Cherrypicker | Literature  The Perfect White

In his new, as always stylistically convincing novel, Christian Kracht takes his literary game of illusions to the extreme. The result is both frustrating and exhilarating.

Christian Kracht’s latest novel is a riddle—just as elusive as its title: Air. Fittingly, the narrative moves between two worlds: between the present and the realm of fairy tales, between the barrenness of northern Europe and a medieval-style fantasy world. At the centre of the story is Paul, a Swiss interior designer who lives with a one-eyed cat on Scotland’s Orkney Islands. There, he receives a commission: to paint the halls of a data centre in Stavanger, Norway, in a "perfect white".

This data centre is more than just a vast digital storage facility. It symbolises the fragility of human knowledge in the digital age. No sooner has Paul inspected the premises than he is caught in a solar flare and transported to another world. But what exactly is dissolving here? And in which world does Paul awaken?  

Vaguely fantastic

The protagonist finds himself in a pre-industrial world, where his knowledge of inventions such as paper and reading glasses leads people to perceive him as a wizard. The narrative unfolds in a similarly fantastical and diffuse manner: together with a young orphan girl, Paul, now known as "the Stranger", embarks on an epic hero’s journey that repeatedly evokes the Arthurian legends. Kracht has always enjoyed playing with literary references, but in Air, the Swiss author takes this practice to its limits: readers and critics alike are constantly led astray. Just as a reference begins to take shape, it is dropped at the last moment, dissolving once more into uncertainty.

A clear moral is nowhere to be found; instead, one must make do with a multitude of hints and suggestions. Yet this game of illusions does not detract from the reading experience: the author's delight in the German language oozes from every sentence of the novel, and stylistically, Air is at the high level Kracht has long been known for. But what remains when one closes the book and every attempt at interpretation seems to have vanished into thin air?

Kracht polarises

Practically speaking: frustration, ambivalence, enthusiasm - these are the emotions Kracht consistently evokes in his readers. Air is no exception. A glance at the reviews shows that the feature pages remain true to form: alongside positive critiques are those who claim Kracht has quite literally lost his way in his new novel—especially in the medieval “Otherworld”. That the fibbing narrator has already anticipated these disillusioned critics and holds their claim to answers up to them like a carrot is part of Kracht's usual provocative game. However, it is a truism that this attitude is not an end in itself and does not necessarily result in good literature.

Kracht remains one of the few contemporary authors who polarise (mostly) through style and language. You either love him for his approach or disapprove of his attitude. So who should one recommend the Swiss author to in a world overflowing with recommendations? Perhaps the author himself would say: Kracht is for those who love Kracht.

07/2025