Summer novella
Sommernovelle is a youth novel by Christiane Neudecker that was published in 2015 by Luchterhand Literaturverlag .
It is spring 1989. Two 15-year-old schoolgirls from southern Germany are spending their Whitsun holidays on Sylt, a bird island in northern Germany. For two weeks they live in a bird station and help Professor Dr. Hansjörg copper counting birds. You want to change the world and stand up for nature.
intention
When asked why she wrote “Sommernovelle”, the writer Christiane Neudecker answered:
“It was important to me that I describe it as I got to know it back then. I was just 15 at the time and that made a huge difference. Chernobyl cast its shadow, the acid rain, nuclear power, the rainforests. So there were all these big and, for us, life-threatening topics. That shaped us all back then. That created certain fears. That also aroused a certain activism and idealism. And so it was very important to me that I describe it from a position that is familiar to me. "
action
The sea, the sea
Panda (nickname of the protagonist) and her long-time friend Lotte go on vacation alone for the first time. Their mothers accompany them to the night train, with which they travel north to the island. On departure, Panda's mother doubts whether it is the right decision that she should travel at this time. They are picked up at the port by Hiller and Sebald, long-time employees of the bird station. When they arrive at the ward, the friends meet their work colleagues for the first time, the student Melanie, the mysterious Miss Schmidt and the young, attractive Julian. At the time of your arrival the professor is absent. Soon afterwards they learn that they have to share a room with Melanie and Fraulein Schmidt, which they are not very happy about because they were looking forward to a time without adults. Later they are shown around the house and they immediately notice that there are no birds. The reason for this is that care, rearing and release into the wild was too much for the professor.
Chicken gods, angel wings and a tower, a Babelturm
The next morning the first tour takes place, which is led by Melanie. Lotte and Panda watch attentively and write down important details because they will have to give tours themselves later. During the tour, Panda feels a so-called letter pain. She describes it as a rush in the head. For this reason, Panda leaves the group and meets Hiller, who is standing on the crest of a viewing dune. He watches and counts birds. Panda watches him and is asked by him to count. But she quickly gets the feeling that she is the wrong person for this job because she has trouble with math. But Hiller can calm her down by advising her to replace numbers with letters. This makes it easier for her to count. Panda and Hiller talked about reading for a long time. Hiller Panda then utters a strange sentence: “An insane woman is walking in the dunes. »Whose author she should find out. In return, he offers her to learn to read the sky.
So many things
Panda and Lotte don't want to share a room with Miss Schmidt and Melanie, which is why they rearrange a basement of the ward to the bedroom. They stick bird notes on the wall to learn them that way. Panda notes the most important dates and Lotte draws the corresponding bird. Meanwhile, Panda thinks of Hiller's sentence. However, she hasn't found out anything yet.
When they are out on their bikes the next day, Panda feels how everything goes by. She got the idea to jump from the bungee crane. To do this, however, she needs the approval of her parents.
Later they decide to go to the beach. Panda is ashamed of her swimsuit and her figure, which she compares to Lotte. While they are sitting on a bench, Panda notices Julian and Melanie come out of a small shop and watches him bite her neck. But she is not sure if she noticed it correctly. Lotte didn't see anything. They all walk along the beach promenade together. Panda is ashamed of the holiday feeling she has. After all, they're only there to work. Once at the house, everyone goes to sleep. Only Panda stays awake and finds an envelope addressed to her on the table. It should be from Hiller. “The bailiff's daughter likes to go to the dunes,” it says. Panda knows that from somewhere. She goes to the exhibition room and shortly thereafter pulls Gottfried Keller's “Der Landvogt von Greifensee” from the shelf. Delighted by her knowledge, she scribbles the author's name on the same piece of paper and puts it back on the table for Hiller.
Written in the sky
Panda makes her first guided tour alone, but she does not succeed as expected. She misses Lotte, with whom she should actually do this tour. Plus, the kids she shows around are very curious and sensitive which only makes the situation worse.
After the tour, Panda meets Lotte. She notices her red face. She saw Julian without pants. When they talk about what has happened, Hiller interrupts them. Hiller informs Panda that her assumption about the author Gottfried Keller is wrong. Nevertheless Hiller agrees to give her a heavenly hour to teach her how to count birds. Once at the lookout point, Panda saw hundreds of flapping pairs of wings and initially had no overview. Because it doesn't work if you just follow the individual animals in a swarm in the sky. You have to write it as a whole. Hiller advises her to compare this unit with book pages. Have her imagine a library with hundreds of books. The birds are the letters. The letters become sentences and eventually full pages.
It was Julian's last day at the bird station and Melanie, Lotte and Panda are organizing a farewell party for him together. The music was loud and they dance all night. Lotte and Julian talk meanwhile. When Panda notices that they are close, she decides to leave and leave them alone. She goes into the garden and talks to Sebald. They are finally interrupted by Melanie. Panda turns to the terrace to check on Lotte and Julian, but they are gone.
Cross currents
Panda wonders what the purpose of her work at the bird station is. She doesn't understand and it seems like no one will want to explain it to her. This question is not very important to your friend Lotte at the moment. She is in love with Julian and disappeared with him at the farewell party before he left and does not return until the middle of the night. Panda is curious, but Lotte doesn't want to tell her what happened to Julian. From that night on, Lotte always wears Julian's pants and waits impatiently for a call from him.
Panda tries to get the answer to her question from Miss Schmidt, but she doesn't help her any further and says that she has to ask the professor. Panda doesn't know what to do and calls her mother out of desperation, but she doesn't tell her about it because she doesn't want to worry her mother.
