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Sommerhaus, später.

3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 · rating details · 410 ratings · 31 reviews

Eine Menge Vorurteile werden mit Judith Hermanns Debütwerk beseitigt: Erstens, es gibt doch gute deutsche Nachwuchsautoren, zweitens, die Gattung der Erzählung ist nicht tot, und drittens, deutsches Schreiben ist per se nicht schwerfällig und grüblerisch, sondern kann, so zeigt Sommerhaus, später, sehr leichtfüßig und virtuos daherkommen.

Die Erzählperson schlüpft in neun

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Taschenbuch, 187 pages

Published October 1st 2000 by Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag (first published September 1st 1998)

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Dec 17, 2012 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summerhouse, Later
By Judith Hermann

These stories inhabit Berlin after the wall, an underworld Berlin of artists and hangers-on, communes and cafes. In this world, feelings exist below the surface, coloring the characters’ lives in ways they don’t understand. A woman tells a romantic story of her grandmother’s early life in Russia, but it is not the story she wants to tell. A young man with a girlfriend who satisfies him becomes obsessed with a young woman he meets on a train, an obsession no les...more Summerhouse, Later
By Judith Hermann

These stories inhabit Berlin after the wall, an underworld Berlin of artists and hangers-on, communes and cafes. In this world, feelings exist below the surface, coloring the characters’ lives in ways they don’t understand. A woman tells a romantic story of her grandmother’s early life in Russia, but it is not the story she wants to tell. A young man with a girlfriend who satisfies him becomes obsessed with a young woman he meets on a train, an obsession no less powerful for its lack of sexual expression. A young woman spends a night bar-crawling with a young man towards whom she has ambivalent, confused feelings. “I felt sorry for him,” she says, “and thought that I never, ever wanted to see him again. I repressed the impulse to get up, walk over, take away the megaphone, and kiss him.” At the end of the evening an Indonesian woman they encounter unexpectedly tells an unforgettable pornographic joke that gives voice to the anomie of emotional lives with permeable boundaries.

As told by Judith Hermann, these stories evoke feelings everyone has but most will automatically reject or deny. These emerge naturally from the physical sensations and everyday experiences that are as precisely drawn as the character’s emotions are amorphous. After you read these stories, you will know what summer feels like in Berlin, you will have heard and smelled the streets, you will have experienced the closeness and anonymity of the bars and cafes. From this concrete sense of place, the reality of human inner life emerges in Judith Hermann’s writing with unexpected and unforgettable forcefulness.

Hermann has been compared to Raymond Carver, but a much closer comparison is Hemingway’s early stories, In Our Time. The stories are told in a cool prose whose apparent simplicity hides its brilliance. Margarot Bettauer Dembo’s translation brings into English the precision and understatement, the underlying sense of drama, that gives the German prose its power. The translation is particularly skillful in rendering the colloquial, often semi-articulate dialogue. Judith Hermann deserves a wider readership; I hope Margaret Dembo’s exemplary translation will make this happen.

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Feb 14, 2012 Kris McCracken rated it 2 of 5 stars

a collection of short stories by German literary sensation Judith Herman, The Summer House, Later is subtitled A book about the moment before happiness. This collection of melancholy, quietly-spoken mediations is a varied lot. For the most part, not much happens.

Characters drink (tea, coffee, vodka), smoke (cigarettes, pot, hash), go out, stay in, get together, break up. If there is one discernible thread it is the almost intangible air of discontent.

There is great craft at work here, but I must...more

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Jul 15, 2011 John Brookes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Summerhouse, Later" is a collection of short(ish) stories – largely set in modern Berlin – which, despite itself, manages to be quite engaging.

I say despite itself because it seems that the author, Judith Hermann, is consciously trying to evoke a sense of isolation and emotional detachment in these disparate stories… This is reflected in both the language (with its staccato, matter-of-fact delivery) and the narratives themselves, which often end abruptly, with no resolution of sorts.

However, de...more "Summerhouse, Later" is a collection of short(ish) stories – largely set in modern Berlin – which, despite itself, manages to be quite engaging.

