Sigismund von dobschutz in recent times, there are more and more books by famous actors who try their hand at writing. One of the few people to demonstrate real literary talent is matthias brandt (57), who already made a name for himself in 2016 with his debut "raumpatrouille" CONVINCED. While these were stories from his own childhood in bonn as the youngest son of then chancellor willy brandt, author matthias brandt changes the subject in his new novel "blackbird" into the fictional.
The main character and i-payer is 15-year-old morten schumacher, known as motte, a student at brahms-gymnasium in the 1970s. In this already difficult phase of his life, of all times, events come to a head: doctors have diagnosed bogi, his best friend, with the fatal disease "non-hodgkin's lymphoma diagnoses. Morten's parents separate, the boy loses his home and has to move into a new apartment with his mother. In addition, the excitement of first loves. A true contrast program of unbanded feelings.
A story that drifts along
What initially appears to be a harmless novel for young people, told in the relaxed jargon of a 16-year-old, soon develops into a psychodramatic, in its own way even thrilling novel about the emotional world of a pubescent adolescent in the field of tension between death and despair as well as love and friendship.
The fascinating thing about the novel is the way it is told. His often simple choice of words, these sometimes choppy half-sentences – thought splinters of the narrator – make difficult things so easy to understand: "the problem, or rather, one of my problems, was recently the following: the words and thoughts in my head became more and more, but fewer and fewer of them came out at the end as a comprehensible sentence."
Even what the deep fear of bogi's serious illness, which increasingly separates the two friends, moves in morten is described so simply but coherently: "instead of riding my bike to the clinic, i went to fub. I was in no hurry. Even though I knew the path so well, I felt like I was walking on foreign soil. It was as if bogi's illness had cut a huge swath through our lives from one day to the next."
Morten's first experience with love is with the beautiful, unfortunately shallow jacqueline schmiedebach, a student at einstein high school, and then with steffi, a chimney sweep who is only 1.58 meters tall and who becomes a true friend for him. "Most people gave me stress without being able to do anything about it. Steffi not."
The whole drama of this one year, the vulnerability, the fear and abandonment of the 16-year-old is shown to us by the author in the night scene on the ten-meter diving board, where morten has retreated with two red wine bottles of amselfelder. Lifeguard "elvis, who, as usual, scolds at first, but then comes up to him, remains sitting silently next to morten, as he leaves all questions unanswered. In elvis, morten finds momentary solace and a new friend, because "sometimes that's all you can do, i think. Don't ask questions, but stay there." it is such simple and just in their simplicity touching sentences, that "blackbird" by matthias brandt make it so worth reading. Book launch: sigismund von dobschutz reads from current books on wednesday 13. November, 7 p.M., at the soleb'ich cafe, ludwigstrabe 23; admission: 5 euros for the benefit of the bad kissingen hospice association; organizer: "seitenweise.