I loved Bernhard Schlink’s ‘Homecoming’ and ‘The Reader’ and I thought at some point that I would like to read every one of Schlink’s works which has been translated into English. When I heard about ‘The Weekend’ and how it has polarized readers – with some loving the book and some hating it – I thought that I will read it for German Literature Month and see where I stand on it. I had high hopes because Schlink had a hundred percent strike rate for me till now and typically that is the sign of a favourite author for me. I finished reading ‘The Weekend’ yesterday. Here is what I think.
The story of the ‘The Weekend’ is set during the weekend in a house in the German countryside. Jörg, who had been convicted for more than twenty years, for his violent activities when he was part of the RAF / Baader Meinhof group, has been pardoned by the President and is going to be released from prison. His sister Christiane arranges for a welcome party for him at her countryside home. She invites their common friends for the party – friends who once had the same political thoughts as Jörg, but who have since then, become part of the mainstream. Though Christiane thinks that it is going to be a nostalgic and warm weekend, things don’t go as planned. There are a few verbal battles between Jorg and one of his old friends Ulrich, a few secrets come tumbling out of the closet and everyone is not what they seem.
When I read a Bernhard Schlink book, I expect a few things in the book, which I like. They include things like – a first person narrator, not too many characters but a few characters which are well fleshed out, long monologues by the narrator on life, love, truth, philosophy, law and justice, one or two surprises in the plot, many beautiful passages. ‘The Weekend’ didn’t have most of these. There is no first person narrator. There are too many characters. At the beginning of the book, I had to keep referring back to find out who is who. There are a few monologues here and there but they were not as good as one expected them to be. There are one or two surprises but they don’t have the impact that one expects. There is a tacked in 9/11 scene which feels totally out of place. There are one or two beautiful passages but not enough number of them.
The basic premise of the book – a few old friends some of whom have controversial backgrounds meet during a weekend and relive their past – is quite interesting. It raises the reader’s expectations. But I think not anyone can pull this off. I think this kind of setting would have worked well in an Agatha Christie novel. Or an Anton Chekhov play. Or maybe even a film. It didn’t work so well here.
I didn’t really like most of the characters in the book – I didn’t dislike them, but I didn’t like them either. However, there was one character whom I liked. She was Margarete, Christiane’s friend. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the space she deserved.
‘The Weekend’ is not Schlink’s best work. It was quite disappointing. Still, I think Schlink’s two good books out of three is a good strike rate though it is down from the rarefied level of a hundred percent. I hope my next Schlink novel is better.
I will leave you with one of my favourite passages from the book :
The dawns are quiet, and they are melancholy – like the noontimes and evenings, like the mornings and the afternoons. They are melancholy not only in autumn and winter, but also in spring and summer. It’s the melancholy of the high sky and the wide, empty land. The eye finds no purchase among the trees, the church tower, the electricity supply with its masts and cables. It finds no mountains in the distance and no city nearby, nothing to set boundaries and create a space. The eye loses itself. The visitor who lets his eye wander loses himself along with it, and it saddens him and is at the same time so compelling that he is seized by the longing to merge with it. Simply to lose himself.
Anyone who was born and bred here, and who sets about taking a job and founding a family, has to make his mind up. Stay or go. Staying small under this sky and in this void or growing at the cost of a life away from home. Even those who do not consciously make the decision sense that if they stay, their lives will be small even before they have really begun, and that if they leave, they are leaving behind not just a place but a life. A life whose small format is full of beauty – that’s why the visitors come back and buy themselves a house or a farm and yield to the desire to lose during the weekend.
You can find Caroline’s review of the book here.
Have you read Bernhard Schlink’s ‘The Weekend’? What do you think about it?
While I’m not happy that you read a book you didn’t like, I’m still glad we think the same about this. It’s not a good book. It’s such a jumble of not well thought-through ideas and opinions and the writing is heavy handed. I never got why this one woman wrote a book and what it was about in the end. It felt so artificially glued on. It’s sad as it’s an immensely interesting topic.
I’m glad it wasn’t my first Schlink or it would have been my last.
I liked what you said about the book – that it was a jumble of not well thought-through ideas. I totally agree! Yes, I am glad that it is not my first Schlink too 🙂 I hope to read more of his books in the future, but I am planning to lie low right now, trying to recover from the effect of this book.
Your comment about lying low made laugh… It’s really awful, isn’t it? I’ve seen so many great reviews of Summer Lies but thought – not just yet. I was actually more shocked than disappointed, I simply coundt’t believe he’d written something like this.
Yes, it is 🙂 I think Schlink probably wrote this book in a short period of time to coincide with the actual amnesty which happened around that time, about which you had written about, and because he was working with that deadline I feel that the book didn’t come out well. I read Stu’s review of ‘Summer Lies’ and it was tempting, but it is better to lie low for a while 🙂
Thanks for your review of this one. Together with Caroline’s review, this has made me think I’ll probably leave this one. I did see it in the library but decided against. I do fancy reading Summer Lies though.
‘Summer Lies’ is definitely tempting. I am staying away from Schlink for a while though. Will try to pick up ‘Summer Lies’ when I am in the mood, after that.
I was on fence with this not his best but like parts of it Vishy ,I think you’d like summer lies ,all the best stu
Thanks Stu. I want to read ‘Summer Lies’ sometime. I read your review of it and loved your review. Right now I am taking a small sabbatical from Schlink, but when I get back, I will try ‘Summer Lies’.
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[…] reads – the way children like all sweets. There was one exception, however. I was disappointed by ‘The Weekend’ by Bernhard Schlink. I loved my previous two Schlink novels and so I thought I will give this also a try. […]
I’m starting to think ahead for German literature month later this year and I wanted to get some suggestions. I may pass on this on though and stick with The Reader or Homecoming.
This advance planning is wonderful, TBM 🙂 Hope you enjoy reading ‘The Reader’ and ‘Homecoming’. I liked both of them. Will look forward to hearing your thoughts. If you haven’t read Peter Stamm’s ‘Unformed Landscape’ I would recommend that too. It was my favourite from last year’s German Literature Month and one of my favourites of the year.
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