I say despite itself because it seems that the author, Judith Hermann, is consciously trying to evoke a sense of isolation and emotional detachment in these disparate stories… This is reflected in both the language (with its staccato, matter-of-fact delivery) and the narratives themselves, which often end abruptly, with no resolution of sorts.

However, despite these stylistic mannerisms I found the book to be extremely enjoyable and affecting. Indeed the narrative coldness of much of the writing only serves to accentuate some genuine moments of pathos and humanity that occur in this book.

I have been speaking in largely abstract terms about the literary feel of this book so far; but that is not to say that the stories themselves are not of genuine human interest. Indeed, there is a fascinating range of scenarios and characters played out in the nine stories contained herein. I won’t detail the stories themselves here – I would rather encourage you to read them yourselves! – but there is a strong thematic link, in that they all feature individuals who are somehow divorced from their surroundings; who are alienated by a fragmented society yet still a part of that society. This is the common thread that Hermann interweaves between the characters here – be they a bohemian twenty-something partying their way through Berlin’s art scene, or a reclusive scriptwriter who has put those days behind him to concentrate on a peaceful family life, or a lonely old man in a tenement whose interest is life is briefly, and painfully, ignited by the appearance of a transient young female neighbour.

Two of these stories ('Hurricane' and 'Hunter Johnson Music') take place outside of Germany; and whilst I believe the former has something to say about modern Berlin (featuring ex-pat Germans on a Caribbean island); the latter is a real surprise. It is evocatively written about an old-timer living in a downtown US tenement and reads almost like a film script based on an Edward Hopper painting. It is shot through with a classic American gothic literary feel, and this only serves to demonstrate the versatility of this debutante German author.

Regarding this point, in several other reviews the word ‘cinematic’ is used in regards to this book, and it is notable that in one of her stories Hermann name-checks Andrei Tarkovsky – a Russian film-maker who was known for his long-takes, his deliberate inaccessibility and his cold, isolated film style. This is a perfect way to describe Hermann's own literary style.

Elsewhere in this book we are treated to a series of vignettes regarding the disparate (and generally dissolute) lives of contemporary Berliners. As the UK’s “The Independent” newspaper review stated:

“The title story is most telling. A group of friends lead typically bohemian Berlin lives, filling their days with drugs, boredom and the odd bar job. They suffer from the malaise of nothingness, while studying a "sophisticated, neurasthenic, fucked-up look". Only Stein has a dream: a summerhouse. Yet when he achieves the dream, it folds. As Hermann says, the summerhouse is "the moment before happiness" that is best put off until later. These stories are not the confused musings of some doe-eyed voguish Berliner who knows not what to do with her time. The Summerhouse, Later is an elegant and perceptive reading on the emptiness that fills our lives. Its author is a master storyteller.”

I would concur with this – and Hermann is an author that I shall revisit.

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Apr 02, 2011 Jens rated it 2 of 5 stars

Das Buch war eine Empfehlung einer Freundin, und da es nicht mehr als 160 Seiten in einem relativ kleinem Format enthält dachte ich mir, dass es ein kurzweiliges Lesevergnügen sein könnte. Allerdings kam es dann doch etwas anders. Das Buch, welches von Kritikern sehr gelobt wurde, ist eine Sammlung von Kurzgeschichten. Die haben den Vorteil sich schnell lesen zu lasse, aber den Nachteil, dass sie meist dann aufhören wenn es interessant wird. Ich befürchte das ist auch der Grund warum mir das Buc...more

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May 02, 2013 Cindy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book frustrated me! The stories had neither a solid beginning or ending. The one thing I will say about the author is that she kept me reading even when I was shouting at myself to stop! She was able to pull me into her characters, but at the end of each story I felt cheated! I guess I probably kept reading, because I hoped that one of the stories would finally mean something! I am sad to say that THAT never happened! Also, except for the fact that it is stated on the book cover, I would ha...more

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Apr 09, 2012 annik rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: germ-lit, read-in-russian

