Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Malmö : Thorén & Lindskog, 2009
Description
"A bestseller in Germany, The Invention of Curried Sausage was tagged a "novella," in the original sense of the word, "a little piece of news." This is what author/narrator Uwe Timm uncovers about a popular German sidewalk food, curried sausage." "Timm is convinced it originated not in Berlin in the fifties as generally supposed, but much earlier in his native Hamburg. He tracks down Lena Brucker, now living in a retirement home there. And, yes, curried sausage was her invention but it's a long story, one that Timm cajoles from her during a number of tea-time visits. It all started in April, 1945, just before the war's end when she met, seduced, and held captive a young deserter. The war was over, the lover escaped, and Lena Brucker, with remarkable ingenuity, went into business. That's where the sausage comes in!"--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved… (more)
Media reviews
Den rakt berättade långnovellen bär Timms typiska signum: den omsorgsfulla respekten för karaktärerna, det sociala engagemanget och den milda humorn
Därför är den här boken en mycket lämplig aptitretare för den som förutom currywurst också vill smaka på den spännande tyska litteraturen.
User reviews
LibraryThing member thorold
I have to admit that I bought this novella almost entirely on the strength of its title(*). As a vegetarian, I'm not a great fan of Currywurst, but it is one of Germany's more improbable contributions to civilisation, and I was intrigued to see what Timm could do with it.
In his quest to prove that
In the process, Timm explores the reactions of ordinary people to the extreme situations of 1945. Frau Brücker, canteen manager and presumed war widow, finds herself plunged into an elaborate web of deception to keep hold of the sailor who has fallen into her lap, gets involved in complex black market operations, and lays the foundations of a new business career. Rewriting history as it suits her, shamelessly exploiting her contacts in the old Nazi administration and the new British occupation force, she presumably stands for the Wirtschaftswunder itself. Bremer, on the other hand, deserts from his unit and goes along with her deception happily enough as long as it suits him, then returns to his family as though nothing had happened, displaying all the signs of the famous collective post-war amnesia. The sausage itself, of course, becomes a symbol of the post-war recovery -- German sausage in a sauce made from British curry powder. Timm manages to work a few more layers of symbolism in at this point too, but I won't spoil it...
Worth reading, definitely, not least to get a younger, less bitter perspective on the war than in the novels of Graß, Böll and co., and I think the central narrative stands up well by itself, but the irony doesn't quite work for me. Possibly the sausage motif would have benefited from a lighter, more absurd treatment. Or maybe the title built up expectations that are incompatible with German literature.
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(*)I read the book in German: the English translation doesn't do the title justice. Entdeckung means both "invention" and "discovery" -- I think that ambiguity is important, and it doesn't come over in English. And "curried sausage" doesn't have any of the cross-cultural implications of Currywurst -- the publishers should have stuck to the German word.
In his quest to prove that
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the Currywurst was invented in Hamburg rather than Berlin, the narrator tracks down his aunt's neighbour Frau Brücker, retired proprietor of a Hamburg snack bar, now living in an old people's home, who promises to tell him the story. Over a series of meetings, she tells him about her brief affair with Petty Officer Hermann Bremer during the last weeks of the war. The further she gets with the story, the further off the sausage seems... In the process, Timm explores the reactions of ordinary people to the extreme situations of 1945. Frau Brücker, canteen manager and presumed war widow, finds herself plunged into an elaborate web of deception to keep hold of the sailor who has fallen into her lap, gets involved in complex black market operations, and lays the foundations of a new business career. Rewriting history as it suits her, shamelessly exploiting her contacts in the old Nazi administration and the new British occupation force, she presumably stands for the Wirtschaftswunder itself. Bremer, on the other hand, deserts from his unit and goes along with her deception happily enough as long as it suits him, then returns to his family as though nothing had happened, displaying all the signs of the famous collective post-war amnesia. The sausage itself, of course, becomes a symbol of the post-war recovery -- German sausage in a sauce made from British curry powder. Timm manages to work a few more layers of symbolism in at this point too, but I won't spoil it...
Worth reading, definitely, not least to get a younger, less bitter perspective on the war than in the novels of Graß, Böll and co., and I think the central narrative stands up well by itself, but the irony doesn't quite work for me. Possibly the sausage motif would have benefited from a lighter, more absurd treatment. Or maybe the title built up expectations that are incompatible with German literature.
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(*)I read the book in German: the English translation doesn't do the title justice. Entdeckung means both "invention" and "discovery" -- I think that ambiguity is important, and it doesn't come over in English. And "curried sausage" doesn't have any of the cross-cultural implications of Currywurst -- the publishers should have stuck to the German word.
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LibraryThing member meggyweg
Having not looked this up I'm honestly not sure whether to call this a "fiction," "non-fiction," or "creative non-fiction." The author claims to be telling a true story that's (ultimately) about curried sausage, as told to him by the woman who invented the stuff. Certainly he could be. But how
Yet I don't really have to know.
In any case, it's a compelling story: a short, sweet love affair in Hamburg in 1945, in the last weeks of the war, as the Third Reich is in its death throes. I like how Uwe Timm (and/or the lady who told him the story) stretched the tale out, a little bit at a time, and her crocheting as she talks is an excellent metaphor for that. By the end, I had gotten so into the story that I barely cared about the curried sausage anymore.
