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Als wir träumten
Nach den Kinderspielen kommen die Kämpfe: Rico, Mark, Paul und Daniel wachsen auf im Leipzig der Nachwendejahre, zwischen Autoklau, Alkohol und Angst, zwischen Wut und Zerstörung. Jede Nacht ziehen sie durch die Straßen. Sie feiern, sie klauen, sie fahren ihr Leben gegen die Wand. Sie sind frei und dem Leben ausgeliefert. Mit direkter, wütender, sensibler und authentischer Stimme erzählt dieser Roman von dem Traum, dass irgendwo ein besseres Leben wartet.
524 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2006
158 people are currently reading
4529 people want to read
About the author
Clemens Meyer
25 books110 followersMeyer was born in 1977 in Halle an der Saale. His studies at the German Literature Institute, Leipzig, were interrupted by a spell in a youth detention centre. He has worked as a security guard, forklift driver and construction worker before he became a published novelist.
Meyer won a number of prizes for his first novel Als wir träumten (As We Were Dreaming), published in 2006,[2] in which a group of friends grow up and go off the rails in East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He received the Rheingau Literatur Preis in 2006.
His second book, Die Nacht, die Lichter (All the Lights, 2008), was translated by Katy Derbyshire and published by independent London publisher And Other Stories in 2011.[3] It won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2008.
Since then he has published his third book, Gewalten (Acts of Violence), a diary of 2009 in eleven stories, and a second novel called Im Stein (In Stone) in 2013 which was long-listed for the German Book Prize.
Meyer won a number of prizes for his first novel Als wir träumten (As We Were Dreaming), published in 2006,[2] in which a group of friends grow up and go off the rails in East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He received the Rheingau Literatur Preis in 2006.
His second book, Die Nacht, die Lichter (All the Lights, 2008), was translated by Katy Derbyshire and published by independent London publisher And Other Stories in 2011.[3] It won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2008.
Since then he has published his third book, Gewalten (Acts of Violence), a diary of 2009 in eleven stories, and a second novel called Im Stein (In Stone) in 2013 which was long-listed for the German Book Prize.
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November 10, 2024
Als wir träumten was Clemens Meyer's debut novel, a multilayered look at the collapse of the GDR through the experience of a handful of boys and young men. The story is set in Leipzig before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. I read Katy Derbyshire's excellent English translation of this, While We Were Dreaming, published by Fitzcarraldo. The novel is non-linear, with chapters shuffled out of order as we skip around in time. The non-linearity means several things. One is that we know how the story will end for most of the characters - and it largely doesn't end well. The boys are in and out of juvenile detention (later, prison), and spend most of the book engaging in rather banal toxic male behavior: fistfights, drinking, objectifying women, and the like. But the non-linearity carries an important message because it dramatizes the collapse of a narrative arc for these men. When systems fall apart and narratives collapse, there is a struggle to regain balance and find a new story in which to situate one's life. Meyer’s focus on men might at first blush seem myopic, but I read this as a story about male violence, and how that violence manifests with a system collapse, rather than as a work in pursuit of comprehensiveness. The lack of narrative arc does mean the book can feel sluggish at times, as momentum wanes from chapter to chapter, but this is one where I found patience rewarded. With the ongoing rise of far-right movements throughout Europe - and my own country in North America - Meyer's novel is just as timely now as it was when originally published.
March 14, 2023
Now Deservedly Nominated for the International Booker Prize 2023
English: While We Were Dreaming
Give Meyer the International Booker Prize already! This novel about the so-called baseball bat years is already a classic: It tells the story of a group of kids in Leipzig, East Germany, who experience the fall of the Berlin wall and the social turmoil that followed, from many people of their parents' generation losing their jobs and heading straight into an existential crisis, to the rising violence of neo-fascism that became (and still is) a bigger problem in the East than in the West, and the general feeling of being patronized and diminished (a phenomenon still hugely influential when it comes to the whole continent, see The Light that Failed: A Reckoning).
Set between 1985 und 1995, the novel focuses on Daniel Lenz (Lenz being an old poetic German word for spring, so the name hints at a new start and the protests that ultimately ended the Soviet Union). Meyer tells a typical coming-of-age story, but it unfolds in a very specific historical time: Playing in the literal debris of the failing state, Daniel and his friends are confronted with disaffected and diverted adults, the repressive GDR state, political protest, crime and drugs from an early age. Many events in the novel are auto-fictional, like the illegal club "Eastside" that Daniel and his friends open as a counter-world to their everyday experiences, and the episodes about youth detention centers (when Meyer got accepted into the prestigious German Institute for Literature in his home town of Leipzig, he had to delay his entrance, because he had to go to jail first).
So while not everything in the novel is necessarily a representation of a typical GDR childhood, it does reflect Meyer's own experience and the larger societal climate, as he explains: "I see myself as a child of this post-reunification period, the early 90s, when everything got mixed up, when I had the most formative experiences of my life. This is also described in 'While We Were Dreaming': a kind of dance on the rubble. My generation was entering puberty, we experienced a chaos of emotions anyway. And then there was this turning point, when gangs suddenly sprang up, there were street battles, drugs took over the market, and there were gangs of car thieves."
Meyer also addresses the rise of neo-fascism in the former GDR, which is still a problem, especially in his home state of Saxony (Leipzig is the capital of Saxony): "Everyone always acts so surprised. Man, why are they voting on the right?! It doesn't come out of nowhere, it has tradition. In the football stadiums of the GDR, open racism reigned supreme. I've heard slogans like "Jews Berlin" myself. In the anti-fascist GDR, this could not be a reality, it was swept under the rug. In its final phase, there was an unbelievable climate of brutalization and violence, also among children and young people. I was beaten up, threatened, once I had a huge nail held to my neck and nobody helped. It was as if the principles of the pioneers, of solidarity, had been reversed. After the reunification it exploded.”
But this novel doesn't only tackle important topics, it is also extremely well crafted: Meyer is known for his beautiful, evocative language, his astute observations and empathetic writing. Inspired by the German and the American Beats, Meyer specializes in illuminating the underbelly of German society, and no one does it like him. This text, presented in a montage style that is typical for the author, was Meyer's debut novel, it was first published in 2006 and can be qualified as a prototypical Wenderoman (a novel about the turn, meaning the watershed moment of German re-unification). Meyer has by now become one of the most important voices in German-language literature, and the baseball bat years have been one of the main topics of German literature in 2022, with young authors telling the story of growing up in the 90's in East Germany (see Wir waren wie Brüder, Aus unseren Feuern, Nullerjahre; or earlier: Mit der Faust in die Welt schlagen, Als ich mit Hitler Schnapskirschen aß etc.).
For me personally, Meyer's novel had a tremendous impact, as he is not that much older than me, and his novel was the first book that really made me understand what young people went through when the wall came down (to my defense: I was so young back then and lived so far in the South-West, I learnt about the very existence of the wall the day I saw it being demolished on tv). This is one of the books that really changed my outlook on how the world works and, to my own shock, made me realize that fellow Germans very close to my age basically grew up in a reality that was fundamentally different from my own - and this still matters greatly when people from the East and the West interact today.
Fantastic German literature, I'm glad that this will soon be available for the whole English-speaking world to read (just read everything by Meyer, like his short story collection Dark Satellites and his masterpiece Bricks and Mortar).
English: While We Were Dreaming
Give Meyer the International Booker Prize already! This novel about the so-called baseball bat years is already a classic: It tells the story of a group of kids in Leipzig, East Germany, who experience the fall of the Berlin wall and the social turmoil that followed, from many people of their parents' generation losing their jobs and heading straight into an existential crisis, to the rising violence of neo-fascism that became (and still is) a bigger problem in the East than in the West, and the general feeling of being patronized and diminished (a phenomenon still hugely influential when it comes to the whole continent, see The Light that Failed: A Reckoning).
Set between 1985 und 1995, the novel focuses on Daniel Lenz (Lenz being an old poetic German word for spring, so the name hints at a new start and the protests that ultimately ended the Soviet Union). Meyer tells a typical coming-of-age story, but it unfolds in a very specific historical time: Playing in the literal debris of the failing state, Daniel and his friends are confronted with disaffected and diverted adults, the repressive GDR state, political protest, crime and drugs from an early age. Many events in the novel are auto-fictional, like the illegal club "Eastside" that Daniel and his friends open as a counter-world to their everyday experiences, and the episodes about youth detention centers (when Meyer got accepted into the prestigious German Institute for Literature in his home town of Leipzig, he had to delay his entrance, because he had to go to jail first).
So while not everything in the novel is necessarily a representation of a typical GDR childhood, it does reflect Meyer's own experience and the larger societal climate, as he explains: "I see myself as a child of this post-reunification period, the early 90s, when everything got mixed up, when I had the most formative experiences of my life. This is also described in 'While We Were Dreaming': a kind of dance on the rubble. My generation was entering puberty, we experienced a chaos of emotions anyway. And then there was this turning point, when gangs suddenly sprang up, there were street battles, drugs took over the market, and there were gangs of car thieves."
Meyer also addresses the rise of neo-fascism in the former GDR, which is still a problem, especially in his home state of Saxony (Leipzig is the capital of Saxony): "Everyone always acts so surprised. Man, why are they voting on the right?! It doesn't come out of nowhere, it has tradition. In the football stadiums of the GDR, open racism reigned supreme. I've heard slogans like "Jews Berlin" myself. In the anti-fascist GDR, this could not be a reality, it was swept under the rug. In its final phase, there was an unbelievable climate of brutalization and violence, also among children and young people. I was beaten up, threatened, once I had a huge nail held to my neck and nobody helped. It was as if the principles of the pioneers, of solidarity, had been reversed. After the reunification it exploded.”
But this novel doesn't only tackle important topics, it is also extremely well crafted: Meyer is known for his beautiful, evocative language, his astute observations and empathetic writing. Inspired by the German and the American Beats, Meyer specializes in illuminating the underbelly of German society, and no one does it like him. This text, presented in a montage style that is typical for the author, was Meyer's debut novel, it was first published in 2006 and can be qualified as a prototypical Wenderoman (a novel about the turn, meaning the watershed moment of German re-unification). Meyer has by now become one of the most important voices in German-language literature, and the baseball bat years have been one of the main topics of German literature in 2022, with young authors telling the story of growing up in the 90's in East Germany (see Wir waren wie Brüder, Aus unseren Feuern, Nullerjahre; or earlier: Mit der Faust in die Welt schlagen, Als ich mit Hitler Schnapskirschen aß etc.).
For me personally, Meyer's novel had a tremendous impact, as he is not that much older than me, and his novel was the first book that really made me understand what young people went through when the wall came down (to my defense: I was so young back then and lived so far in the South-West, I learnt about the very existence of the wall the day I saw it being demolished on tv). This is one of the books that really changed my outlook on how the world works and, to my own shock, made me realize that fellow Germans very close to my age basically grew up in a reality that was fundamentally different from my own - and this still matters greatly when people from the East and the West interact today.
Fantastic German literature, I'm glad that this will soon be available for the whole English-speaking world to read (just read everything by Meyer, like his short story collection Dark Satellites and his masterpiece Bricks and Mortar).
April 1, 2023
Longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize
But it was the drugs, the bastard drugs that messed everything up, that smashed up our dream, the dream not even the Markkleebergers, the hools, Engel’s people and all the cops in Leipzig could put a stop to.
