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Zorn / Radio Universe: Zwei Stücke
141 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2011
About the author
Nino Haratischwili
41 books1,458 followersNino Haratischwili (Georgian: ნინო ხარატიშვილი) is a Georgian-born German novelist, playwright, and theater director.
Haratischwili was born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she attended a German-language school. To escape the political and social chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, she moved to Germany for two years in the early 1990s with her mother, where she attended the seventh and the eighth grade of school. Her family returned to Georgia afterwards. Haratischwili later moved to Germany again in order to attend drama school in Hamburg. She became a German citizen in 2012.
Haratischwili currently lives in Hamburg.
Haratischwili was born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she attended a German-language school. To escape the political and social chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, she moved to Germany for two years in the early 1990s with her mother, where she attended the seventh and the eighth grade of school. Her family returned to Georgia afterwards. Haratischwili later moved to Germany again in order to attend drama school in Hamburg. She became a German citizen in 2012.
Haratischwili currently lives in Hamburg.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 24, 2014
Zorn
Depicting the lifes of 8 seemingly random people in the play Zorn by Nino Haratischwili, it is in search for the meaning of life goals and decisions, our deepest desires and the caducity of our memories while struggling in the face of the present and unsure future. It is rather short, but powerful in its depressive tone giving us only a small glimpse of hope, a lecture and an opportunity to reflect upon our own life. The characters in Zorn are lost beyond rescue, estranged from their partners and friends, facing a wall, they can’t cross.
The dialogue is very interesting, playing on the miscommunication of the various characters. At times they are talking over each others head, being self-absorbed, then they seem to become one voice alltogether. One particular scene is memorable, when one of the characters gives us his thoughts about the price of happiness, fulfillment and the idea, that one has to suffer, so another one can be happy. It’s pretty dark, but fascinating, especially considering that at the end no one is happy, quite the opposite. These are the people that suffered. Who made the wrong choices. Whether there are other people who had reason to celebrate, to be happy, is left unanswered.
Normally I’m not the biggest fan of stories, that try to force such interconnectivity between characters upon the reader, but in this case it might have worked just enough to not be distracting, instead spinning a web of failures and lost souls who were crushed by the weight of their past choices.
Radio Universe
Based on Nino Haratischwilis experience with the kaukasus conflict in 2008, she wrote the play Radio Universe. The story follows several people, who on the one hand have to f0llow the war on television being in Germany, while Lile has to go directly into the conflict zone to get the doctor who was supposed to operate on her dieing father. Jo, a radio moderator is the connections between these bits, talking to his audience no matter where they are. This all plays out in one single night.
I think Haratischwili managed to paint the desperation of helplessness in face of the inevitable bombings in an interesting way. People mumbling to themselves about their past lives, people talking to each other in a lonely bar, trying to make sense of it all and people who have present stakes and could still loose more than their hope.
They want to be together, someone they can rely on in such extreme circumstances and yet they can’t be. They are somewhat together in one place of despair and fear, but they have to deal with it on their own. The guilt of not being able to do anything. The realisation you could have done better. The shock that everything might be pointless and without sense.
Especially the use of the snow in Germany and the parallel bombings in Georgia is a frightening, but somehow beautiful picture in its depicition of the characters feelings and the places they are in right now.
Oh, and there’s a talking dog.
Depicting the lifes of 8 seemingly random people in the play Zorn by Nino Haratischwili, it is in search for the meaning of life goals and decisions, our deepest desires and the caducity of our memories while struggling in the face of the present and unsure future. It is rather short, but powerful in its depressive tone giving us only a small glimpse of hope, a lecture and an opportunity to reflect upon our own life. The characters in Zorn are lost beyond rescue, estranged from their partners and friends, facing a wall, they can’t cross.
The dialogue is very interesting, playing on the miscommunication of the various characters. At times they are talking over each others head, being self-absorbed, then they seem to become one voice alltogether. One particular scene is memorable, when one of the characters gives us his thoughts about the price of happiness, fulfillment and the idea, that one has to suffer, so another one can be happy. It’s pretty dark, but fascinating, especially considering that at the end no one is happy, quite the opposite. These are the people that suffered. Who made the wrong choices. Whether there are other people who had reason to celebrate, to be happy, is left unanswered.
Normally I’m not the biggest fan of stories, that try to force such interconnectivity between characters upon the reader, but in this case it might have worked just enough to not be distracting, instead spinning a web of failures and lost souls who were crushed by the weight of their past choices.
Radio Universe
Based on Nino Haratischwilis experience with the kaukasus conflict in 2008, she wrote the play Radio Universe. The story follows several people, who on the one hand have to f0llow the war on television being in Germany, while Lile has to go directly into the conflict zone to get the doctor who was supposed to operate on her dieing father. Jo, a radio moderator is the connections between these bits, talking to his audience no matter where they are. This all plays out in one single night.
I think Haratischwili managed to paint the desperation of helplessness in face of the inevitable bombings in an interesting way. People mumbling to themselves about their past lives, people talking to each other in a lonely bar, trying to make sense of it all and people who have present stakes and could still loose more than their hope.
They want to be together, someone they can rely on in such extreme circumstances and yet they can’t be. They are somewhat together in one place of despair and fear, but they have to deal with it on their own. The guilt of not being able to do anything. The realisation you could have done better. The shock that everything might be pointless and without sense.
Especially the use of the snow in Germany and the parallel bombings in Georgia is a frightening, but somehow beautiful picture in its depicition of the characters feelings and the places they are in right now.
Oh, and there’s a talking dog.
March 18, 2019
The first story I was very pleased with. I liked the characters and just the overall happening. The second story was quite different and I couldn't get through it very easily. Maybe it is because of the hard subject, but I was often confused who was talking or who is interacting with whom. Nonetheless a good read. (3.5 out of 5)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews