The men screwed up. There are dubious characters who create the new novel by Isaac Rosa shape, and the fact that they have the same name across generations only underlines this. Segismundo, the grandfather, Segismundo, the son, Segis, the teenage grandson – they all have one thing in common: they are sly people, crooks at that, and sooner or later they fall on their faces with their trickery. There would definitely be salvation in sight, for herself and for the world, but more on that later.
First of all, Segismundo, the middle one, wants to realize a new business idea in the novel “A Safe Place” (Liebeskind Verlag). If its Spanish inventor about it in Cervantes Institute will speak with his translator Luis Ruby (Thursday, April 25th, 7 p.m., admission free), then it will be interesting not only for literature fans, but also for preppers: Because Segismundo wants to sell people a “safe place”. His idea: Not only rich people should be able to afford a bunker in the event of the end of the world, but also people who don’t have that much money. Money is a problem that also places serious strain on Segismundo: he needs a loan to bring his cheap bunkers to the people. But he doesn’t get one, which is also connected to the racketeering that once landed his father in prison. Oh.
The way Isaac Rosa lets his Segismundo explain the world as a first-person narrator is told in a wickedly funny and compelling way – and always close to our shrill present. In Spain he was awarded the Premio Biblioteca Breve. And Rosa is not the only author of a Romance language whose book and Munich reading deserves attention in the next few weeks.
A lot of exciting things are also coming from Italy: in addition to the literature festival ILFest From April 26th to 28th in the Neuhauser Trafo, the Literaturhaus is looking south. Because the guest country of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair has also been a country of longing for the Wagenbach publishing house for six decades: publisher Susanne Schüssler will speak about its Italy program on May 2nd (6 p.m.), The historian then asks Victoria de Grazia her book “The Perfect Fascist” (8 p.m.) in the Literaturhaus. A Sicilian family story that extends to Munich will also be presented there three days later Mario Giordano: On May 5th it’s about “The Women of the Carbonaro Family” (Goldmann), a sequel to his novel “Terra di Sicilia”.
And another look towards France: When the Goncourt Prize winner Mathias Enard presents a novel, multi-layered storytelling is guaranteed. “Dance of Betrayal” (Hanser Berlin) is the name of his new work, which, according to the publisher, is about “resistance, love, betrayal and the consolation of mathematical beauty in a world shaken by violence.” This is not the first time Énard has come to Munich, and this time too his reading promises to be stimulating (May 8th, Literaturhaus).
And to stay with the consolation in a shattered world, let’s go back to Isaac Rosa. In his novel he doesn’t stop at mocking men’s mistakes. He also uses some female characters to describe how the world does not necessarily have to remain an unsafe place. Yes, an eco-activist even develops a utopia that doesn’t seem so unrealistic. Even if Segismundo the Second finds it ridiculous in the book: the power of vision is stronger.