Garou (novel)

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Garou is the second novel by the writer Leonie Swann , which was published in 2010 by Goldmann Verlag .

action

Garou is in a sense a continuation of the novel Glennkill . The narrative perspective as well as most of the characters have been adopted, but the setting is here in France: Rebecca, the daughter of her deceased shepherd, brought the flock of sheep from Ireland to winter quarters, where they are now at the invitation of the lord of the castle in the shadow of an old castle stops. Initially deterred by the French language , in which one actually greets one another with “Bon Schur”, the real dangers lie elsewhere.

There is a creature by the name of Loup Garou (French for werewolf ) who not only frightens the sheep. Is it - according to the prophecies of a strange sheep and the hints of the chaotic goats on the neighboring pasture as well as the humans - a "person in wolf's clothing" or even a real werewolf who brutally tore up a deer ? Or does the real danger come from the werewolf hunters? Miss Maple , Mopple the Whale , Othello and above all the winter lamb go to the bottom of the matter together with the other sheep in the herd, because in the past their predecessor herd was most likely murdered by the Garou . The fact that the chateau once housed a madhouse with dangerous psychopaths expands the circle of possible suspects.

Eventually one day the sheep find a man who was shot dead in their pasture. Even if it is graciously covered by the snow again after a while, the sheep are doubly worried because they first see Rebecca as a suspect in this case. The sheep set a trap for Garou , and the goats, especially the daring little Madouc, help them in their own way, in order to finally catch a surprising perpetrator.

background

Contrary to the publisher's previous reports, the novel appeared a little later than originally intended after five years, as the author was not entirely satisfied with the first result, or as she put it, “sheep develop a life of their own”. Thanks to the extension of the deadline, she was able to add “new characters, new scenes and contexts”. As a real background for the gloomy castle and the orchard Swann called "a small Breton castle in the middle of the forest of Brocéliande , complete with castle tower and sheep pasture and flickering lights that were reflected in the moat ".

After the writer had already carried out field research for her first work , she completed a shepherd internship in France, as announced in advance, for her second novel , through which, according to her own words, she learned many “sensual little things”: “Hay smells, bright lambs bleating, the calming The murmur of a ewe, the rhythm of a life with sheep, the greasy, warm feeling of wool, the liveliness and the incredible will to live of the lambs, shyness and distrust and shepherdess. "

In contrast to Glennkill, however , from Leonie Swann's perspective , Garou is no longer a detective novel , but rather a thriller .

The parallels with The Beast of Gévaudan and At Nightfall by Fred Vargas have been seen by several reviewers. As a parodic quote , Swann lets the sheep Cloud in interaction with the idealistic Cordelia retell the young sheep, of all things, The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris , in order to make it a popular bedtime story in constant variation .

expenditure

Audio book

Reviews

  • “The author plays skillfully with situations and constellations and - as in 'Glennkill' - doesn't take herself too seriously. (…) 'Garou' is enjoyable read for anyone who liked 'Glennkill'. Those who like to explore everyday and complicated things from the perspective of animals will be able to enjoy the continuation. But: The allure of the new is gone, and those who don't even know 'Glennkill' will even have trouble classifying the main characters or animals with their special skills. "
  • “'Garou' follows on seamlessly from the previous band, without getting lost in the mere revival of old jokes. The characters have evolved; the plot is based on the pattern of a mystery thriller and skilfully pokes fun at the genre. "
  • “The story has charm and wit, and it develops considerable tension. At the human level, however, the characters remain very one-dimensional, which dampens our interest in their respective fate a little. But that can hardly be changed, because as readers we are only sheep ourselves, to look at the world with sheep's eyes. "
  • “'Garou', Leonie Swann's second sheep thriller, is a book that plays with depth in a wonderfully light way. Poetic , laconic and very, very funny , Leonie Swann tells from the sheep's point of view of fear, love and courage and of the difficulties in understanding the world. "
  • “It is also the charm of this second sheep thriller that the animals - actually! - are pretty stupid and pretty cowardly. They regularly pick up human sentences, but they regularly misunderstand them. Willpower is with them to want strength, explosive devices to Spring sets, literally, bugged 'they think of vermin , they are trying to negotiate with a unfortunately quite mute lasting car that it breaks forth elsewhere, and solve problems by being suspicious, like tarot cards , eat up. (...) 'Garou' is fun. Fun with a few dark corners: ghost sheep, demonic goats, mysterious people. But what would a sheep thriller be without dark corners? Just a story about a few not exactly clever animals. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Elke Kreil, Goldmann Verlag: The growing of the grass is not a sound, it is a smell
  2. ↑ Roland Krüger: The world from the sheep perspective. - dradio.de - July 26, 2010
  3. ↑ Petra Pluwatsch: With the eyes of the sheep . in: Naumburger Tageblatt, August 20, 2010.
  4. ↑ Katherina Granzin: Identify sheep . In: the daily newspaper , August 28, 2010.
  5. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: hr1 tip: Book - Leoni Swann: 'Garou', June 23, 2010@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.hr-online.de
  6. ^ Sylvia Staude: Leonie Swann's sheep determine again. What can be done about the multi-wolf? . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , July 3, 2010.