The labyrinth of the dreaming books

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The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books is a novel by Walter Moers from 2011. As in earlier Zamonien books, Moers pretends to act only as the German translator of a work by the Zamonian poeta laureatus Hildegunst von Mythenmetz . According to Moers 'construction, the novel is an excerpt from Mythenmetz' 25-volume, over 10,000-page autobiography “Travel Memories of a Sentimental Dinosaur”.

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The present novel tells of Mythenmetz's return to Buchhaim and in this sense is a continuation of The City of Dreaming Books . However, The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books does not tell a complete story, but ends with a cliffhanger . In the afterword, Moers explains that the novel was not finished on time and is therefore being published in two parts. The publication date of the second volume, entitled The Castle of Dreaming Books , has been announced and postponed several times, and postponed indefinitely in July 2015.

200 years later

More than 200 years have passed since Hildegunst von Mythenmetz traveled to Buchhaim and experienced the adventures there described in The City of Dreaming Books . In the meantime he lives as a famous writer at the Lindwurmfest. He has made it a habit to read a few letters from his extensive mail every morning. The morning the story begins, he finds a manuscript in one of the letters that revolves around the horror vacui, the writer's fear of lack of ideas. In contrast to a very similar text that made him travel to Buchhaim two hundred years ago, this one is of startlingly poor literary quality. Mythenmetz is horrified to discover that the style is a perfect copy of his own, and that even the handwriting and signature are indistinguishable from his own. The letter ends with the note that the Shadow King has returned. The sender stated is Hildegunst von Mythenmetz, who lives in the Leather Grotto in the lower catacombs of Buchhaim. Mythenmetz immediately goes to Buchhaim, where he arrives a few days later. The following is a brief description of the changes in the city after the great fire that was caused by the Homunker, as well as an outline of the city's history over the past 200 years by a tourist guide.

Then Mythenmetz goes to a so-called Qualmoir to smoke, which is forbidden on the street. There he meets Ovidios von Versschleifer, another dragon, whom he met on his first trip to Buchhaim. At that time Versschleifer eked a sad existence as an unsuccessful writer in the cemetery of the forgotten poets . Mythenmetz is ashamed of the fact that he did not help Versschleifer back then and wants to apologize. When he sits down at the table with him, however, he learns that Versschleifer gained access to the Orm during the great fire and became wealthy and famous with a ballad about the fire. Mythenmetz 'conscience is calmed. Furthermore, he learns more about the reconstruction of Buchhaim from Versschleifer and is initiated into the science of biblionism , with which the relationship of any individual to books can be determined. Versschleifer also informs him about the Librinauts , who have succeeded the bookhunters but who reject their violent practice.

Back in Buchhaim

The next morning, Mythenmetz makes his way to the Eydeeten Hachmed Ben Kibitzer, whom he also knows from his first trip to Buchhaim. He and Kibitzer had a long pen friendship that broke off a hundred years ago when Eydeet criticized his literary work cautiously and then more and more, until Mythenmetz cursed him badly. In his last letter, Kibitzer accused him of having lost the orm. While he is still standing in front of Kibitzer's antiquarian bookshop and wrestling with himself whether and if so how he should meet the Eydeeten, the latter telepathically contacts him and invites him in. There Mythenmetz meets Kibitzer and another friend, the horror Inazea Anazazi. Kibitzer explains to him that he suffers from a hereditary disease that is rare among Eydeeten and that dramatically accelerates his aging process, which is why he does not have long to live. He also tells Mythenmetz that he forwarded the letter with the manuscript and asks the poet to admit that he had lost the Orm and came to Buchhaim because of it. Mythenmetz confesses and asks about the letter. Inazea then tells him how she received the letter. A blind librarian came to see her one evening and offered her some books to buy. He asked them to set the price themselves, as he could not see what kind of books they were and how much they were worth. Among them was the last surviving edition of the extremely valuable Schrecksenhammer , which Inazea had bought from him for all the cash in stock in the second-hand bookshop. The Librinaut had assured her before he left that the Shadow King had returned. Then the horror found the letter to Mythenmetz between the pages of the book. Kibitzer explains that after a detailed analysis, he is certain that the letter came from the labyrinth. In addition, everything indicates that the letter was written by Mythenmetz. Since the booklings did not write their own texts, the only possible author of the manuscript is the shadow king.

