The airwalker
The Air Walker is the second novel by the author Robert Schneider . It was published in 1998 and is also the second novel in Schneider's Rhine Valley trilogy .
content
The airwalker allegedly deals with the life of Maudi Latuhr, "the last man of the heart of Jacobsroth". In fact, however, the narrator presents the stories of numerous people from the area around Maudi Latuhr, the fictional Vorarlberg village of Jakobsroth, from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. The personal "hurts" of the people finally discharge in an "angel's battle". While Maudi appears resigned even after this traumatic event for the entire Rhine Valley, the same pulls Maudi's half-sister Esther out of her lethargy and she finds her “twin soul” in New York.
shape
Written in a language that surpasses that of Schlafes Bruder in terms of eclecticism and stylistic inconsistencies, Die Luftgängerin is more or less clearly structured on different levels.
The text is divided into sections of different lengths without headings. At the edge of individual pages there are also the "titles" The Seventh , The Eighth , Lieben und Lassen , The Ninth and The Angels Battle , whereby The Seventh , The Eight "and The Ninth refer to the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
In addition, there is a framework that includes the life of Maudi Latuhr up to the "Angels Battle" is characterized by the slightly varied repetition of a longer section of text, which is characteristic of the Rhine Valley trilogy:
"To hike to the Marienruh on New Year's Eve in Cimmeria, to pause and watch the Rhine Valley people as they leave their year, is a strange experience."
Compare to that
"To wander to the Marienruh in the night of the greatest conjecture, to pause and watch the Rhine Valley people as they leave their year, the century, the millennium, is a strange experience"
The orderly structure of the rest of the text follows partly according to chronological, partly according to associative aspects. In some cases, biographies are also woven into internal narratives. The change from one scene to the next often seems very cinematic, which is reinforced by the mention of music.
Origin and reception
Robert Schneider began work soon after the success of his first novel Sleep Brother . At this point in time, he made information about the content of the work that would appear to be misleading from a later perspective. Only shortly before the appearance of Die Luftgängerin did he describe the book as the second part of a trilogy.
The book was finally published at the beginning of 1998, the publication was planned for a strong media response. Numerous reviews then appeared, although the majority were negative. Nonetheless, the book sold well, but could not build on the success of Schlafes brother .
literature
Text output
The airwalker . Blessing, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-89667-055-7 .
Secondary literature
- Heidi Sottnik: On the reception of Robert Schneider's first two novels "Schlafes Bruder" and "Die Luftgängerin" in the features section . University of Vienna, Vienna 2000.
- Johanna Hötzmanseder: Trilogical connections in Robert Schneider's “Rheintalischer Trilogie” . University of Vienna, Vienna 2005.
- Johannes Gerhard Hauer: Music in the "Rhine Valley Trilogy" by Robert Schneider . University of Vienna, Vienna 2007.
Individual evidence
- ^ Johannes Gerhard Hauer: Music in the "Rhine Valley Trilogy" by Robert Schneider. Thesis. Vienna 2007, especially p. 151 ff.
- ↑ Heinz Sichrovsky: Victory of love. In: News. No. 50, December 14, 1995. pp. 136-137.
- ↑ For example in: Anita Pollak: This book will be monstrous. In: Courier. December 21, 1997. pp. 30-31.