Go, Went, Gone (Jenny Erpenbeck; translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky)
2017; 9hrs 49 mins audio (286 pages in print)
World tour stop #29
This is the second of the three books I bought last year with credits that were gifted to me (see my Oman review for the first), and I had my usual audio-book difficulty in staying with it. I chose a flight to Germany as the occasion to begin the book; perhaps I wouldn’t have begun it yet if it wasn’t for that.
Blurb: Go, Went, Gone is the masterful new novel by the acclaimed German writer Jenny Erpenbeck, “one of the most significant German-language novelists of her generation” (The Millions). The novel tells the tale of Richard, a retired classics professor who lives in Berlin. His wife has died, and he lives a routine existence until one day he spies some African refugees staging a hunger strike in Alexanderplatz. Curiosity turns to compassion and an inner transformation, as he visits their shelter, interviews them, and becomes embroiled in their harrowing fates. Go, Went, Gone is a scathing indictment of Western policy toward the European refugee crisis, but also a touching portrait of a man who finds he has more in common with the Africans than he realizes. Exquisitely translated by Susan Bernofsky, Go, Went, Gone addresses one of the most pivotal issues of our time, facing it head-on in a voice that is both nostalgic and frightening.
Yes, the problem of immigrants, especially of young, strong, violent, hurting men, is a problem everywhere in Europe, and is provoking an even more right-wing reactionary stance in many countries than in the few short years since this book was published. The thrust of the book – that the way forward is through real knowing, listening, and caring – is probably right; it’s also a bit facile to suggest it as a wide-scale solution.
The homeless immigrants in this book are a little bit too good to be true, I thought. One of them may or may not have stolen from Richard, the hero… that’s about it. Richard himself is a reasonably likeable character; his history on the Eastern side of the Berlin wall before its fall adds an interesting angle to the story, as does the background motif of the person who drowned in the lake which Richard’s house overlooks, and whose body has not been found.
I wonder if the author would make any changes in the book if she were writing it now, in 2024?
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