Jenny Erpenbeck: Go, Went, Gone

Tue, 23.01.2018
6:30 PM Goethe-Institut Glasgow

Open and free to all literature friends we discuss the novel 'Go, Went, Gone' by Jenny Erpeneck.  Books are available to buy from the library beforehand.

How can you bear the passing of time when you are forced to do nothing? How can you cope with losing loved ones? Who passes on your legacy? Richard, a retired professor, has a chance encounter with asylum seekers in the middle of Berlin, and this gives him the idea of searching for answers to his questions where no one else would look: among those young refugees from Africa who have been stranded in Berlin and condemned to wait for years. And suddenly this world looks at him, the man living in Old Europe, and might well know better than he himself who he really is.

In her inimitable way, Jenny Erpenbeck has told a story of looking the other way and taking a look, of death and war, of perpetual waiting and of everything that is lying hidden beneath the surface.

Jenny Erpenbeck was born in 1967. After graduating from high school she first trained as a bookbinder before going on to study theatre science and music stage direction. While working as an opera director she debuted with her short novel Story of the Old Child, which was followed by other literary publications, including novels, short stories and stage plays. Her novel The End of Days was enthusiastically received by both the public and press alike and has been awarded several prizes, including the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2015.