Nice view (Kempowski)

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Schöne Aussicht is the title of an autobiographical social novel by Walter Kempowski published in 1981 and the second volume of his nine-part series of novels Deutsche Chronik .

action

The plot of the novel takes place in the period immediately after the First World War and mainly in Rostock . The novel tells less of a continuous story than the life of the shipowner's son Karl Kempowski and his wife Grethe, née de Bonsac. In these two figures the parents of the author are shown.

Around these two people, the narrator develops a complex network of individual episodes, which are described from the point of view of Karl and Grethe, their parents and children, but also their friends, neighbors and street acquaintances. The current political background only plays a role insofar as the Kempowski company is also affected by the economic crisis and has to restrict itself. More than the political context, however, the author is interested in the description of different social milieus and different characters , the everyday life of an average German type after the First World War, which is described very clearly in all details.

structure

The novel is divided into two parts.

In the first part, which depicts the situation after the First World War and at the time of the Weimar Republic , Karl, as a former officer, is a member of a round table at which people are excited about the Republic and the Treaty of Versailles . For him, these meetings have more of a social than an actual political meaning and soon he stays away from this regulars' table when other things demand his attention. Karl has a brief affair on a business trip, Grethe takes care of the children, whose everyday school life (including the characterization of individual teacher types) and their friends and leisure activities are impressively described.

The second part describes the time before and after the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists . All persons perceive the political changes more or less only marginally. The economic consolidation is praised and it is believed that “order is back”. Karl joins the SA , less out of conviction than out of opportunism , but finds their events silly. He got into trouble when he performed the Horst Wessel song in a Latinized form and was eventually expelled when it turned out that he was a Freemason . All of the characters in the novel, some of whom are positive, some indifferent or hostile to the regime, try to come to terms with it. The fact that neighbors are picked up and sometimes never come back is noticed but not discussed further. Finally, it also affects Karl's family: One of his brother-in-law, who is said to have embezzled foreign currency, is arrested. Soon afterwards, his wife receives the message that she can pick up the urn with his ashes. Everyone is amazed that he died in custody because he was so healthy.

The novel ends with the prospect that Karl and his family will soon be able to move into a larger, more befitting apartment.

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