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Magic Hoffmann
Fred, Nickel und Annette träumen einen Traum, und der trägt den Namen ›Kanada‹. Dort könnte man leben, wie man will, fischen und fotografieren, weit weg vom Muff der Provinz. Doch von Dieburg nach Vancouver kommt man nicht ohne Umweg. Für Fred führt dieser über den Knast in das Berlin nach dem Mauerfall, wo er Nickel, Annette und sein Geld abholen will. So war's besprochen – doch ›the times they are a-changin'‹.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Jakob Arjouni
32 books35 followersJakob Arjouni (alias of Jakob Bothe) published his first novel Happy Birthday, Türke! (1985) at the age of 20.Later he wrote his first play Die Garagen. He became famous after publishing his criminal novel Kayankaya, which was then translated into 10 different languages.
In 1987, he received the Baden-Württembergischen Autorenpreis für das deutschsprachige Jugendtheater for his play Nazim schiebt ab. In 1992, he received the German Crime Fiction Prize for One Man, One Murder. He died, aged 48, in Berlin, after a long fight against pancreatic cancer.
In 1987, he received the Baden-Württembergischen Autorenpreis für das deutschsprachige Jugendtheater for his play Nazim schiebt ab. In 1992, he received the German Crime Fiction Prize for One Man, One Murder. He died, aged 48, in Berlin, after a long fight against pancreatic cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 23, 2025
Part of re-reading books from the past I enjoyed back then. This is a setup for disappointment and so it was.
Fred Hoffmann is a loudmouth par excellence, calling himself Magic Hoffmann. He's a prototypical representation of the Dunning Kruger effect. Too dumb to notice his own failures. One evening, he tells his grandmother that he has found the perfect job. Only to end up in prison the next four years for a failed bank heist he did with his two best friends in Dieburg. Their plan was to go to Canada with the money. Fred was the only one to be caught and while in prison, he clings to this dream
Once he gets out, he expects his two friends Annette and Nickel to wait for him. They don't. They haven't even left him their current contact data. But this doesn't disturb Magic. Always think positive. Be on top of things. He's completely delulu still thinking that he will go to Canada with his friends from school. His confidence is unbroken. His motto is "Was war, war und was kommt, bestimme ich!". He travels to Berlin to find his two friends. Which he manages to do. Most surprisingly, even his part of the booty is still there. But he wouldn't be the dumbass he is to again mess up everything completely.
You cannot like Magic Hoffmann in his ignorance. But somehow, you still root for him to find a place in life somewhere. It's a loser story, not the one of an underdog. And it remains this way right to the end.
The characters are clichéd, the writing is simple, a plot-driven novel. The plot itself is derived with most unlikely coincidences and repeated deus-ex-machina moments. Only rarely, glimpses into contemporary Berlin after the reunification can be caught. The omnipresence of Neo-Nazis playing a vital role in two parts of the story, Russian and Vietnamese immigration and their part in the new Berlin economy, students turning their focus onto economical success. None of this comes to life though. My enjoyment was not even close to what I remembered from reading it the first time back in the 90's.
Fred Hoffmann is a loudmouth par excellence, calling himself Magic Hoffmann. He's a prototypical representation of the Dunning Kruger effect. Too dumb to notice his own failures. One evening, he tells his grandmother that he has found the perfect job. Only to end up in prison the next four years for a failed bank heist he did with his two best friends in Dieburg. Their plan was to go to Canada with the money. Fred was the only one to be caught and while in prison, he clings to this dream
Once he gets out, he expects his two friends Annette and Nickel to wait for him. They don't. They haven't even left him their current contact data. But this doesn't disturb Magic. Always think positive. Be on top of things. He's completely delulu still thinking that he will go to Canada with his friends from school. His confidence is unbroken. His motto is "Was war, war und was kommt, bestimme ich!". He travels to Berlin to find his two friends. Which he manages to do. Most surprisingly, even his part of the booty is still there. But he wouldn't be the dumbass he is to again mess up everything completely.
You cannot like Magic Hoffmann in his ignorance. But somehow, you still root for him to find a place in life somewhere. It's a loser story, not the one of an underdog. And it remains this way right to the end.
