An unnamed female writer lives in Vienna, her life split between the man with whom she shares an apartment, Malina, and the man she loves, Ivan. From this sparse premise, the book explores the narrator’s inner world — her psyche, her writing, her experience of her gender, her obsessions, her past — within the context of postwar Vienna, its cultural history, its complicities and its collective trauma.
So far I only read the letters from bachmann to Paul Celan, i was always interested in Malina. Somewhere I read it would be rather "challenging", so I was a little put off.
I am really glad, that it is your first pick and very excited hearing your thoughts about it (and also the thoughts of everybody else). My native language is German, so I will read it in German.
I checked my library, but currently there is no copy available. So mayby you have lots of fowlloers in munich sophie?
how are the letters? i’ve been interested in those for a while, too (i really like celan).
i picked malina in part because of its potentially challenging reputation: i want to nudge anyone who’s been a little afraid of it previously, and it seems like it will be good to have a group of people with whom to parse the text.
i’m not sure i’m popular in munich, but i like the idea! :)
I would reccomend the letters to readers who are interested in Bachmann and Celan or at least one of them. I dont't think they work perfectly well as a stand alone work of literature. Regarding the writing style I enjoyed Celan a little bit more and I started reading more of his poetry. But I also remember thinking that Bachman is a fascinating personality and I read a lot about her afterwards. The literary scene un post-war German and Austria was unsurprisingly very male dominated and Bachmann was one of few women who was respected and talked about. Although I think she had to face a lot of sexismn.
Downloaded yesterday as an ebook, but now think that a paper copy would be better for annotating. I started reading and it is quite intriguing. Loved the description of the first encounter with Ivan. Looking forward to reading it with others. Very interesting choice of book that was not on my radar. She is a poet and it shows. I think if I keep it in mind the ‚difficult‘ parts can be easier to process the same way poetry is, it may not make sense cognitively but creates a mood and atmosphere. I have been wanting to get more into German language literature and even trying to read in the original, but maybe not this time as it may be a bit too challenging. But I will see. If you, Sophie, will be dipping into the German version, I might just dare 😀
i think keeping an openness to the poetry of the book is a brilliant tactic. we’re a little bit more forgiving of a text’s legibility, and, especially, of our ability to “get it,” when we think about atmosphere etc rather than just point a to b to c.
i heartily encourage you to read at least some of the german! if that’s something you’d like do more, i appoint myself as your cheerleader! depending on your comfort and reading speed, i think there’s something to be gained from reading even just a few passages in the original. i’ll definitely not be reading everything in german
Well, now I have to give it a go with an encouragement like this! A have got a paper copy of the German version and am randomly dipping into it. Would not be able to read just the German, but interesting to get the flavour alongside English. Continue enjoying the poetic rhythm of the narration, which the translator managed to retain quite well, I think. It can be read like a poem, has musicality to it.
"as if I were merely the dispensable product of his rib" Ouch! I Enjoying the book so far. Definitely not on team Ivan.
oy, not exactly devoted treatment from ivan… i plan to start at the end of this week or perhaps next week.
So far I only read the letters from bachmann to Paul Celan, i was always interested in Malina. Somewhere I read it would be rather "challenging", so I was a little put off.
I am really glad, that it is your first pick and very excited hearing your thoughts about it (and also the thoughts of everybody else). My native language is German, so I will read it in German.
I checked my library, but currently there is no copy available. So mayby you have lots of fowlloers in munich sophie?
how are the letters? i’ve been interested in those for a while, too (i really like celan).
i picked malina in part because of its potentially challenging reputation: i want to nudge anyone who’s been a little afraid of it previously, and it seems like it will be good to have a group of people with whom to parse the text.
i’m not sure i’m popular in munich, but i like the idea! :)
I would reccomend the letters to readers who are interested in Bachmann and Celan or at least one of them. I dont't think they work perfectly well as a stand alone work of literature. Regarding the writing style I enjoyed Celan a little bit more and I started reading more of his poetry. But I also remember thinking that Bachman is a fascinating personality and I read a lot about her afterwards. The literary scene un post-war German and Austria was unsurprisingly very male dominated and Bachmann was one of few women who was respected and talked about. Although I think she had to face a lot of sexismn.
Just found your new bookclub & bought my copy of Malina, ready to join reflective discussions.
woohoo! welcome!
Downloaded yesterday as an ebook, but now think that a paper copy would be better for annotating. I started reading and it is quite intriguing. Loved the description of the first encounter with Ivan. Looking forward to reading it with others. Very interesting choice of book that was not on my radar. She is a poet and it shows. I think if I keep it in mind the ‚difficult‘ parts can be easier to process the same way poetry is, it may not make sense cognitively but creates a mood and atmosphere. I have been wanting to get more into German language literature and even trying to read in the original, but maybe not this time as it may be a bit too challenging. But I will see. If you, Sophie, will be dipping into the German version, I might just dare 😀
i think keeping an openness to the poetry of the book is a brilliant tactic. we’re a little bit more forgiving of a text’s legibility, and, especially, of our ability to “get it,” when we think about atmosphere etc rather than just point a to b to c.
i heartily encourage you to read at least some of the german! if that’s something you’d like do more, i appoint myself as your cheerleader! depending on your comfort and reading speed, i think there’s something to be gained from reading even just a few passages in the original. i’ll definitely not be reading everything in german
Well, now I have to give it a go with an encouragement like this! A have got a paper copy of the German version and am randomly dipping into it. Would not be able to read just the German, but interesting to get the flavour alongside English. Continue enjoying the poetic rhythm of the narration, which the translator managed to retain quite well, I think. It can be read like a poem, has musicality to it.