The smell of chocolate
The scent of chocolate is a historical novel by the German writer Ewald Arenz . It was written in 2005–2006 and published in 2007.
Emergence
According to the author, a visit to the Cadolzburg chocolate factory Riegelein was one of the triggers for the creation of the novel. In another source there is a much more prosaic account, according to which the editor at the Arenz publishing house suggested a title that could also be a commercial success: "[...] " Look, "said [the editor] to me in a nice tone apart, "the publisher wants something sensual. You can. It doesn't have to be intellectual ..." I was still staring morosely at the sugared rim of the cocktail glass. "I'm writing about sugar," I grumbled, "is sweet and hardly intellectual! "" That's a nice idea! "she praised me. I stared at her in amazement." Ironic, "I said," that was meant ironic. "" You see, "she said and leaned back very satisfied "That's the problem with you. You don't even know when you have good ideas. And you have no idea about irony. It doesn't have to be sugar. Sweet is nice too. Write about ..." she thought for a moment: "Yes. Write about chocolate!" That's how novels come about, I thought disaffected, and those out there all believe in inspiration.
content
August Liebeskind, a roughly 30-year-old Viennese lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army , quit military service in 1881. A long summer lies ahead of him before he is supposed to go into his uncle's chocolate factory as a buyer in the fall. During this time of leisure he realizes that his previous life was lacking in depth. A certain disorientation is the result, which he tries to overcome, among other things, by repeatedly remembering essential childhood experiences, which mostly have to do with his special gift of perceiving scents very intensely. Above all, this gift consists in perceiving the stories of the people associated with them through the fragrances. It is also sometimes possible for him to vaguely foresee a person's future with the help of a person's scent. Shortly afterwards, while visiting a coffee shop, he meets the beautiful, unapproachable and eccentric Elena Palffy, who initially repulses him with her arrogance, but also fascinates him. They meet again by chance at a horse race and August begins to fall in love with her. Elena initially reacts ambivalently to his advances, but gradually lets herself be charmed by August during a walk through Vienna; Above all, however, gain from the many unusual stories that he can tell about Vienna. During a subsequent visit to a coffee house, August discovers Elena's love for sweets. In the following months, August succeeds in winning Elena over, above all, through special chocolate creations, for which he uses his extraordinary talent for smells and tastes. When they meet again in the fall, they become a couple, although Elena August reveals that she is not free according to the law, as her husband, an officer, is merely missing, not dead. Nonetheless, a passionate amour fou begins between the two both. When they want to see a performance of the opera Hoffmanns Erzählungen in the Vienna Ringtheater in December , a devastating fire breaks out in which August loses Elena. In the period that follows, he is numb with grief and keeps getting lost in memories of Elena, which ultimately leads to his uncle asking his uncle to give him the opportunity to create his own confectionery. With the help of his special gift of seeing whole stories in fragrances, August produces very unusual confectionery that has made him famous throughout Vienna and beyond as an outstanding confectioner in a very short time. In spring 1882 he met the young actress Louise Brenner, with whom he began an affair, although he still mourned Elena. The success of his pralines means that he is called to Berlin by the up-and-coming company Sarotti to make his special confectionery there. At Sarotti, he makes a praline in the shape of a golden scarab, which is shaped like a pendant that Elena used to wear. So it happens that Elena, who not only survived the fire in the ring theater, but also used it to finally escape her husband by faking death, finds August again. At the same time, Louise came to Berlin to visit August there. The two women meet and at a picnic in the Tegeler Schlosspark there is finally a final argument between Elena and August. Despite an approaching thunderstorm, they challenge each other to swim a competition across the lake. August accuses Elena of betraying him and his love. Elena explains to August that as a woman there was no other way to achieve her freedom than to fake her death. Your situation becomes critical. as the thunderstorm is getting worse. August can no longer see the bank and wants to turn back. Elena, on the other hand, insists on swimming to the other bank. August can only find the safe shore in the dark because Louise lights a boathouse and thus gives a light signal that August can use for orientation. Elena's fate remains open. August and Louise finally find each other.
Literary classification
The work is a classic historical entertainment novel with literary aspirations that is clearly in the tradition of magical realism . Similar novels from the time that may have served as models or sources of inspiration include Baricco's "Silk" or Maxence Fermine's "Snow". Both novels focus on a similarly inflated aesthetic sensory perception. Patrick Süskind's novel "Perfume", on the other hand, can only be seen as an inspiration with some reservations. Although the protagonist in both novels has an exceptionally fine sense of smell, this correspondence should be seen against the background that a series of literary works from the same period of origin is based on sensual aestheticism.
subjects
Although chocolate appears in the title of the book, it is not actually the main topic of the book, but rather the fragrances that play a significantly larger role. August's ability to read entire stories from smells and smells is the focus of the narrative. The smoky scent that he noticed in Elena from the beginning already indicates the fire in the ring theater, which will change his and her life from the ground up. From the smell in the apartment of his widely traveled aunt Ida Pfeiffer - by the way, a real figure - he can read not only her experiences on her travels in Africa, but also her approaching death. Another central theme is love betrayed; a typical subject of black romanticism that is included here. A clear indication of this is the opera Hoffmanns Erzählungen , which is to be performed in the Ringtheater, but which burns down that evening. In the opera Hoffmann is betrayed by his lover Giulietta; in the novel Elena betrays August in order to gain her freedom. In this respect, the romantic theme is modified in a modern way: Elena puts her personal freedom as a woman above her romantic love for August.
expenditure
- The smell of chocolate . Novel. ars vivendi, Cadolzburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89716-813-8 .
- The smell of chocolate . Novel. dtv, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-423-13808-6 .
- The smell of chocolate . Novel. dtv Großdruck, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-423-25319-2 .
- The smell of chocolate . Novel. RM Buch und Medien, o. O. 2014, (book club edition)
Translations
The smell of chocolate has been translated into the following languages:
- into Italian:
- Il Profumo del Cioccolato. trans. v. Aglae Pizzone. Feltrinelli. Milano 2016, ISBN 978-88-07-03211-0 .
- into Polish:
- Zapach czekolady. trans. v. Agnieszka Gadzała. WAB, 2017, ISBN 978-83-280-4325-1 .
- into Spanish:
- El Aroma del Chocolate. trans. v. Juan Pablo Larreta. Bóveda, Sevilla 2017, ISBN 978-84-16691-58-6 .