The characters are clichéd, the writing is simple, a plot-driven novel. The plot itself is derived with most unlikely coincidences and repeated deus-ex-machina moments. Only rarely, glimpses into contemporary Berlin after the reunification can be caught. The omnipresence of Neo-Nazis playing a vital role in two parts of the story, Russian and Vietnamese immigration and their part in the new Berlin economy, students turning their focus onto economical success. None of this comes to life though. My enjoyment was not even close to what I remembered from reading it the first time back in the 90's.
August 20, 2024
Ein Roman mit einigen wenigen interessanten Beobachtungen über die Gesellschaft und Deutschland zur Zeit der Wiedervereinigung. Leider begleitet durch einen absolut unsympathischen und stumpfsinnigen Protagonisten, der sich immer wieder durch nicht nachvollziehbare Handlungen in Schwierigkeiten bringt.
November 18, 2019
http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=7380
West Germany, a short time before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Fred, Nickel and Annette are three young people from the South Hessian provincial town of Dieburg. They dream of the big wide world, more specifically of Canada. They do not have any real ideas about this distant country, only that there everything is much nicer and more interesting than in their godforsaken hometown. Fred "Magic" Hoffmann, the one of the three who has a reputation of being a prankster, wants to plant an apple orchard there and produce apple wine (Eppelwoi), the signature drink of their home region - a project that seems almost as realistic as growing pineapples in Alaska.
What distinguishes this youthful dropout fantasy from many others is simply that the three go one step further than many peers in a similar situation. They are planning a bank robbery, which should give them the necessary seed capital. And they are not stopping at the planning phase: astonishingly, their robbery of a bank branch in a neighboring village is successful; the 600,000 marks, are not a gigantic sum, but enough to build an existence in Canada. But Fred gets caught - planning and executing the bank robbery is dealt with in the novel in a few lines only - and sentenced to four years in juvenile jail, which he does with stoic patience and without betraying his partners in crime - finally he has one goal: when he gets out, his share of 200,000 and his friends are waiting for him, and then: off to Canada! (After all, he uses the prison time to teach himself some English, which he then uses in every appropriate and inappropriate opportunity in his dialogues.)
How great is his surprise when his friends do not pick him up at the prison gate and their postal addresses turn out to be no longer correct. It must have come something in between and the friends also did not want to make themselves suspicious and therefore had little contact with Fred during his detention. Finally, the unsuspecting Fred finds out that his friends are now living in Berlin and he is soon on his way to meet them there. But in Berlin he experiences one surprise after another, and most of them are not at all pleasant …
We are in the novel Magic Hoffmann (that's the title in the German original) by Jakob Arjouni, who has become famous for his books about the German-Turkish private detective Kemal Kayankaya. If you expect Kemal to appear here as well, you will be disappointed; however, what works quite similar to the Kayankaya novels is Arjouni's art of developing a character, his often witty dialogues, his eye for the absurdity of certain things and situations, and his unsentimental view of Germany in the late 1980s and early 1990s, his seemingly cynical remarks and his sympathy for his main character, who, despite everything, is quickly taken to the heart of the reader.
The book is also largely a Berlin novel - whereby the city's description pleasantly differs from many works that want to sell us the old-new German capital as the navel of the world. When Fred comes to the city for the first time, he is quite disappointed: Berlin looks the same way as Frankfurt, Darmstadt or Wiesbaden, except that the Berlin people obviously do not understand Fred's special kind of humor; Berliners are regularly rude and unfriendly in this novel, a fact with which Fred has difficulty to cope with. And then there are things that are completely new to Fred: the reunited Germany, the frequent talk of the nation, the anti-Semitism, the presence of violent neo-Nazis in the subway, the police, who are not too eager to do their job and to protect the law, Russians who are doing all sorts of illegal business behind a legal cover, petty criminals and extortionate taxi drivers to watch out for, young people like Nickel and Annette, who think of themselves as progressive and hip, but who behind this façade, often have reactionary opinions and extremely conservative ideas about their aims in life. And everywhere it smells bad and the sky is gray in this city. Berlin can not really impress a Magic Hoffmann. Maybe it's because he's just passing through.
