Two without: The story of an unconditional friendship

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Two without: The story of an unconditional friendship is a novella by Dirk Kurbjuweit published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch in 2001 . It is about the two teenagers Johann and Ludwig, who become friends at the age of eleven. Over the years, their relationship grew closer and more problematic, until it ended on Ludwig's 18th birthday with his death. The novella was filmed in 2008 .

History of origin

The Mintarder Bridge that inspired the author

According to Klaus Will, Zweier ohne is based on experiences, occurrences and knowledge from Dirk Kurbjuweit's own life. He has woven his own article “Anorexia. Locker, Bahne, locker ”on the rowing athlete Bahne Rabe, who died in 2001 of anorexia. He also works through his own youth and reading experiences in connection with Schiller's ballad Die Bürgschaft in a literary way .

When asked if he did a long research for the novella, Kurbjuweit says:

“I actually didn't do any research. I rowed as a teenager and the bridge is a place of my youth, the bridge between Essen and Düsseldorf. A friend of mine lived under this bridge and suicides often jumped into the garden. I could draw that from my memory. The rest is imagination, thinking. "

content

Two without tells the story of Johann and Ludwig, who met at the age of eleven when Ludwig entered Johann's class. Johann wants a friend with whom he can share his experiences, and he is very happy when Ludwig invites him to stay at home. That night a girl jumps off the motorway bridge that runs over Ludwig's house and ends up dead in his garden. This is a decisive experience for Johann, but Ludwig is not impressed as suicides often throw themselves off the bridge. Ludwig's calm demeanor impresses Johann. The two become friends.

Johann and Ludwig train together in the rowing club. Since they are very similar physically, they row in the lightweight class of the two-man discipline without . At 16 they are very successful, only the identical twin brothers from Potsdam cannot defeat them. Ludwig is convinced that they can only beat the real twins if they become like twins themselves. Johann agrees to the “twin vow”, the two spend even more time together and not only share all thoughts, but also the girl who was organized by Ludwig for her “first time”. Ludwig dominates the relationship, Johann does not question Ludwig's decisions.

The two spend almost every minute together, doing tests of courage on the bridge, hiding the corpse of a suicide and stealing Ludwig's father's motorcycle for a joyride, during which they are caught by the police. Johann takes over twenty hours of community service for Ludwig.

The apparently harmonious relationship is considerably disturbed by the love affair that Johann secretly begins with Ludwig's sister Vera. Little by little, the relationship overshadows the friendship.

In the spring before they turn 18, Johann and Ludwig start assembling their own motorcycle from old spare parts. When Ludwig gets his driver's license, the two go on a trip with their finished motorcycle. Ludwig dies in an accident and Johann is seriously injured.

After Ludwig's death, Johann and Vera stay together for two years until Vera expresses the suspicion that Ludwig may have caused the accident on purpose, in order to weld himself and Johann together forever in death. Johann perceives this statement as a betrayal of his friend and separates from Vera.

Years later, Johann works in the grocery department of a department store. He is unmarried and unbound. The story ends the day before he meets Vera, who now lives in America and has a child.

shape

Novella

At the center of a novella is - entirely in accordance with Goethe's definition - an "unheard of occurrence". In the case of two without , it is the death of Ludwig, which occurs under exceptional circumstances. There are also other events that could be viewed as "unheard-of occurrences", such as For example, the fall of the girl “from heaven” or the fact that the two boys hide a corpse and later dump it in the river.

Leitmotifs are typical of the novella genre. In two without these are: the bridge, the motorcycle, the twin motif, death.

The central conflict of the novella is Ludwig's ideal of perfect friendship and the twin vows, which threaten to fail. As is often the case in a novella, the structure of the plot of twos is similar to that of a drama.

phase description Novella
Exposure Introduction to the plot, time, space, people and conflicts Cape. 1
exciting moment Enhancement of the action and the development of the conflict Cape. 2 + 3
Climax, peripetia The climax of the plot and the turning point into the negative Cape. 4 + 5
retarding moment Delaying the disaster, a sham solution
catastrophe Catastrophe, epilogue with an explanation of the action Cape. 6th

The catastrophe (Ludwig's death) is pointedly presented as a clear climax.

In contrast to most novels, it is more than a single event and the events are not told chronologically. A short story would be a clear, taut, chronological narration. It is also atypical that there is no actual framework, but that the events are told by the adult Johann in retrospect.

