I don't know if I mentioned it before, but my new (non-paranoid) book club has a few native Germans sprinkled in (we are mostly Americans). For our February meeting, we read Uwe Timm's THE INVENTION OF CURRIED SAUSAGE and our hostess treated us to what else? Curried Sausage! Daniel ended up reading the book and coming with me, and everyone seemed pleased to have a man's perspective on the novel.Short summary: A man recalls eating currywurst as a child at his neighbor's fast-food stand and is convinced that she invented the recipe. He goes to her nursing home to talk to her and get the true story. But it is no simple explanation, rather a very in-depth narrative that starts with an affair she (Lena) had at the end of World War II with a Nazi soldier (Bremer) she hid in her Hamburg apartment.
The group's verdict: This gem from 1993 is listed among the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, and everyone in the group that finished it agreed that it was worth reading. We had a interesting chat about conditions during the war, and the Germans in the group told us some family stories from that time period. We also talked about the parallels of Bremer's experience to that of Odysseus' and what tactics Lena used to keep both Bremer and the author of the story captive. A great pick! Oh, and I read this in the orginal German, which counts towards my personal challenge of reading more in German.
Up next: AWAIT YOUR REPLY by Dan Choan
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