About flying in your sleep
At the first encounter with the professor, he proves to be unsympathetic and strict. The mood in the house has been different since he came. He complains that Lotte and Panda did not sign the house rules, that they did not list the donations correctly and that the toilet was not closed. He wants them to leave and asks whether they have found out about their work at the bird station. Hiller tries to calm him down and blames himself.
The professor wants to count the seagull eggs on the Koog. Lotte goes with Melanie and Panda with Hiller, as neither of them have any experience in this task. When Hiller and Panda entered the breeding area, they were attacked by three seagulls. Panda does not blame the seagulls, but is aware that they are in their habitat.
When asked what happens to the counts, she still doesn't get a correct answer. The professor just tells her that they are making phonograms. Panda cannot imagine anything under this answer.
A garden made of air
Melanie wants to teach Lotte how to put on make-up because she can't. Panda doesn't like this transformation because Lotte looked artificial. Meanwhile Melanie talks about Julian. It turns out that she had sex with him. When Lotte hears this, she runs out of the toilet.
Panda looked everywhere for her, but she was nowhere to be found. During her search, Panda meets the professor. You have a long discussion about the evaluations. The professor gets angry and says that it was none of her business, she was too young. Panda begins to cry, but the professor doesn't seem to care and leaves.
It has now become clear to Panda that the data collected will not be evaluated at all. When she later meets Hiller and Sebald and tells you about it, neither of them seems surprised. She can't believe it was all a lie. Then she runs out of the house and wants to call her mother and tell her everything, but she doesn't do that.
When she runs back, she finds Lotte. She has taken off Julian's pants and wants to burn them. She doesn't want to know anything more from him. They wonder at what age you grow up and become like the professor and the others.
Later. And later
That same evening they pack up without saying anything. Nothing could keep her in this place any longer. While everyone is sleeping, Panda goes into the room in which Julian lived and notices a staircase there. She goes upstairs and finds a letter from her mother. She allowed her to jump off the bungee crane. The professor hid this letter. She writes "1989 Panda was here" on the wall. She wanted to leave something of her, because the professor shouldn't forget her.
Panda and Lotte sneak out of the house at sunrise. Panda can still say goodbye to Hiller. She later finds four of his papers in her jacket pocket. He copied her “Sylt Novelle”. The last sentence was: "There is an insane woman walking around in the dunes".
In the years that followed, Panda went to the North Sea several times, but did not visit the island. 25 years later, Panda goes to the island with her mother. The bird station is nowhere to be found. The island was not the same as she remembered. Only when she searches for a connection with her cell phone to call Lotte does she discover the old bird station. She goes back to her mother, who is talking to a man. From him they learn that the professor is dead and that the bird station has been sold.
characterization
panda
Panda is the protagonist of the novel. Her real name is unknown, but that is what her family calls her. She is 15 years old and comes from southern Germany. Her hair is red and she dyed her clothes black. Reading and writing are among her favorite pastimes. She mainly reads adult books by authors such as Goethe, Lens and Hesse. She is very interested in nature and is also committed to it. The Chernobyl disaster left a lasting mark on her life. She is ashamed that her parents have two cars. That's why she is so enthusiastic about this voluntary work at the bird station at the beginning and thinks about making a difference with her work.
Lotte
Lotte is also 15 years old and has been friends with Panda for ages. Their grandparents already knew each other. In contrast to Panda, Lotte always dresses in bright colors and is a very happy person. Her talent is drawing. For them, nature is also a valuable asset and does not doubt that they will undertake this journey with Panda. Her character goes through a lot of changes in those two weeks as she falls in love and doesn't pay much attention to her best friend and her work at the bird station. However, she is disappointed by Julian and sees how wrong her behavior was.
Panda's mother
Like Panda, the mother also reads a lot. You don't learn much about your relationship with Panda. Worried about her husband, she doesn't think it's a good time for Panda's trip.
Panda's father
Panda's father was diagnosed with cancer six months ago.
Hiller and Sebald
Hiller and Sebald are the two adults on the ward. Both were at the front together in World War II. Hiller is skinny than Sebald. He is a tall, clumsy man with thick, dark hair, a gray beard and bushy eyebrows.
Miss Schmidt
Miss Schmidt is a sullen old lady and has worked for the professor in all sorts of areas for a long time. She also has an affair with him. She used to be a diva at an Italian opera house. She is said to have been a singer with real classical training.
Melanie
Melanie is a young student who studied astrophysics but recently dropped out and is currently also helping out at the bird station. She has a non-exclusive relationship with Julian and hopes to work with him on a reforestation station in Uganda.
Julian
Julian is a young man who helped out on the ward for a year. He doesn't get along very well with the professor, all the better with Melanie and Lotte.
professor
Professor Dr. Hansjörg Kupfer owns the bird station. He is a very serious and strict man who doesn't know how to joke. He is married but has an affair with Miss Schmidt.
shape
The first-person narrator Panda tells us the story from a future adult perspective looking back on this summer. But she remains authentic in her storytelling and evades reflections from her presence. However, it incorporates a lot of retrospectives, family history, and memories that Panda grapples with.
This novella belongs to the genre of youth novels, because the protagonists search for their identity and try to change the world with their actions.
background
It is Whitsun 1989, the year shortly before the fall of the Wall , in which there are mainly young people in the north and south of Germany, but not in the west and east. The fall of the wall is still unimaginable and the environmental crises are a great threat. Germany is still in the shadow of the Chernobyl cloud .
Reviews
- Maren Keller: A coming-of-age story that makes you addicted to reading. In: Spiegel Online
- Meine Fessmann: Of enchantingly light-handed virtuosity. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung
- Christina Hoffmann: Christiane Neudeck is a master of the atmosphere. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Text output
- Christiane Neudecker: summer novella . Luchterhand, 2015, ISBN 978-3630874593
Web links
- Summer novella at br.de