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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Dark satire a la T. Corraghessen Boyle based on the life of German cocovorian August Engelhardt. A cocovorian is someone who thrives solely on coconuts and the only cocovorian in history is likely to be August Enghelhardt.
Engelhardt used his inheritance to charter a ship to the South Seas and buy an island where he could start a sect of coconut eating, sun worshipping, close eschewing people.
So, Kracht does not have to do much to point the needle to absurd.
What he does deliver is a whip-smart, beautifully written, devilishly clever comedy. His style is a combination os ironic indifference and Monty Pythonian absurdities.
The first third of the book Kracht is on fire cracking jokes, running through the plot at a brisk jog and generally having a hell of a time, which means we do to. The book starts to settle down and become less frenetic. Unfortunately, frenetic is what Kracht does really well. So, when the pace slows, our interest lags a bit. Everything picks up in the finally as a group of plot points converge and as Engelhardt falls into full blown mania (not a spoiler, you know he would.
Kracht is an intellectual gesture and Imperium is a fun, fine work.
Engelhardt used his inheritance to charter a ship to the South Seas and buy an island where he could start a sect of coconut eating, sun worshipping, close eschewing people.
So, Kracht does not have to do much to point the needle to absurd.
What he does deliver is a whip-smart, beautifully written, devilishly clever comedy. His style is a combination os ironic indifference and Monty Pythonian absurdities.
The first third of the book Kracht is on fire cracking jokes, running through the plot at a brisk jog and generally having a hell of a time, which means we do to. The book starts to settle down and become less frenetic. Unfortunately, frenetic is what Kracht does really well. So, when the pace slows, our interest lags a bit. Everything picks up in the finally as a group of plot points converge and as Engelhardt falls into full blown mania (not a spoiler, you know he would.
Kracht is an intellectual gesture and Imperium is a fun, fine work.
Faszinierende Geschichte, für meinen Geschmack jedoch häufig etwas zu gewollt.
Fantastic - my kind of novel! It will not appeal to the taste of all readers, of course. I can't remember where I heard about it, but I'm glad a noted the title at the time. A satisfying surprise.
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Too many questions remain unanswered for me. What was the whole point of this book?
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nasty little book. Definitely funny--how could it not be? Books about vegetarian nudist coconut eaters are truly few and far between. But once the novelty wears off, what are you left with? An interesting perspective on German colonialism, a commentary on German vegetarian fanatics (ring a bell?), but what else? Kind of limited in scope, although the scope is surely unique. Yet another inscrutable Swiss novelist! Pace Dürrenmatt.
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Kracht's 'Imperium' is an analysis of the corruptive tendencies of absolute power. Thematically, this is a strong novel (GR friend Meike does a nice deep dive on this in her review). I also enjoyed the ironic delivery. I give it a lower rating because I didn't enjoy reading about the central character. August Englehardt is a gross guy. I mean cringeworthy gross to the point of distraction. I realize that this was intended to illustrate the depth of the depravity, but the novel would have been better served if Kracht had touched on this more lightly, avoiding the scab and fingernail eating maybe. The chapters that didn't directly involve Englehardt were much better. I am interested in reading Kracht again, but this one was a low three stars for me.