Hans Pleschinski

If I didn't have to read this book for my book club, I wouldn't have finished it. Nobody forced me, but one of the reasons I started going there was because I wanted to read more serious literature and more German and Austrian contemporary stuff. I even went to the reading of the author that was part of Austria's booksellers association's attempt at a book fair. The woman who introduced him seemed badly prepared and sort of stammered a lot and he came across very arrogant. I did not like him.
And I did not like his book either. As it turned out on Thursday I was not alone in my opinion. The book has an unusual topic: three siblings inherit a lot of money under the condition that they run a hospice where people can come and commit suicide in peace. I like bizarre books and storyline but this wasn't really it. It was neither as deep as I hoped it would be, nor as darkly funny as I thought it could be. Never once was depression mentioned or how it's treatable. Considering it's the main cause for suicide that was surprising. The book also contained some random adjacent storylines that never led anywhere and didn't tell me anything. The end was better than the middle part yet not very surprising. 600 pages was definitely too long for this story.… (more)