Focus Spring 1999.tif 56 Focus on Literalur Book Reviews 57 JURG BEELER. DasAlphabetder \l7olken. Innsbrl.lck: H aymon, 1998. 191 pp. DM 35.00. As N iklaus Monk returns from work one day, he finds a strange car parked in front of his house and hears the voices of his wife, Doris, and a man coming from the balcony. Monk suspects the man [Q be his wife's lover by the name of Walter Tresch, a physical eduation reacher. H e becomes overwhelmed by his wife's seeming infidelity. Quietly, he packs a bag for himself and steals the man's wallet from his jacket. H e escapes to tbe island of Luto where Don s's fa mily owns a summer house. Once Monk is the re, he realizes that the wallet does nor belong to Walter Tresch. but to another man with whom his wife regu larly does business. His suspicions were wrong. In spi te of his mistake, the stay on Luto becomes a formative event in Monk's life. His wife's actual ex-lover, Balkal, is also on Luto, hop ing to bump into her again. BaIkal, a sculptor, has recently been released from a clinic after setting fire to his own studio. Each man's relationship to Doris and her ab­ sence in their lives affect their creative abilit ies: Balkat is Jed into a crisis of dissolution; not only does his relationship with Doris seem dissolved, his relationship to his art is also dissolving. Monk's separa­ tion from his wife, however, leads him to his idemity as an author. The book is co nstructed as a series of interior monologues and observations by the various characters of the novel. Th is structure al­ lows the reader to gain an insight even into minor figures in the stOry. Doris's malcontent teenage daughter Vera, for example, is desperate to move to Canada where she believes she will fi nd freedom from soci­ etal restraints. H er overt desperation heightens the futility of the at­ tempt, not only hers but in general, to escape effectively from society. The shifting perspectives magnify the relative inability of the charac­ ters to fully realize relationships and their conneClions to eacb o ther. The technique also allows for ironical juxtaposition and some comical moments, which balance the tone of the story well. Das Alphabet dey Wolken may be read as a modern d ay Kitmtlerroman. A quote on the dedication p;tge hints at the trials which t he characters will be put through: "Sobald ein Genie die Weit hetrin, verschworen sich samtliche Idioten dagegen" (5). The genius does not so easiJy stand out against the idiot, though. It may all be a marrer of Focus on Literatur Vol. 6, No. I (1999) 58 Focus on LiteraCltr perspective. By juxtaposing the artist in crisis (Balk~t) with ,the crisis leadino to the identification as an artist (Monk), the instructIOnal and often ~ptimistic message of the Kunstlerroman genre is compLic:ned and pragmaciz.ed . . . . A secondary theme of abjectness is established 10 a diSCUSSion on an exhibition on "H ygiene und Alltag, eine Dokumemation von den Anfanuen bis zur Gegenwart .... Wer uher die Sauberkeit rede, musse auch liber den Schmutz reden, argumemierte er (Monk), eine Ausstellung uber H ygiene musse auch eine AU5stellung iiber die schmurzige Seice de r Geschichte seio" (33-34). Thi s,cheme underscores the other themes of the book. No Geme comes Without IdlOcen; per· sona! anguish may be the consequence, or progeniror, of arti stic achieve­ ment. The abject is what makes us human, as when one characrer experiences the sensations of hemorrhoids, but. a~s? that whic.h devi· ates from desired social control, as when Monk initially calls hiS notes and writings "[s]eine gelehrten $tuhlgiinge" (33). . . The author of DasAlphabet der lVolken,Jiirgen Beeler, lives In Zurich and has won various awards including the 1987 ErwmJaeckle­ PreIS der Goethe-Stiftung in Basel and the 1997 LieeracurpTf!lS des Kamons Sololburn. He has also published a book of poetry entitled Tag, StemfauSl, Maulscbelle, Tag (1986) and a novel ent itled Blues fur MchlSCbwimm., (1996). University of California at Irvine Anne R. Mocarski ----- ---_ ..... _---- ---- Book Rev iew$ 59 THOMAS BRASCH. Madchemtzijrder BrU1,ke. Frank­ furt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1999. 