Book podcast: Just laugh at me: Peter Stamm and his novel "The Archive of Emotions"

Sometimes Franziska is there suddenly without him having thought of her.

She keeps him company.

Then she disappears as she came and he is alone again: In "The Archive of Emotions", the new novel by the Swiss author Peter Stamm, a loner remembers the love of his youth, a love that was unrequited at the time.

Now, forty years later, she is present in his life - in his memory, in his imagination.

As a singer, she calls herself Fabienne, and when he heard her sing about a lover, he imagined it was him she longed for.

Eventually he started avoiding music to avoid being exposed to that feeling.

How he does everything to keep unrequited, unrest and dissatisfaction at bay.

Then the real Franziska returns to his life.

The unlived life is the basic theme of Peter Stamm's novels, according to a review years ago.

In "The Archive of Feelings" there is an opportunity for revision: Do we recognize our chances in life?

On February 2nd, Peter Stamm read from his latest book in the Literaturhaus Frankfurt and talked about it with Melanie Mühl.

"The Archive of Emotions" by Peter Stamm was published by S. Fischer, has 192 pages and costs 22 euros.

Every Sunday morning, the FAZ books podcast alternately publishes talks about books and topics, interviews with authors, readings, literary puzzles and recitations from the Frankfurt anthology.

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