On a scale of 1 to 10, that was a 100 for me. A fantastic celebration of German-language literature. Has the internet seen anything like it? Thank you everyone for your very enthusiatic participation. It truly was impressive and the master index of authors and works discussed which I will post tomorrow will show you just how much you deserve the standing ovation that I am giving you right now. One question: Should we do this again next year?
Not that I am suggesting you stop reading German literature in the interim. Thanks to the generosity of many publishers and the Goethe Institute, Caroline and I gave away lots of German literature (about 40 books in total) and I’m delighted that the first reviews of those books started to appear during German Literature Month. I’m looking forward to seeing more of those reviews as the months pass.
It’s my final duty as co-host of German Literature Month to announce the results of the German Book Prize Shortlist Giveaway. There were 5 entrants so that means 1 for each and 1 for me! Result! But who gets what?
I’ve decided that first pick goes to Tony, whose parody of Kafka’s Das Schloss had me in stitches. (Also we need to keep him sweet so that he keeps our German Literature tour bus roadsworthy.) Thereafter, everyone gets something from their wishlist. So:
Tony receives the book prize winner In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts. Fl receives Die Schmerzmacherin. Rikki receives Wunsiedel and Winstonsdad receives Blumenberg. My ever-efficient co-host (whose patience never faltered in the face of my whimsical changes of reading plan) Caroline receives Gegen Die Welt leaving Angelika Klüssendorf’s Das Mädchen for me. (Please email snail mail addresses to lizzysiddal at yahoo dot com.)
It may be the last Wednesday of this German literature month but even so, it’s still wunderbar! (There are more surprise giveaways over at Caroline’s place …)
German Literature Month 2011 personal summary:
Books read: Alina Bronksy - The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine / Heinrich Böll – The Silent Angel / Sebastian Fitzek – Therapy / Theodor Fontane – Effi Briest / Heinrich von Kleist- Selected Writings / Julya Rabinowich – Splithead / Theodor Storm – Carsten The Trustee and Other Stories / Heinrich Heine – Buch Der Lieder
Beers imbibed: Efes recommended for drinking when reading Jakob Arjouni / Weihenstefan recommended for drinking when reading Hans Fallada.
Zum Wohl! Bis nächstes Jahr?
Effi Briest - Theodor Fontane (Readalong 
The Beauty Room - Regi Claire
My Mother's Lover - Urs Widmer
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
The Rule of Four - Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
Noir - Robert Coover
The Taint of Midas - Anne Zouroudi
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
The Duel - Anton Chekhov
The Duel - Heinrich von Kleist
Gillespie and I - Jane Harris
State of Wonder - Ann Patchett
Titus Groan - Mervyn Peake
CIty of Dreadful Night - Peter Guttridge
Shadow Sister - Simone van der Vlugt
A Far Cry From Kensington - Muriel Spark
The Assault - Harry Mulisch
Next World Novella - Matthias Politycki
The Water Theatre - Lindsay Clark
Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
The Liberation of Celia Kahn - J David Simons
Nocturnes - Kazuo Ishiguro
Hotel Du Lac - Anita Brookner
Yay! I shall be e-mailing you my address immediately!
Thanks to both you and Caroline for oranising the whole event. It’s been a wonderful month, and a great way to meet bloggers who are interested in G-Lit
Now I (and the bus!) need a break from the hectic pace of blogging – seventeen posts in thirty days have taken their toll…
Hello,
Thanks for the event, I did my personal wrap-up here:
http://bookaroundthecorner.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/german-lit-month-my-personal-wrap-up/
thank you so much
i’ll write a review about it…
I hope you guys decide to host this event again. I wasn’t able to participate too much this year due to my move to London and all the wonderful complications we encountered. I did post my review of Buddenbrooks today. Sorry for the lateness. Congrats on the success of what I hope is the first of many events.
Very happy for being a part of this. Thanks to you and Caroline’s efforts.
I tuned in way too late, but the German Lit major in me (from 25 years ago) feels deprived. Do it again!
Yes, thanks for the effort and organization.
Thank you so much for hosting this with me and for my prize.
Btw – Das Mädchen is very good, I’ve almost finished it.
Thanks for hosting this event with Caroline, Lizzy! I had a wonderful time exploring new books and writers and discovering bloggers who love German literature. On your question – Yes, we should do it again next year
Dear Lizzy
Thanks for this very interesting event which made me discover new authors and texts. Please make this an annual exercise, though perhaps not in the month of November considering it is Nano writing month too. (Though going by the numbers, it hardly seems to have made any difference).
Thanks once again for the books.
Finally wrapped up for the month
Here is my final overview:
http://www.tonysreadinglist.blogspot.com/2011/12/november-2011-wrap-up-german-literature.html
Thank you, Lizzy, for the giveaway. And thanks to both of you for hosting the German Lit month. It was great fun.
thanks for hosting I sorry I fizzled out I had a horendous cold last month that distracted me some what from the blog ,all the best stu