Von Personalstelle zu unternehmerischer Gesellschaftsverantwortung: Verwaltungsstunden von den Drogenbaronen Mexikos

Übersetzt aus dem Englischen (Narconomics)

Juli 28. 2012 | The Economist

MEXIKO hat 11 Milliardäre, der Zeitschrift Forbes zufolge. Zehn werden oft bei Benefizdinners und anderen vornehmen Veranstaltungen lächelnd fotografiert. Der Elfte, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, hat ein ziemlich unähnliches Porträtfoto. Abgebildet in einem billigen Anorak sieht man ihn fröstelnd im Regen binnen der Betonmauer eines Hochsicherheitsgefängnises. Besser bekannt unter seinem Spitznamen El Chapo („der Kleine“) ist Herr Guzmán durch die vermutete $1 Milliarde, die er als Geschäftsführer des Sinaloa-Drogenkartells verdiente, ein von Lateinamerikas erfolgreichsten Exporteuren. Seitdem er 2001 versteckt in einem Wäschewagen aus dem Gefängnis ausbrach, gibt es wenige Fotos von El Chapo.

Vollidiot: Der Roman

VollidiotMuch as I enjoyed another Tommy Jaud book (Resturlaub: Das Zweitbuch), I found Vollidiot somewhat unrounded and altogether disappointing after finishing it. The story revolves around Simon Peters, a late-20s youngster in Cologne, who is fed up with his job, his friends, his being single–his life in general–and how he goes about trying to set things to rights. Essentially, of course, everything he tries to achieve goes wrong, and every action he takes has a punchline waiting around the corner.

There isn’t much by way of a story here – most of the action is punctuated by nights in the pub, and the best intentions trying to get a date, but Jaud has an eye for making even the most mundane humourous. Our antihero Simon’s cleaner, a Croatian by the name of Lala, adds a lot to the mix with her antics, setting him up on a blind date, accompanying him to a gig whilst he is on another date, as well as breaking things around the flat and apologising in her heavily accented German. Jaud could probably have enough material for another book just based on her day-to-day life.

Nevertheless, there simply isn’t enough here to tie the book together. Little happens of any consequence, and the humour factor ranges from sometimes inciteful, biting sarcasm, to simple cringe-inducing moments of mania on the part of the main character(s). It starts off strong, with some great descriptions of Ikea’s policy towards single people, or the gym Simon joins to get fit (which turns out to be a haven for homosexuals), but towards the end of the book I found there were fewer and fewer laughs to be had, and the ending is rather abrupt and feels somewhat rushed.

Still, like the previous reviewer, I can certainly recommend reading something like this to people interested in learning German. This is by no means a prize-winning piece of literature, but the language is very contemporary, and should be relatively easy to follow for learners. It would probably appeal to most men in the same age-range (particularly anyone who’s experienced that feeling of being fed up with everything), and no doubt to the many women who find themselves in a relationship with one of these Vollidioten!

Jeder stirbt für sich allein

Jeden stirbt für sich alleinThis is a truly fascinating story, an insight into the lives of those who endured the excesses of the Nazi state at the height of its power. Fallada wrote this book shortly after the war in less than a month, a novel inspired by reading through Gestapo files. It was his last, but one he was very proud to have written.

At heart, the book deals with one couple’s private campaign of resistance to the Nazi regime. As Fallada wrote in an article about the novel, “Über den doch vorhandenen Widerstand der Deutschen gegen den Hitlerterror”, his writings were dedicated to their sacrifice that it not be in vain. The core of the book centres on the Quangels, a couple who lose their son during Hitler’s invasion of France, and who strive to offer a token of resistance, by way of writing postcards and letters denouncing the Nazi acts. These political flyers almost unswervingly end in the arms of the Gestapo, who catalogue this defiance and use their ruthless methods in pursuit of the perpetrators, destroying lives as they do so. This, in my opinion, is one of the book’s greatest strengths, its depth of living characters, almost reminiscent to me of a Dickensian world, each role played by a figure of flesh and blood, and not merely props for the main actors to play up against. Thus the novel details episodes in the lives of thieves and prostitutes, Jews and Gestapo inspectors, youth and the permanently unemployed.