While We Were Dreaming is Katy Derbyshire's translation of Clemens Meyer's 2006 debut novel Als wir träumten. I've previously read her translations of two of his later (in the original, but earlier in English) works, the novel Bricks and Mortar and the story collection Dark Satellites.
My review of the former pointed to the fascinating and complex voice - "multiple perspectives and different voices, told in a non-linear fashion ... we’re not always clear who the narrator is and even within a given narrative points of view and times shift. Characters “reminisce” about the future" - but also my own frustrations as a reader, both in the subject matter, but also the excessive length which combined with the narrative style to make it hard to follow the real story. I concluded: 5 for the literary merit and the brilliance of the translation and 1 for my personal reading experience.
Reading While We Were Dreaming one can see how this, as the author's debut, developed in to the more complex later work. It shares the same (for my taste, excessive) length, the dark subject matter and very masculine point of view, and the non-linear narration. However, it's a more accessible work, the narration within each section actually relatively straightforward, and succeeded in holding my interest to the end, and making me unpiece and then engage with each character's journeys.
While We Were Dreaming is the story of a group of youths in Leipzig either side of German reunification, the main characters aged c13 at the time the Wall fell. Our narrator is Danny, and his gang of friends include: 'Porno' Paul, known for his extensive collection of magazines and videos although he found his one experience of the real act rather distasteful; Rico, once a promising amateur boxer but who has more success employing his skills are more useful for gang fights; Mark, who becomes addicted to drugs; Stefan who prefers to be known as Pitbull; and 'Little' Walter, who takes his pleasure and meets his fiery end in carjacking.
The story is told in vignettes in non-chronological order, so that we may find ourselves at a character’s funeral but only learn of his death later, or jumping from adulthood years after 1989 to school during the DDR era.
This is the story of a group from the 'wrong' side of the tracks as well as the 'wrong' side of the Wall, whose behaviour graduates from insubordination at school (Rico is the first to be send to youth custody for burning his pioneer scarf) to shoplifting, carjacking, fights with rival gangs and fans of other clubs, and alcohol and drug addicition. Detention - first in a youth centre that is almost like a summer camp but later in adult prisons - is an occupational hazard.
But Meyer also shows us their positive side: - the gangs and rival fans they most despise are those with neo-Nazi sympathies; and they are loyal to one another (although Danny's own honest narration documents some early incidents where he hid rather than helped his friends). A representative incident has them befriend an elderly lady and provide her with companionship and practical help, but the companionship is largely as she enjoys sharing alcohol with them and they help themselves, behind her back, to her cash as 'compensation' for their work.
Literature, particularly translated literature, should give on insight and empathy into different lives, and this definitely succeeded. Although I also can’t avoid acknowledging that the book most came to life not in the descriptions of fights, sex, deliquency and narcotic abuse, but rather in the scenes with which I could connect more, such as an amusing incident when two first see and use a microwave and try to make toast (the other character is Paul so no prizes for guessing what the 'mags' are):
‘I can’t see anything,’ I said. ‘We should be able to see something by now, it should be getting brown or something.’
‘Just wait another minute.’
‘Hey, the mags, weren’t you going to get the mags?’
‘Yeah, yeah. But look at this first!’
‘Come on, it’s crap, I thought we could have pizza or something.’
‘I can’t help it, Danny. My mum hasn’t been shopping yet, she was going to...’
Ding! The bell rang once, the plate stopped turning and the light went off. Mark opened the door. The bread looked exactly the same as before. He took one slice out and dropped it.
‘Damn, it’s boiling hot!’
The bread was on the floor; I picked it up carefully.
‘It’s all soft,’ I said, ‘and a bit clammy. Not exactly nice crispy toast.’
Mark used a tea towel to take the glass plate out of the microwave. He pressed his finger into the other slice.
‘I dunno, Danny, it really is a bit soft. I must have set it wrong. Look, you can set the power here, it must have been way too low...’
Or the travails of the local club, Chemie whose post-reunification history rather summarises how the society of the DDR vanishes around the boys:
We got to Chemie late, Rico and me, that Sunday in the year after the Wall came down, when we played BFC Dynamo. It was the last season of the GDR League, even though the GDR didn’t exist by then. BSG Chemie Leipzig didn’t exist any more either, we were called FC Sachsen Leipzig now, and a few months before that we’d been called FC Green-White Leipzig for a while, but we didn’t understand why, we believed in Chemie and we were Chemie, forever. BFC wasn’t called BFC either any more, they were FC Berlin, but we didn’t care, we hated them either way.
Derbyshire explains some of the translation choices she made here, including the titles of her previous translations (this one easier). It's interesting to note how her say "I want the characters’ language to change subtly as they get older, from childhood to youthful bravado to jaded machismo" as she definitely succeeds in this, and generally in the tone of the story, which is all the more striking with the non-chronological nature of the novel, this tone, as well as more explicit references, acting to signpost where we are at any point in time.
This is a less ambitious work than Bricks and Mortar but for me a personally more successful one - 4 stars for the literary merit and quality of the translation and 3 for my own reading experience. On a relatively weak International Booker list this is one of the stronger entries so I will round up to 4 stars for now.
But it was the drugs, the bastard drugs that messed everything up, that smashed up our dream, the dream not even the Markkleebergers, the hools, Engel’s people and all the cops in Leipzig could put a stop to.
While We Were Dreaming is Katy Derbyshire's translation of Clemens Meyer's 2006 debut novel Als wir träumten. I've previously read her translations of two of his later (in the original, but earlier in English) works, the novel Bricks and Mortar and the story collection Dark Satellites.
My review of the former pointed to the fascinating and complex voice - "multiple perspectives and different voices, told in a non-linear fashion ... we’re not always clear who the narrator is and even within a given narrative points of view and times shift. Characters “reminisce” about the future" - but also my own frustrations as a reader, both in the subject matter, but also the excessive length which combined with the narrative style to make it hard to follow the real story. I concluded: 5 for the literary merit and the brilliance of the translation and 1 for my personal reading experience.
Reading While We Were Dreaming one can see how this, as the author's debut, developed in to the more complex later work. It shares the same (for my taste, excessive) length, the dark subject matter and very masculine point of view, and the non-linear narration. However, it's a more accessible work, the narration within each section actually relatively straightforward, and succeeded in holding my interest to the end, and making me unpiece and then engage with each character's journeys.
While We Were Dreaming is the story of a group of youths in Leipzig either side of German reunification, the main characters aged c13 at the time the Wall fell. Our narrator is Danny, and his gang of friends include: 'Porno' Paul, known for his extensive collection of magazines and videos although he found his one experience of the real act rather distasteful; Rico, once a promising amateur boxer but who has more success employing his skills are more useful for gang fights; Mark, who becomes addicted to drugs; Stefan who prefers to be known as Pitbull; and 'Little' Walter, who takes his pleasure and meets his fiery end in carjacking.
The story is told in vignettes in non-chronological order, so that we may find ourselves at a character’s funeral but only learn of his death later, or jumping from adulthood years after 1989 to school during the DDR era.
This is the story of a group from the 'wrong' side of the tracks as well as the 'wrong' side of the Wall, whose behaviour graduates from insubordination at school (Rico is the first to be send to youth custody for burning his pioneer scarf) to shoplifting, carjacking, fights with rival gangs and fans of other clubs, and alcohol and drug addicition. Detention - first in a youth centre that is almost like a summer camp but later in adult prisons - is an occupational hazard.
But Meyer also shows us their positive side: - the gangs and rival fans they most despise are those with neo-Nazi sympathies; and they are loyal to one another (although Danny's own honest narration documents some early incidents where he hid rather than helped his friends). A representative incident has them befriend an elderly lady and provide her with companionship and practical help, but the companionship is largely as she enjoys sharing alcohol with them and they help themselves, behind her back, to her cash as 'compensation' for their work.
Literature, particularly translated literature, should give on insight and empathy into different lives, and this definitely succeeded. Although I also can’t avoid acknowledging that the book most came to life not in the descriptions of fights, sex, deliquency and narcotic abuse, but rather in the scenes with which I could connect more, such as an amusing incident when two first see and use a microwave and try to make toast (the other character is Paul so no prizes for guessing what the 'mags' are):
‘I can’t see anything,’ I said. ‘We should be able to see something by now, it should be getting brown or something.’
‘Just wait another minute.’
‘Hey, the mags, weren’t you going to get the mags?’
‘Yeah, yeah. But look at this first!’
‘Come on, it’s crap, I thought we could have pizza or something.’
‘I can’t help it, Danny. My mum hasn’t been shopping yet, she was going to...’
Ding! The bell rang once, the plate stopped turning and the light went off. Mark opened the door. The bread looked exactly the same as before. He took one slice out and dropped it.
‘Damn, it’s boiling hot!’
The bread was on the floor; I picked it up carefully.
‘It’s all soft,’ I said, ‘and a bit clammy. Not exactly nice crispy toast.’
Mark used a tea towel to take the glass plate out of the microwave. He pressed his finger into the other slice.
‘I dunno, Danny, it really is a bit soft. I must have set it wrong. Look, you can set the power here, it must have been way too low...’
Or the travails of the local club, Chemie whose post-reunification history rather summarises how the society of the DDR vanishes around the boys:
We got to Chemie late, Rico and me, that Sunday in the year after the Wall came down, when we played BFC Dynamo. It was the last season of the GDR League, even though the GDR didn’t exist by then. BSG Chemie Leipzig didn’t exist any more either, we were called FC Sachsen Leipzig now, and a few months before that we’d been called FC Green-White Leipzig for a while, but we didn’t understand why, we believed in Chemie and we were Chemie, forever. BFC wasn’t called BFC either any more, they were FC Berlin, but we didn’t care, we hated them either way.
Derbyshire explains some of the translation choices she made here, including the titles of her previous translations (this one easier). It's interesting to note how her say "I want the characters’ language to change subtly as they get older, from childhood to youthful bravado to jaded machismo" as she definitely succeeds in this, and generally in the tone of the story, which is all the more striking with the non-chronological nature of the novel, this tone, as well as more explicit references, acting to signpost where we are at any point in time.
This is a less ambitious work than Bricks and Mortar but for me a personally more successful one - 4 stars for the literary merit and quality of the translation and 3 for my own reading experience. On a relatively weak International Booker list this is one of the stronger entries so I will round up to 4 stars for now.
September 6, 2022
Chemie gegen Lok
Puff-Sex gegen Sternchen-Minne
Reudnitzer Rechte gegen Connewitzer Zecken
DDR-Pioniere ("Immer bereit") gegen BRD-Mikrowellen-Essen
Vorwende-Verwahrlosung gegen Nachwende-Verwahrlosung
Alk gegen Pillen
Gruppendruck gegen eigene Träume
und immer wieder Zigaretten und Vornamen und auf die Fresse und Umarmungen.
oder...Wie ich meine Heimatstadt besser kennenlernte und zwei vollgepisste Bushaltestellen weit in die Vergangenheit reiste.
Rezension folgt.
Puff-Sex gegen Sternchen-Minne
Reudnitzer Rechte gegen Connewitzer Zecken
DDR-Pioniere ("Immer bereit") gegen BRD-Mikrowellen-Essen
Vorwende-Verwahrlosung gegen Nachwende-Verwahrlosung
Alk gegen Pillen
Gruppendruck gegen eigene Träume
und immer wieder Zigaretten und Vornamen und auf die Fresse und Umarmungen.
oder...Wie ich meine Heimatstadt besser kennenlernte und zwei vollgepisste Bushaltestellen weit in die Vergangenheit reiste.
