On the loose

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A development novel by the author Gernot Wolfgruber , published in 1975, is at large . The story is about an apprentice who gets increasingly on the wrong track due to unfavorable circumstances and wrong acquaintances.

content

A fifteen-year-old boy grows up in post-war Austria without a father. Since everyone in his family was apprentice, he too has to begin an apprenticeship. Because of his interest in chemistry, he opts for an apprenticeship in a textile factory. But the boy soon realizes that this position does not meet his expectations at all: The work is boring and he has problems with his superiors. He looks for reasons for a sick leave and quits when he has to end it.

Since he likes pop music, the boy now wants to become a singer. His uncle helps him to audition for an orchestra, but instead of becoming a singer, he is given a new apprenticeship in a glass factory. While he works there, the young man lives with his aunt and uncle. A boy named Franky lives in the neighborhood, who also works in the glass factory. Because of Franky's casual manner, the fifteen-year-old befriends him and gets to know his friend Walter, who thinks he's an agent. When Franky is transferred to another workshop, the boy begins to get bored again at his workplace. He injures himself, goes on sick leave and quits after an argument with his superiors. Unemployed again, the boy moves back to his mother. Since he now has a lot of time, he often goes to the cinema. Among other things, he sees a film about a gang of gangsters that influences him a lot. So he and his friend Bruno begin to forge plans for their own gang. Then a bar opens in his hometown, which he often visits with his friends. To make an impression, he ruins a statue on the way home. He is proud that this “heroic deed” is reported in the newspapers.

In the meantime, the mother has found her son a new apprenticeship as a typesetter against his will. The young man doesn't like it there either and he doesn't like his trainer, Mr. Reisinger. It goes so far that he decides to poison Reisinger, but in the end he doesn't dare.

Meanwhile, while visiting a girl named Renate, he meets Werner, Renate's sister's friend. The apprentice meets with Werner and his friend Günther more and more often. Together they make a few minor break-ins, but only for the thrill of it. Eventually they become a real gang, the leader of which the boy feels himself to be. He no longer believes in pointless break-ins either, he wants the risk to be worthwhile. Then he met Hanni at a party at one of Günther's friends. He falls in love with the girl and even wants to stop breaking in and begins to save money so that he can take Hanni out the next time she comes from Vienna. Since Werner and Günther are not moving to Vienna as they originally intended, he can no longer jump out, but only participates in "minor" crimes. Nevertheless he is caught and has to be remanded for six months. When he is released, the boy is absolutely insecure. He thinks everyone would immediately know he was in jail.

expenditure

  • At large , Residenz, Salzburg 1975 [first edition].
  • At large , young and young, Salzburg 2009.