I got ‘A Whole Life’ by Robert Seethaler as a Christmas present from one of my favourite friends. I read it as soon as I got it, in one day, which rarely happens for me. It is a German book, it is around 150 pages, it has big font with wide spacing and it is a hardback – all things that I love. So, no wonder, I finished reading it in a day. I have been wanting to write about it for a while, but life distractions got in the way. Last week I saw it in the MAN Booker International Prize Longlist and I was very happy. I have rarely read a book before it appeared in any longlist. I normally read some of them after they do. So, this is a wonderful first for me. So, I thought that I should no longer delay writing my thoughts. So, here is what I think.
‘A Whole Life’ tells the story of Andreas Egger, since the time he was a child till the end of his life. He starts his life as an orphan who ends up in his uncle’s home in the valley. His uncle treats him as the unofficial servant of the family and makes him do all kinds of work so that he can get a proper meal. On the way, Egger picks up different kinds of skills, moves out of his uncle’s home and gets a job at a company, does all kinds of risky work, falls in love, gets married, goes to war – well you have to read the book to find out what happens to him. I think I have revealed more than necessary.
The thing I loved about Seethaler’s book was how it described life from the point of view of an introverted man – someone who is painfully shy, keeps to himself, whom everyone generally ignores, who likes learning things but does it slowly, who lives a rich interior life which others are hardly aware of. In some ways Seethaler’s hero made me remember the great introverted heroes of Patrick Suskind’s novels, ‘Perfume’ and ‘The Pigeon’. Egger has all kinds of experiences that the world throws at him and at times he seeks new ones that don’t come his way. And in the end he looks back and decides that he has lived an interesting life – it was satisfying and contented though he could have done without some of the sad moments. The book also made me remember Christa Wolf’s ‘August’ which has a similar plot, but the details are different – Wolf’s book is more like a short story while Seethaler’s book is more fleshed out.
There are many beautiful passages in the book, some of them about nature, some of them about life. I will share a few here so that you can get a taste of Seethaler’s gorgeous prose.
Sometimes on mild summer nights, he would spread a blanket somewhere on a freshly mown meadow, lie on his back and look up at the starry sky. Then he would think about his future, which extended infinitely before him, precisely because he expected nothing from it. And sometimes, if he lay there long enough, he had the impression that beneath his back the earth was softly rising and falling, and in moments like these he knew that the mountain breathed.
Up here the ground was soft and the grass short and dark. Drops of water trembled on the tips of the blades, making the whole meadow glitter as if studded with glass beads. Egger marveled at these tiny, trembling drops that clung so tenaciously to the blades of grass, only to tall at last and seep into the earth or dissolve to nothing in the air.
I have other favourite passages, but they all seem to have spoilers and so I didn’t want to share them here.
I have to again say here that I was delighted to see Seethaler’s book in the MAN Booker International Prize longlist. German books normally haven’t done well in international prizes recently from what I have seen and I don’t know why this is the case. Because German literature is beautiful and I love it. I don’t know whether Seethaler’s book will win the prize (I think it is up against some tough competition with Nobel Prize winners Orhan Pamuk and Kenzaburo Oe to contend against), but I will be happy if it gets into the shortlist. That is a win for me. Here’s three cheers to Seethaler for writing this beautiful book and three cheers to contemporary German literature.
I know we are still in the first quarter of the year and it is early days yet, but I have a sneaky suspicion that Seethaler’s book will end up being one of my favourite books of the year.
Have you read ‘A Whole Life’? What do you think about it?
[…] Vishy’s review at Vishy’s Blog […]
Fantastic, Vishy, I have been collecting reviews of the longlist and I couldn’t find one of The Whole Life anywhere! I have linked yours to this post http://anzlitlovers.com/2016/03/10/2016-man-booker-international-longlist/ where the combined shadow jury reviews are.
Thank you, Lisa 🙂 I have never been first at anything, in general, so this makes me very happy 🙂 Made my day 🙂
Beautiful review and what a coincidence. I just received an email from my bookshop telling me Seethaler’s novel has arrived and then I saw your review. 🙂 I’ve read a few reviews of this and was so curious. I’ve been meaning to read him for ages.
I’m always late at reading long listed books but this year I’ve read and bought some of the Bailey’s Prize before it was announced.
Thanks Caroline. Glad to know that you are planning to read the book. An email from the bookshop is always a wonderful thing 🙂 Hope you enjoy the book. I will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Happy reading! Nice to know that you have read some of the Bailey’s Prize longlist. I had read only parts of Hanya Yanahigara’s book and it was wonderful. The longlist looks great this year.
I’m reading The Portable Veblen right now and it’s so witty. Peter Stamm has a new novel out that people say is his best so far. I have a feeling I’ll be spending a bit of money when I finally get the time to go to the bookshop.
The Seethaler sounds so good. I like books about introverts with rich inner lives.
So nice to know about that Veblen book. So wonderful to know that a new Peter Stamm book has come out. I will look for it and see if it is available here. Love Peter Stamm! Hope you enjoy Seethaler’s book. Happy reading!
Squeeeee, I’m so happy you enjoyed it so much!!! Lovely review! I was hoping it would be a good fit for you 🙂 I hadn’t even noticed it was on the MANB list, how great is that? I have to admit I usually only pay closer attention to Geman books when they get translated into English and do well with that audience, it often means that it’s a book I would enjoy, too. Love the passage you picked out and I have to say the translation seems to be done really well 🙂
Thanks a lot for this beautiful book, Bina, and for making me discover a wonderful new author. I was surprised and happy that it made it into the MANB longlist. So glad to know that the translation is done really well. I should learn German one of these days, so that sometime in the future I can experience reading a German book in German 🙂
Heh, well I think you’ve already made a headway with google translator 🙂 Maybe I should post more in German again, to challenge your language skills 😉 Though you know so many already.
Thanks Bina. Know a few German words till now and know how to use the Google translator 🙂 Hopefully will be able to read more if I take German classes. It will be nice to read your German posts again 🙂
After a long time, I am back on your blog, Vishy! Your recommendations never let me down. I hope I get around to this one soon!
Thanks for stopping by Soulmuser 🙂 Glad to know that you like my recommendations. Hope you get to read Seethaler’s book and like it. It is really wonderful.
Great review Vishy. I’ve read someone else’s review as well, which is where I first heard of it. It really appeals to me and that cover looks great.
Thanks Jonathan. Hope you get to read it and like it. It is really wonderful. I will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. That cover is wonderful, isn’t it?
Yes, Vishy. I read it and I loved it too.
Glad to know that, Lizzy. Thanks for the link. Off to read your review now.
Oh, of course, it was Lizzy’s review.
Excellent review! It’s a very beautiful book, Vishy, the prose is calm and powerful. Glad you liked it so much – so did I.
Glad to know that you liked the book too, Thomas. Did you review it?
Vishy it’s now added to my list!
Wonderful to know that, Valorie 🙂 Hope you like it. Happy reading! I will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
[…] I said, I have read many positive reviews of this book. Here are a few Lizzy, Vishy, and […]
Love this review, Vishy. Hardbound, big font, and well-spaced. I love all of it. And, the story sounds wonderful. I love short books. I am surely going for this. 🙂
Thanks Deepika. Hope you get to read this book and like it. It is really beautiful.
[…] loved Austrian writer Robert Seethaler’s first novel ‘A Whole Life‘. I decided to read his next book ‘The […]
[…] Sergeyich is one of the great introvert characters and he made me think of the main character in Robert Seethaler’s ‘A Whole Life‘. His neighbour in the next street Pashka is very interesting too, and there are two women […]