Book Review: This Beautiful Place
By Tankred Dorst
with Ursula Ehler
Translated by
Anne Posten
Hanging Loose
Press, 2012. Novella.
Review by Debrah
Lechner
Tankred Dorst is
a German writer and playwright. He was born in 1925, and lives and works with
his partner Ursula Ehler in Munich. As acclaimed and influential as his work
has been in Germany, this is the first publication to be introduced to an
English-speaking audience.
Little by
little, piece by piece, as the understanding of other cultures becomes more
important and the curiosity of readers is piqued, the infamous resistance of
the United States to reading translated works is being worn away. Thanks to
Hanging Loose Press for initiating the annual Loose Translations Prize, and
congratulations to Anne Posten, translator of This Beautiful Place, the first winner of this prize, for bringing
forth the fascinating work of Dorst and Ehler.
Dorst’s vision
in this piece is funny, dark, and as Anne Posten reveals in her introduction,
quite cinematic. The text often begins in capital letters as another scene
begins. Dorst also writes gripping dialogue. A little girl, Lilly, convinced
that her father is the King of Spain, makes an attempt to run away from her
abusive mother, but does not succeed:
IT’LL
ALL BE BETTER NOW, Lilly. Believe me, now that you’re back, everything will be
better!
Lilly surveys her mother coldly. She’s
suddenly been seized with the desire to paint Lilly’s fingernails red, and in
the endeavor, drunk as she is, she’s forgotten all other work… She shuffles
herself onto the chair, and holds Lilly’s hand down violently on the damp and dirty
countertop, splaying Lilly’s fingers apart
—Hold still, Lilly, don’t pull your
hand away, Lilly…
Lilly looks at her mother and waits
motionless…
—It’ll all be better, and you won’t
have to run away to Spain, Lilly. Now you’ll stay here with me.
The mother throws Lilly a long look,
full of expectation.
—when I go back to work—they want me
back, of course—they want me back…
—Who does? Lilly demands severely.
—Anytime! I can start immediately.
When I bus glasses from the tables, none of ‘em get broken. Not a one! And from
just the tips alone…I’ll buy myself a fur coat from Hirmer. Even if it’s
summer. Who cares! And I’ll buy you something too. Lilly! Make a wish!
—There’s nothing that I want.
The slight makes her furious.
—You already have everything? And
she wipes the wet table a few times with the sweeping gesture of her sleeve…
All
the characters in this story are memorable. There’s also what could be called a
missing character, Aleijadinho, a legendary Brazilian architect. He is said to
have had leprosy, but continued with his work anyway, erecting cathedrals and
carving saints and religious figures. His hands rot off, and he has his tools
attached to what remains of his arms. His feet rot away, so he is carried on
the shoulders of a servant. Despite the buffoons, vulnerable innocents, and
irredeemably broken characters that inhabit This Beautiful Place, the story of Aleijadinho creates and makes believable the
possibility of redemption.
This Beautiful Place is a lost classic found, as exciting as
an unearthed treasure, testament or painting. It’s also a great read. You want
it for both reasons.