He realizes that his friends have changed a lot. Nickel studies to become a teacher, he has a family and the money of the robbery well-hidden in an investment scheme in Luxembourg. Fred has a lot of patience with him, but then he has to use some serious pressure to get his share. And Annette works on film projects that never get beyond the planning and discussion stage, otherwise she lives in her bubble of pseudo-artists who are looking down on someone like Fred with contempt; it is telling that both of them are very surprised when Fred asks them when they will be leaving for Canada, since neither for Nickel nor for Annette, this has been ever a serious plan.
But luck seems to embrace Fred nevertheless. He encounters the freaky dancer Moni, who does not bother with his completely unfashionable clothes, his strange look or his crime "career". The two are getting closer and Fred is forging plans for a life together with Moni in Canada before fate is striking mercilessly.
A great novel in my opinion: it has a high pace, interesting characters and dialogues, it has wit and it allows the reader to take an unusual but very revealing look at the reunited Germany. Unusual because the reader identifies very quickly with the main character Fred Hoffmann. Fred is a modern literary relative of Eichendorff's Good-for-nothing; he is an outsider for various reasons: bank robber, small town boy, traveler, a person without exaggerated artistic or intellectual ambitions, he is everything that would be described in Berlin as the opposite of hip. But unlike his fake friends, Fred has remained true to his dreams and ideals, with a mixture of naivety and mother wit that makes him very likeable.
The German edition of the novel I read has almost 300 pages; I read the book in one sitting. Highly recommended! What a great loss that Jakob Arjouni died relatively young!
West Germany, a short time before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Fred, Nickel and Annette are three young people from the South Hessian provincial town of Dieburg. They dream of the big wide world, more specifically of Canada. They do not have any real ideas about this distant country, only that there everything is much nicer and more interesting than in their godforsaken hometown. Fred "Magic" Hoffmann, the one of the three who has a reputation of being a prankster, wants to plant an apple orchard there and produce apple wine (Eppelwoi), the signature drink of their home region - a project that seems almost as realistic as growing pineapples in Alaska.
What distinguishes this youthful dropout fantasy from many others is simply that the three go one step further than many peers in a similar situation. They are planning a bank robbery, which should give them the necessary seed capital. And they are not stopping at the planning phase: astonishingly, their robbery of a bank branch in a neighboring village is successful; the 600,000 marks, are not a gigantic sum, but enough to build an existence in Canada. But Fred gets caught - planning and executing the bank robbery is dealt with in the novel in a few lines only - and sentenced to four years in juvenile jail, which he does with stoic patience and without betraying his partners in crime - finally he has one goal: when he gets out, his share of 200,000 and his friends are waiting for him, and then: off to Canada! (After all, he uses the prison time to teach himself some English, which he then uses in every appropriate and inappropriate opportunity in his dialogues.)
How great is his surprise when his friends do not pick him up at the prison gate and their postal addresses turn out to be no longer correct. It must have come something in between and the friends also did not want to make themselves suspicious and therefore had little contact with Fred during his detention. Finally, the unsuspecting Fred finds out that his friends are now living in Berlin and he is soon on his way to meet them there. But in Berlin he experiences one surprise after another, and most of them are not at all pleasant …
We are in the novel Magic Hoffmann (that's the title in the German original) by Jakob Arjouni, who has become famous for his books about the German-Turkish private detective Kemal Kayankaya. If you expect Kemal to appear here as well, you will be disappointed; however, what works quite similar to the Kayankaya novels is Arjouni's art of developing a character, his often witty dialogues, his eye for the absurdity of certain things and situations, and his unsentimental view of Germany in the late 1980s and early 1990s, his seemingly cynical remarks and his sympathy for his main character, who, despite everything, is quickly taken to the heart of the reader.
The book is also largely a Berlin novel - whereby the city's description pleasantly differs from many works that want to sell us the old-new German capital as the navel of the world. When Fred comes to the city for the first time, he is quite disappointed: Berlin looks the same way as Frankfurt, Darmstadt or Wiesbaden, except that the Berlin people obviously do not understand Fred's special kind of humor; Berliners are regularly rude and unfriendly in this novel, a fact with which Fred has difficulty to cope with. And then there are things that are completely new to Fred: the reunited Germany, the frequent talk of the nation, the anti-Semitism, the presence of violent neo-Nazis in the subway, the police, who are not too eager to do their job and to protect the law, Russians who are doing all sorts of illegal business behind a legal cover, petty criminals and extortionate taxi drivers to watch out for, young people like Nickel and Annette, who think of themselves as progressive and hip, but who behind this façade, often have reactionary opinions and extremely conservative ideas about their aims in life. And everywhere it smells bad and the sky is gray in this city. Berlin can not really impress a Magic Hoffmann. Maybe it's because he's just passing through.