97 pp. OM 28.00. Who is the most popular stock character in 1990s media? The most likely answer could be the killer. Hollywood has played a leading role in this development, especially with Quentin Tarantino's film scripts -ReserwiT Dogs, Natural Born Killers, and Pulp Fiction. More than ever, the killer embodies a secret fantasy of the audience. H e acts as a rebel on their behalf, transgressing the cultural boundaries society putS on them. But with the glorification surroundi ng this figure, the rea­ ders and the viewers rnrely ever make it beyond the superficial level of guns, Martinis and Armani suits. The killer becomes a mere sensa­ tion, a celebrity. Even in academia, where Tarantino's scriptS sparked a huge wave of papers, books, and articles, the killer is en vogue. The cover of M.idcbenmoTder BTJmke, Thomas Brasch's firlt major book in ten years, suggestS a simi.lar sensationalism. It depicts a white dress blown up by an air Stream, a woman's hand resting be­ tween her legs. This image immediately evokes Marilyn Monroe in The Seven YeaT Itcb, the ultimate icon of sexuality in modern media. But it is a mistake to judge the book by its (misleading) cover, for there are many texts and films that are disinterested in depicting the actual crimes. Instead, they are detailed biographical studies that seek to ex­ plore the killers' psyches. From mere objeCtS of sensationalism, their lives are transformed intO case studies. In this genre, sexual killers are the most popu1ar objects, because their crimes mark the ultimate vio­ lation of society'S values. Romuald Karmakar's fine film Der Totmllcber, a portrait of the 1920's sexual killer Haarmann, is a prime example of this trend. It seems that DeT 70lmacheT was Brasch's blueprint in at least one respect: li ke t he film, Miidcbenmorder Brunke deals with a case from the beginning of the century. Nineteen.year-old Karl Brunke's murders of twO girls in Braunschweig, Germany, look place in 1905. But there is more to Brunke than being capable of such a hor· rible crime. Brasch gradually uncovers the Story of a broken·hearted young man who, after his father's death, tries to overcome his fear of actual sexual and emotional contact by building bizarre love machines. His narcissistic inventions are complex constructions made of rubber, wood, and metal. Brunke designs them to revolutionize the world just F"oculon Liurillur Vol. 6, No. I (1m) 60 Focus on Literalltr asFreud's and Einstein's theories. This is nOt the story of Brunke alone-he is the center of a "Neue Heilige Familie" built on sex and pleasure. When news of Brunke's projects is leaked to an appalled public, [he new sexual soci­ ety collapses, and Brunke eventually kills tWO sistel1i that have been part of his post-patriarchal family order. Shortly thereafter, he com­ mitS suicide in jail. In her essay on sexual k iller Jurgen Bartsch, the future terror­ ist Ulrike Meinhof wanted neither to glorify nor condemn Bartsch's deeds, but rather explain them in their social conte-XI:: "Die Geschichte von Jiirgen Bartsch und der ProzeB selbst offenbarten in unheimlicher Anhaufung das Elend der Gesellschaft, in der er gelebt und gemordet hat." Since Ulrike Meinhof voiced her criticism, such statements have become commonplace wisdom in the German public discourse. Brasch's story, on the other hand, merely criticizes the fact that the criminal uial against Brunke only serves the purpose, "[s)eine Erfindung vergessen zu machen, den Erfinder in einen Ermorder zu verwandeln" (51). For Brasch's narrator, the true scandal is not that the society rejects its jo int responsibility for the crimes, bur that it tries to discredit a genius by reducing him to a mere killer, as if the killings did not matter. However, it is difficult to accept this accusation. This book is not only the tale of Brunke himself; it is also the story of writing his biography. An architect by the name of D.H. tries to reconstruct Brunke's life, first by researching his Story and then by rebuilding Brunke's "Liebesmaschine 1-16" (19). D.H. abandons h is old life and his girlfriend entirely, and writing and building machines become his stra.tegies to achieve