Rezension folgt.
April 18, 2023
Yes damn it. Yes.
August 27, 2022
Ein Buch über eine Gruppe Heranwachsender in den späten Achtziger und den frühen Neunziger Jahren im Osten Leipzigs, erzählt von Daniel Lenz, genannt Danie, dessen Lebensgeschichte Parallelen zu der des Autors aufweist. Jedes Kapitel wirft einen besonderen Blick auf die Lebensumstände der Jugendlichen, aber nicht in chronologischer Reihenfolge. Es wechselt zwischen Vor- und Nachwendezeit, birgt eine Fülle wiederkehrender Erlebnisse – Alkohol, Rauchen, Gewaltszenen, Kleinkriminalität.
Ich bin niemand, der sich darüber ärgert, wenn Autor*innen in fremde Welten und Kulturen eintauchen, sehe aber in diesem Buch, welchen Vorteil es hat, wenn über eigenes Erleben berichtet wird. Clemens Meyer weiß einfach, wovon er schreibt, er hat sie selbst erlebt, die bröckelnden Familien in den bröckelnden Häusern.
Ich hatte beim Lesen ein Bild des Gerhard-Schöne Albums „Du hast es nur noch nicht probiert“ von 1988 vor Augen und das zugehörige Lied „Sie haben Blues im Blut, die kleinen Jungen aus den großen Städten…“ im Ohr.
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„Die Eltern sind die Alten und sind geschieden…“ heißt es an anderer Stelle im Lied, der den Alltag der Kinder im Buch beschreiben könnte, aber doch den Alkoholismus der Eltern und die unvorstellbare Verrohung, die tägliche Gewalt auslässt. Der Zustand der Gesellschaft spiegelt sich im Zustand der Häuser und Straßen. Autoritäten in Familie, Schule und bei der Polizei sind faktisch nicht vorhanden oder reagieren hilflos bis brutal. Mit der Wende wird die Situation nicht besser, die Eltern haben noch mehr mit sich zu tun und ertränken ihre Ängste und Misserfolge. Die Jugendlichen spüren mit dem Wegfall des alten Systems und zeitgleich mit der Pubertät eine Freiheit, der sie nicht gewachsen sind, mit schnellen Autos, Pornos und Drogen. Sie führen ein Leben wie im Rausch oder im Traum, der sich später als Albtraum entpuppt.
Der Text ist desillusionierend, trostlos, aber so authentisch. Der Sprachstil passt zu den Jugendlichen, ist trotzdem nicht zu vulgär oder zu simpel. Durch die vielen Dialoge werden viele Szenen besonders nachvollziehbar. Einziger Kritikpunkt dabei ist, dass sich die Jugendlichen in ihrer Art zu sprechen zu sehr gleichen, was aber wiederum dazu passen würde, dass der gesamte Text von Danie wiedergegeben wird. An manchen Stellen korrigiert er seine Erinnerungen, einmal werden sogar drei Varianten des Geschehens geboten und es wird klar, dass Danie sich und seine Handlungen in ein besseres Licht rücken möchte, sich die Vergangenheit schön träumt.
Das Buch kommt völlig ohne Verurteilungen oder Moralisierung aus. Es wird nur beschrieben, wie es gewesen ist. Mich überraschte, wie viele dieser Jugendgruppen es allein in Leipzig gab, die sich teilweise rechts oder links gebärdeten, ohne sich tiefergehend zu unterscheiden. Die „Glatzen“, die „Zecken“, die „Grufties“ und andere, die in den Ruinen wohnten, von Diebstahl lebten und sich in der Jugendarrestanstalt Zeithain wiederbegegneten. Eine Innensicht dieser Anstalt zu erhalten, war besonders interessant, aber auch der Einblick in Welt der Hooligans, die Ableistung der Sozialstunden, die Wiederbegegnung mit dem Werklehrer oder die Erfahrung im Swingerclub boten viele Einsichten. Wenig zuvor hatte ich mit „Der dunkle Fluss“ ein in Nigeria handelndes Buch über Jungen in der Pubertät gelesen und war überrascht, wie sehr sich einiges glich, denn auch dort kommen die Jugendlichen nach Wegfall der Autorität und Gewalterfahrungen mit ihrem Leben in ungewohnter Freiheit nicht zurecht, auch dort spiegeln sich die Geschehnisse der Gesellschaft in der Familie.
Was mag aus den Jugendlichen in Leipzigs Osten geworden sein? Heute sind sie Mitte vierzig. Wer von Ihnen hat, wie Clemens Meyer selbst, einen Weg aus der Spirale von Kriminalität und Sucht gefunden? Ich werde wohl noch weitere Bücher des Autors lesen, um mehr zu erfahren.
Ich bin niemand, der sich darüber ärgert, wenn Autor*innen in fremde Welten und Kulturen eintauchen, sehe aber in diesem Buch, welchen Vorteil es hat, wenn über eigenes Erleben berichtet wird. Clemens Meyer weiß einfach, wovon er schreibt, er hat sie selbst erlebt, die bröckelnden Familien in den bröckelnden Häusern.
Ich hatte beim Lesen ein Bild des Gerhard-Schöne Albums „Du hast es nur noch nicht probiert“ von 1988 vor Augen und das zugehörige Lied „Sie haben Blues im Blut, die kleinen Jungen aus den großen Städten…“ im Ohr.
„Die Eltern sind die Alten und sind geschieden…“ heißt es an anderer Stelle im Lied, der den Alltag der Kinder im Buch beschreiben könnte, aber doch den Alkoholismus der Eltern und die unvorstellbare Verrohung, die tägliche Gewalt auslässt. Der Zustand der Gesellschaft spiegelt sich im Zustand der Häuser und Straßen. Autoritäten in Familie, Schule und bei der Polizei sind faktisch nicht vorhanden oder reagieren hilflos bis brutal. Mit der Wende wird die Situation nicht besser, die Eltern haben noch mehr mit sich zu tun und ertränken ihre Ängste und Misserfolge. Die Jugendlichen spüren mit dem Wegfall des alten Systems und zeitgleich mit der Pubertät eine Freiheit, der sie nicht gewachsen sind, mit schnellen Autos, Pornos und Drogen. Sie führen ein Leben wie im Rausch oder im Traum, der sich später als Albtraum entpuppt.
Der Text ist desillusionierend, trostlos, aber so authentisch. Der Sprachstil passt zu den Jugendlichen, ist trotzdem nicht zu vulgär oder zu simpel. Durch die vielen Dialoge werden viele Szenen besonders nachvollziehbar. Einziger Kritikpunkt dabei ist, dass sich die Jugendlichen in ihrer Art zu sprechen zu sehr gleichen, was aber wiederum dazu passen würde, dass der gesamte Text von Danie wiedergegeben wird. An manchen Stellen korrigiert er seine Erinnerungen, einmal werden sogar drei Varianten des Geschehens geboten und es wird klar, dass Danie sich und seine Handlungen in ein besseres Licht rücken möchte, sich die Vergangenheit schön träumt.
Das Buch kommt völlig ohne Verurteilungen oder Moralisierung aus. Es wird nur beschrieben, wie es gewesen ist. Mich überraschte, wie viele dieser Jugendgruppen es allein in Leipzig gab, die sich teilweise rechts oder links gebärdeten, ohne sich tiefergehend zu unterscheiden. Die „Glatzen“, die „Zecken“, die „Grufties“ und andere, die in den Ruinen wohnten, von Diebstahl lebten und sich in der Jugendarrestanstalt Zeithain wiederbegegneten. Eine Innensicht dieser Anstalt zu erhalten, war besonders interessant, aber auch der Einblick in Welt der Hooligans, die Ableistung der Sozialstunden, die Wiederbegegnung mit dem Werklehrer oder die Erfahrung im Swingerclub boten viele Einsichten. Wenig zuvor hatte ich mit „Der dunkle Fluss“ ein in Nigeria handelndes Buch über Jungen in der Pubertät gelesen und war überrascht, wie sehr sich einiges glich, denn auch dort kommen die Jugendlichen nach Wegfall der Autorität und Gewalterfahrungen mit ihrem Leben in ungewohnter Freiheit nicht zurecht, auch dort spiegeln sich die Geschehnisse der Gesellschaft in der Familie.
Was mag aus den Jugendlichen in Leipzigs Osten geworden sein? Heute sind sie Mitte vierzig. Wer von Ihnen hat, wie Clemens Meyer selbst, einen Weg aus der Spirale von Kriminalität und Sucht gefunden? Ich werde wohl noch weitere Bücher des Autors lesen, um mehr zu erfahren.
May 20, 2018
“
Era l’epoca dei grandi incontri, e lui li aveva persi tutti.
”
Formidabili quegli anni. Gli anni del crollo del Muro e della fine della DDR, anni in cui dall’altra parte finalmente si iniziava a sentire il profumo della libertà, anni carichi di euforia e possibilità, quando tutto sembrava fosse a portata di mano.
Formidabili quegli anni. Già, andatelo a dire a Dani, a Rico, a Walter, a Mark e agli altri personaggi del libro di Clemens Meyer… probabile che ne usciate come minimo con una bella frattura del naso. Figa, se quelli erano dei grandissimi! Eroi di un’epica moderna, nella quale gli adulti hanno abdicato al loro ruolo e recitano un ruolo da comprimari.
Le storie di Dani, Rico, Walter, Mark e degli altri sono le storie di un gruppo di ragazzi che si potrebbe sbrigativamente etichettare come “difficili”, mentre difficili erano il tempo che si trovavano a vivere e i contesti familiare (pressoché assente) e sociale nei quali crescevano. Cosa poteva rappresentare per ragazzi come questi il passaggio dall’Est all’Ovest? Forse solo il passaggio dall’alcool alla droga, altro che euforia e possibilità…
Eravamo dei grandissimi racconta storie minori sullo sfondo della Grande Storia, nessun intento moralistico o pedagogico da parte di uno scrittore che quegli anni li ha vissuti sulla propria pelle. Capitoli che potrebbero essere ognuno un racconto a parte, avvenimenti narrati senza una logica cronologica, quasi a collegare la frammentarietà della struttura del libro con la frammentarietà delle vite dei personaggi.
Il branco come succedaneo della famiglia, la violenza come protezione dell’identità del gruppo, la vitalità adolescenziale trasformata in una rabbia che non trova motivazioni vere (risuonano nella mente i perché? perché? perché? della madre di Daniel, destinati a rimanere senza risposta). Una rabbia che confina con la frustrazione, perché i protagonisti sono consapevoli di essere condannati ad una sconfitta che cercano di rinviare attraverso piccoli successi parziali, sbruffonerie, eccessi, tentativi di vivere sopra le righe il poco tempo che hanno a disposizione.
Figa, se quelli erano dei grandissimi!
Figa, se questo è un libro grandissimo!
Aggiungo che questo è uno dei pochissimi libri per i quali ho trovato il titolo italiano molto migliore di quello originale (“Quando sognavamo”).
Formidabili quegli anni. Gli anni del crollo del Muro e della fine della DDR, anni in cui dall’altra parte finalmente si iniziava a sentire il profumo della libertà, anni carichi di euforia e possibilità, quando tutto sembrava fosse a portata di mano.
Formidabili quegli anni. Già, andatelo a dire a Dani, a Rico, a Walter, a Mark e agli altri personaggi del libro di Clemens Meyer… probabile che ne usciate come minimo con una bella frattura del naso. Figa, se quelli erano dei grandissimi! Eroi di un’epica moderna, nella quale gli adulti hanno abdicato al loro ruolo e recitano un ruolo da comprimari.
