Journalist Daniel Mandelkern leaves Hamburg on assignment to interview Dirk Svensson, a reclusive children's book author who lives alone on the Italian side of Lake Lugano with his three-legged dog. Mandelkern has been quarreling with his wife (who is also his editor); he suspects she has other reasons for sending him away.After stumbling on a manuscript of Svensson's about a complicated ménage à trois, Mandelkern is plunged into mysteries past and present. Rich with anthropological and literary allusion, this prize-winning debut set in Europe, Brazil, and New York, tells the parallel stories of two writers struggling with the burden of the past and the uncertainties of the future. Funeral for a Dog won the prestigious Uwe-Johnson Prize, and critics raved: "Pletzinger's debut is a real smash hit. It's been a long time since a young German writer has thrown himself into the hurly-burly of life and literature with so much intelligence and bravado" (Wolfgang Hobel, Der Spiegel).
My thoughts
It is hard for me to describe Funeral For A Dog since I haven’t never read something like this. A journalist is sent out to interview a reclusive children’s book author. Daniel (the journalist) tells his story as though they are journal entries and sometimes goes off on tangents. The author’s story is told as though he is writing a book. And somehow these two meet and write about the same things differently. Does that make sense? It was not an easy read and certainly not for everyone, including myself.
Disclosure: I received this book for review from the Goodreads First Reads program. I received no compensation for my thoughts.
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