ecstasy-much like Brunke some ninety years ear­ lier. Evenrually, Brunke seems to take possession of D.H. until their respective handwritings become identical and the architect speaks of the young man in the first person. Finally, D.H. dies at a point where he has almost totally merged with Brunke. At the moment of his death, D.H. is seated in a rebuilt love machine that resembles a gynecologist's chair- the adequate place for giving birth, even if it is to a mere text. Bursting with sexual desire, D_H.'s movements cause his death. At the moment of orgasm, his pen crosses out [he last page of the manu­ script. Book Reviews 61 Th is double story is packed within a complex narrative frame­ work. T he narrative sh ifts back and forth between the perspectives of D.H., Brunke, and a narrator from an outside institution, Dze Maj?nahmebehonle, that examines the case of D.H. In these sudden shifts, the reader becomes unsure of his/her poi.nt of view. This blurred vision is heightened by dreams and surreal scenes in which various times and places merge. When D.H. interviews Brunke's son Alfred in Alcatraz, the old man rejuvenates and slowly transforms into his dead father (69). But does th at rransformarion occur in reality or in D.H.'s mind? The architect's study gradually ge(5lost in a surreal wilderness. Instead of solving the enigma of Brunke, boOth his biographer and the reader are only drawn deeper and deeper into a jungle where all sub­ jects dissolve. Sexual desire and the desire to narrate, to write, become one­ or they have been the same thing aU along . In becoming Brunke, D. H . turns schizoid. It is this schizophrenia that liberates his desires, very much like Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari advocated in their fa­ mous Anti.Oedipus. But the price of D.H.'s transgression is death. Ultimately, Brasch's text is a clever approach [0 themes re­ levant to the 90's zeitgeist, masking them in the events that took place almost a century ago. But the text does not only approach the rela­ tively abstract and ph.ilosophical question of identity and its dissolu­ tion. It also feeds on the aforementioned inrerest in killers and the recurring fantasies of sex in virtual reality, a current theme in popular German magazines of the mid-1990's. Brasch's treatment of common­ place discourses of our own decade places them on a higher aesthetical level. At the same time, Miidchenmorder Brunke fits well with the author's previous oeuvre. Born in England in 1945 and raised in the GDR, Brasch clashed with East German authorities numerous times, until he had to leave the country for West Germany in 1976. Many of his heroes are dissidents, outsiders like Brunke and D.H., who turn their backs on society or rebel against its institutions. In this light, it is nOt a coincidence that D.H. gives up his job at the very moment h is bosses want him to participate in the rebuilding of Berlin as Germany's splendid new capital (20), a process that has found i(5 preliminary cli­ max in the recent inauguration of the remodeled Reichscag. It is this "official" world to which the third narratOr, lhe Ma}?nahmebebOrde, 62 Focus on Literatur may belong. Madchenm6rder Brunke is actually the condensed version of a much larger project. Bl"2sch literally wrote thousands of pages for a novel on this subject that was going to be 2700 pages long. But JUSt as D.H. never reconstructs the love machines (0 a poim where they would actually work, a fuJI reconstruction of Karl Brunke's mind is possibly out of reach. The organizing principle that holds the text together is the UFuge"-the German word for "gap, crack, joint," but also for "fugue." In Brunke's interpretation it refers to the gap in ills head as well as the opening in his mother through which he entered the world. But "fugue" is also an adequate term for the structure of this novel, so ricb in themes and counterpoints that the piece becomes difficult lO follow in its complexity. Although the Monroeesque cover suggests ot herwise, Brasch's text is not only closer to Der Tolmacher than to Pulp Fiction, it ulti­ mately transcends both. Mtidchenmorder Brunke is a complex prose experiment, in its best moments intriguing. Here, the stock character of the killer functions mainly as a vehicle for Brasch's narrative explo­ rations, However, Suhrkamp obviously decided to use a cover design more appropriate for a tabloid article. This Strategy may draw atten­ tion [0 an interesting piece, but it remains on a much more sensation­ alist level than the text itself. University of Ortgon Stefan Hoppner-Stone --------_ ..... _-------- HANNS CIBULKA. Tagebuch einer spaten Liebe. Leipzig: Reclam, 1998. 