Narrative technique and language

Personal narrative behavior dominates in the novella. The events are told from Johann's point of view, namely "entirely from the point of view of the time". Together with the perspective figure Johann, the readers experience the adolescence drama up close.

This direct rendering of the action is supplemented by an authorial level. These consist of comments and preliminary interpretations from the perspective of the elder Johann. So he relativizes his statements again and again or emphasizes that he does not remember exactly: "I don't know anymore" (31), "if I remember correctly", "it may be that ..." (p. 40), " if my memory does not deceive me ”(p. 91). This creates gaps that the reader has to interpret. "In addition to the subjectivity, this narrative frame also illustrates the narrator's unreliability ."

interpretation

characters

Johann

Johann is the first-person narrator of the story. He tells the story many years later from his subjective point of view. At the beginning of the novella he lives with his parents, after the parents divorce he lives alone with his mother in a small town near a reservoir. When Ludwig joins his class, they are both eleven years old. Johann is immediately fascinated by Ludwig's self-confident demeanor and makes friends with him. Five years later, he took a "twin vow" with Ludwig. “I didn't look bad back then, I wasn't taller than the others, but stronger and better trained. I was considered nice, sociable, fair. It wouldn't have been difficult to find a girl. The problem was the agreement Ludwig and I had made. Although I don't even want to speak of a problem, because it was of course right that we had decided to become like twins. Perhaps this is not aptly expressed: We wanted to be twins ”(p. 39, quoted here and below from: Two without). Over time, it becomes more and more obvious that friendship does not work on an equal footing, but that Johann Ludwig's wishes are subordinated. At the same time, Johann begins a relationship with Vera, which he keeps secret from Ludwig.

Ludwig

Ludwig is a medium-sized boy with blond, almost white hair. He lives with his parents and his sister Vera in a house under a motorway bridge just outside the town. He appears self-confident and quick-witted and impresses Johann with his natural way of dealing with the dead. On the first night that Johann spends with Ludwig, he realizes: “Never before had anything impressed me as much as the obvious gesture with which he closed the girl's eyelids. [...] You need a friend against fear. Ludwig was able to help me against the worst of my fears. "(P. 34f)

When Johann and Ludwig were 17, Ludwig organized a girl with whom the two had their "first time". However, Ludwig does not spend much time with her; he doesn't seem to care much about girls. Instead, he is possessive when it comes to his friendship with Johann. He gets Johann to distance himself from both his old school friend Marco and his mother. Again and again he challenges Johann to tests of courage.

Physically, Johann and Ludwig are very similar: "We had good prerequisites for the two without, we were the same size, the same weight, the same strong, the same technical talent, and we were friends, we thought the same." (P. 47)

Vera

Vera is Ludwig's younger sister. Johann describes her as “very thin, tall and thin. She was blonde, but not as white as Ludwig. ”(P. 31). Vera has a sexual relationship with both Johann and her best friend Flavia.

Symbols and motifs

“The novella Zweier ohne is characterized by intense, expressive symbolism that runs through the entire text as a leitmotif. The individual symbols are also linked to one another on the content level, resulting in a dense, meaningful network of different symbol areas. "

- Sabine Pfäffli : Selection criteria for contemporary literature in German lessons

Rowboat

Pfäfflin, Will, and Roth-Züfle agree that the rowing boat is a symbol of Ludwig and Johann's friendship. This can be seen in the choice of boat, as it does not need a helmsman, but is only suitable for two people. This reflects the friendship of the two, as no third party is welcome here either. Marco and Josephine neither make it into the Freundesbund. Vera, who invades the friendship, destroys it.

A twos without stands for harmony and unity, which plays a major role in the twin relationship: "The twin vows also result from rowing together [...]." After a double defeat against twin brothers, Ludwig says: "If we want to beat them, we have to." we will also be twins. "(p. 48)

The harmony is disturbed several times in the course of the story by Ludwig's dominance, who is also in two without the "batsman who sets the pace."

motorcycle

As a leitmotif, the motorcycle is very similar to the two without and has the same symbolic meaning. This is made clear by the following passage in the text: "A motorcycle, said Ludwig, is like a two without, two lives, one fate." (P. 91).

