Sibylle Lewitscharoff

A philosopher sits at his desk in his idea workshop. He looks up and notices something large, yellow and furry that breathes and was not there just a moment ago. There is a lion lying on the carpet in front of him. Although philosophers have learnt to distrust their eyes, this lion’s existence is so obvious that any sprouts of doubt do not put down roots. And since philosophers tend to be thoughtful people for occupational reasons, this philosopher does not lose his nerve even in the face of this mighty although apparently no longer youthful animal. (…) Sibylle Lewitscharoff, who does not have a reputation for submitting to the dictate of literary realism, lets readers of her new novel have a part in such wondrous, fabulous relationships. Is it relevant that the philosopher on familiar terms with the big cat is called Blumenberg, like the philosopher Hans Blumenberg, who died in 1996? Yes it is. (…) The lion appearing in Lewitscharoff’s novel embodies some of Blumenberg’s themes (in reverse, as it were). The phenomenal lion, at peace with itself, comes some way to meeting the human “need to be comforted”, for example, a theme addressed not only by the fictional Blumenberg. The lion not only gives comfort, he also strengthens the philosopher’s always precarious trust in the world. Readers learn that the lion functions as a seismographic “confidence generator”. This companion seems to have what it takes to recreate “the cosmos with one strike of its paw”…

Uwe Justus Wenzel: „Der Löwe ist los“
© Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 13 September 2011