He realizes that his friends have changed a lot. Nickel studies to become a teacher, he has a family and the money of the robbery well-hidden in an investment scheme in Luxembourg. Fred has a lot of patience with him, but then he has to use some serious pressure to get his share. And Annette works on film projects that never get beyond the planning and discussion stage, otherwise she lives in her bubble of pseudo-artists who are looking down on someone like Fred with contempt; it is telling that both of them are very surprised when Fred asks them when they will be leaving for Canada, since neither for Nickel nor for Annette, this has been ever a serious plan.
But luck seems to embrace Fred nevertheless. He encounters the freaky dancer Moni, who does not bother with his completely unfashionable clothes, his strange look or his crime "career". The two are getting closer and Fred is forging plans for a life together with Moni in Canada before fate is striking mercilessly.
A great novel in my opinion: it has a high pace, interesting characters and dialogues, it has wit and it allows the reader to take an unusual but very revealing look at the reunited Germany. Unusual because the reader identifies very quickly with the main character Fred Hoffmann. Fred is a modern literary relative of Eichendorff's Good-for-nothing; he is an outsider for various reasons: bank robber, small town boy, traveler, a person without exaggerated artistic or intellectual ambitions, he is everything that would be described in Berlin as the opposite of hip. But unlike his fake friends, Fred has remained true to his dreams and ideals, with a mixture of naivety and mother wit that makes him very likeable.
The German edition of the novel I read has almost 300 pages; I read the book in one sitting. Highly recommended! What a great loss that Jakob Arjouni died relatively young!
May 4, 2009
A word of warning: this is neither an urban thriller nor a mystery as the reviews on the dust jacket would suggest (I don't know what book they read). While German author, Arjouni, might write crime novels, in my opinion, that would be a broad description of this novel.
While a bank robbery happens, it happens before the events of the story. Most of this book is about waiting. And Berlin. About waiting in Berlin.
Admittedly, this story does not have my favorite structure: Outsider comes to new environment, and in x amount of days, something is going to happen (heist, be allowed to leave, find someone/something, etc.). What happens is the bulk of the story is about the strange characters that the hero meets along the way. The story becomes painfully episodic and inevitably, the characters represent ideas rather than feel like actual people.
It works in stories like IN BRUGES or THE MAN ON THE TRAIN (both films, sorry, the only books I can think of are obscure), but not in this one.
While a bank robbery happens, it happens before the events of the story. Most of this book is about waiting. And Berlin. About waiting in Berlin.
Admittedly, this story does not have my favorite structure: Outsider comes to new environment, and in x amount of days, something is going to happen (heist, be allowed to leave, find someone/something, etc.). What happens is the bulk of the story is about the strange characters that the hero meets along the way. The story becomes painfully episodic and inevitably, the characters represent ideas rather than feel like actual people.
It works in stories like IN BRUGES or THE MAN ON THE TRAIN (both films, sorry, the only books I can think of are obscure), but not in this one.
September 7, 2019
Ωραίο μυθιστόρημα στο οποίο κυριαρχεί ο κεντρικός χαρακτήρας του αντι-ήρωα Φρεντ Χόφμαν. Η αφήγηση που γίνεται με γραμμική σειρά στον χρόνο είναι λιτή και χωρίς περιττά φτιασίδια πετυχαίνει σε μεγάλο βαθμό τον στόχο της που νομίζω ότι είναι να μείνει σε δεύτερο πλάνο το στόρυ. Ο Αρζούνι με αρκετές δόσεις χιούμορ σκιαγραφεί γρήγορα έναν χαρακτήρα που από ένα σημείο και μετά περιμένεις ότι όλα θα του πάνε στραβά, ότι και να σκεφτεί θα έρθει ανάποδα. Πολύ ευχάριστο στην ανάγνωση του και σίγουρα με έναν αντι-ήρωα που τον θυμάσαι για καιρό.