A very good World War II story, regardless of how factual it actually is.
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could he know everything that was going on, what the characters were thinking, etc.? Hmm.Yet I don't really have to know.
In any case, it's a compelling story: a short, sweet love affair in Hamburg in 1945, in the last weeks of the war, as the Third Reich is in its death throes. I like how Uwe Timm (and/or the lady who told him the story) stretched the tale out, a little bit at a time, and her crocheting as she talks is an excellent metaphor for that. By the end, I had gotten so into the story that I barely cared about the curried sausage anymore.
A very good World War II story, regardless of how factual it actually is.
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LibraryThing member nog
As every German schoolboy (or girl) knows, currywurst was invented by Herta Heuwer in Berlin in 1949. There is a plaque commemorating the event in the Charlottenburg neighborhood of Berlin. Yet, Uwe Timm is having none of it. He wants you to believe that it was invented in his native Hamburg
The book itself is a fairy tale, preposterous and full of heartwarming coincidences. I counted at least three ridiculously sentimental absurdities at the end of the book. I'm not sure what gets to me more, the sheer bravado of writing this over-the-top sickly sweet crap, or that of hijacking Heuwer's very real contribution to German street eats.
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(naturally), and not only that, by a woman who lived in his apartment building. Can we forget that Hamburgers look at Berliners with disdain, and that Berliners think Hamburgers are snobs? Hamburg is the sophisticated city, whereas Berlin is a blue-collar town of louts, they say. Basically, Timm has no evidence that Lena Brucker invented the currywurst, and that he, yes, Timm himself was eating the spicy concoction years before the official invention. For some reason, this is very important to him.The book itself is a fairy tale, preposterous and full of heartwarming coincidences. I counted at least three ridiculously sentimental absurdities at the end of the book. I'm not sure what gets to me more, the sheer bravado of writing this over-the-top sickly sweet crap, or that of hijacking Heuwer's very real contribution to German street eats.
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LibraryThing member Petroglyph
Timm has penned sweet little novel that ostensibly sets out to prove that German fastfood staple curried sausage was not invented in postwar Berlin, but in 1945 Hamburg -- that's what it the title and the early pages promise. What the book really is about is the collapse of the Third Reich, the end
The narrator, who was born during the war and who grew up in the years after the war, is convinced that the commonly known history of the curried sausage is wrong: as long as he can remember, Mrs Brückner has been serving them from a little booth outside his house. His visits to her in the retirement home lead to long sessions of reminiscing in which she tells him about her life just before the capitulation of the Third Reich and the following months. The invention of the dish involves the coming together of local foods and foreign foods, as well as betrayal, abandonment, stolen love, the black market, all at the onset of a rebuilt city.
I was not expecting the cutesy cover story and the actual novel to fit together that seamlessly, or indeed, so poetically. But they did. A lovely surprise!
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of the war as seen from within Germany, and the takeover by the Allied forces. And those two things go better together than you would expect. The narrator, who was born during the war and who grew up in the years after the war, is convinced that the commonly known history of the curried sausage is wrong: as long as he can remember, Mrs Brückner has been serving them from a little booth outside his house. His visits to her in the retirement home lead to long sessions of reminiscing in which she tells him about her life just before the capitulation of the Third Reich and the following months. The invention of the dish involves the coming together of local foods and foreign foods, as well as betrayal, abandonment, stolen love, the black market, all at the onset of a rebuilt city.
I was not expecting the cutesy cover story and the actual novel to fit together that seamlessly, or indeed, so poetically. But they did. A lovely surprise!
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LibraryThing member bookwormteri
A compelling look at one woman's life during the end of WW II in Germany. She hides an AWOL military man and falls in love with him. She supports herself and begins her own business at the end of the war. Very heartbreaking and beautiful.
LibraryThing member love2laf
Really different, and thought provoking, with plenty of German history thrown in. Not nearly as food-related as I hoped, but I'm still glad I read it.
LibraryThing member Kristelh
The story within the story (double narrator device) is set in Hamburg, Germany at the end of WWII. The protagonist, a young man who used to eat curried sausage at Mrs. Brücker’s stand sets out to find out how she came to invent curried sausage. Mrs. Brücker begins a long story which really is
At first, I did not like Lena because of her dishonesty and unfairness with Bremer’s life. She is a strong woman who managed to survive the war, maintain her own opinions and she was able to use her capitalist ingenuity to become a woman who was able to take care of herself, her children and her grandchild. There is much to admire about Lena. Lena loves to make “much of little”. (pg 34). This reminds me of my German heritage. I did not like Bremer who chose to go AWOL and who did not acknowledge is wife and child.
I also liked Lena’s statement about old age, on page 146. “You know, the only unfair thing is old age…..” and “That’s the strange thing, for a long time getting old is something that happens only to other people. And then one day, somewhere around forty, you find it’s happening to yourself; you notice…” And yes, you do get to find out how Curried Sausage was invented.
