I found ‘Girl and Lizard’ a bit creepy, about a man’s obsession with a family painting, which inhibits his ability to have normal relationships with other women. Perhaps the surprise is that life goes on even after we try to change it.
The author seems to build up towards a surprise ending in each story – yet the surprise is often not quite as dramatic as we might expect. The protagonists are all men, of different ages, but virtually all slightly confused loners, no matter what outward trappings of success they might have. It’s about suppressed yearning and regrets for things not done, about the comfort of habits and rituals, and about the consequences of attempting to make the grand gesture. It’s about taking flight and finding refuge in love (or in our idealised view of it) or about love that has flown away after many years of marriage.
In this short story collection, the more obvious immediate subject is love – in all its forms and nuances. Another prize winning author, best known for his novel ‘The Reader’, this former law professor and judge is constantly preoccupied with the ‘burden of being German’. My second review for German Literature Month, expertly organised and hosted by Caroline and Lizzy.
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