96 S. DM 14,00. Seit mit dem Beginn der 70er Jahre naive Fonschritrsglaubigkeit der ostdeutschen Landschaft mit ihren industriellen Dreeksehleudern immer hiirter zusetzte, beklagte Hanns Cibulka in seiner okologisch- FrKUJ 011 LiUTatur \'01. 6, No. I (1999) Book Reviews 63 kritischen Naturlyrik den Raubbau an der Nalur und foroene eine "Revolution gegen uns selhst, gegen unsere eigene Tdigheit, den Egoismus, den Machtiostinkl, eine Revolulion, die uns lehn, ganl. anders uher den Menschen zu den ken als bisher," Wie Franz Fuhmaon, Peter Huehel und Johannis Bobrowski gehon Cibulka zur Genera­ tion der a1teren Kriegsheimkehrer und reilt mit ihnen, nach zunachst hoffnungsvoller 2ustimmung, die Skepsis an den Entwicklungen in der ostdeutschen Gesellschaft inminen einer Phase allgemeiner Aufbaueuphorie, Zu dieser Skepsis gesellt sich bei den Autoren jener Kriegsgeneration eine beharrliche Auseinandersetzung mit der (eigenen) nationalsozial istischen Vergangenheil-<,I.m eindringlichsten bei Fuhmann und Bobrowski-z.u einer Zeit, als dies nicht opponun war und von der offiziosen Literaturkritik gemeinhin als Uberwindung spatburgerlieher Positionen auf dem \'\leg z.ur entwickehen soz.ialistisehen Perso nlichkeit gedeutet wurde, Was den Status ihres literarischen \'\Ierkes anbelrifft, z.ahlen Fiihmann, Huehel, Bobrowski und Cibulka besonders in den 60er Jah ren zu den wichtigsten Stimmen der oSldeutschen Lyrik und-im Falle von Fuhmann und Bobrowski--der Prosa, die sich als einige der ersten auf jeweils sehr unterschiedliehe Weise gegen die politische Inanspruchnahme der Poesie in ihrem Land wenden. Huehel erweiten das Naturgedieht 2.U einem Iyrischen Schauplatz. gesellschaftlicher Konflikte und ubt durch diese Sprengung normativer asthetiseher Vorgaben einen weitreichenden EinfluB auf nachfolgende Lyrikergenerationen aus. Besonders auf Bobrowski, dessen Iyrische Sprache in der fur ihn zur ChiCfre gewordenen Welt Sarmatiens der Erinnetung an den europaisehen Osten nachgeht und den Bliek auf die Geschichte durch die Prismen der Landsehaft, Mythen und Sagen in eine komplexe Textur rhythmischer und bildJicher Assol.iationen ausweitet. Auch in den besren Werken von Fuhmann geraten Mythen und Miirchen zu poetischen Gleichnissen hir die Idee von einer neuen Gesellschaft, die noeh nichl konsequem gedacht wurde, die mil sich uneins ist und naeh einer neuen Sprache sucht. C ibu lkas Suche oaeh einer eigenen Sprache mundel in stilisuscher Knappheit. besonders seit 5t:inem Band Anoso (1962). Immer wieder erschuuen vom Nachbe~ der Kriegserfahrung und clem Verlust def Heimat, renektieren seine Gedichte das Vergangene im Gegenwartigen einer Landsehaft, die von Teehnophilie verwustet 64 Focus on Lileralllr ist und kaum noch Refugien der Unversehrtheir bereithiih:. Auch das \'(/o rt ist cler Zersetzung anheim gegeben und verhartet umer der Last der Zeugenschaft: ,,\'(fir Wone/s ind grau geworden/an def Klagemauer/der Sprache'" ( .. Wir Worte" 1973). Und doch gelang es Cibulka in vielen seiner friihen Gedichte, der Gratwanderung in der Grauzone zwischen clem Traum von einer besseren Gesellschall: und den Alptraumen der Menschheitsgeschichte Verse von beeindruckender Schonheit abzugewinnen-bis zu clem Zeitpunkt, als seine Wortlandschaften zunehmend vom Pathos kulturpessimistischer Warnungen geschliffen wurden. Eingebettet in den tagebuchartigen Text Swantow_ Die AuJzeichnungen des Andreas Flemming (1982) kulminieren Cibulkas zivilisationskritische Reflexionen in dem fUnfteiligen Gedichtzyklus "Lagebericht." Die minutios dargelegten Gefahren ungehemmren wissenschaftlich-rechnischen Fonschrins fur den Naturkreislauf dienen