Jens Wawrczeck, who has already recorded the well-known “Ismael Trilogy” by the Australian children’s and youth author Michael Gerard Bauer for the Hamburg audio company, also reads his latest book “Things that can’t stay like this” with a passion that is second to none. An achievement that was recently rewarded by the jury of the hr2 audio book best list with the award “Children’s and young people’s audio book of the year 2021”.
His unmistakable voice is even more haunting than you are used to from him. That may be due to the fact that the story about the slightly nerdy Sebastian and the wacky Frida, originally published by Hanser, comes up with a lot of film clips from “Casablanca” to the film series “The Fast and the Furious” to “The Big Lebowski”. Allusions that should have pleased a proven cineast like Wawrczeck: For his own audio book label Edition audoba, he has long been reading the short stories and novels that Alfred Hitchcock used as the basis for films.
Frida is a real talent for improvisation, intelligent, creative, spontaneous.
“Things that can’t stay like this” is a typical boy-meets-girl story, told from the perspective of sixteen-year-old Sebastian. He meets Frida on the open day of the state university. The chemistry between the teenagers is right immediately, even if Sebastian can’t quite believe it. After all, he never tires of emphasizing that he is a “perfectly normal guy”. Frida, on the other hand, has that certain something. Above all, she has not fallen on her mouth, only with the truth about herself and her life she does not take it too seriously. In short: She is a real talent for improvisation, intelligent, creative, spontaneous. “Now we have obviously left the popular genre love comedy, catastrophe film, horror flick, splatter behind us and have moved into the wondrous gray area of a pure fantasy film”, Sebastian comments on the roller coaster of emotions triggered by Frida, which is repeatedly cushioned by his best friend and Sidekick Tolly, who accompanied him to the open house. In his clever novel, Michael Gerard Bauer explores how well people can really get to know each other in just a few hours. What do you reveal about yourself, what do you keep quiet? After all, opening up means making yourself vulnerable.
For a long time, the wonderfully pointed conversations between the protagonists dominated the scene. You just have fun. Only gradually do Frida and Sebastian reveal their other, dark side. In doing so, they find that they have more in common than they can imagine. After her mother’s drug death, Frida grew up as a child in a home and experienced abuse. Sebastian also knows the dangers of drugs, his older brother, who persecutes him beyond his death, was addicted and violent. Jens Wawrczeck reads the complex story at first with verve and sparkling humor, later he becomes more and more hesitant. You can hear the tightness of the chest and throat that teens with their revelations. The result is a listening experience that is perfectly balanced between lust for life and the burden of life. (from 13 years)
Michael Gerard Bauer: Things that can’t stay that way. Translated from the English by Ute Mihr. Read by Jens Wawrczeck. 1 mp3 CD. 6 hours 13 minutes. Hörcompany, Hamburg 2021. 13.95 euros.