Paradise lost

Paradise Lost is the title of Cees Nooteboom's novel , the original edition of which was published in 2004 under the Dutch title Paradijs Lost. The German translation by Helga von Beuningen was published in 2005 by Suhrkamp Verlag .

content

In the prologue, the author reports on a flight from Friedrichshafen to Berlin . During the flight he writes the beginning of an introduction to an illustrated book about cemetery angels. An attractive fellow passenger has a book with her, the title of which can only be deciphered by him on approach, the title of the book to which the prologue belongs.

The novel is led by a copy from John Milton's poem "Paradise Lost". In the first chapter, the Brazilian narrator Alma reports on her journey from home in São Paulo to a poor district (the Favela Paraisópolis), where she is raped by a group of men. As she remembers it, she lies in Australia next to an Aboriginal artist she met at an exhibition in Adelaide . She tells of her friendship with Almut, who is of German descent, while the narrator has a German father and mother of southern, perhaps Indian, origin. The shared dream of the young people is a trip to Australia, which they finally embark on. Before that, the narrator studied art history and has an “angel trick”, she raves about Botticelli angels. Alma reports on the trip to Australia, which the two young women finance with local jobs. She also tells of her difficulties in getting closer to her temporary Aboriginal partner, understanding him and his background. This difference between Western thinking and the philosophy, culture and tradition of the Australian Aborigines is a central theme of this part of the novel. This comes to a head when the narrator describes the encounter with a very old ethnological expert on Aboriginal culture. His experience culminates in the statement about his own basic volume: "... in the end you know everything and immediately forget it." Soon afterwards, the two women set off to a rock overhang with the drawing of an ancient " Dreaming ". In conversations, the two try to develop an understanding of this culture, which is perhaps 40,000 years old. At the same time they realize how lost the indigenous people they encounter in modern cities are. When the two protagonists get into financial difficulties, they come across an offer from the Engel project in Perth . We are looking for contributors for a fee. Both are accepted. The project envisages that angels are hidden in many parts of the city and can be searched for along set routes. While Almut is holding a sword in the air as an angel in a theater, the narrator has to lie quietly in a cupboard in an office building in Perth and should be found there.

In the second part of the novel, the Dutch columnist Erik Zondag tells of his relationship with Anja, which was not free of crises, and, with an ironic look, of his professional occupation with Dutch literature. Something like a midlife crisis lurks between the lines . Following a friend's recommendation, he skeptically takes a cure in a hotel in the Austrian Alps. He wants / should become a “new person”. There is a change in diet, many applications await the Dutch. Towards the end of the cure, which he finally found beneficial, his masseuse fell ill. A woman who recognizes Zondag will act as your representative. The angel from Perth, the angel from the closet in Bank West. They got to know each other. The flashback follows . There had been no meeting in Perth. In Austria, too, Alma relies on chance, which determines a reunion. - At the end of the novel, the circle that began in the plane comes full circle. On the train from Berlin to Moscow, the author meets his reader again, with whom he talks about writing: “How did you find the book? I asked".

shape

The author's entry is an ironic look at his own craft when he sees his own book in the hands of a woman, whom he meets again in the final chapter. Noteboom lets two narrators have their say, doubling the perspective on travel and memories.

interpretation

Based on Milton's poem about the biblical expulsion from paradise, Nooteboom connects several centuries of European literary history and traces the modern search for the lost paradises. For them, the archaic culture of the indigenous peoples of Australia stands here. At the same time, the novel is a piece of travel literature that engages with Australia, the projections from industrialized countries and the complicated reality between the marketing and exclusion of indigenous cultures.

source

Cees Nooteboom "Paradise Lost", Frankfurt am Main 2005