als Aufhanger eines Diskurses, der d ie tragenden Ideen der modern en Indusrriegesellschah als selbst­ zerst6rerisch entlarvt. Gegen das naturvernichtende Wachstumsdenken materialistisch ausgerichterer Gesellschaftsmodelle sozialistischer und kapitalistischer Pragung enrwirh Cibulka eine altkonservative Wachstumskritik, d ie als einzig moglichen Ausweg aus de r okologischen und geistigen Krise einer vormodernen Einheit von Mensch und Natur das Wort redee Eine zweifelsohne berechcigte Kritik an den Strukturellen Fehlentwicklungen der Moderne gedit so zu einem antimodernistischen Programm, das die Ruckkehr zu einem Urspriinglichen apostrophiert, stan die yom Autoren selbst besrandig vorgebrachte Forderung nach einem anderen Denken iiber den Menschen einzuiosen. Fur seinen stark romamisch eingefarbten Aufruf zur Umkehrwollren Cibulka Ende der 80er Jahre die Verse nieht mehr gelingen, so daB er sich von nun an versrarkt der Tagebucherzahlung widmet. Nach den letzten beiden Tagebucherzahlungen Am Bruckenwehr (1994) und Die Heimkehr der verratenen Sohne (1996) bezeugt das Tagebuch einer spaten Liebe am bedriickendsten Cibulkas Schwierigkeiten. dem von ihm wahrgenommenen Kulturverfall originelle Gedanken abzugewinnen. Der Tire! bezieht sich sowohl auf die Liebe eines Erfurrers zu seiner Heimatstadt, die er auf ausgedehnten Spaziergan gen fur sich wiederentdeckt, als auch auf seine Liebesbeziehung zu der Gannerin Gundula. Mit ihr erlebt das Alter Book Reviews 65 ego des alternden Dichters noch einmal zitrtliche Zuneigung und das unverganglich Scheme seiner Heimat. Ohne rechle Uberzeugungskraft dargestellt und nur muhevoll in den Te.'{( eingefiigt. soil von dieser Liebesgeschichte ein letz.ter Hoffnungsfunken ausgehen vcr clem Hintergrund der melancholischen Zeltd iagnosen, die auf den Spaziergangen durchs Lhuringische Erfurt gestellr werden. Es ist der Alltag im deutsch-deutschen Kleinstadtmief, der dem Erzahler zu schaffen machr: das Geld regien, die Politiker sind korrupt und von .bluhenden Landschaften' keine Spur. Man mochte ja zustimmen und mit ihm gegen die grasierende Konzeptlosigkeit in Politik und Winschaft bei der Bewah:igung zentraler Fragen "\Venern. doch macht es C ibulka seinen Lesern sehr schwer. Mit dec oberlehrerhaften Geste des erhobenen Zeigefingers-in schrag gedruckten aphorismusanigen Spriichen-belehrt er den Leser tiber die Ursachen dec MiGsrande: nDie kleine Miinze Charakter, wer iSI heule noch bereit, mil ihr Ztt zahlen?'" (28). Oder: "Es sind die Faciheilen des Lebens, nach denen es den Menschen Immer wieder geliiller" (41). Die Unenraglichkeir det den gesamren Text durchziehenden Gedanken zur Lage der Nation hat mit di esen Platituden ihr MaG noeh nicht erreicht. Ungleich verstorender als jene Binsenweisheiten wirkt das deutschttimelnde Sentiment, das an einigen Stellen des Buches dumpf hervorbricht. Da wird beispielsweise der Substanzverlust der Alhagssprache beklagr, die sich Angriffen aus dem englisch-amerikanischen Wonschatz ausgesetzt sahe und so zu einem .. pidginisiertem Deutsch" verkomme. das "im Sprachraum einer Na­ tion" keine Berechtigung habe und dazu fiihre, "daG wir in Ansatzen bereits amerikanisch denken" (91). So beklemmend deranige Passagen anmurcn m6gen. ziihlt Cibulka keineswegs zu jenen, die sich seit geraumer Zeit dazu berufen fuhlen. in ,anschwellende Bockgesange ' einzustimmen. Ein wiederbelebter Stolz au fs deutsche Vaterland is[ bei ih m nieht zu finden. Vielmehr ordnen seine wehmiitigen Mahnungen vor den Marotten unseres Zeitalters und die Zufluch t in quasi-rel.igiose Natur- und Heimatverbundenheit das Tagebuch einer spiice71 Liebe dem Genre der sentimentalischen Heimatliteratur zu. Wohl urn den durchweg trivialen Reminiszenzen und Beobachtungen der Erzihlerfigur philosophische Tiefe zu verleihen, werden auf den knapp einhundert Seiren von Meister Eckehardr bis Heidegger unzahlige GeistesgroBen bemiiht und zitien. Obgleich man sie alle var der wiederholten Inanspruchnahme in Schutz 66 Focus on Literatur nehmen machte, sind es gerade die Stimmen von Nelly Sachs, Gunter Eich oder Stefan George, die den hehren Ton des Tagebuches auf das Angenehmste unterbrechen. In