October 27, 2023
Storia molto bella, si legge velocemente e ha un finale bello forte, come piace a me.
Certo, forse c'è qualcosa di superfluo, però ribadisco, quando pensavo che tutto finisse a tarallucci e vino, la storia mi ha ricordato che il tizio è un criminale e, dopo le tante cazzate fatte, le cose devono tornare indietro, in un modo piuttosto doloroso, ovvio, ma almeno realista.
Certo, forse c'è qualcosa di superfluo, però ribadisco, quando pensavo che tutto finisse a tarallucci e vino, la storia mi ha ricordato che il tizio è un criminale e, dopo le tante cazzate fatte, le cose devono tornare indietro, in un modo piuttosto doloroso, ovvio, ma almeno realista.
December 29, 2020
Ein sehr spezielles Buch, an das sich wohl nur jene wagen sollten, die bereits Erfahrung mit Arjouni gesammelt haben. Denn ansonsten könnte das hier ganz schnell in die Hose gehen.
Denn Magic Hoffmann ist alles andere als ein sympathischer Held, mit dem man sich identifizieren möchte. Eher ist er eine Nervensäge, die den Anschluss verloren hat. Man könnte Mitleid mit ihm haben, aber er macht es einem enorm schwer. Nicht nur seiner Umwelt, sondern auch dem Leser.
Somit ist dieses Buch ein richtiger Arjouni. Weit weg von Wohlfühl-Romantik, Grossstadt-Schwärmereien und Lebensweisheiten-Kitsch. Oh ja, Lebensweisheit, das beinhaltet dieses Werk auf jeden Fall. Aber es ist nicht jene Weisheit, die man erhält, indem man Infused Water trinkt und in Bio-Baumwolle meditiert.
Es ist jene Erfahrung, die man macht, wenn man unten ist. In der untersten Schicht, Lowlife auf Neudeutsch. Hoffmann taumelt durch eine Welt, die nicht mehr die ist, die er kennt. Aber das ignoriert er gekonnt - er hat seine Pläne und die will er auf Biegen und Brechen durchsetzen.
Der Rückentext lockt mit Witz und Humor, aber vielleicht kenne ich Berlin zu wenig, oder mein Humor funktioniert anders; aber besonders witzig fand ich Hoffmanns Odyssee nicht. Eher aufwühlend, erschütternd. Deutschland nach der Wende - das war bestimmt nicht einfach. Und Hoffmann auch noch mittendrin...
Damit will ich nicht ausdrücken, dass es ein schlechtes Buch ist. Eher im Gegenteil. Ich glaube, Hoffmann wird mir noch eine Weile erhalten bleiben. Nein, ich mag ihn nicht, er mag mich wahrscheinlich auch nicht, aber genau solche Begegnungen bleiben einem im Kopf.
Denn Magic Hoffmann ist alles andere als ein sympathischer Held, mit dem man sich identifizieren möchte. Eher ist er eine Nervensäge, die den Anschluss verloren hat. Man könnte Mitleid mit ihm haben, aber er macht es einem enorm schwer. Nicht nur seiner Umwelt, sondern auch dem Leser.
Somit ist dieses Buch ein richtiger Arjouni. Weit weg von Wohlfühl-Romantik, Grossstadt-Schwärmereien und Lebensweisheiten-Kitsch. Oh ja, Lebensweisheit, das beinhaltet dieses Werk auf jeden Fall. Aber es ist nicht jene Weisheit, die man erhält, indem man Infused Water trinkt und in Bio-Baumwolle meditiert.
Es ist jene Erfahrung, die man macht, wenn man unten ist. In der untersten Schicht, Lowlife auf Neudeutsch. Hoffmann taumelt durch eine Welt, die nicht mehr die ist, die er kennt. Aber das ignoriert er gekonnt - er hat seine Pläne und die will er auf Biegen und Brechen durchsetzen.
Der Rückentext lockt mit Witz und Humor, aber vielleicht kenne ich Berlin zu wenig, oder mein Humor funktioniert anders; aber besonders witzig fand ich Hoffmanns Odyssee nicht. Eher aufwühlend, erschütternd. Deutschland nach der Wende - das war bestimmt nicht einfach. Und Hoffmann auch noch mittendrin...