Пасмурно, дождливо, серо, холодно, утром проснешься — и уже вечер. Работоспособность на нуле. Читать радостные сказки не хочется, все насквозь промозгло и уныло. Опостыло все. Мы живем на болоте, у нас всего 2 солнечных месяца, весна наступает в мае, сырость и повышенная влажность. Сейчас десять часов утра, и самое потрясающее, что могло быть 10 часов вечера, я бы и не заметила, настолько тягучи и однообразны августовские дни. Я думаю о туристах, которые приехали посмотреть на наш чудный город,...more Пасмурно, дождливо, серо, холодно, утром проснешься — и уже вечер. Работоспособность на нуле. Читать радостные сказки не хочется, все насквозь промозгло и уныло. Опостыло все. Мы живем на болоте, у нас всего 2 солнечных месяца, весна наступает в мае, сырость и повышенная влажность. Сейчас десять часов утра, и самое потрясающее, что могло быть 10 часов вечера, я бы и не заметила, настолько тягучи и однообразны августовские дни. Я думаю о туристах, которые приехали посмотреть на наш чудный город, и какой облом их ждал. Камень в таком освещении остается камнем, он вгрызается в незащищенные сердечки, и остается там гнетущими воспоминаниями ступней о серых улицах, глаз о серых лицах и сером небе, ушей о тихих стонах ветра в подворотнях. Извращенная романтика, которая побуждает подоткнуть одеяло и еще крепче вцепиться в подушку, задернуть жалюзи и написать эссе на тему «нехватка витамина Дэ в организме». Вот в такое время и брать в руки «Летний домик, позже» и погружаться в пасмурную депрессию еще глубже, окончательно забыть, что еще неделю назад было +26 и яркое солнце. Все, сопли по поводу погоды закончились.

Голова у меня была совершенно пустая, как будто выдолбленная, было странное чувство парения, улица перед нами была широкой и мокрой после дождя, дворники елозили по ветровому стеклу, туда, сюда. Сталинские постройки по обе стороны улицы были огромными, чужими и красивыми. Город больше не был городом, который я знала, он был безжизненным, пустым, Штейн сказал: «Огромное мертвое ископаемое», я сказала, что я его понимаю, и перестала думать.

Да, вроде того. Рассказы, объединенные сочетанием событий, людей, мест, ситуаций, которые заставляют сердце сжиматься в бесконечной тоске по несбывшемуся, несвоевременному, упущенному или другому виду рефлексии главных героев. Это первоклассная депрессия в виде книги. Все герои если не несчастны и не потеряны, то словно покрыты слоем пыли, по собственному желанию или простому недосмотру. Меня засосало в книгу, распылило по рассказам, там я и осталась, уже не ноя по поводу климата и понижения иммунитета. Клин клином?

Хорош последний рассказ, «Любовь к Ари Оскарссону» — хотя бы из-за внезапно крышесносительного конца, который стал настоящей кульминацией такой странной и потрясающей книги. Но и остальные не отстают, я склоняюсь к мысли, что Ари я выделила только из-за того, что он последний, мастерски подобранный последний. Ну и из-за Тромсё.

Точно могу сказать, что раньше такой утонченной, дымчато-неосязаемой беспроглядности я не внимала. Всем жителям относительного севера с пасмурными, тяжелыми тучами, нависающими над городом 24 часа в сутки — брать книгу в руки и буксовать на рассказах Герман.(less)

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May 21, 2012 Friederike Knabe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: german-lit

A nameless young woman recalls her great-grandmother in Russia, reminded of her by the treasured possession, an antique red coral bracelet that had triggered an abrupt change in both their lives. A cab driver, called Stein (stone), dreams of an old stone summer house along a lake outside the big city, yet may be in greater need for a friend to realize the dream. These two stories form the bookends of Judith Hermann's debut collection, "Summerhouse, later" (2001, in German 1998). Nine stories dep...more A nameless young woman recalls her great-grandmother in Russia, reminded of her by the treasured possession, an antique red coral bracelet that had triggered an abrupt change in both their lives. A cab driver, called Stein (stone), dreams of an old stone summer house along a lake outside the big city, yet may be in greater need for a friend to realize the dream. These two stories form the bookends of Judith Hermann's debut collection, "Summerhouse, later" (2001, in German 1998). Nine stories depict scenes in the lives of, primarily, thirty-something individuals, who, alone or in small groups, represent a Berlin generation in limbo - hovering between past and future. For them, the fall of the Berlin Wall and all that came before is long past, yet their expectations for the future remain uncertain or vague at best, for some it is beyond any need for reflection even.