After this topic is over, Kibitzer declares that he wants to die of his own accord. Before that, his will should be opened, at which he bequeathed to Mythenmetz, among other things, a map of the labyrinth under the city, on which the location of a treasure was supposedly marked. Then he dies and Mythenmetz leaves the second-hand bookshop.

Puppetism

The next day he meets with Inazea, who explains to him that one of Kibitzer's wishes was that Mythenmetz attend a performance in the Puppaecircus Maximus . On this evening Mythenmetz will experience a performance of his own work about his adventures in the catacombs of Buchhaim. The performance takes place with ingenious puppets that look deceptively lifelike. The highlight of the performance is the appearance of the shadow king, who is not represented with a doll. Rather, its presence is only indicated by shadows and a voice. This practice is called Invisible Theater . Mythenmetz leaves the theater with the intention of writing a non-fiction book about puppetism , that is, about all aspects of puppetry. Weeks of research follow, the results of which are detailed in the book over several chapters. In the course of this research, he receives an unlabeled card. When he later reads something about lemon juice as a secret ink, he heats the menu, whereupon a reference to the Invisible Theater appears.

The invisible theater

Then he learns from Inazea that she has got him an appointment with Maestro Corodiak, the director of the Puppaecircus Maximus. At the first encounter, Mythenmetz is horrified when he believes he recognizes Maestro Corodiak as the late Hagob Saldaldian Smeik, who was murdered by Phistomefel Smeik. The only difference is that Corodiak is blind. Corodiak tells him in detail how he made the Puppaecircus Maximus the most successful theater in Buchhaim, and reveals that he is Hagob Saldaldian's twin brother. He tells how he designed the Invisible Theater after he went blind due to a parasite infestation, and hands Mythenmetz the ticket to a performance. This is a seemingly blank card, like the one Mythenmetz received earlier. Corodiak makes him promise not to make the text visible until after the performance and ends the conversation.

Mythenmetz gets into the carriage that is supposed to take him to the place of the performance and, to his horror, learns that it is in the catacombs, precisely under the spot where Phistomefel Smeik's house once stood. Reluctantly, he descends and is soon in impenetrable darkness. There he finds the Orm again and experiences a frenzy of nightmarish visions full of creatures from the labyrinth. When he then lights a match, he finds himself alone. The last paragraph in the book describes how Mythenmetz makes the text on the ticket visible and reads: “ This is where the story begins. "

Anagrams

As in The City of Dreaming Books , Moers has incorporated many anagrams of famous people from the real world into this novel - some of the ones already used in the first novel as well as some new ones. While The City of Dreaming Books still focused on writers, a number of composers and visual artists are now being introduced. Examples are "Edo La Efendi" (Daniel Defoe) or "Sweng Ohrgeiger" (George Gershwin).

reception

The book's reviews were generally negative. One of the points of criticism mentioned is the sometimes very slow action. While Tim Rohrer on Leselupe.de even describes the book as a “waste of time”, Desirée Löffler at PopKulturSchock primarily criticizes the decision to split the book into two parts.

In 2011 the book won the LovelyBooks Readers Award in the General Literature category .

Text output

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Moers 2011, pp. 429-430.
  2. ^ Walter Moers: Announcement on Walter Moers' Facebook page. October 13, 2011, accessed on July 28, 2015 : "My plan is to be finished in 2013 at the latest."
  3. ^ Wolfgang Ferchl: Announcement on Walter Moers' Facebook page. June 14, 2013, accessed on July 28, 2015 : "Unfortunately, [we have to] postpone the publication of the novel" The Castle of the Dreaming Books ". [...] Unfortunately we cannot give a specific date yet "
  4. ↑ Zamonia. From the laboratory. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013 ; accessed on July 28, 2015 : "» The Castle of Dreaming Books «in autumn 2014"
  5. ↑ Zamonia. From the laboratory. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014 ; accessed on July 28, 2015 : "» The Castle of Dreaming Books «in autumn 2015"
  6. ↑ Announcement on Walter Moers' Facebook page. July 28, 2015, accessed on July 28, 2015 : "[T] he announced novel by Walter Moers" The Castle of Dreaming Books "unfortunately has to be postponed indefinitely."
  7. ↑ See Moers 2011, p. 427.
  8. ^ Andreas Platthaus: Walter Moers - The shadow king of fantastic literature. In: Cicero , October 25, 2011.