Nobels: 2009: Herta Müller

I could have skipped over Herta Müller, but shouldn't really. Before I started writing these entries, she was one of the first laureates I searched out, simply because I hadn't heard of and probably should have. So this entry is relying on my memory of what I read a few months ago.

She writes in German but lived under the Ceaușescu regime in Romania until exile (to Germany) in 1987. The book I read, The Land of Green Plums, is clearly, although not explicitly, about life under that oppressive government. The West's relationship with Romania was always uneasy; it was given a lot of leeway on the enemy's enemy principle, and it was only with fall of Ceaușescu around Christmas 1989 that the extent of the totalitarianism became more widely known. The book was published in 1994.

It's quite a depressing book. As well as the ideological oppression, the country was dirt poor, hence the (English) title: unripe plums were coveted, and they are fairly obviously symbolic of pervasive stunting. The pervasive joylessness, lightened only by occasional tiny victories, is convincingly portrayed. When I read it, I was deeply concerned about the tide of authoritarianism rising in this country, headed by a xenophobic and illiberal prime minister and aided by economic decline. We're a long way from Ceaușescu, of course, but nothing's impossible.

So I would recommend it, as a warning from recent history.

(Incidentally, let's look at that title: Land of Green Plums. The German title is Herztier, which literally means Heartbeast. I think the German word is as made-up as the English would be, and its significance is explained in the book. Why not translate it literally? I'm seeing a trend in these books for the translated title to be more generic than the original. Lituma en los Andes became Death in the Andes and Rue des Boutiques Obscures has been translated as Missing Person which is much less intriguing. But less perplexing too and I suppose that's the point. Translators and their publishers don't want any obstacle putting potential readers off.)