While each story is distinct in its theme and characters, together they make up more than the sum of the parts. There is an overarching sense of Berlin reality, a sense of loss, covered up by attitudes of laissez-faire and disinterest in others and even oneself. In some aspect reminiscent of the 1968 generation, yet without any political or social ambitions, intensely argued at the time, Hermann's characters seem to be drifting through life: jobs are casual, careers not apparent or of interest. The individuals avoid forming serious attachments; sex is casual or not at all of interest; love, if it happens is fragile or fleeting. Conversations are aloof - the sense of loneliness permeates much of the stories. Written in a quiet, detached, and precise language, these first impressions of a disaffected youth, however, are only created at the surface level. Underneath, we immediately sense the characters' uneasiness and helplessness, their deep-seated sense of loss, the need for nostalgic reminiscences of a better past and, yes, glimmers of hope. Hermann's understanding and sensitive depiction of her characters' minds and their circumstances speaks directly to the reader. We feel strangely affected and moved by her protagonists; they and their stories will linger in your mind for a long time.

Hermann's narrators live somewhat outside the established society, most are uncertain about their role in the present (post-wall) society. The setting is not always Berlin, yet, like the author herself, the characters carry Berlin in their blood wherever they go. Landscapes and seasons are closely connected; both often mirror the inner sentiments of the stories' characters. It is usually winter in Berlin - with the suffering of cold in the old poorly heated apartments being offset by the enjoyment of walks in the snow. Summer is evoked in the countryside around Berlin, at the lake or the river Oder. A group of friends is invited to a Caribbean island; naively, they want to experience a hurricane... Or Marie, who is reflecting on her new artist friend: "Happiness is always the moment before, The second before the moment in which I actually should be happy. In that second I am happy and don't know it". I liked all nine stories, even if for varying reasons.

Judith Hermann appeared on the German literary scene in 1998 with this first of her (now three) story collections and, since then, has garnered several prestigious literary awards. In Germany she has been grouped together with other young women authors, all born around 1970, and all from Berlin (East or West), such as Jenny Erpenbeck (Visitation) or Julia Franck (The Blindness of the Heart: A Novel).(less)

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Jul 24, 2007 Saxon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those in our 20's who want some stories about yourself...

Shelves: newish-books

Suggested to me by my German friend, "Summerhouse, Later" is a collection of short stories by new, up and coming writer, berliner; Judith Hermann.

In my slow, summer exploration into reading new fiction, I picked this up and read it rather quickly. The language is relatively simple and is complementary to the stories which often play out like someone retelling you a memory over a cup of coffee. The characters are often in their mid-20's facing a future that they do not entirely know how to embra...more

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Feb 11, 2010 Alik rated it 3 of 5 stars

Da dieses Buch eines der ersten von mir auf Dt gelesenen Bücher war, besteht ein grosser Teil meiner Sternchen-Sympathie aus dem Beflügelungsgefühl beim Lesen in einer fremden Sprache. Das später erschienene zweite Buch der Autorin habe ich nicht vor zu lesen, da mir die Texte, die ich in einer Lesung gehört habe, ziemlich wässrig vorkamen.

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Apr 24, 2013 Säbelzahnfuchs rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: pretentious-rubbish, read-in-uni

Desinteressierte, rotweinsaufende, uninspirierte Berlin-Prenzlauer-Berg-Bewohner, die völlig passiv im Teich der (selbstverschuldeten) Bedeutungslosigkeit dümpeln und sich selbst auf den Keks gehen - ihnen wird in der Gegenwartsliteratur definitiv zu viel Platz eingeräumt.

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Mar 16, 2012 Ritja rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: deutschland

Mehrere Kurzgeschichten in einem Band, die nicht immer gut waren. Ein paar Geschichten bestachen durch ihre Klarheit und machten Spaß zu Lesen, andere wiederum waren einfach nur langatmig (selbst für eine Kurzgeschichte).

