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A review by blueyorkie
The Weekend by Bernhard Schlink
4.0
"How can you argue with all your common sense and ask yourself if the world, through murder, becomes a better world? "
Tricky question.
For a weekend, Jorg's sister, lawyer, and old friends gather around him, a terrorist from the German Red Army Fraction pardoned after more than 20 years in prison.
They debate, wonder, get angry, cry, sneer, scorn, reflect, sympathize, and fall in love.
Full of good intentions, a sense of duty, lies and truths, and embarrassment, they manifest their dismay, as would be ours, I suppose, in front of a friend who had become a terrorist and murderer. Does he continue to profess his convictions? How do you position yourself about him when this friend is helpless and lacks perspective in the face of everything in front of him?
This novel is short, but every sentence counts. Each sentence questions the protagonists and challenges us on terrorism and all the small terrorist acts of everyday life. The characters are human, weak, and strong.
Nature is omnipresent and offers its refuge; one would think of oneself in an entire period of Romanticism from this point of view: an old mansion, a vast meadow, a dark forest, a stream, and a bench.
In this idyllic setting, people intermingle, collide, collide. Some people discover affinities; others are disappointed. Their past comes to the surface, and it is full of life that they present themselves to Jorg, who has a lifetime to win back and to us or not.
If you want to spend a weekend in the German countryside, not a stay of abundance and peace, but two days of questioning commitment, responsibility, guilt, and self-awareness, I recommend Bernhard Schlink's novel.
Have a lovely weekend!
Tricky question.
For a weekend, Jorg's sister, lawyer, and old friends gather around him, a terrorist from the German Red Army Fraction pardoned after more than 20 years in prison.
They debate, wonder, get angry, cry, sneer, scorn, reflect, sympathize, and fall in love.
Full of good intentions, a sense of duty, lies and truths, and embarrassment, they manifest their dismay, as would be ours, I suppose, in front of a friend who had become a terrorist and murderer. Does he continue to profess his convictions? How do you position yourself about him when this friend is helpless and lacks perspective in the face of everything in front of him?
This novel is short, but every sentence counts. Each sentence questions the protagonists and challenges us on terrorism and all the small terrorist acts of everyday life. The characters are human, weak, and strong.
Nature is omnipresent and offers its refuge; one would think of oneself in an entire period of Romanticism from this point of view: an old mansion, a vast meadow, a dark forest, a stream, and a bench.
In this idyllic setting, people intermingle, collide, collide. Some people discover affinities; others are disappointed. Their past comes to the surface, and it is full of life that they present themselves to Jorg, who has a lifetime to win back and to us or not.
If you want to spend a weekend in the German countryside, not a stay of abundance and peace, but two days of questioning commitment, responsibility, guilt, and self-awareness, I recommend Bernhard Schlink's novel.
Have a lovely weekend!