Ich habe dieses Buch gelesen und es ist gut. Bernhard Schlink is in good form with The Weekend, a book about a leftist terrorist who is freed after serving time for four murders committed as part of his obligation to the cause. Jörg has just been released from prison and has had plenty of time to ponder his transgressions. Unfortunately for him, he’s greeted as a minor celebrity when he escapes immuration. His followers expect more heady speeches, and perhaps even a return to the Molotov-cocktail-throwing days of old. But Jörg has left all that behind him and just wants to die an old man. His son is a fairly typical victim of a father’s devotion to a dogmatic principle, loathing him and comparing him to the Nazis openly, knowing fully well how much left-wingers like to be on the receiving end of the real-life version of Godwin’s Law. The weekend proceeds with his son castigating him fearlessly in front of his former comrades, unafraid to relentlessly upbraid him for his lack of compassion for the lives he took. These are all telling blows and Jörg is sapped, departing when the weekend ends to resume his life in Berlin.
This is a much more thoughtful and atmospheric book by Schlink, he of The Reader fame. Subjectively speaking, even though one can hardly compare books, this book is not as good as his most famous work. That being said, the atmosphere and plot are drawn out most carefully, with flashbacks to the murders invariably being the segments that lurch the plot forward. This is a quick read, enjoyable for its appraisal and analysis of far-leftist revolutionary thought, from a centre-left and centrist viewpoint. Baader-Meinhof, anyone?
ISBN: 978-0-0307-37815-6