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Nov 23, 2010 René Remington rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: belletristik

Nine short stories by the Berlin author Judith Hermann. They all share some sort of eventless but beautiful atmosphere although the quality fo the short stories vary in my opinion. I would say "Sonja" is the best one.

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Jan 16, 2012 John Hatley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very beautiful, moody book of short stories. It is the artist's style of writing that creates those moods. It's hard to believe this is her first book!

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Dec 06, 2011 Uklatsch De la Mancha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Contemporary german writing has been highly influenced by this book. A collection of short stories, located in and around Berlin.

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Jan 06, 2010 Kendra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My first book of 2010. Very creative stories that were very descriptive in style.

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Feb 25, 2012 Neva rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One star for "The end of something" and "Sonja", the only two short stories here that aren't just a kitschy excuse for making some futile characters lose their time while being depressed over losing their time (or is it over being futile?). I wish I'd learned something, I wish I felt for this book some emotion apart from irritation, I wish there was a touch of humour, I wish I could see something to admire for a moment or something relevant, meaningful, gripping, memorably happy or unhappy that...more

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Apr 12, 2008 Doris rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of intense moments

Recommended to Doris by: a former flat mate

Hermann's collection of short stories is paradoxical in a way: It is timeless and universal while depicting a certain moment in history and a certain place (Berlin in the late 1990s). It is about people living for the moment, looking for a truth, for life itself, postponing the right moment which never comes. The prose and the perspective is plain, almost distanced, but there is something lying underneath which is enormously touching. One of the best German books I have read in a long time.

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Aug 26, 2011 Kat rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-2011

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Mar 26, 2013 Ēna rated it 3 of 5 stars

In this book there are very interesting, but uncompleted short stories. I felt like something was missing, but that feeling wasn't bad.

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Mar 27, 2013 Ashley Mcphee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Brilliant.

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Aug 22, 2007 Barbarajean rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book in German and English only to find the German esoteric language value lost when I read the English version. Perhaps intention and meaning suffered in translation but it's probably more along the lines of losing the need to understand every word when everything was simply written in English. Nevertheless, the English version is quite good. I think the art and literature coming out of Berlin at the moment is notable.

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Feb 16, 2013 Vivian rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: tried-to-read

I tried, I really tried. But at the halfway point, I gave up. What a piece of meaningless babble. Could not see a plot or a reason for any of the four short stories that I managed to struggle through.

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Jul 25, 2008 Andy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories

I lent this book to a friend of mine called Laura. There were feelings there and I guess I wanted to see if she could pick out the same feelings I had picked out after reading this strange and tender collection of short stories. We drifted apart (as you do) and I never got it back. I don't even know if she ever read it.

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Jul 04, 2007 Colie! rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: German-reading Chekhov fans.

Shelves: jurmen

This is a totally rad collection of short stories that I supremely loved. She's got this incredible style of storytelling, this weird stagnation of time that dominates across the tales, even though they're all very different. It's super Three Sisters. I'm sure it's in English somewhere, and I highly recommend it.

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Jan 17, 2008 Mia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

a tease. short allegories of reunification. told through the fractured and ambiguously unconsummated yet undeniably post-coital relations of people. west germany asks east germany, was it as good for you as it was for me?

germans get this shit right.

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Jul 05, 2012 Andi rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: german, short-stories

I liked a few, but I'm not sure that I am a short story person. I read the English translation as well. It may have been better in the original German.

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Feb 21, 2010 Whitney added it · review of another edition

This was one of my suggestions for my German book club. I didn't read all the stories but the ones I did were pretty good.

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Feb 06, 2008 Sophie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Sophie by: Sascha

Strongly atmospheric short stories underlined with modern social and historical German themes.

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Dec 31, 2007 Dragana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

German Gen. Y artsies. Blasé, but good base for sophomore work (see "Ghosts" below)

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Jul 19, 2009 Nikel27 marked it as wishlist-bo-birthdayxchange · review of another edition

AngelMooch for Jadedjade)

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About Judith Hermann

Judith Hermann is a German author.

She holds a Masters degree in German and Philosophy and attended the Berliner Journalistenschule, a highly selective professional academy for journalists. During this training she did an internship with the German language newspaper Aufbau in New York.

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