Lobe den Tag

"Wherever we go, there seems to be only one business at hand - that of finding workable compromises between the sublimity of our ideas and the absurdity of the fact of us." Annie Dillard in "Teaching a Stone to Talk" There was a timed writing exercise a few weeks ago: Count your blessings. At first it seemed easy enough, since life was good.  O.k., I thought, give me a second and  I just might do that. But then, I couldn't do it and the more, I thought about why, I understood: before I count those blessings (plenty plenty) I feel, I have to do justice to pain, a feeling I never acknowledged properly. My childhood hurt, and I didn't admit it. Which has led to an entire life, that hurts at times, when it should'nt, even with all those blessings. So I guess, I have to write about the pain a little bit. I grew up in a very small german city, it was almost a village. We lived in one big house, eleven people, all family. My aunt and uncle, their three ...

This is a series, I have started on my blog a few weeks ago: I ask authors 10 questions. They can vary, but are often about the habits concerning writing, because this has always been a subject, I was very interested in. My ten questions so far have appeared in German, since I presented them to german writers. But Annie Liontas is my first english speaking writer and I am very grateful to her for answering my at times nosy questions so openly. So I really hope, this will be the beginning of a series of english interviews! Hint Hint Hint!!!! If any foreign authors want to be interviewed, please let me know!  I met Annie Liontas last year in Lisbon, where we both attended the Disquiet Literary program , which I can highly recommend, and where she read an excerpt from the mentioned novel Let me explain you, which I read and reviewed here on my blog . That excerpt was so good, that I could not wait to have the real thing in hands. And it was not disappointing either. Great book! ...

Eine der klügsten und für mich persönlich interessantesten Literaturbloggerinnen, Sätze & Schätze , sandte via Facebook heute morgen einen kleinen Fragebogen herum, Zehn Fragen zu Büchern. Die Antworten darauf interessierten mich so sehr, dass ich mich, obwohl ich eigentlich anderes schreiben wollte, sofort daraun setzte, um sie heraus zu finden.  Danke liebe Birgit, für die tolle Gelegenheit, einmal intensiver über meine Lektüre und Lektürevorlieben und - gewohnheiten nachzudenken. Was mich wirklich ein bisschen aus der Bahn geworfen hat bei dem Fragebogen ist die Tatsache, dass ich auf beinahe jede Frage mit "Nesthäckchen" von Else Ury antworten konnte. Damit hatte ich nicht gerechnet. Das erste Buch, das du bewusst gelesen hast? Das war Nesthäckchen von Else Ury, Nesthäckchen und ihre Puppen und dann die ganze Reihe, die ich, seitdem ich circa 9 Jahre alt war, immer wieder las. Ich hatte noch die alten Ausgaben meiner Mutter, die 1941 geboren wurde. Das Buch, d...