Open and free to all literature friends we discuss the novel 'The Pine Islands' by Marion Poschmann which is shortlisted for the German Book Prize 2017. Books are available to buy from the library beforehand.
The Pine Islands is a novel of masterful lightness: profound, humorous, and exciting, it goes straight to the heart.
Gilbert Silvester, a lecturer and researcher on beard fashions in film, is in shock. The previous night he dreamt that his wife was cheating on him. In one sudden, irrational act he leaves her, gets on the first available plane, and flies to Japan in order to get some distance. Once there he comes across the travelogues of the classical poet Bashō. Suddenly Gilbert has a goal: like all wandering monks he too wants to see the moon over the pine islands. On the tradition-steeped pilgrims’ route he’ll be able to lose himself in nature and leave his inner turmoil behind. But before he even begins he meets the student Yosa, himself on the way with a completely different kind of guide: the Complete Manual of Suicide. Will Gilbert be able to talk Yosa out of his plan? And what metamorphoses will Gilbert the coffee drinker go through himself in the Land of Tea…?
Marion Poschmann was born in 1969 in Essen and studied German Studies, Philosophy and Slavic Studies. She currently lives in Berlin. Poschmann has been recognised for her poetry and prose many times, and was most recently awarded the 2011 Peter Huchel Prize and the 2011 Ernst Meister Prize for poetry.
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