Le storie di Dani, Rico, Walter, Mark e degli altri sono le storie di un gruppo di ragazzi che si potrebbe sbrigativamente etichettare come “difficili”, mentre difficili erano il tempo che si trovavano a vivere e i contesti familiare (pressoché assente) e sociale nei quali crescevano. Cosa poteva rappresentare per ragazzi come questi il passaggio dall’Est all’Ovest? Forse solo il passaggio dall’alcool alla droga, altro che euforia e possibilità…
Eravamo dei grandissimi racconta storie minori sullo sfondo della Grande Storia, nessun intento moralistico o pedagogico da parte di uno scrittore che quegli anni li ha vissuti sulla propria pelle. Capitoli che potrebbero essere ognuno un racconto a parte, avvenimenti narrati senza una logica cronologica, quasi a collegare la frammentarietà della struttura del libro con la frammentarietà delle vite dei personaggi.
Il branco come succedaneo della famiglia, la violenza come protezione dell’identità del gruppo, la vitalità adolescenziale trasformata in una rabbia che non trova motivazioni vere (risuonano nella mente i perché? perché? perché? della madre di Daniel, destinati a rimanere senza risposta). Una rabbia che confina con la frustrazione, perché i protagonisti sono consapevoli di essere condannati ad una sconfitta che cercano di rinviare attraverso piccoli successi parziali, sbruffonerie, eccessi, tentativi di vivere sopra le righe il poco tempo che hanno a disposizione.
Figa, se quelli erano dei grandissimi!
Figa, se questo è un libro grandissimo!
Aggiungo che questo è uno dei pochissimi libri per i quali ho trovato il titolo italiano molto migliore di quello originale (“Quando sognavamo”).
December 27, 2023
Ein sehr beeindruckendes Buch über die Baseballschlägerjahre, das sehr tiefe Einblicke in das Leben junger Menschen in Ostddeutschland nach der Wende gibt: Die Perspektivlosigkeit und die Tristesse, die an viel zu vielen Stellen leider ein dankbarer Nährboden für fremdenfeindliche Ideen und Verführungspotenzial aus der zu rechten Ecke waren und sind. Denn, und das macht dieses Buch zu einem besonders guten Roman zu dem Thema, dem sich in der jüngeren Vergangenheit mehrere Autor*innen abgearbeitet haben: Es ist kaum gealtert und erklärt bis in die aktuelle Gegenwart hinein, hat seine Relevanz also nicht verloren.
Mehr zum Buch in unserer ausführlichen Besprechung @ Papierstau Podcast: Folge 256: International Booker Prize 2023
Mehr zum Buch in unserer ausführlichen Besprechung @ Papierstau Podcast: Folge 256: International Booker Prize 2023
April 15, 2023
It’s inevitable that when reading a shortlist, one cannot like every book. Well here’s my stinker.
While we were Dreaming is every type of awful one can imagine: Dialogue, plot, characters – EVERYTHING. I will say it right now
I HATED this book
I will say it again
I HATED this book.
The novel focuses on group of teenagers during the fall of the Berlin Wall – we also get glimpses of their childhood pre unification. This post life consists of:
Looking at porn mags
Talking about breasts – ON NEARLY EVERY SINGLE PAGE
Stealing from old people
and a countless number of fistfights and drug scoring
repeat cycle for 600 pages. Plus it’s all in Kerouacian slang ARGH
I understand that Meyer is portraying a type of mentality and social situation caused by so called freedom but to read the same thing over and over and over again is mind numbingly boring plus the constant sexism got to me. Yes you like boobs and looking up skirts. Fine but do we have to talk about it all the time.
However there is one semi redeeming factor and that’s the chapter about one character trying to use a microwave but even that is spoiled because all the narrator cares about is the porn mag his friend’s dad smuggles and the whole talk descends to mammary gland discourses!!
If this is a portrait of post wall society, then Berlin must have made Caligula’s Rome seem like some kind of saint’s palace.
Never has a book managed to make me so angry, bored and irritated at the same time.
I will repeat a third time.
I HATE this book.
While we were Dreaming is every type of awful one can imagine: Dialogue, plot, characters – EVERYTHING. I will say it right now
I HATED this book
I will say it again
I HATED this book.
The novel focuses on group of teenagers during the fall of the Berlin Wall – we also get glimpses of their childhood pre unification. This post life consists of:
Looking at porn mags
Talking about breasts – ON NEARLY EVERY SINGLE PAGE
Stealing from old people
and a countless number of fistfights and drug scoring
repeat cycle for 600 pages. Plus it’s all in Kerouacian slang ARGH
I understand that Meyer is portraying a type of mentality and social situation caused by so called freedom but to read the same thing over and over and over again is mind numbingly boring plus the constant sexism got to me. Yes you like boobs and looking up skirts. Fine but do we have to talk about it all the time.
However there is one semi redeeming factor and that’s the chapter about one character trying to use a microwave but even that is spoiled because all the narrator cares about is the porn mag his friend’s dad smuggles and the whole talk descends to mammary gland discourses!!
If this is a portrait of post wall society, then Berlin must have made Caligula’s Rome seem like some kind of saint’s palace.
Never has a book managed to make me so angry, bored and irritated at the same time.
I will repeat a third time.
I HATE this book.
July 16, 2023
4,5* aufgerundet auf 5*
March 14, 2022
Danie und seine Freunde verleben ihre Jugend im Leipzig der Nachwendejahre. Sie scheinen ziel- und perspektivlos und die Prioritäten liegen darin, gute Zeiten zu verleben und Stärke gegenüber anderen zu demonstrieren. Vieles im Verhalten der jungen Männer ist einfach typisch grenzüberschreitendes Verhalten Jugendlicher und es geht oft um das Austesten der eigenen Grenzen. Beim Protagonisten und dessen Freunden geht es jedoch immer noch einige Schritte darüber hinaus, so dass es Tote durch Autounfälle und Drogenmissbrauch gibt, Gefängnisaufenthalte und Krankenhausaufenthalte nach brutalen körperlichen Auseinandersetzungen.
Das Buch ist episodenhaft verfasst, ohne Chronologie und mit vielen Zeitsprüngen zwischen den Kapiteln, die sich vor und wieder zurück bewegen. Es entsteht trotzdem eine gutes Gesamtbild und die Plotlines fügen sich grob zusammen. Wir als LeserInnen nehmen dabei durchgehend die Perspektive von Danie ein.
Für mich war das Buch insgesamt sehr eintönig und ich konnte wenig Interesse für die Eskapaden der Jugendlichen entwickeln. Stark fand ich die Szenierie im Jugendarrest, in dem Danie einige Monate verbringen muss. Hier wird ein spannender Mirkrokosmos mit interessanten Strukturen gezeigt. Darüber hinaus fand ich die Plotline zu Mark sehr eindringlich beschrieben und empfand die Auseinandersetzung mit seiner Suchtproblematik literarisch und psychologisch stark. Leider kam das im Buch für meinen Geschmack zu kurz, hierüber hätte ich gerne mehr gelesen.
Insgesamt konnte mich der Autor mit dem Buch nicht recht überzeugen und ich habe es leider viel zu gerne zugeschlagen.
Das Buch ist episodenhaft verfasst, ohne Chronologie und mit vielen Zeitsprüngen zwischen den Kapiteln, die sich vor und wieder zurück bewegen. Es entsteht trotzdem eine gutes Gesamtbild und die Plotlines fügen sich grob zusammen. Wir als LeserInnen nehmen dabei durchgehend die Perspektive von Danie ein.
Für mich war das Buch insgesamt sehr eintönig und ich konnte wenig Interesse für die Eskapaden der Jugendlichen entwickeln. Stark fand ich die Szenierie im Jugendarrest, in dem Danie einige Monate verbringen muss. Hier wird ein spannender Mirkrokosmos mit interessanten Strukturen gezeigt. Darüber hinaus fand ich die Plotline zu Mark sehr eindringlich beschrieben und empfand die Auseinandersetzung mit seiner Suchtproblematik literarisch und psychologisch stark. Leider kam das im Buch für meinen Geschmack zu kurz, hierüber hätte ich gerne mehr gelesen.
Insgesamt konnte mich der Autor mit dem Buch nicht recht überzeugen und ich habe es leider viel zu gerne zugeschlagen.
March 23, 2022
3.5 Sterne aufgerundet :-)
Die wunderbare Crew des Papierstau Podcasts beschäftigt sich seit einiger Zeit mit Nachwenderomanen, die von den "Baseballschlägerjahren" in den 90ern erzählen. Für mich war das bisher ein blinder Fleck, den ich nun mit dem letzten Buchclub-Buch "Als wir träumten" von Clemens Meyer ein bisschen erleuchten konnte.
Darin geht es um Daniel, der noch als Jungpionier die Wende miterlebt und beschreibt, wie seine Heimat Leipzig-Ost in Chaos, Gewalt und Anarchie versinkt. Meyer springt dabei vignettenhaft in den Zeiten und zeichnet, untermauert von eigenen Erfahrungen, eine Jugend nach, die keinen Halt mehr findet - weder an System und Behörden, noch an den eigenen überforderten und desillusionierten Eltern.
Meyers Erzählkunst ist nicht von der Hand zu weisen. Die Charaktere springen förmlich aus dem Buch und führen der Leserin ihre Erfahrungen vor Augen. Wir sind mit Daniel in den Kneipen unterwegs, mit Rico im Boxring, mit Fred im geklauten Auto und in Pitbulls Partykeller. Wir sind im Eastside, dem von den Freunden gegründeten Club in einer alten Fabrikhalle, wir sind im dunklen, verrammelten Kino und sprechen im Feuerzeugschein mit einem heroinsüchtigen Jugendlichen. Zig Szenen haben sich in mein Hirn gebrannt und brachten mir die Stimmung und die Gefühle dieser Jugend und die Dynamiken in der damaligen Gesellschaft unglaublich nahe.
Dabei spielt der Autor insbesondere damit, dass das Erzählte aus der Erinnerung des Protagonisten stammt und er dabei das Geschehene nicht zuverlässig wiedergeben kann. Zwar erzählt Danie sehr akribisch, was in den einzelnen Situationen vorfiel, manche Gedächtnislücken gibt er aber direkt zu, manche Versionen werden sogar offensichtlich als falsch bezeichnet. Die Dialoge wirken eher kindlich ("Du, Danie...", "Mensch, Rico...", "Du bist so gemein...") und sind auffällig schimpfwortfrei. Was sich mir beim Lesen nicht erschloss, leuchtet mir durch die Buchclub-Diskussion ein - ein träumerisches (siehe Titel), verklärtes Bild aus der Erinnerung an die eigene Kindheit und Jugend könnte hier seinen Niederschlag finden.
Obwohl ich all das erkenne, muss ich doch zugeben, dass es mir mitunter schwerfiel, zum Buch zu greifen. Für mich hatte diese Art des Erzählens einige Längen und führte dazu, dass ich den Spaß am Lesen verlor und das Interesse an der weiteren Handlung abhandenkam. Letzten Endes bin ich jedoch froh, dass ich es beendet habe und der Austausch mit unserer tollen Buchclub-Runde war für mich total bereichernd, um noch eine andere, bessere Perspektive auf das Gelesene zu bekommen.