bridge

The bridge is not only the scene of a wide variety of central scenes, but also "mute, eerie and omnipresent, guardian". The twin vows, the suicide of the girl and later that of the farmer, the beginning of the love affair between Johann and Vera and various tests of courage are all actions that take place at the bridge. The bridge is associated with death and danger. She has many dark secrets like the suicide, the construction worker in the bridge pillar or the kidnapped and imprisoned girl. However, that in no way makes it a deterrent for Johann and Ludwig, on the contrary: there is something mystical, tempting and fascinating about it. In the course of history it develops into part of Johann and Ludwig's territory. Will describes the bridge as “a fine line on which the two balance”, as a symbol of their sensitive friendship that is constantly being tested. The bridge can also be a metaphor for overcoming various hurdles, such as Johann's fear of death, his insecurity regarding the relationship with Vera and generally passing the tests of courage.

death

Death is present in the novella from beginning to end. Already in the first sentence there is talk of the suicide of a girl who throws herself from the bridge on the night Johann and Ludwig become friends: "In the night when the girl fell from the sky, [...]" (p. 9). Johann, who was eleven at the time and whose greatest fear is the death of his parents (p. 34), is confronted with death for the first time. He admires Ludwig how he fearlessly closes the eyes of the dead.

Death is absolutely fascinating for both of them and is therefore always a topic of conversation. When the farmer throws himself from the bridge, they are almost euphoric to come so close to death (p. 97). When they step onto the bridge and let their feet dangle over the abyss, Johann and Ludwig play with their fate (p. 107f).

The novella ends with Ludwig's death, who dies on a motorcycle tour with Johann. Whether this is a suicide remains controversial, although some text passages in the novella suggest it.

tower

The tower in Asia is a dream for the future of Ludwig and Johann, which they discuss again and again during the summer before the accident. This is a fantasy that stands for “freedom, adventure, exuberance, joie de vivre, power, money and extraordinary professional success”.

The tower also symbolizes the common way of life after school. The two assume that they will spend their future together and like to decorate it with ideas of fame.

However, the dream of the “Tower in Asia” changes in the course of the novella. Johann tells Vera about the tower, whereupon she also claims one floor of the tower. And finally the dream of building a tower bursts completely when Ludwig says: "Stop (...) talking about this shitty slit-eye tower." (P. 92). Johann is a little injured at first, but then agrees with Ludwig: "Because the idea of ​​the tower in Asia was perhaps too childish for our age." (P. 92)

Interpretative approaches

Roth-Züfle interprets the twin vows in such a way that Johann Ludwig accepts the proposal "because he hopes that being a twin will ease his puberty-related uncertainties". Ludwig demands total adaptation from Johann, which Johann does not notice, he thinks that their deeds and thoughts are actually the same. Ludwig makes it clear that he strives for far more than just the same deeds and thoughts: "And if one of us has a reason to jump from this bridge, then that must also be a reason for the other to jump from this bridge, do you understand? ”(p. 48).

Will is of the opinion that Ludwig caused the accident on purpose in order to reunite himself and Johann forever and to get revenge on Vera. This thesis is based on Vera's statement "He did it on purpose" (p. 133).

reception

Reviews

"The amazing thing about this book is certainly its completely unobtrusive sovereignty, which is shown in the old masterly way that nothing is lost a word too much - and certainly not a loud one." He feels the first-person narrator as "very loyal and one-to-one not very simple ”, which takes over Ludwig's opinions very quickly. Jung especially praises Kurbjuweit's empathy for boys' problems. "Everything that is unique in youth, new and overwhelming, equally exhilarating and painful, but always intense and decisive for life - the language of Dirk Kurbjuweit embraces this."

- Jochen Jung : Der Tagesspiegel

“Two without is a story for both adults and young people with its easy language, which often comes from everyday life and the topic of childhood friendship. Kurbjuweit grants a deep insight into the psyche of the two protagonists. It characterizes the time of growing up in its most difficult phase. [...] Dirk Kurbjuweit fabricated a small masterpiece with his novella, which shows how far a friendship can go. "

- Kristina Habermann : literaturkritik.de

Tanja Dückers comments in Die Zeit that the book in 2014 in Baden-Württemberg was not allowed to be the only exam reading in the 10th grade:

“The real scandal is that the red-green government in Baden-Württemberg has apparently followed the interventions of Christian circles piously, which the suitability of the 'sex book' (speaks of 'Topic', a Christian news service) because of its erotic Denied passages and the disturbance of the dead rest as compulsory school reading. "

Joachim Güntner also comments on this topic and comes to the conclusion that Kurbjuweit describes the act of love between the young people "rather tender and certainly not pornographic". At the same time he says:

