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A review by misspalah
The Appointment by Herta Müller
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-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
3.0
“ and the red car was parked on the sidewalk in the same place as yesterday, only no one was inside. It was just sitting there in the sun, completely empty. To ask what it was doing there would have been as senseless as asking the same thing of the trees, the clouds, or the rooftops. I was just about ready to accept the idea that the unoccupied car should simply be where it was. Up here in the flat Paul's steps were making the floor creak, while down below on the sidewalk a woman walked into her own shadow. The summer clouds were bright and high, or, rather, soft and close, while Paul and I seemed as if we'd been stored on the wrong shelf, too tired, placed too high off the ground. Neither of us really wanted to stave off defeat—I don't even think Paul did. Our misfortune went on and on, weighing us down. Happiness had become a liability, and my ass-backward luck a kind of trap. If we tried to protect each other, it would come to noth-ing. Just as when Paul joined me at the window and I ran the tip of my finger across his chin to keep him from sticking his head out. He sensed the restraint in my affection and leaned outside: he saw the red car. Tenderness has its own meshes, whenever I attempt to spin threads like a spider I get stuck in my own web, in so many little lumpy balls. I yielded the window to Paul, he didn't think the unoccupied red car was worth more than a passing curse. “
- The appointment by Herta Muller (Translated by Micheal Hulse and Philip Boehm)
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The book received critical acclaim, but I was utterly disappointed in it. It tells the story of a young woman in communist Romania who is interrogated by the secret police for hiding notes in clothes. While this might seems intriguing, the book itself lacks a clear hero or plot. Instead, it has a jumbled, fragmented narrative without chapters, which was frustrating for the readers in general including myself. You might wonder what kind of crime that our main character did that made her repeatedly questioned by Major Albu, a government official? Her "crime" is sewing notes with her name and contact details into men's slacks at her factory job, hoping someone will marry her so she can leave the country. One might think the crime was not even considered a crime in the current context but Herta Muller wanted to show that the harshness of life under the regime is evident. In this story particularly under Ceauşescu the author showed how it caused numbness in living life and causing people to simply give up. While the book reveals some aspects of this life, it does so in a confusing way. The novel appeals to those who enjoy bleakness in literature, which i must say what i usually love to read but it failed to appeal to me. While the subject matter is interesting, the plot had inconsistencies, and the ending was unclear. Under the regime itself, whereby people don’t really have a will to live but somehow indulging in affairs made it so contradictory in connection to many of the characters in the book. I have to say that it does make me feel all these sexual relationships are pointless no matter how prominent they are in the book. Although these affairs were made to be meaningless as it is not based on love or lust. I have to acknowledges the author, Herta Muller is a good writer. The book thrived on highlighting a stream of consciousness of our main character which occasionally offered brilliant metaphors and insights. Be that as it may, this particular book felt dull, unappealing and difficult to read.
- The appointment by Herta Muller (Translated by Micheal Hulse and Philip Boehm)
.
.
The book received critical acclaim, but I was utterly disappointed in it. It tells the story of a young woman in communist Romania who is interrogated by the secret police for hiding notes in clothes. While this might seems intriguing, the book itself lacks a clear hero or plot. Instead, it has a jumbled, fragmented narrative without chapters, which was frustrating for the readers in general including myself. You might wonder what kind of crime that our main character did that made her repeatedly questioned by Major Albu, a government official? Her "crime" is sewing notes with her name and contact details into men's slacks at her factory job, hoping someone will marry her so she can leave the country. One might think the crime was not even considered a crime in the current context but Herta Muller wanted to show that the harshness of life under the regime is evident. In this story particularly under Ceauşescu the author showed how it caused numbness in living life and causing people to simply give up. While the book reveals some aspects of this life, it does so in a confusing way. The novel appeals to those who enjoy bleakness in literature, which i must say what i usually love to read but it failed to appeal to me. While the subject matter is interesting, the plot had inconsistencies, and the ending was unclear. Under the regime itself, whereby people don’t really have a will to live but somehow indulging in affairs made it so contradictory in connection to many of the characters in the book. I have to say that it does make me feel all these sexual relationships are pointless no matter how prominent they are in the book. Although these affairs were made to be meaningless as it is not based on love or lust. I have to acknowledges the author, Herta Muller is a good writer. The book thrived on highlighting a stream of consciousness of our main character which occasionally offered brilliant metaphors and insights. Be that as it may, this particular book felt dull, unappealing and difficult to read.