Aside from the insight into what life was like under the Nazis, the book also offers this strong message of hope. The very premise of the powerless individual trying to make a difference against the faceless society is a strong one. During the sham trial, the farcical nature of events finally sees the otherwise stoical Otto Quangel laughing at his prosecutor, something which many of us should no doubt revel in. It’s also fitting that Fallada should choose to end the novel with a look towards the future, at the youth who would inherit the responsibility for Germany in post-war Europe.

All in all a heartily recommendable read. The glimpse of life in Nazi-run Berlin is fascinating, and the police and courtroom scenery definitely sits in companion to the likes of Arthur Koestler’s portrayal of Soviet excesses in Sonnenfinsternis. It was a surprise to me to learn that the book was only recently translated into English.

Finally, a word about the language. As another commenter has written, there is a fair amount of Berlin dialect in the book which for makes for a challenge for non-native speakers and advanced learners, and given the book’s age there are also a fair number of old-fashioned or unusual turns of phrase, but the book is otherwise written in a fairly straightforward style.

Resturlaub: Das Zweitbuch

ResturlaubDieser Eintrag ist auch auf Deutsch verfügbar.

Ever wondered what it would be like to give in to your mid-life crisis, stick two fingers up to the world and start a fresh life? Well, Peter “Pitschi” Greulich does just that: shortly before he and his girlfriend and their other coupled friends are to depart for the umpteenth time for a holiday on Mallorca, he has a rash change of heart and perfidiously jets off instead to Buenos Aires armed with little more than the clothes on his back and his broken words of holiday Spanish.

There are plenty of laughs to be had in his ensuing adventures in the southern hemisphere, as Pitschi discovers that starting life afresh isn’t as easy as he’d imagined. Whilst the book is certainly more likely to appeal to men, as our anti-hero offs in pursuit of every man’s dream of unfettered freedom, chasing tail and drinking beer, no doubt women will also appreciate the way Jaud deals with man’s neuroses and lampoons his childishness. All of which is to say nothing of the nicely weaved events of this tragicomedy which build to a fine crescendo as Pitschi has to decide between his new world and the life he left behind. Despite its brevity, there are plenty of laughs to be had in this book’s 250 pages.

Just a word to non-German readers, this is a relatively easy book for an advanced German learner to read, aside from the fact that Tommy Jaud has many of his characters ‘speak’ Fränkisch. Anyone used to the idiosyncrasies of south German dialects shouldn’t have any problems, but learners unused to seeing anything beyond ‘High German’ might be made a little ‘stutzig’ by some of the conversations.

Resturlaub: Das Zweitbuch

ResturlaubThis post is also available in English.

Wundert man sich, wie das Leben wäre, wenn man sich seiner Midlifecrisis ergeben, der Welt den Stinkefinger zeigen und ein neues Leben anfangen würde? Genau das macht Peter „Pitschi“ Greulich: Kurz bevor er mit seiner Freundin und deren gepaarten Freunden in den üblichen Urlaub nach Mallorca fliegt, bekommt er plötzlich kalte Füße und in einem Sinneswandel düst stattdessen nach Buenos Aires davon, ausgestattet mit wenig mehr als seiner Kleidung und ein paar Brocken Urlaubsspanisch.

In seinen darauf folgenden Abenteuern auf der südlichen Erdhalbkugel sorgt Pitschi für viel Schmunzeln, als ihm langsam klar wird, dass ein neues Leben anzufangen doch gar nicht so einfach ist, wie er erwartet hätte. Auch wenn das Buch eher Männer anspricht, da unser Protagonist sein vorheriges Leben aufgibt und verschwindet, in der Hoffnung, eine entfesselte Freiheit zu entdecken, in der er sich der Schürzenjagd und dem Biertrinken zugleich widmen kann, werden auch Frauen die Art wertschätzen, wie Jaud die Zwangsneurosen eines jeden Mannes beschreibt, sowie sein kindisches Wesen persifliert. Ganz von der schönen Art zu schweigen, in der er die Ereignisse dieser Tragikomödie ineinander verwoben hat, die in einem Höhepunkt gipfeln, als Pitschi zwischen seiner neuen Welt und dem alten hinter ihm verlassenen Leben entscheiden muss. Trotz der Kürze bergen diese 250 Seiten jede Menge spaßige Momente.

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