Damit will ich nicht ausdrücken, dass es ein schlechtes Buch ist. Eher im Gegenteil. Ich glaube, Hoffmann wird mir noch eine Weile erhalten bleiben. Nein, ich mag ihn nicht, er mag mich wahrscheinlich auch nicht, aber genau solche Begegnungen bleiben einem im Kopf.
September 11, 2022
Erinnert ein wenig an Der Fänger im Roggen; kettenrauchender Jugendlicher baut ein Haufen Scheiss weil sie in die Gesellschaft nicht hinein passen. Jedoch ist der Hauptcharakter in diesem Buch irgendwie tausendmal unsympatischer, was erstaunlich ist da wo Holden Caulfield 1:1 Greg Heffley von Greg's Tagebuch ist. Dabei ist aber sogar ein Kinderbuch wie Greg's Tagebuch tausendmal unterhaltsamer als Magic Hoffmann da Hoffmann einfach ein dreckiges Arschloch ist.
June 14, 2025
Βαρετό, όσο δεν πάει άλλο.
Προσπάθεια δραματοποίησης (άσχετης με όλα τα υπόλοιπα) λίγο πριν το ηθικοπλαστικό (;) τέλος.
Υ.Γ. στην περίληψη κάτι λέει για "άφθονο χιούμορ". Μάλλον για γερμανικού τύπου χιούμορ εννοεί.
Προσπάθεια δραματοποίησης (άσχετης με όλα τα υπόλοιπα) λίγο πριν το ηθικοπλαστικό (;) τέλος.
Υ.Γ. στην περίληψη κάτι λέει για "άφθονο χιούμορ". Μάλλον για γερμανικού τύπου χιούμορ εννοεί.
July 22, 2025
Leichtfüßiger Roman um einen Bankräuber und seine 2 Freunde, der einem letztendlich - von dem Freund und der Freundin nach dem Gefängnis mehr oder weniger im Stich gelassen - leid tut, mit all den Widrigkeiten, trotzdem nie die Hoffnung verlierend, aber ohne Traumerfüllung.
May 4, 2020
Didn’t have the charm of the other books of his that i have read.
October 30, 2021
Loved it, what a great book, funny, sad and gripping, great story teller , read in 1 sitting.
June 1, 2022
Another Diogenes novel with an insufferable main character.
June 5, 2016
Verplicht Duits boek voor school. Ik vond het een weinig spannende boek. De hoofdpersoon Fred ofwel 'magic hoffmann' ontwikkelt zich nauwelijks gedurende het verhaal. Misschien voor een deel te wijten aan het feit dat hij 4 jaar heeft vastgezeten en dat gedurende deze periode de muur is gevallen. In de gevangenis heeft hij enorm zijn eigen leventje gehad, met prachtige beelden. Als hij eenmaal vrij komt is iedereen doorgegaan met zijn leven. Annette, Nickel en de andere bewoners van Dieburg zijn doorgegaan met hun levens. Kinderen gekregen, carrière gemaakt enzovoort.
Natuurlijk is het een sneu verhaal en als je je een beetje inleeft snap je zijn gedachtegang ook wel. Het hele punt is dat ik alleen geen sympathie heb voor de hoofdpersoon. Hij blijft telkens een beetje zeuren over hoe hij de dingen zou willen, terwijl hij wel telkens zegt 'was war, war'. Beetje hypocriet dus, dit bevordert niet het beeld van de hoofdpersoon.
Al met al zo'n mwah boek. Daarom 2/5 sterren. Als je een ander boek kunt lezen, doe het vooral. Moet je dit boek verplicht lezen: zet er je tanden in en vergeet hem daarna snel.
Natuurlijk is het een sneu verhaal en als je je een beetje inleeft snap je zijn gedachtegang ook wel. Het hele punt is dat ik alleen geen sympathie heb voor de hoofdpersoon. Hij blijft telkens een beetje zeuren over hoe hij de dingen zou willen, terwijl hij wel telkens zegt 'was war, war'. Beetje hypocriet dus, dit bevordert niet het beeld van de hoofdpersoon.