Dabei bin ich mir sicher, dass Leute mit etwas mehr Bezug zu Leipzig oder überhaupt der DDR und dieser Zeit in den 90er Jahren, noch mehr aus der Geschichte ziehen können, weil sie Dinge erkennen und zuordnen können. Ich sehe es als interessantes Zeitzeugnis und hebe meinen Hut vor dieser Meisterleistung, eine solche Epoche in Worte zu fassen und den Menschen von damals eine Stimme zu geben.
Die wunderbare Crew des Papierstau Podcasts beschäftigt sich seit einiger Zeit mit Nachwenderomanen, die von den "Baseballschlägerjahren" in den 90ern erzählen. Für mich war das bisher ein blinder Fleck, den ich nun mit dem letzten Buchclub-Buch "Als wir träumten" von Clemens Meyer ein bisschen erleuchten konnte.
Darin geht es um Daniel, der noch als Jungpionier die Wende miterlebt und beschreibt, wie seine Heimat Leipzig-Ost in Chaos, Gewalt und Anarchie versinkt. Meyer springt dabei vignettenhaft in den Zeiten und zeichnet, untermauert von eigenen Erfahrungen, eine Jugend nach, die keinen Halt mehr findet - weder an System und Behörden, noch an den eigenen überforderten und desillusionierten Eltern.
Meyers Erzählkunst ist nicht von der Hand zu weisen. Die Charaktere springen förmlich aus dem Buch und führen der Leserin ihre Erfahrungen vor Augen. Wir sind mit Daniel in den Kneipen unterwegs, mit Rico im Boxring, mit Fred im geklauten Auto und in Pitbulls Partykeller. Wir sind im Eastside, dem von den Freunden gegründeten Club in einer alten Fabrikhalle, wir sind im dunklen, verrammelten Kino und sprechen im Feuerzeugschein mit einem heroinsüchtigen Jugendlichen. Zig Szenen haben sich in mein Hirn gebrannt und brachten mir die Stimmung und die Gefühle dieser Jugend und die Dynamiken in der damaligen Gesellschaft unglaublich nahe.
Dabei spielt der Autor insbesondere damit, dass das Erzählte aus der Erinnerung des Protagonisten stammt und er dabei das Geschehene nicht zuverlässig wiedergeben kann. Zwar erzählt Danie sehr akribisch, was in den einzelnen Situationen vorfiel, manche Gedächtnislücken gibt er aber direkt zu, manche Versionen werden sogar offensichtlich als falsch bezeichnet. Die Dialoge wirken eher kindlich ("Du, Danie...", "Mensch, Rico...", "Du bist so gemein...") und sind auffällig schimpfwortfrei. Was sich mir beim Lesen nicht erschloss, leuchtet mir durch die Buchclub-Diskussion ein - ein träumerisches (siehe Titel), verklärtes Bild aus der Erinnerung an die eigene Kindheit und Jugend könnte hier seinen Niederschlag finden.
Obwohl ich all das erkenne, muss ich doch zugeben, dass es mir mitunter schwerfiel, zum Buch zu greifen. Für mich hatte diese Art des Erzählens einige Längen und führte dazu, dass ich den Spaß am Lesen verlor und das Interesse an der weiteren Handlung abhandenkam. Letzten Endes bin ich jedoch froh, dass ich es beendet habe und der Austausch mit unserer tollen Buchclub-Runde war für mich total bereichernd, um noch eine andere, bessere Perspektive auf das Gelesene zu bekommen.
Dabei bin ich mir sicher, dass Leute mit etwas mehr Bezug zu Leipzig oder überhaupt der DDR und dieser Zeit in den 90er Jahren, noch mehr aus der Geschichte ziehen können, weil sie Dinge erkennen und zuordnen können. Ich sehe es als interessantes Zeitzeugnis und hebe meinen Hut vor dieser Meisterleistung, eine solche Epoche in Worte zu fassen und den Menschen von damals eine Stimme zu geben.
October 30, 2025
Gioventù bruciata a Lipsia a cavallo degli anni Novanta del Novecento.
Il romanzo si concentra sulla vita di un gruppo di ragazzi normali, ma cresciuti in un contesto degradato a Lipsia, a cavallo della riunificazione delle due Germanie. I padri sono le figure tragiche che esercitano il loro influsso nefasto su questi giovani: alcolizzati, aggressivi, violenti.
Gli episodi raccontati non proseguono in ordine cronologico: è come se si trattasse di racconti che vedono gli stessi protagonisti a volte marinare la scuola, a volte rubare una macchina, a volte ritrovarsi in carcere oppure a un funerale.
Il romanzo mostra come la vita quotidiana di questi ragazzi non sia cambiata, non sia migliorata affatto dopo la riunificazione, ma senza concentrarsi su motivazioni politiche (anche se c'è un toccante capitolo che descrive le imponenti manifestazioni anti regime).
Di fatto la violenza è l'unico codice espresso da questi protagonisti, sempre nei confronti di nemici "collettivi": gli skin, quelli della banda rivale, i tifosi di squadre avversarie. In particolare per alcuni di loro tutti sono nemici da annientare con la forza fisica.
Il romanzo lascia percepire come l'io narrante, Daniel, avrebbe potuto fare una vita diversa se fosse stato immerso in un contesto più luminoso: di fatto si lascia trascinare dai suoi amici (in particolare dal carismatico ma brutale Rico) verso una china fatta di furti, violenze, illegalità.
La scrittura è diretta, apparentemente semplice, ma estremamente curata, anche quando si esprimono ragazzi poco istruiti (il traduttore ha fatto un lavoro egregio) e colpisce per la capacità di far immedesimare il lettore nella situazione drammatica vissuta dai protagonisti.
Il romanzo si concentra sulla vita di un gruppo di ragazzi normali, ma cresciuti in un contesto degradato a Lipsia, a cavallo della riunificazione delle due Germanie. I padri sono le figure tragiche che esercitano il loro influsso nefasto su questi giovani: alcolizzati, aggressivi, violenti.
Gli episodi raccontati non proseguono in ordine cronologico: è come se si trattasse di racconti che vedono gli stessi protagonisti a volte marinare la scuola, a volte rubare una macchina, a volte ritrovarsi in carcere oppure a un funerale.
Il romanzo mostra come la vita quotidiana di questi ragazzi non sia cambiata, non sia migliorata affatto dopo la riunificazione, ma senza concentrarsi su motivazioni politiche (anche se c'è un toccante capitolo che descrive le imponenti manifestazioni anti regime).
Di fatto la violenza è l'unico codice espresso da questi protagonisti, sempre nei confronti di nemici "collettivi": gli skin, quelli della banda rivale, i tifosi di squadre avversarie. In particolare per alcuni di loro tutti sono nemici da annientare con la forza fisica.
Il romanzo lascia percepire come l'io narrante, Daniel, avrebbe potuto fare una vita diversa se fosse stato immerso in un contesto più luminoso: di fatto si lascia trascinare dai suoi amici (in particolare dal carismatico ma brutale Rico) verso una china fatta di furti, violenze, illegalità.
La scrittura è diretta, apparentemente semplice, ma estremamente curata, anche quando si esprimono ragazzi poco istruiti (il traduttore ha fatto un lavoro egregio) e colpisce per la capacità di far immedesimare il lettore nella situazione drammatica vissuta dai protagonisti.
January 25, 2018
Romanzo fiume in cui per 600 pagine si segue la crescita di un gruppo di ragazzini della periferia est di Lipsia. In un certo senso non posso che definirlo "sincero", perché Meyer descrive esattamente la realtà di una parte degli adolescenti del nord Europa. Questi ragazzi vivono unicamente per il branco e le sue regole, che li accoglie, li integra e li protegge al suo interno. Non vi è spazio per altri apporti, d'altra parte le famiglie sono disfatte ed indifferenti (quando non attanagliate da problemi di alcolismo) e la scuola totalmente assente. Il quotidiano viene dunque scandito dai ritmi dettati dall'alcol, dalle droghe, dalle risse, dal carcere. È una realtà talmente assorbente ed inclusiva che un'alternativa non viene neanche concepita. Ogni gruppo ha le sue regole e le sue zone di influenza e sono chiari anche i margini di possibile interazione con gli altri.
Probabilmente al libro avrebbe giovato una scrematura, ma i continui salti temporali della narrazione aiutano a non annoiarsi.
Inizialmente mi aspettavo un ruolo della politica molto ampio, ma in realtà la sua quasi totale assenza (se non per alcuni dettagli) ha una sua logica. Il periodo descritto dal romanzo inizia proprio a ridosso della caduta del muro e credo che la Stasi avesse problemi ben più gravi delle bande di strada. Anche gli stessi protagonisti, d'altra parte, sconoscono la famigerata polizia politica e, in un'unica occasione, la accomunano alle normali forze dell'ordine sotto l'etichetta di "sbirri".
In fin dei conti è un libro dai risvolti amari che poteva tranquillamente ambientarsi a Lipsia, come a Helsinki o a Londra e che racconta la storia di generazioni perdute nel gorgo dell'indifferenza sociale.
Probabilmente al libro avrebbe giovato una scrematura, ma i continui salti temporali della narrazione aiutano a non annoiarsi.
Inizialmente mi aspettavo un ruolo della politica molto ampio, ma in realtà la sua quasi totale assenza (se non per alcuni dettagli) ha una sua logica. Il periodo descritto dal romanzo inizia proprio a ridosso della caduta del muro e credo che la Stasi avesse problemi ben più gravi delle bande di strada. Anche gli stessi protagonisti, d'altra parte, sconoscono la famigerata polizia politica e, in un'unica occasione, la accomunano alle normali forze dell'ordine sotto l'etichetta di "sbirri".
In fin dei conti è un libro dai risvolti amari che poteva tranquillamente ambientarsi a Lipsia, come a Helsinki o a Londra e che racconta la storia di generazioni perdute nel gorgo dell'indifferenza sociale.
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September 3, 2021Yeraltı edebiyatı bana göre değil, bunu tekrar teyit ettiğim bir yarım okuma oldu maalesef.
July 2, 2024
3.5 stars
I was a fan of Meyer's Dark Satellites, a collection of stories, not entirely realist, with not-entirely reliable shifting time frames, set in East Germany after reunification. They painted a fairly melancholy picture.
This debut novel (published in German in 2007), which seems somewhat autobiographical, paints an even darker picture. It's the story of a group of friends in Leipzig whose lives can just be summed up as "off the rails": gang violence, drug abuse, youth detention centres, bleakness. The cover copy suggests there is "hope and despair" but I found precious little hope. It's excellent on a character level and the sense of place, but it was all a bit much, and very long at over 500 pages. That said, I continue to find Meyer an exceptional writer, and I love what he does with time, jumping around, explaining nothing, letting small details guide the reader. I also like how masculine his works are. So much of the modern fiction I read is written by women or about women, and Meyer brings me to a world and set of people I have absolutely nothing to do with, but regularly manages to do so without alienating me.
I was a fan of Meyer's Dark Satellites, a collection of stories, not entirely realist, with not-entirely reliable shifting time frames, set in East Germany after reunification. They painted a fairly melancholy picture.
This debut novel (published in German in 2007), which seems somewhat autobiographical, paints an even darker picture. It's the story of a group of friends in Leipzig whose lives can just be summed up as "off the rails": gang violence, drug abuse, youth detention centres, bleakness. The cover copy suggests there is "hope and despair" but I found precious little hope. It's excellent on a character level and the sense of place, but it was all a bit much, and very long at over 500 pages. That said, I continue to find Meyer an exceptional writer, and I love what he does with time, jumping around, explaining nothing, letting small details guide the reader. I also like how masculine his works are. So much of the modern fiction I read is written by women or about women, and Meyer brings me to a world and set of people I have absolutely nothing to do with, but regularly manages to do so without alienating me.
April 16, 2023
This book opens with a chaotic chapter that throws you off balance with the amount of information given in a dreamlike fashion. It’s funny, wild, and melancholic all at the same time, which is more true to the rest of the book compared to the high energy here. Danny is thinking about the old days with his friends Mark, Rico, Porno Paul, Pitbull, and Little Walter. We’re never sure where Danny is, it could be a prison or a hospital, but we are told that things aren’t going to end well for most of them. And, just to warn you, Danny is a really unreliable narrator.
In non-chronological vignettes we see the boys in Leipzig as kids during Pioneers training (think a more communist Boy Scouts where you learn how to defuse landmines) before the fall of the Berlin Wall and maybe opening an illegal techno club after (could that be more of its time?). So why am I happy ending my IB experience with a book that is mostly drinking, fighting, smoking, and fucking? The writing was superb.
Some will call this a masculine book, but we also see the affection between the boys and some of the characters in the neighborhood. They feel real even if this is a singular experience I can’t relate to. They’re living in this chaotic time, but, almost like in ‘Ninth Building', this is happening around them and not directly commented on. The politics are never mentioned, but we see the systems fall apart around them. We see this when Danny and Rico go to a football game and the cops begin to throw tear gas and eventually start shooting into the crowd, killing a man. The Eastern German police don’t know what to do with themselves as the structures break down.
The constant jumps in time between chapters are disorienting and dreamlike. I thought this was deepened when Meyers interweaves two memories that may be in the same place or are the same action but from two different moments. For lack of a better term, I started calling this a ‘time collapse’, the most haunting and beautiful for me happening early on in an abandoned movie theater Danny is looking for Mark in. The theater is empty and long dormant, but as Danny puts his hands up the film projector is running and Mark and Danny are kids again enjoying a movie. There are so many of these time collapses that give the novel a cinematic feel.
While Meyer doesn’t shy away from writing about uncomfortable situations, alcoholism, drug abuse, prison, unemployment and the rise of neo fascism are all here. But there are also funny moments we get to see, like the first time they use a microwave. You just have to read it to see why I thought this was just cute and lighthearted. The language also changes throughout the book as they kids age, so maybe when they’re 12 or 13 they are constantly cursing in the most annoying way, but this goes away in the older, more tense chapters.
I’ll admit this book is long. But I was always interested in the story and I wanted to see how things would be revealed. This isn’t a book that was judging or excusing these kids, they just were. I loved the way actions were described and the playing with time. I can’t imagine what it took to translate such specific details, like all the boxing or pool playing. To me, this would be a worthy winner.
In non-chronological vignettes we see the boys in Leipzig as kids during Pioneers training (think a more communist Boy Scouts where you learn how to defuse landmines) before the fall of the Berlin Wall and maybe opening an illegal techno club after (could that be more of its time?). So why am I happy ending my IB experience with a book that is mostly drinking, fighting, smoking, and fucking? The writing was superb.
Some will call this a masculine book, but we also see the affection between the boys and some of the characters in the neighborhood. They feel real even if this is a singular experience I can’t relate to. They’re living in this chaotic time, but, almost like in ‘Ninth Building', this is happening around them and not directly commented on. The politics are never mentioned, but we see the systems fall apart around them. We see this when Danny and Rico go to a football game and the cops begin to throw tear gas and eventually start shooting into the crowd, killing a man. The Eastern German police don’t know what to do with themselves as the structures break down.
The constant jumps in time between chapters are disorienting and dreamlike. I thought this was deepened when Meyers interweaves two memories that may be in the same place or are the same action but from two different moments. For lack of a better term, I started calling this a ‘time collapse’, the most haunting and beautiful for me happening early on in an abandoned movie theater Danny is looking for Mark in. The theater is empty and long dormant, but as Danny puts his hands up the film projector is running and Mark and Danny are kids again enjoying a movie. There are so many of these time collapses that give the novel a cinematic feel.
While Meyer doesn’t shy away from writing about uncomfortable situations, alcoholism, drug abuse, prison, unemployment and the rise of neo fascism are all here. But there are also funny moments we get to see, like the first time they use a microwave. You just have to read it to see why I thought this was just cute and lighthearted. The language also changes throughout the book as they kids age, so maybe when they’re 12 or 13 they are constantly cursing in the most annoying way, but this goes away in the older, more tense chapters.
I’ll admit this book is long. But I was always interested in the story and I wanted to see how things would be revealed. This isn’t a book that was judging or excusing these kids, they just were. I loved the way actions were described and the playing with time. I can’t imagine what it took to translate such specific details, like all the boxing or pool playing. To me, this would be a worthy winner.
December 28, 2025
"I often dreamed of the Eastside when I was away, not every night, no, 'cause sometimes I dreamed of women or taking the tram all round Leipzig with a one-day pass and a crate of beer and sometimes I dreamed of Little Walter and the night I saved his life twice over, Walter who just left us anyway all those nights later, and sometimes I didn't dream at all, but there were nights when I knew before I fell asleep that I'd dream of the Eastside, and then I'd lie awake for a long time, looking forward to it." (page 289 of the English language version from Fitzcarraldo).
This is one of my great reading experiences of 2025 - this novel will stay with me, no haunt me, for a long time, maybe forever. As I read the final sentence:
"It was getting dark outside; Fred lit a few candles and we moved in closer and ate and drank and we were happy."
Reading that sentence at the end of this novel I was as emotionally eviscerated as I was when I came to the end of 'All Quiet on the Western Front' because Clemens Meyer in 'While We Were Dreaming' has written as powerful, and I would hope, as lasting a tale of how the young are betrayed and destroyed by forces they don't even know exists. For all of those, like me, who weren't 13 in 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down it is a demand that we face up to our failures - and remember that sins of omission are as deadly as those of commission.
This is a novel about lost youth, lost chances, lost worlds and betrayal - but by whom? All we see are its victims and no matter that they become thieves, gang members, criminals, drunkards, drug users, the whole gamut of character flaws that easily reduce individuals to cliches such 'toxic masculinity' but which explains nobody because no one begins life full of toxins, they are absorbed from the world around them.
This is a novel about how the world changed, but didn't change for many, certainly not for the better. The boys in this novel, like their real life counterparts, discover that the brave world ushered in post 1989 meant not just freedom, but the freedom to blame.
'While We Were Dreaming' is too wonderful a novel to analyse or discuss - I can only praise it and beg you to read it.
If you want some insight into this novels wonderful richness then read what the following have to say:
https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booke...
https://tonysreadinglist.wordpress.co...
https://southwestreview.com/a-kind-of...
https://www.themodernnovel.org/europe...
you don't have to choose these because there is a wealth of other brilliant reviews and comments out there. Take advantage of them.
This is one of my great reading experiences of 2025 - this novel will stay with me, no haunt me, for a long time, maybe forever. As I read the final sentence:
"It was getting dark outside; Fred lit a few candles and we moved in closer and ate and drank and we were happy."
Reading that sentence at the end of this novel I was as emotionally eviscerated as I was when I came to the end of 'All Quiet on the Western Front' because Clemens Meyer in 'While We Were Dreaming' has written as powerful, and I would hope, as lasting a tale of how the young are betrayed and destroyed by forces they don't even know exists. For all of those, like me, who weren't 13 in 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down it is a demand that we face up to our failures - and remember that sins of omission are as deadly as those of commission.
This is a novel about lost youth, lost chances, lost worlds and betrayal - but by whom? All we see are its victims and no matter that they become thieves, gang members, criminals, drunkards, drug users, the whole gamut of character flaws that easily reduce individuals to cliches such 'toxic masculinity' but which explains nobody because no one begins life full of toxins, they are absorbed from the world around them.
This is a novel about how the world changed, but didn't change for many, certainly not for the better. The boys in this novel, like their real life counterparts, discover that the brave world ushered in post 1989 meant not just freedom, but the freedom to blame.
'While We Were Dreaming' is too wonderful a novel to analyse or discuss - I can only praise it and beg you to read it.
If you want some insight into this novels wonderful richness then read what the following have to say:
https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booke...
https://tonysreadinglist.wordpress.co...
https://southwestreview.com/a-kind-of...
https://www.themodernnovel.org/europe...
you don't have to choose these because there is a wealth of other brilliant reviews and comments out there. Take advantage of them.
February 7, 2017
Ein Buch über Jugendliche um die Wendezeit in Leipzig-Ost, ohne wirkliche Handlung sondern eher in Kapitel unterteile Kurzgeschichten um die immer gleichen Themen Alkohol, Drogen und Gewalt und dem Mangel an Perspektiven der Hauptfiguren. Das kommt zwar authentisch daher, die Geschichten wiederholen sich aber ohne zu überraschen genauso, wie die immer gleichen Dialoge, welche bereits nach 100 Seiten ermüdend wirken. Mag vielleicht unterhaltsam sein für alle, welche die Wendezeit in der DDR (insbesondere als Jugendliche) erlebt haben oder sich explizit dafür interessieren. Ich empfand das Buch je länger je eintöniger und langatmiger und beendete es mangels Abwechslung nach knapp 320 Seiten.
April 4, 2025
Wow this book took me on a journey. Experiencing Leipzig after the fall of the Berlin Wall through the eyes of a group of teenage boys. They go through life in a messy haze of fighting, drinking, sex and drugs. And a deep strong bond with each other. But mostly it’s like a series of violent fights!
I loved how this long novel was structured like a collage, jumping about in time. So you learn tragedies and then immediately step back in time which somehow makes it all the more emotional.
I loved how this long novel was structured like a collage, jumping about in time. So you learn tragedies and then immediately step back in time which somehow makes it all the more emotional.
August 13, 2024
Will 4 Sterne geben.
Sollte 2 Sterne geben.
Gebe 3 Sterne.
Sollte 2 Sterne geben.
Gebe 3 Sterne.
August 15, 2023
When the Berlin Wall falls, a group of boys—Daniel, Rico, Paul, Walter, and Mark—are 13 years old and living in a poor quarter of Leipzig—that is, on the East German side of the wall. The notion of “liberation” is not part of their world view, and the wall’s fall does not bring about immediate economic prosperity to those born and raised in the German Democratic Republic. Its industries are Soviet-era, devoted to producing cheap, poorly made and designed goods no one has any use for, now that they can buy better-made goods from the West. Before the fall, when the boys are around 8 years old, their fathers have jobs, often as skilled laborers.
But the fathers vanish along with their jobs, and by the time the wall comes down, parents are well into dysfunctional alcoholism and physical abuse of each other and their children. Chronologically, the major events during the 10 years or so covered by While We Were Dreaming go as follows: Industry leaves, families dissolve, the wall comes down, schoolrooms get smaller as students leave with their parents to the West, those left behind form gangs, which leads to juvenile jail, death, and adult prison.
Coming into Leipzig with the wall’s fall are pornography and better-quality cigarettes and alcohol. And, as in Scorcese’s Goodfellas, the boy’s sordid lives only worsen once heroin, pills, and cocaine become available. But before the hard stuff kicks in, the teenage boys are content with smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and beating members of competing gangs. In the space of a just a few years, the 13-year-old boys transform from cute boyishness with rough-and-tumble aggressions, to unemployable violent criminals with drug and alcohol problems, finding themselves in and out of hospitals, drunk tanks, and prisons by age 16.