“But why not take into account the sensitivities of some denominational schools with an alternative, and let it be called 'Andorra'? Far more than the majority of secondary schools in the state assess the students with 'two without'. A defeat of secularism, which Kurbjuweit paints on the wall, would look different. "

“Kurbjuweit brings a timeless story about friendship and growing up into our time. He characterizes this time on the basis of its own problems in the various areas, psychologizes his protagonists and observes how they deal with these circumstances, how they cope with them or how they fail. "

- Thomas Hermann : literaturkritik.de

“Dirk Kurbjuweit's predilection for disturbed heroes and bizarre characters has been known since his novels The Loneliness of the Crocodiles and Gunshot. Books whose ingenuity and abundance of material were able to both fascinate and overwhelm readers. Two without, on the other hand, owing to the strict novella form, is an extremely concentrated narrative piece. The factual, sometimes undercooled tone of voice that Kurbjuweit has given his narrator Johann, suits this story of friendship, which is as romantic as it is contemporary, admirably. Here every episode is carefully chosen, every sentence, whether describing the plot or reflecting, is formulated with almost old-fashioned care. In the new German literature, a prose in which classical storytelling and the disturbing present come together in such a successful way is rare. If his two novels were already considerable journeyman's pieces, Dirk Kurbjuweit delivered a small masterpiece with two without. "

- Joachim Feldmann : Friday

Public debate

In Baden-Wuerttemberg the novella Zweier ohne was planned as compulsory reading for the 10th grade for the 2013/2014 school year. Christian circles protested against this with the argument that the novella was not suitable for school lessons due to explicitly described sex scenes and the approval of bisexuality.

Dirk Kurbjuweit, author of the magazine Der Spiegel , published an article in which he expressed his opinion on the objections to his novella.

In Baden-Württemberg, from 2014 Max Frisch's Andorra was offered as an alternative to two without .

Sabine Pfäfflin shows in “Selection criteria for contemporary literature in German lessons” that the novella is definitely suitable for school reading.

filming

The film adaptation of the novella, directed by Jobst Christian Oetzmann, is based on the work of Dirk Kurbjuweit, but has some deviations. In the 93-minute film, Johann (Timo Mewes) and Ludwig (Jacob Matschenz) become best friends and later also “twins”. The film was released in German cinemas on October 16, 2008 and was released from the age of twelve.

Deviations from the film to the novella: In the film, the narrative begins when Johann and Ludwig are already 17. The story is not told in retrospect. The bridge was never completed and is therefore not in use. There is a test of courage on his bike in which Johann almost falls off the bridge. Ludwig shows a more pronounced interest in girls in the film. Ludwig was previously sent to boarding school because of his aggressiveness. Ludwig and Johann are called gay by others. Both have rowed before. It is not Marco who is expelled, but the coach of the two. Only Ludwig beats up Josephine's brothers, Johann tries to stop him. Because they have different hair colors, they shave their skulls. In the film, Ludwig's mother has been dead for three years (jumped off the bridge) and Johann's mother is unemployed. Johann shows no interest in the dead, not even in Ludwig. The only hug goes smoothly. Before the two finally get on the motorcycle, Ludwig hugs his sister. The course of the accident is not shown exactly. You don't know anything about Johann's future life, the film ends shortly after the accident, Vera and Johann are still together.