Themes include ‘not telling important things”. This touches on her relationship with Bremer, her relationship with her husband who doesn’t tell her things and she doesn’t ask and even her own and the German people who choose not to wonder about the Jewish people who are disappearing. Another theme might be the power of food. Bremer gains weight in captivity while the Germans are losing weight and the Jewish people are skeletons. In the end we see Lena an old lady relishing her sweets. The curry is supposed to have antidepressant effects. Bremer loses his taste.
Apparently this would be a good companion read with The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. I’ve read some other reviews and in the most part the translation was good though there might have been a better choice than “chitlins”. Uwe Timm is a successful German writer. He has won the Jakob-Wassermann prize. Uwe Timm’s older brother died at the end of WWII. The author was an author in residence in 1997 to the Washington University in St. Louis.
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the story of her life at the end of WWII. A young naval officer, Bremer, is assigned to go to the front line to stop British tanks instead of returning to his map room in Oslo. He spends the night with Lena. He then decides to go AWOL because he has heard how he might die on the front line as the British are entering Hamburg. He believes he cannot leave her apartment and Mrs. Brücker does not tell him that the war is over. She keeps him 27 days. By telling her long story she has in essence taken captive another young man who has had to stay away more days than he anticipated to hear how Lena invented the sausage. At first, I did not like Lena because of her dishonesty and unfairness with Bremer’s life. She is a strong woman who managed to survive the war, maintain her own opinions and she was able to use her capitalist ingenuity to become a woman who was able to take care of herself, her children and her grandchild. There is much to admire about Lena. Lena loves to make “much of little”. (pg 34). This reminds me of my German heritage. I did not like Bremer who chose to go AWOL and who did not acknowledge is wife and child.
I also liked Lena’s statement about old age, on page 146. “You know, the only unfair thing is old age…..” and “That’s the strange thing, for a long time getting old is something that happens only to other people. And then one day, somewhere around forty, you find it’s happening to yourself; you notice…” And yes, you do get to find out how Curried Sausage was invented.
Themes include ‘not telling important things”. This touches on her relationship with Bremer, her relationship with her husband who doesn’t tell her things and she doesn’t ask and even her own and the German people who choose not to wonder about the Jewish people who are disappearing. Another theme might be the power of food. Bremer gains weight in captivity while the Germans are losing weight and the Jewish people are skeletons. In the end we see Lena an old lady relishing her sweets. The curry is supposed to have antidepressant effects. Bremer loses his taste.
Apparently this would be a good companion read with The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. I’ve read some other reviews and in the most part the translation was good though there might have been a better choice than “chitlins”. Uwe Timm is a successful German writer. He has won the Jakob-Wassermann prize. Uwe Timm’s older brother died at the end of WWII. The author was an author in residence in 1997 to the Washington University in St. Louis.
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LibraryThing member BrianFannin
I was a bit disappointed by the ending- you got your curry powder in my ketchup, you got your ketchup in my curry powder- but it was alright. Loved it towards the beginning. I'd happily read another by him.
LibraryThing member Honeysucklepie
I regret loaning this out. Must find a new copy.
LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
Timm's story of curried sausage begins in Germany, when a German woman meets and takes in a young soldier--a soldier who is so suddenly taken in by the peace he feels in her presence that deserting seems like the only option. As WWII ends and the woman attempts to keep her young soldier satisfied
Told with a masterful voice and perfectly paced story-telling, Timm's novella is part history, part hope, and part wonderful story. It is all spice and wonder.
Recommended.
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and unaware, Timm's story becomes one of history, lost innocence, and impossible hope, as well as an improbable end.Told with a masterful voice and perfectly paced story-telling, Timm's novella is part history, part hope, and part wonderful story. It is all spice and wonder.
Recommended.
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LibraryThing member HenryKrinkle
A German hausfrau harbors a young AWOL soldier at the end of WW II .resulting in the creation of everyone's favorite fusion junk food, curried sausage.
LibraryThing member curious_squid
Set in Germany during the end of WWII. The story of a woman street vendor who invented curried sausage.
Interesting to read a book set in Germany during the war and while the story could have only taken place at that place and time, it wasn't so much about the fighting and the horrors that were
Interesting to read a book set in Germany during the war and while the story could have only taken place at that place and time, it wasn't so much about the fighting and the horrors that were
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happening as much as how people lived day to day. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dreesie
A perfectly readable book that is less about the invention of curried sausage than about one woman's end-of-WW2 experiences in Hamburg, Germany.
My copy of this book (New Directions paperback, the edition I have chosen here) says this is a novel. Yet googling suggests this is more of a memoir, that
So, I'm confused and a bit annoyed LOL.
My copy of this book (New Directions paperback, the edition I have chosen here) says this is a novel. Yet googling suggests this is more of a memoir, that
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Timm does not believe the standard story the curried sausage (aka currywurst) was invented in the 1950s in...Berlin. He remembers it from the 194os in Hamburg. I neighbor had a stand and sold it there. Even the back of the book says this--while also classifying it as a novel.So, I'm confused and a bit annoyed LOL.
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Language
Original language
German
Original publication date
1993-??-??
Physical description
183 p.; 19 cm
ISBN
9789197810609