einer Passage wird die Verd6ingung des Sprachgeistes durch die heutige Computersprache diagnostiziert und Bobrowski mit seinem Gedicht "Sprache" (1963) als Kronzeuge aufgerufen. Das Gedicht endet mit den Zeilen: ,,5prache/abgehetztl mit clem muden Mund/auf clem endlosen Weg/zum Hause des Nachbarn" (58). Bobrowskis Sprache, die nie ankommt, die sich am Rande des Schweigens bewegt, versucht noeh in ihrer letzten Silbe das Gesprich mit einem Anderen. Diesem Ansinnen scheint sich Cibulkas Tagebuch einer spdten Liehe zu sperren. New York University Peter Rosenbaum ----------... ----------- HANS MAGNUS ENZENSBERGER. Voltaires Neffe: Ene Falschung in Diderots Manier. Frankfurt a. M. : Suhrkamp, 1996.70 pp. DM 19.80. After Diderors Schauen (1994), a collection of works inspired by his self-described "Diderot-Manie," Hans Magnus Enzensberger offers his latest play, Voltaires Neffe. The work itself is an adaptation of Diderot's play I.e neveu de Rameau which, through Enzensberger's re-writing, becomes a counterfeit Diderot work, as the play's subtitle suggests. The original play involves a chance meeting in the garden of the Palais Royal in Paris between a Philosopher, ostensibly Diderot himself, and Jean-Fran~ois Rameau, the nephew of the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. In Enzensberger's version, the Nephew is related to Voltaire, while Diderot himself is mentioned only in passing. The content of the pair's conversion also changes in the counterfeit play. Whereas Diderot's version centers around discussions on philosophy, music, food, bourgeois manners, education, and more carnal pursuits, Enzensberger's version deals with colonialism, the slave trade, poli­ cies, economics, and questions of identity. Focus on Literalllr Vol. 6, No.1 (1999) Book Reviews 67 The play begins in the foyer of a Paris aud itorium. After some noise offstage, the bloody-nosed Nephew is thrown Out by servants. After a moment of self-recomposure, the Nephew is approached by the Philosopher, who offers him a handkerchief and asks what he has done to deserve such ill treatment. The Nephew admits that he at­ tempted to attend the meeting inside the auditorium without a proper invitation. Instead, he used an invitation addressed to his unde, Voltaire, the highly-esteemed philosopher and member of the Academie Franraise. The Philosopher is surprised at the younger man's auda­ city; however, the Nephew explains that he finds it amusing to wit­ ness a gathering of the supposedly-great , of whom he says, "das sind keine groBen Geister, das sind Versager" (12) . The sudden appearance of an African man, Aschoa, described by the Nephew as a "verdammter Gorilla" (15), interrupts the conversation, which later moves on to the Nephew's hatred for his uncle, whom the Nephew implicates as a slave trader. The Nephew tells the Philosopher that he t hinks his uncle is a fraud. The Nephew also talks about his patron, the Madame Bertin, with whom he fell out of favor since he refused to fawn upon her. His rejection of cajolery has left him ruined. Returning to the subject of philosophers, the Nephew mentions La Bruyere, Rochefoucauld, and his favorite, Moliere; however, he says that all he has to learn from philosophers is how to succeed in polite society and business without appearing to be unethical or treacherous. Moving on to the subject of the meeting at hand, the Nephew begins an impersonation of the luminaries assembled inside the am­ phitheater, who speak of the slave trade as the French's moral obliga­ tion vis·a-vis Africa because it allows them m save the "poor natives" t hrough Catholicism. Outraged, the Philosopher begins walking up and down the stage, cursing the Europeans, who created the colonial slave trade. After the Philosopher has fin ished his diatribe against the Western slave trade, the Nephew calls his bluff. Accusing the Philoso­ pher of hypocrisy, the Nephew tells him that he suspects that the anti­ colonial sentiments expressed in Raynal's book are actually the Philosopher's. Moreover, he tells the Philosopher that he knows about his lover, and that the Philosopher secured his lover's nephew a posi­ tion as