A hundred years and a summer

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Hundred Years & One Summer is a historical novel by Klaus Kordon published in 1999 . The book takes place shortly before the turn of the millennium in Lilienthal , Hamburg and Berlin and lets the past century pass in review. The book is told from the perspective of the 21-year-old student Eva Seemann and describes the experiences of her ancestors and the residents of Torstrasse 125 and 127, including her grandfather.

action

After the fall of the Berlin Wall , Eva from Lilienthal, still 13, met her grandfather Robert Seemann from East Berlin , who was a very successful writer during the GDR era. Even then she was interested in his stories and her family history. Since Eva's father Wolfgang Seemann fell out with Robert Seemann since his youth, there was no contact for years. Eva's mother Annegret Seemann organized the meeting after the fall of the Wall . When Eva was 21, she received a letter from her grandfather telling her to come as soon as possible if she was still interested in her family history, because the house in which her grandfather lived and which could be a museum would soon be torn down. She rushed to Berlin as quickly as possible and met other residents of the house there. One of the residents is Grigory Efimovich "Gregg" Massejew, with whom Eva falls in love. Together with the homeless and punks, as well as Eva's great-aunt's saving idea, they save the two buildings. At the end of the book, the grandfather commits suicide because of advanced cancer. The story is written in the form of a letter to Eva's great-great-grandmother Hermine Stargraff.

main characters

  • Eva Seemann, 21-year-old student from Lilienthal
  • Robert Seemann, grandfather of Eva Seemann, well-known and successful GDR writer
  • Wolfgang Seemann, father of Eva Seemann, at the age of 18 unsuccessful attempt to escape from the GDR, deported to the West after 3 years in prison
  • Hermine Stargraff b. Seemann, great-great-grandmother of Eva Seemann, comes from East Prussia , when her parents sent her to work in Berlin when she was 16
  • Ruth Seemann, great-aunt of Eva Seemann, buyer and thus savior of Torstrasse 125, 127 and 129
  • Walter Seemann, great-uncle of Eva Seemann
  • Gregorij Jefimowitsch "Gregg" Massajew, friend of Eva and resident of a flat share at Torstrasse 127
  • Enrico "Rico", resident of Torstrasse 127
  • Heide, resident of Torstrasse 127
  • Alexander "Leo" Pold, resident of Torstrasse 127
  • Phil, resident of Torstrasse 127
  • Benno, resident of Torstrasse 127
  • Jens, ex-boyfriend of Eva Seemann

Awards

One hundred years and one summer was included in the list of The best 7 books for young readers by Deutschlandfunk and Focus in September 1999 . The jury justified its choice, among other things, with the "exciting plot" and "vividly invented figures", through which a "fascinating panorama of our century" emerges.

expenditure

  • Klaus Kordon: 100 years & a summer. Beltz and Gelberg, Weinheim 1999, ISBN 3-407-80857-7 .
  • Klaus Kordon: 100 years & a summer. Paperback, 8th edition, Gulliver von Beltz & Gelberg, Weinheim 2015, ISBN 978-3-407-78871-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The best 7 books for young readers - September In: Focus magazine. No. 36, 1999, accessed August 11, 2016.