The fake (novel)

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The Fake is a novel by Nicolas Born and was published by Rowohlt Verlag shortly before the writer's death in autumn 1979 .

action

The novel tells the story of the war reporter Gregor Laschen, who is based on the journalist Kai Hermann . In the blasted Beirut in Lebanon , in view of the “pompous war game” of the various parties, the setting and the simultaneous reality of the tanks and the atrocities of war, he is in danger of failing personally and professionally because of the authentic description of this war reality. At the same time he tries to escape his hapless married life by having an affair with Ariane, an embassy employee, which also fails. Finally he returns home and quits his editorial office.

The Fake is a novel about the possibilities of writing and about the relationship between reality and its description. The basic motif of “forgery” can be related to both work and Laschen's life plan and consumer society . At the same time, the novel asks the question whether all writing is not a process of forgery.

The story is told in a personal narrative style , so that Laschen's external perceptions and numerous reflections are constantly questioned by the reader. Despite all the social criticism, the novel, with its often resigned attitude and subjective inwardness, can be assigned to the New Subjectivity .

reception

The novel has been translated into over a dozen languages. With him, Nicolas Born suddenly became one of the most famous authors of the 1970s. In addition to the pacifist basic message, the novel was also perceived as a biting criticism of the media and their greed for sensation.

In 1981 the novel by Volker Schlöndorff with Bruno Ganz and Hanna Schygulla in the leading roles was filmed (→ Die Fälschung (1981) ).

In 2009, the editorial staff produced radio play and media art of the Bayerischer Rundfunk a five-part radio play version. With Florian von Manteuffel (Laschen), Juliane Köhler (Greta), Axel Milberg (Hoffmann), Jens Harzer (Rudnik), Christiane Rossbach (Ariane) u. a. Director: Michael Farin .

literature

  • Heinrich Bosse, Ulrich lamps: jumping into the row of killers. Nicolas Born's novel “The Fake”. Munich 1991.
  • Wolfgang Herles: The (double) forgery. Notes on the relationship between literature and journalism using the example of the novel by Nicolas Born. In: Erich Huber-Thoma, Ghemela Adler, Fritz Fenzl (eds.): Romanticism and modernity. New contributions from research and teaching. Frankfurt am Main 1986, pp. 213-223.
  • Mats Nilsson: observer or participant. On the moral problem of the journalist in Nicolas Born's “The Fake”. In: Edgar Platen (ed.): Remembered and invented experience. Munich 2000, pp. 76-87.