literature

literature

  • Kurbjuweit, Dirk: Two without. Zurich, Verlag Nagel & Kimche AG 2016, ISBN 978-3-462-04026-5 .
  • Pfäffli, Sabine: Selection criteria for contemporary literature in German lessons. Baltmannsweiler, Schneider Verlag Hohengehren 2007, ISBN 978-3-8340-0302-7 .
  • Roth-Züfle, Sabine: interpretations German, Dirk Kurbjuweit two without. Freising, Stark Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-86668-851-3 .
  • Will, Klaus: Text analysis and interpretation of Dirk Kurbjuweit Zweier ohne. Series King's Explanations Special. Hollfeld, Bange Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-8044-3097-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Will, Klaus: Text analysis and interpretation of Dirk Kurbjuweit Zweier ohne. Series King's Explanations Special. Hollfeld, Bange Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-8044-3097-6 , pp. 20ff.
  2. ↑ Dirk Kurbjuweit: Anorexia: easy, track, easy . In: Der Spiegel . No. 45 , 2001, p. 184-192 ( Online - Nov. 5, 2001 ).
  3. ^ Will, Klaus: Text analysis and interpretation of Dirk Kurbjuweit Zweier ohne. Series King's Explanations Special. Hollfeld, Bange Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-8044-3097-6 , p. 21ff.
  4. ↑ Kurbjuweit, Dirk: Two without. Zurich, Verlag Nagel & Kimche AG 2016, ISBN 978-3-462-04026-5 , p. 9.
  5. ^ A b Will, Klaus: Text analysis and interpretation of Dirk Kurbjuweit Zweier ohne. Series King's Explanations Special. Hollfeld, Bange Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-8044-3097-6 , p. 86.
  6. ↑ Roth-Züfle, Sabine: Interpretations German, Dirk Kurbjuweit two without. Freising, Stark Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-86668-851-3 , p. 53.
  7. ↑ Kurbjuweit, Dirk: Two without. Zurich, Verlag Nagel & Kimche AG 2016, ISBN 978-3-462-04026-5 .
  8. ^ Pfäffli, Sabine: Selection criteria for contemporary literature in German lessons. Baltmannsweiler, Schneider Verlag Hohengehren 2007, ISBN 978-3-8340-0302-7 , p. 75.
  9. ^ A b Pfäffli, Sabine: Selection criteria for contemporary literature in German lessons. Baltmannsweiler, Schneider Verlag Hohengehren 2007, ISBN 978-3-8340-0302-7 , p. 82.
  10. ^ A b Will, Klaus: Text analysis and interpretation of Dirk Kurbjuweit Zweier ohne. Series King's Explanations Special. Hollfeld, Bange Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-8044-3097-6 , p. 77.
  11. ↑ Roth-Züfle, Sabine: Interpretations German, Dirk Kurbjuweit two without. Freising, Stark Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-86668-851-3 , p. 72f.
  12. ^ Pfäffli, Sabine: Selection criteria for contemporary literature in German lessons. Baltmannsweiler, Schneider Verlag Hohengehren 2007, ISBN 978-3-8340-0302-7 , p. 76.
  13. ^ Will, Klaus: Text analysis and interpretation of Dirk Kurbjuweit Zweier ohne. Series King's Explanations Special. Hollfeld, Bange Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-8044-3097-6 , p. 81.
  14. ↑ Roth-Züfle, Sabine: Interpretations German, Dirk Kurbjuweit two without. Freising, Stark Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-86668-851-3 , p. 72.
  15. ^ Will, Klaus: Text analysis and interpretation of Dirk Kurbjuweit Zweier ohne. Series King's Explanations Special. Hollfeld, Bange Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-8044-3097-6 , p. 79.
  16. ↑ Roth-Züfle, Sabine: Interpretations German, Dirk Kurbjuweit two without. Freising, Stark Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-86668-851-3 , p. 57.
  17. ^ Will, Klaus: Text analysis and interpretation of Dirk Kurbjuweit Zweier ohne. Series King's Explanations Special. Hollfeld, Bange Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-8044-3097-6 , pp. 90ff.
  18. ↑ Jung, Jochen: Fallen to Earth. http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/auf-die-erde-gefallen/289680.html , accessed on March 27, 2017.
  19. ↑ Habermann, Kristina: A twin vow across all borders. http://literaturkritik.de/public/rezension.php?rez_id=6046 , accessed on March 27, 2017.
  20. ↑ Dückers, Tanja: Sex and Suizid in German Classes. https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/schule/2014-01/schule-lektuere-lehrplan-baden-wuerttemberg , accessed on March 9, 2017.
  21. ↑ Günter, Joachim: Even tender sex goes too far for some. https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/buecher/auch-zarter-sex- geht-manchem-zu-weit-1.18243646 , accessed on March 27, 2017.
  22. ↑ Hermann, Thomas: Building bridges. http://literaturkritik.de/public/druckfassung_rez.php?rez_id=4042 , accessed on March 27, 2017.
  23. ↑ Feldmann, Joachim: Fatal friendship. https://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/verhangnisvolle-freundschaft , accessed on March 27, 2017.
  24. ↑ Müller, Saskia: There is no reason to cry out. http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/sex-in-schullektuere-es- htt-keinen-grund-sich-auszuweinen-12773982.html , accessed on March 9, 2017.
  25. ↑ Dirk Kurbjuweit: Dangerous reading . In: Der Spiegel . No. 5 , 2014, p. 114-116 ( Online - Jan. 27, 2014 ).
  26. ^ Pfäfflin, Sabine: Selection criteria for contemporary literature in German lessons. Baltmannsweiler, Schneider Verlag Hohengehren 2007, ISBN 978-3-8340-0302-7 .