Fame: A Novel in Nine Episodes

My introduction to Kehlmann. Its subtitle advertises it as “A Novel in Nine Episodes.” I don’t think it’s a novel at all, but rather a collection of (very) loosely related short stories. However it is classified though, it’s a fascinating riff on the meaning of fame, but not, perhaps, as you might ordinarily conceive that word. There’s more than a little alienation, a lot of wit, and it is certainly well-written. But at the end of the day, I agree with a criticism that appeared in The Observer: “the impression it gives – of this wildly successful young author shaking his head at the Kafkaesque lifestyle his reputation has foisted upon him – can seem rather irritating." It is clever, but perhaps too clever by half. show more Kehlmann is unquestionably talented, but this may not have been the right book to start with. show less

Ein intellektueller Selbstmörder, eine lebende Romanfigur und ein verzweifelter Bigamist sind nur ein kleiner Bruchteil der Charaktere, die Kehlmann durch die Welt ziehen und interagieren lässt. Nicht unbedingt miteinander aber mit maßgeblichen Berührungspunkten.

Das in 9 Kurzgeschichten aufgeteilte Buch ist doch ein Ganzes. Die Wertigkeit und Deutung der Zusammenhänge ist in meinen Augen nicht steril sondern Tiefsinnig gelungen und lädt zum Gedankenverlieren in das eigene Leben ein. Der Tanz zwischen erdachter Realität und Fiktion, deren Schlüssel für mich in der dritten Geschichte zu finden ist, lässt einen gleichzeitig Hoffen und Zweifeln. Es bereitet Freude, die zwar lebendig in ihren Taten und Handlungen erblühenden aber show more von einer schweren Melancholie gezeichneten Charaktere jeweils ein kurzes Stück zu begleiten.

Es kommt einem nach der kurzen Lektüre des Buches, das wohl problemlos auf einer Zugfahrt von München nach Brüssel zu lesen wäre, so vor, als ob die Abschnitte der Geschichten zu kurz sind und man würde gerne weiter erfahren was das Leben für die einzelnen Protagonisten noch vorsieht. Aber gottseidank hat Kehlmann diesem zu erwartenden Leserwunsch nicht nachgegeben und verschwindet somit auch nicht in Belanglosigkeit und Kitsch.

4,5* show less

Daniel Kehlmann has crafted a unique set of nine short stories that network together organically (and slightly resemble an episode of Lost). Characters in one story seem to influence what happens characters in another story in a significant way. One of my favourite episodes in this book is the first story: a regular Joe buys his first cell phone and discovers that his cell number was recently owned by someone else because he is being called incessantly by people looking for Ralf. After trying to convince the callers that he is not Ralf (which is a very Ralf think to do), he eventually assumes the identity of the mystery cell phone number owner and causes tremendous havoc: making dates to meet women, dispensing advice, agreeing and not show more agreeing to various things. What trouble has he caused? We find out later when we meet Ralf in another story.
The protagonist in each story share a common thread: the fleeting sense of identify and as a result, the loosening grasp on reality. We are left to wonder who is real, who is a character? And are we all living in a story that feeds into a network of other stories?

The book is well written and I look forward to other Kehlmann works. show less

When I decided to read Daniel Kelhmann's Fame, I was expecting a novel that spanned the entire length of the book, with chapters the author referred to as "episodes." It did say "A Novel in Nine Episodes" on the jacket cover. So imagine my surprise when it turned out to be more like a short story collection than a novel, though all characters from the nine episodes were related or connected in some way, and each plot or setting is an antecedent or aftermath of the other. And while this did kind of saddened me a bit, the stories did make up for it. This book did not disappoint.

Originally written in German and translated to English by Carol Brown Janeway, Fame presents the different stories of seemingly random people, each dealing with show more the subject of fame, anonymity, what is true and what is real: the computer technician who accidentally got a pre-assigned phone number and has been getting phone calls addressed to a famous actor; a widely respected author who realizes that all his bestselling books are rubbish, wondering whether he ought to keep up the pretense for his readers or end it all; and the telecommunications department head leading a double life between his family and his mistress, getting deeper and deeper into his labyrinth of lies. Each main character is related to the others, each story connected by a single detail or so, each episode dealing with the concept of identity (or lack thereof).

While Kehlmann's storytelling is vividly dark (and sometimes funny, as in the case of the forum post recounting one man's quest to make an impression on the author he ran into during a conference), Janeway does a superb job of keeping Kehlmann's paradoxes of what it is to be famous and satire intact.

A certain favorite of mine would be "The East," where an author of detective novels attends a conference in an obscure location and gets left behind when the delegation is sent home. Despite being a well-known author, her fame is of no use in a third-world country where nobody speaks any other language but their own, and where she is left with virtually nothing, not even her identity.

Fame is haunting and melancholic, where people clamor for fame, avoid it, flirt with it, give up to it, each of them with a different take on what it means to be recognized.

Originally posted here. show less

A collection of vignettes about fame and its futility in various settings. The writing was good and I'd love to be able to read it in German, particularly the chat room entries. My favorite story was the woman who is forgotten by the tour group and cannot get home until she works in this unnamed Eastern European country to pay her passage out.

“Stories within stories within stories. You never know where one ends and another begins! In truth, they all flow into one another. It’s only in books that they’re clearly divided.”

But: in this book they are not clearly divided. They are linked with recurring characters and situations. Just when you think we are done with one character, he pops up unexpectedly in another episode. Intriguing and fun. A delight to read.

A collection of vignettes about fame and its futility in various settings. The writing was good and I'd love to be able to read it in German, particularly the chat room entries. My favorite story was the woman who is forgotten by the tour group and cannot get home until she works in this unnamed Eastern European country to pay her passage out.