Daniel Lenz is the novel’s moral center—or as moral as conditions in his neighborhood will allow a person to exhibit and remain alive. But of all the characters, he is the one who tries to stop or avoid fights with other gangs, to stop or avoid robberies, beatings of parents who beat their children, and so forth. Before Germany is reunited, Daniel is an academically promising lad and patriotic Young Pioneer; after its reunification, a hapless observer of his and his friends’ declines into mental illness and death. Theirs is the “no future” sung about 15 years before by England’s Sex Pistols.
The book’s nonchronological structure builds upon the emotional impact on the boys of what they endure. Rather than anarchic lives filled anomie and violence, the boys really would prefer lives filled with goals, responsibilities, and recognition. To that end, they create a techno club in the shell of an abandoned factory, decorating the walls and stairwells with reflective tinfoil and little lights, setting up a makeshift bar, and hiring a DJ whose fans cross affiliations. But the club ends up being destroyed. One boy adopts a dog and devotes all his energy and money toward taking care of the dog, even ensuring its health to the care of a vet—all at the expense of the alcohol and cigarettes he would other buy. That, too, comes to a bad end. Rico hopes to become a boxer and trains diligently for the opportunity, but those dreams are crushed as well. Collectively and individually the boys’ hopes for a sense of dignity and self-respect are crushed at every turn. There is no room for solace in their world.
By the time the novel ends, only Rico and Daniel are left standing, Rico on his way to a lengthy prison sentence, Daniel desperately trying to keep his full-time jog, not break his parole, avoid violence, and salvage of himself what he can to give shape to something like hope.
For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...
But the fathers vanish along with their jobs, and by the time the wall comes down, parents are well into dysfunctional alcoholism and physical abuse of each other and their children. Chronologically, the major events during the 10 years or so covered by While We Were Dreaming go as follows: Industry leaves, families dissolve, the wall comes down, schoolrooms get smaller as students leave with their parents to the West, those left behind form gangs, which leads to juvenile jail, death, and adult prison.
Coming into Leipzig with the wall’s fall are pornography and better-quality cigarettes and alcohol. And, as in Scorcese’s Goodfellas, the boy’s sordid lives only worsen once heroin, pills, and cocaine become available. But before the hard stuff kicks in, the teenage boys are content with smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and beating members of competing gangs. In the space of a just a few years, the 13-year-old boys transform from cute boyishness with rough-and-tumble aggressions, to unemployable violent criminals with drug and alcohol problems, finding themselves in and out of hospitals, drunk tanks, and prisons by age 16.
Daniel Lenz is the novel’s moral center—or as moral as conditions in his neighborhood will allow a person to exhibit and remain alive. But of all the characters, he is the one who tries to stop or avoid fights with other gangs, to stop or avoid robberies, beatings of parents who beat their children, and so forth. Before Germany is reunited, Daniel is an academically promising lad and patriotic Young Pioneer; after its reunification, a hapless observer of his and his friends’ declines into mental illness and death. Theirs is the “no future” sung about 15 years before by England’s Sex Pistols.
The book’s nonchronological structure builds upon the emotional impact on the boys of what they endure. Rather than anarchic lives filled anomie and violence, the boys really would prefer lives filled with goals, responsibilities, and recognition. To that end, they create a techno club in the shell of an abandoned factory, decorating the walls and stairwells with reflective tinfoil and little lights, setting up a makeshift bar, and hiring a DJ whose fans cross affiliations. But the club ends up being destroyed. One boy adopts a dog and devotes all his energy and money toward taking care of the dog, even ensuring its health to the care of a vet—all at the expense of the alcohol and cigarettes he would other buy. That, too, comes to a bad end. Rico hopes to become a boxer and trains diligently for the opportunity, but those dreams are crushed as well. Collectively and individually the boys’ hopes for a sense of dignity and self-respect are crushed at every turn. There is no room for solace in their world.
By the time the novel ends, only Rico and Daniel are left standing, Rico on his way to a lengthy prison sentence, Daniel desperately trying to keep his full-time jog, not break his parole, avoid violence, and salvage of himself what he can to give shape to something like hope.
For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...
July 1, 2019
I ragazzi saranno pure stati dei grandissimi, ma io che ho letto tutte le seicento pagine del libro senza mollare all'ennesimo resoconto di furto, sbronza, rissa o arresto sono molto più grande di loro.
June 7, 2017
Eravamo dei grandissimi (Als wir traumten in tedesco, Mentre stavamo sognando) è stato il romanzo d’esordio di Clemens Meyer ed è la prima sua opera ad essere finalmente tradotta in italiano.
All’uscita fu accolto come una rivelazione e non posso che concordare che si tratta di un libro unico, stupendo, ma anche un vero pugno nello stomaco.
“Ti ricordi?”
Questo il presupposto per dare il via a circa 600 pagine di storia.
E storia in ogni senso, quella di una città, Lipsia, poco prima della caduta del Muro, di com’era la vita ai tempi della DDR e immediatamente dopo, ma, soprattutto, è la storia Daniel, Walter, Mark, Paul, Pitbull e Rico. Sono amici, sono compagni, sono abitanti della zona più degradata della città (il quartiere di Lipsia dove si svolge l’azione è sozzo, trascurato, decadente, quasi una zona di guerra), sono adolescenti già perduti.
Leggi recensione
All’uscita fu accolto come una rivelazione e non posso che concordare che si tratta di un libro unico, stupendo, ma anche un vero pugno nello stomaco.
“Ti ricordi?”
Questo il presupposto per dare il via a circa 600 pagine di storia.
E storia in ogni senso, quella di una città, Lipsia, poco prima della caduta del Muro, di com’era la vita ai tempi della DDR e immediatamente dopo, ma, soprattutto, è la storia Daniel, Walter, Mark, Paul, Pitbull e Rico. Sono amici, sono compagni, sono abitanti della zona più degradata della città (il quartiere di Lipsia dove si svolge l’azione è sozzo, trascurato, decadente, quasi una zona di guerra), sono adolescenti già perduti.
Leggi recensione
July 8, 2023
Mooi boek over het leven in een vrij troosteloze buurt in Leipzig net voor en na de Val van de Muur. De structuur van het boek, die van hot naar her springt, werkt heel goed
December 2, 2023
the best book i’ve read this year, a favourite, i like it’s format and masculinity. insights into small moments in growing up that piece together a life and a friendship group
lots of fighting ✅
i saw a review said that ‘artfully interwoven’ and it certainly is, you got to know these characters spanning their youth, knowing where they’ll end up before they even do
lots of fighting ✅
i saw a review said that ‘artfully interwoven’ and it certainly is, you got to know these characters spanning their youth, knowing where they’ll end up before they even do
December 14, 2015
In dem Roman "Als wir träumten" von Clemens Meyer handelt es sich um die Zeit vor und nach der Wende in Leipzig-Ost, und die dort lebenden Menschen.
Clemens Meyer schreibt aus der Sicht des jugendlichen Daniels, und bringt dem Leser so das Leben vor Daniel und seinen Freunden näher, welches hauptsächlich aus Alkohol, Zigaretten, Partys, Mädchen, Schlägereien und der Polizei besteht.
Irgendwie abschreckend und doch faszinierend zugleich; über eine verlorene Jugend, die im Rausch ihres Lebens doch von einem besseren Leben träumt.
Besonders auffällig an dem Roman ist die Sprache, welche wunderbar mit dem Inhalt des Buches zusammen passt, und ihn so viel lebendiger macht, vorallem da ja alles aus der Sicht des dort lebenden Daniels erzählt wird.
Mindestens ebenso außergewöhnlich wie die Sprache, ist auch der Ablauf der Geschichte, da die Handlung nicht chronologisch geordnet ist, sondern immmer wieder einzelne Erlebnisse aus Daniels Leben beschrieben werden.
Für den einen oder anderen Leser kann das anfangs sehr verwirrend sein, doch im Laufe des Buches wird alles klarer.
Für mich war es zuerst schwer, mich daran zu gewöhnen, da es so auch keinen "roten Faden" gibt, an dem man sich festhalten kann, und mn es meist anders von Büchern gewöhnt ist.
Dann aber viel mir auf, dass, wenn ich mich an mein bisheriges Leben erinnere, ich mich auch nicht chronologisch erinnere, sondern mir immer wieder, einzelne Erlebnisse in den Kopf kommen, und das macht, meiner Meinung nach, den Roman noch realistischer und interessanter.
Clemens Meyer schreibt aus der Sicht des jugendlichen Daniels, und bringt dem Leser so das Leben vor Daniel und seinen Freunden näher, welches hauptsächlich aus Alkohol, Zigaretten, Partys, Mädchen, Schlägereien und der Polizei besteht.
Irgendwie abschreckend und doch faszinierend zugleich; über eine verlorene Jugend, die im Rausch ihres Lebens doch von einem besseren Leben träumt.
Besonders auffällig an dem Roman ist die Sprache, welche wunderbar mit dem Inhalt des Buches zusammen passt, und ihn so viel lebendiger macht, vorallem da ja alles aus der Sicht des dort lebenden Daniels erzählt wird.
Mindestens ebenso außergewöhnlich wie die Sprache, ist auch der Ablauf der Geschichte, da die Handlung nicht chronologisch geordnet ist, sondern immmer wieder einzelne Erlebnisse aus Daniels Leben beschrieben werden.
Für den einen oder anderen Leser kann das anfangs sehr verwirrend sein, doch im Laufe des Buches wird alles klarer.
Für mich war es zuerst schwer, mich daran zu gewöhnen, da es so auch keinen "roten Faden" gibt, an dem man sich festhalten kann, und mn es meist anders von Büchern gewöhnt ist.
Dann aber viel mir auf, dass, wenn ich mich an mein bisheriges Leben erinnere, ich mich auch nicht chronologisch erinnere, sondern mir immer wieder, einzelne Erlebnisse in den Kopf kommen, und das macht, meiner Meinung nach, den Roman noch realistischer und interessanter.
September 15, 2023
God this book is so long. There were sections I enjoyed particularly during the beginning when the characters were younger and they were drinking and getting up to all sorts of antics. The whole book really reminded me of a German version of Trainspotting, especially in terms of how the book explored masculinity, male friendship and drug use. I just thought the book was so long and dragged on a lot. I had to take loads of breaks from it because I found myself getting bored. There’s not really a solid plot but the characters and strange writing propels you through however sometimes it wasn’t enough.
I see why it was nominated for the International Booker this year however can’t say I truly loved it, but it really is a feat to read and I’m glad I gave it a go finally.
I see why it was nominated for the International Booker this year however can’t say I truly loved it, but it really is a feat to read and I’m glad I gave it a go finally.
December 31, 2023
Clemens Meyers Buch "Als wir träumten" ist kein Vergnügen, aber es nimmt den Leser mit in die Tiefen der Zeit vor und nach der Wende in Leipzig. Mit den Augen eines Kindes und später Jugendlichen, der durch sein Leben treibt und nach Strohhalmen greift, aber nur selten echten Halt findet, erzählt Danie von seinem Leben in Leipzig-Ost. Seine Freunde begleiten ihn bei Pioniermanöver, Klassenleitertadel, Montagsdemo Einbrüchen, Technopartys, Sauftouren und Beerdigungen - was das Leben für jemanden eben zu bieten hat, der noch nie so richtig Glück hatte. Und trotzdem träumen Danie und seine Freunde. Ihr Traum ist ein Rausch, ein Strudel, der alles mitreißt und nichts wieder loslässt.
