Read and discuss works by contemporary German authors in this series hosted by the Goethe-Institut. All books can be read in recent English translation or in the German original; our discussion will be in English. Led by local German professor
Amanda Sheffer (The Catholic University of America), this book club focuses on contemporary fiction and will explore experiences and thoughts about the text.
Ein ganzes Leben (A Whole Life) by Robert Seethaler (2014, translated 2017)
When Andreas Egger comes to the valley where he will spend his life, he is approximately four years old - no one knows for sure. He grows up to be a qualified farmhand and then joins the work force as a young man building one of the first mountain railways, which brings electricity and the resulting light and noise to the valley. Then comes the day when Egger first finds Marie, the love of his life, who he will lose again. Only many years later, when Egger starts his last journey, is she with him again. And he, for whom much time has passed, looks at the years that lie behind him in awe. A simple and deeply moving story.
Robert Seethaler, born 1966 in Vienna, is an award-winning writer and scriptwriter. His fourth novel
The Tobacconist became a big hit with the public.
A Whole Life is his first book at Hanser Berlin. Robert Seethaler lives in Vienna and Berlin.
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In cooperation with the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at The Catholic University of America.
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