Al met al zo'n mwah boek. Daarom 2/5 sterren. Als je een ander boek kunt lezen, doe het vooral. Moet je dit boek verplicht lezen: zet er je tanden in en vergeet hem daarna snel.
July 28, 2015
Tanta tanta curiosità per questo grande Autore.
Ora me lo godo.
See you later!!
25/07/15
Una storia di sogni infranti, di antichi parti tra giovani amici, traditi. Tanta delusione, tanta speranza. A vuoto. Pare che in questo universo non vi sia spazio per tutti i sognatori. Si sicuro non per Hoffman sicuramente.
Un personaggio che fa tanta, tanta pena, per il quale ho fatto il tifo fino all'ultimo. Ma invano.
Si chiude con tanto tanto tantissimo amaro in bocca.++++*
Ora me lo godo.
See you later!!
25/07/15
Una storia di sogni infranti, di antichi parti tra giovani amici, traditi. Tanta delusione, tanta speranza. A vuoto. Pare che in questo universo non vi sia spazio per tutti i sognatori. Si sicuro non per Hoffman sicuramente.
Un personaggio che fa tanta, tanta pena, per il quale ho fatto il tifo fino all'ultimo. Ma invano.
Si chiude con tanto tanto tantissimo amaro in bocca.++++*
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December 26, 2018In a departure from his Kemal Kayankaya mystery series, this novel from German/Turkish writer Arjouni is a deceptively simple story about friendship and the reunification of Germany. Three rural teenagers dream of moving to Canada to escape the boredom of their country existence, and to finance this they embark on a brazen bank robbery of around $500,000. "Magic" Hoffman is caught and sentenced to four years in juvenile prison, while the other two escape with the money since Hoffman refuses to implicate them. The member of the trio with the highest spirits and wildest antics, he spends the four years keeping a low profile and dreaming of the move to Canada. So, when he's released, he's perplexed that neither Nick or Annette have come to the prison to pick him up.
Assuming it's all a misunderstanding, he takes a train to Berlin to find them and reunite. Of course, when he gets to the big city, he's totally out of his element. Beyond the difficulties of navigating a big city, he encounters a cultural and political climate totally foreign to him. While he was in prison, Germany reunified, but never one to pay attention to such things, he doesn't really see what the big deal is. So while everyone around him is yammering about culture and politics, he just smiles dumbly as it all goes over his head. Unsurprisingly (but no less poignantly) when he does catch up with his friends, they are very different people, and have no intention of running off to Canada with him. The realization that times have moved on without him dawns heartbreakingly on him, and you can't help but sympathize with the obtuse Hoffman. The ending is a little off-too over the top compared to the rest of the book, but that doesn't take away from the book's overall excellence.
It's a story about betrayal, not melodramatic betrayal, but the aching kind that happens when friends grow up and grow apart. On another level, Hoffman is clearly meant to symbolize Eastern Germany, locked behind the Iron Curtain for years, and too slow to catch up with the self-absorbed go-go West (as embodied by Nick and Annette). A sad, gritty, and compulsive read, it's a shame Arjouni isn't more widely known in the US.
Assuming it's all a misunderstanding, he takes a train to Berlin to find them and reunite. Of course, when he gets to the big city, he's totally out of his element. Beyond the difficulties of navigating a big city, he encounters a cultural and political climate totally foreign to him. While he was in prison, Germany reunified, but never one to pay attention to such things, he doesn't really see what the big deal is. So while everyone around him is yammering about culture and politics, he just smiles dumbly as it all goes over his head. Unsurprisingly (but no less poignantly) when he does catch up with his friends, they are very different people, and have no intention of running off to Canada with him. The realization that times have moved on without him dawns heartbreakingly on him, and you can't help but sympathize with the obtuse Hoffman. The ending is a little off-too over the top compared to the rest of the book, but that doesn't take away from the book's overall excellence.
It's a story about betrayal, not melodramatic betrayal, but the aching kind that happens when friends grow up and grow apart. On another level, Hoffman is clearly meant to symbolize Eastern Germany, locked behind the Iron Curtain for years, and too slow to catch up with the self-absorbed go-go West (as embodied by Nick and Annette). A sad, gritty, and compulsive read, it's a shame Arjouni isn't more widely known in the US.
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