Secretary to the Governor of Guyana. The Philosopher, un­ willing to let himself be outdone by the Nephew, attacks the legiti­ macy of the Nephew's familial lineage. Pretending to be Volraire, he 68 Focus on Liceratllr engages in an imaginary dialogue ~irh his n~ece. and explains why he needs "den Kleinen"(6S). As Voltaire, the PhIlosopher tells her that he can be put to use in ordering his papers, but not to worry, as he would only stay for a couple of weeks_ The imaginary dialogue continues: as "Voltaire" discovers tbe treachery of the Nephew, who steals anythmg nOl tied down and dares to wander around Paris calling h imself "Voltaire's Nephew." He tells his niece, who has warned him about the boy, not to worry, because he has c~led his notary an? :ad th: Nephew disinherited, should he try to claIm the fortune of hIs u~cle. The Nephew, shocked at his apparenr misfonune, begs the Phli~so­ pher to tell him where he got his information. The Philosophe~ $lIn­ ply tells him that the Nephew had probably ~hought that th e Phdos,o­ pher, like all philosophers, was a know-nothlllg. The Nephew, r.eahz- ing that he had been had, admits that he had wronged the Philoso- p~c . Suddenly, the Philosopher announces that they need a plCk­ me-up and removes a cover from one of the Louis XIV tables,. reveal· ing an espresso machine. While drinking coffee and pondenng the world that had brought them to that point, the Nephew's cellular phone rings. Madame Bertin wishes to see the Nephew immediately. Aher hanging up, the Nephew calls her a "blode Kuh" (70) and an­ nounces that he must leave. Quoting directly from Diderot's play, the pair ponders the aphorism "plus ~a change, plus c'est la meme chose" (70). Ending the play with the same thought, Enze?sberger has the various officials from the meeting rerurn to the stage ill modern dress, and the Philosopher and the Nephew remain the only characters in 18'" Century dress. Enzensberger's counterfeit D iderot play is both true to the former's vision of wit and vulgarity, yet quite different from the original's critique of current cultural figure~ a,nd practices. ~~e new version of Le neveu de Rameau becomes a stnkingly strong cntlque of the economic desires that drove colonialism and the slave trade that developed from it. Through the defamiliarizing effects of m~de.rn dress at the play's conclusion, Enzensberger's ideas about coioDlahsm and its legacy become clear: plus fa change, plus c'm la mime chose. The University o/Texas at Austin Michael Conner Book Reviews 69 GABRIELE KEISER. Mordergrr!be. Leipzig: Reclam, 1998.226 pp. DM 16.90. Nina Lorenz has had enough of her boring life and is ready for a change. As a medical assistant, she spends her days collecting urine samples and attempting to prevent an endless array of sick patients from pass­ ing out at the sight of the needle. She is tired of the drudgery of her uneventful life and cannot bear the thought of hearing one more Story from another incurable hypochondriac. Just when she thinks she sim­ ply will not survive another day, her prayers,are answered. When Uncle Hermann suddenly die~, her life is forever changed, all because of one thing-an inheritance. No one would have believed that stingy Uncle Hermann· could have put away anything for posterity; he lived in the most frugal way. Even so, Uncle Hermann is dead and Nina's mother is the so le heir to his estate, which includes a tidy sum of money and an old house in the small village of Birkenbach. Nina's mother has always wished for morc happiness for her daughter and it occurs to her to offer the inheritance to Nina, hoping it will change her life. Nina bas inherited a way out of her drudgery-a house in the country! She has always dreamed about getting away, living among the fruit trees in a place far removed from medical clinics, sy­ ringes and those depressing patients. She celebrates with Madeleine, her free-loving free-sp irited best friend (who, incidentally, resembles Botticelli's Venus), and she begins making plans for her new life. Nina shares the news with her married boyfriend Harry. He has been married for years and Nina has no desire to change that fact. She