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Elke Heidenreich, author and book critic:
»Iris Wolff has written another very beautiful novel. “Lichtungen” was published by Klett-Cotta. Iris Wolff was born in 1970 and grew up in Romania. She came to Germany with her family in 1985.
All of her novels tell of loss, of home, of remembering. And in a very clear, poetic and beautiful, I would almost say in a clever language. I've just tormented myself through more than 600 pages of Murakami's nonsense about the inner world of the soul: "The City and its Uncertain Wall." And by Paul Oaster-Baumgartner's old gentleman whining. And this was like a breath of fresh air and really did me good.
It was clearer, smarter and formally more interesting in every way. Because this novel is told backwards. It begins with chapter nine and ends with chapter one. This means that at the beginning we readers are aware of the state of things and how this state of things came about, which is then rolled back.
It is a great novel about life and love. It's about two young people in Romania, in a small village, Lev and Kato. And in chapter nine, which begins, the two meet in Zurich after many years. She wrote him a card: When are you finally coming? And then he pulls himself together and leaves Ceausescu's dictatorial Romania for the first time and meets her in Zurich. And they meet.
How things started with the two of them is now told backwards, all the way back to chapter one, where we find out that little Lev had an accident. Actually more of a psychological accident than a physical one, but he can no longer move his legs. He lies in bed and the clever Kato comes every day and brings him his homework and explains to him what was done at school.
She then leaves Romania very early because she can no longer stand it in this country full of spies and is so oppressed. And this oppression also extends to families, which are made up of many different backgrounds. And the conflict in the country continues to smolder in the families between Romanians and Germans. He stays, becomes a forest worker and at some point he goes to find her.
So it's all about remembering and remembering two people who have experienced roughly the same thing. Do they remember the same? The book is called “Lichtungen” and Iris Wolff writes at one point: “Memories were scattered over time like clearings.” When Kato and Lev meet again, she says: Let's not talk about the past. And this past is still stuck in his bones like lead. He wants to talk about it. This is a quiet, clever, absolutely wonderful book by Iris Wolff: “Lichtungen”.
And then I have a little tip today, from Ella al Shamahi: “The handshake”. A slim book about a big gesture, the handshake. It almost disappeared from the world after the pandemic. This strange guy, this immunologist in America, Anthony Fauchi, said he hopes people never shake hands again because it's so dangerous. Such an idiot.
Shaking hands is one of humanity's oldest gestures. This already exists in cave paintings, we can already see it. The handshake is a touch that signals trust, closeness, connection, politeness. With handshakes, wars are ended or sealed, contracts are concluded, promises are made. And the author explains all of this in this interesting essay.
She was a Muslim for 26 years, was deeply veiled and shaking hands, especially with men, was unthinkable for her. Now she enjoys this gesture and also the hugs that sometimes come with it. And she is a paleoanthropologist, which means she studies Neanderthals and cavemen and can explain this wonderful handshake gesture across the centuries and also the difference between a handshake, handshaking and holding hands. Nice to read. Hand on it!”
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