"Allegro Pastell" by Leif Randt
For the eighth meeting of our international online book club, we've invited the author
Leif Randt to read and discuss his novel
Allegro Pastell with us.
THE BOOK: "Allegro Pastell"
Leif Randt writes about happiness; about Tanja and Jerome; about reality and badminton; about ideal conditions, and the weddings of others. A love story set in the 2010s...
Tanja Arnheim, whose debut novel
PanoptikumNeu enjoys cult status, turns thirty in a few weeks. With a view of Berlin's Volkspark Hasenheide, she is waiting for an explosive idea for her new book. Her boyfriend - five years older - the sought-after web designer Jerome Daimler, lives in his parents' bungalow in Maintal increasingly tries to understand his life as a spiritual retreat. The couple's long-distance relationship seems to work perfectly: they remain closely connected through text and image and visit each other for long weekends in their respective realities. Jogging through a nature reserve and meditating in southern Hesse's Main valley, permanent drifting communication and sexual fulfilment in Berlin.
Jerome and Tanja are there for each other, but not lost to each other. Parents, friends and depressive siblings reflect a suffering to which Tanja and Jerome remain largely immune. But the desire to preserve their affection without it becoming bland or painfully existential presents the couple with a great challenge.
THE AUTHOR: LEIF RANDT
© Zuzanna Kaeuzna
Leif Randt was born 1983 in Frankfurt am Main. Previously published works include the utopian
Planet Magnon (2015),
Schimmernder Dunst über CobyCounty (2011), and the London novel
Leuchtspielhaus (2009). His work has most recently been awarded the Erich Fried Prize (2016) and Leif has gained residency fellowships in Japan (2016) and Ireland (2019). Since 2017, he has co-curated the PDF and video label
tegelmedia.net.
Who can participate?
Everyone who wants to read, discover, meet German authors online and share their reading experience with others is welcome.
The conversation will be in German. All participants should have sufficient language skills to read and discuss in German.
Participation is free of charge.
Technical requirements
We will use
Zoom for our meeting. We recommend the use of a headset, as speakers can create disturbing echo effects. Participation is possible from PC and Mac. To participate, simply follow the link we will send you when you register.
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