November 11, 2025
Ennui, poverty, theft and violence. A Novel subtle in its asseveration. A power and a svelte cut into the beginning of the end of Communist Russia, losing the Countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan & Ma wiiiiife!!!. Where it was no secret that they hated their Communist Overlords. Just hated being in the USSR, So we get the slightly nervous and awkward few steps of Russia AND it's "Occupied" Countries, and the other st-stans, being slowly introduced into Western culture. But for many grown with the looming presence of the Wall and the oppressive need for papers to go from one checkpoint into another.
Finding yourself right smack ( ground zero if it pleases you), in the middle of one of biggest WTF! Where Were You When moments.....; in the fading embers of the 20th Century. With it passing them by, having a free revolution handed to them, with their response being akin to: " What Revolution."
Talking bout, the novel, based around the Reunification of Germany and the slow dive the USSR did before splashing hard upon hitting the water. 1988-1990's, tbh, troubles were brewing and our boys, Mark, Rico, Paul and Daniel, ( our characters);, we find themselves in plots and schemes like stealing cars, petty vandalism, substance abuse and violence, a lot of violence, as everyone has become tribal. Just a simple as turning on to the wrong street could fetch you a beating; so punters would travel with a "crew", coined "gangs" or Football fan's "Firms"; basically the unofficial "militant Arm" of a local Football team.
Katy Derbyshire's translation is incredible ( German, can be tricky to grasp and finding results based and converted into British English, not North American English).
Germany, right around Leipzig and Dortmund where my family ( Maternal) hail, from. In 1984-88, while I was there. I still could sense this oppressive atmosphere when out and about. Giant in its emptiness, was kms of just flat concrete with little bit of weeds and flower, sometimes the beginnings of a tree sapling that has cracked through the concrete. Going back to my Oma's was worse, there were almost zero television channels where she lived. As a 9yr-old this was cruel and unusual
Ok! GDR are no more, so a sense of the lawlessness is aboud, surprisingly though there was little crime ( as a result of unification) as most just wanted to meet their neighbours and feel real Freedom. To not get shot at trying to swim across the man made moat, a watery obliette. And maybe, worth it, to find love. ( Like Facebook... Hahahaha, fooook dat mahnn)
Ok, off track there, apologies.
As Europe has strict gun laws, especially for Pistols or AR style long guns, you've likely heard of weapon that has quickly became the bringer of death. ( In the U.S it is always the point weapon of mass shooters and attempted assasaasinators. Trump is very lucky he turned his head like that, that moment saved his life, but unfortunately killed a man sheltering his Wife and Daughter in the audience), as AR 15s are so good a self leveling and then scoped up, hell a child could hit the target, and I did. ( Story for another time)....it was a target not someone living.. Jesus people !!!!
While Native Germans were hacking at the graffiti layered stone, moves on the street were turning the demarcation line into gggangland, fueled by basically children, Seven to Eight graders, where fear were daily as Guns were difficult to get a hold of, especially pistols.
A wonderful collective Bildungsroman, narrated by Daniel. Shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Award, and deservedly so.
The loosening of the Iron Curtain just enough to get a sliver that turned into a a fucking infection against Marxism and the tyranny of Moscow, who in turn cannot fight more urban skirmishes on multiple "fronts" as Poland became a defacto leader in quietly opening up, then Prague, who tbf, had run a guerilla style campaign decades before Glasnost , and were a constant Nuisance to Moscow. In the vein ( pun intended) of Trainspotting, a fairly obvious influence after reading just a few pages. And akin to the recent Shortlisted ( Booker) Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze, who absolutely was influenced by While We Were Dreaming.
Apologies for this extra shite review, I just feel uninspired and can feel my brain rotting. I have basically no social media, except for a few ghost and abandoned IG and Twitter, and Fuck Facebook. I went on Instagram recently, and came away feeling empty and disillusioned. Imagine being a 12 yr-old who checks IG constantly to see updates". Talk about Brain Rot and mass indulgence of useless information, conspiracy theories, absolute destructive political rhetoric happening in every Western Country rn. And these boys don't give a shit, travelling without "Papers" , the anxiety inducing impetus and symbol of a tired and fading ideal turned corrupt. The intoxicating affect of Freedom post tyranny and poverty.
Overall this is a beautiful novel, there's partying, yes, small crimes, heavy alcohol and drug use, subtle humor in finding out finally why their contemporaries a year or two ahead of them were so obsessed with women's breasts ( Porn was hard to come by - Pun intended - ); so that was like discovering a chest of Spanish Gold Bullion deep in the sea for boys aged 13-14 in the Eighties!!!, No wonder why I had no clue about sex, and how things worked, made for some embarrassing early moments of a 14 yr old me trying how and where to put it. Lol. Undeniably conceived with the advent ( it's always been an issue even as far back as the 19th century). Anyways, an adjunct and horrible transition, my shitty review gets Five out of Five shitty Stars. - Benway
P.S. there is some interesting slang and things I've never heard of. First, they all like to have drinks of some sort of medical alcohol/Spirit of the poor and youth, and its called KORN. The whiskey of the GDR youth. And the constant referrals to the Vietnamese, they had restaurants, and stores; were industrious and worked beyond, and it hit me, Vietnamese, the USSR funded and armed the Viet Cong, to great affect, like how a little girl became Vietnamese Sniper in Full Metal Jacket, using a Kalashnikov??! Great fucking film though. Hardcore Joker. Hardcore.
Point being after the the U.S left Vietnam, and war was basically over, and the great Communist ideals, well, turned out it's a shite system, noble idea but corrupted by the few, so many Vietnamese came Westward to find work and a place for a family, as the U.S bombed the shit out of their homelands, and even went lower with say Agent Orange, hello Mcfly...And discovered the Big Lie that is mass Socialisim.Now I'm far from Right Winged, but you go far enough left you're going to find yourself deep into the right . So y'all chill, vote and engage in non-agressive discourse.
***Howdy Clem****
Finding yourself right smack ( ground zero if it pleases you), in the middle of one of biggest WTF! Where Were You When moments.....; in the fading embers of the 20th Century. With it passing them by, having a free revolution handed to them, with their response being akin to: " What Revolution."
Talking bout, the novel, based around the Reunification of Germany and the slow dive the USSR did before splashing hard upon hitting the water. 1988-1990's, tbh, troubles were brewing and our boys, Mark, Rico, Paul and Daniel, ( our characters);, we find themselves in plots and schemes like stealing cars, petty vandalism, substance abuse and violence, a lot of violence, as everyone has become tribal. Just a simple as turning on to the wrong street could fetch you a beating; so punters would travel with a "crew", coined "gangs" or Football fan's "Firms"; basically the unofficial "militant Arm" of a local Football team.
Katy Derbyshire's translation is incredible ( German, can be tricky to grasp and finding results based and converted into British English, not North American English).
Germany, right around Leipzig and Dortmund where my family ( Maternal) hail, from. In 1984-88, while I was there. I still could sense this oppressive atmosphere when out and about. Giant in its emptiness, was kms of just flat concrete with little bit of weeds and flower, sometimes the beginnings of a tree sapling that has cracked through the concrete. Going back to my Oma's was worse, there were almost zero television channels where she lived. As a 9yr-old this was cruel and unusual
Ok! GDR are no more, so a sense of the lawlessness is aboud, surprisingly though there was little crime ( as a result of unification) as most just wanted to meet their neighbours and feel real Freedom. To not get shot at trying to swim across the man made moat, a watery obliette. And maybe, worth it, to find love. ( Like Facebook... Hahahaha, fooook dat mahnn)
Ok, off track there, apologies.
As Europe has strict gun laws, especially for Pistols or AR style long guns, you've likely heard of weapon that has quickly became the bringer of death. ( In the U.S it is always the point weapon of mass shooters and attempted assasaasinators. Trump is very lucky he turned his head like that, that moment saved his life, but unfortunately killed a man sheltering his Wife and Daughter in the audience), as AR 15s are so good a self leveling and then scoped up, hell a child could hit the target, and I did. ( Story for another time)....it was a target not someone living.. Jesus people !!!!
While Native Germans were hacking at the graffiti layered stone, moves on the street were turning the demarcation line into gggangland, fueled by basically children, Seven to Eight graders, where fear were daily as Guns were difficult to get a hold of, especially pistols.
A wonderful collective Bildungsroman, narrated by Daniel. Shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Award, and deservedly so.
The loosening of the Iron Curtain just enough to get a sliver that turned into a a fucking infection against Marxism and the tyranny of Moscow, who in turn cannot fight more urban skirmishes on multiple "fronts" as Poland became a defacto leader in quietly opening up, then Prague, who tbf, had run a guerilla style campaign decades before Glasnost , and were a constant Nuisance to Moscow. In the vein ( pun intended) of Trainspotting, a fairly obvious influence after reading just a few pages. And akin to the recent Shortlisted ( Booker) Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze, who absolutely was influenced by While We Were Dreaming.
Apologies for this extra shite review, I just feel uninspired and can feel my brain rotting. I have basically no social media, except for a few ghost and abandoned IG and Twitter, and Fuck Facebook. I went on Instagram recently, and came away feeling empty and disillusioned. Imagine being a 12 yr-old who checks IG constantly to see updates". Talk about Brain Rot and mass indulgence of useless information, conspiracy theories, absolute destructive political rhetoric happening in every Western Country rn. And these boys don't give a shit, travelling without "Papers" , the anxiety inducing impetus and symbol of a tired and fading ideal turned corrupt. The intoxicating affect of Freedom post tyranny and poverty.
Overall this is a beautiful novel, there's partying, yes, small crimes, heavy alcohol and drug use, subtle humor in finding out finally why their contemporaries a year or two ahead of them were so obsessed with women's breasts ( Porn was hard to come by - Pun intended - ); so that was like discovering a chest of Spanish Gold Bullion deep in the sea for boys aged 13-14 in the Eighties!!!, No wonder why I had no clue about sex, and how things worked, made for some embarrassing early moments of a 14 yr old me trying how and where to put it. Lol. Undeniably conceived with the advent ( it's always been an issue even as far back as the 19th century). Anyways, an adjunct and horrible transition, my shitty review gets Five out of Five shitty Stars. - Benway
P.S. there is some interesting slang and things I've never heard of. First, they all like to have drinks of some sort of medical alcohol/Spirit of the poor and youth, and its called KORN. The whiskey of the GDR youth. And the constant referrals to the Vietnamese, they had restaurants, and stores; were industrious and worked beyond, and it hit me, Vietnamese, the USSR funded and armed the Viet Cong, to great affect, like how a little girl became Vietnamese Sniper in Full Metal Jacket, using a Kalashnikov??! Great fucking film though. Hardcore Joker. Hardcore.
Point being after the the U.S left Vietnam, and war was basically over, and the great Communist ideals, well, turned out it's a shite system, noble idea but corrupted by the few, so many Vietnamese came Westward to find work and a place for a family, as the U.S bombed the shit out of their homelands, and even went lower with say Agent Orange, hello Mcfly...And discovered the Big Lie that is mass Socialisim.Now I'm far from Right Winged, but you go far enough left you're going to find yourself deep into the right . So y'all chill, vote and engage in non-agressive discourse.
***Howdy Clem****
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