is happy occasionally to have someone to warm her bed, someone with whom she does not have to spend toO much time. If the truth be told, Nina is a loner, preferring time at home to anywhere else. Harry and Madeleine are there for suppOrt when they are needed and Nina prefers it that way. fn any case, Harry is quite well-off. Having worked in business for years, he has acquired quite a comfortable life style. Nina convinces Harry to help her financially while she renovates her new house. He agrees to provide her with enough money so that, for a time, she is able to take a leave of absence from her job and devote herself to her new domicile in the country. Driving out to Birkenbach for the first time, Nina is struck by the serenity of the place. Farmers are tending to t heir fields and the Focus on Liuralur Vol. 6, No. 1 (1m) 70 Focus on LiteraCltr fragn.nce of cherry blossom wafts in the air. It is such a stark contraSt to the stench of the ciry! Here she can breathe freely. She feels liber­ ated. Even the street where she will soon live has a poetic ring to it: "Uoter clem Gedankenspiel." She is full of anticipation and hope. This place reminds her of her childhood summer hol idays spent with her gnndmother in the country. These are sweet memories, full of inno­ cence and awakening. Will this place be just as innocent? There is much to be done to the old house, but to Nina it is a fresh canvas, lying in wait for her creative potential to be realized. She moves i.n right away. Harry drops by the new love nest for dates (he is much more at ease in the country, as surely no one will recognize him so far away from the city and his wife) or occasionally to help with the more complicated renovation chores. The house indeed has potential. There is a ruce garden in the back and the house itself is large, com· plete with a very large cellar in the basement. The stairs leading into the cella.r are so old and in such bad condition, however, lhat Nina does not [rust herself to go down them. She decides to work on [he first floor first and eventually fl. ... the staircase and remodel the base­ ment but she will have plenty of time for that later. In the meantime, she makes an auempt to get to know her neighbors, most of whom are quite older than she. The peculiar thing is, l.hat as soon as they learn which ho~ is Nina's, they act very str.rngely but will not say why. Nina is mystified by their reactions and is determined to find out what is behind their nervousness. She searches out the women in the village who seem to know all tbe busi­ ness of all the residents who ever lived in Birkenbach, and a Story begins to unravel. A man has been missing in Birkenbach for quite some time. It was a very well-publicized event in stich a sleepy village. The man was the butcher in the town and also happened to have lived in Nina's house. Soon Nina becomes obsessed with researc h ing t he history of her house and is relentless in asking questions, which proves to be a great annoyance to her neighbors. Meanwhile, Nina begins to unpack the content of the dusty boxes left by the former resident. There is a great prepondennce of books, moSt of which are mysteries or gothic thrillers. There are many books by Edgar Allan Poe in which many passages are strangely un· derlined, especially in his The Fall 0/ the House 0/ Usher. AJongside: the: books are box after box of pornographic magazines. Nina's curiosity Book Reviews 71 has been peaked. She wants to go searching through her basement but has an aversion to going down there. As a child , she had been the one to discover her own father, dead of a heart attack, ly ing prostrate on their cellar floor. Since then she has not been fond of dark cellars, but o ne could see the mold growing rapidly over the stone walls leading downstairs and she cannot put off cleaning down there much longer. She carefully makes her way downstairs and notices a fierce odor, which she blames on rotted vegetables that she finds in the sand bottOm of the cellar. The smell is so overpowering she goes back upstairs, prom­ ising herself to have the area cleaned as soon as possible. In the next weeks she finds out more f