Heimweg
Encyclopedia
Heimweg is a novel from the German author and journalist Harald Martenstein
. It was released in February 2007. In Germany, it is currently the most popular representation of post-war fiction.
narrator, a grandfather named Josef. He returns home from Russian captivity after the war to find his wife Katharina in an adulterous
relationship. Over the course of the story, he tries to get her back. In this respect, he is successful, seeing that she is becoming insane and in this connection only turns to him. The family history continues over several generations, revealing several torn characters and many murders, including his son's murder and suicide. In a key scene, it is revealed that Josef ordered the execution of a Russian commissar during World War II. This is executed helplessly and without judgment by the Commissar Order
. After that, Josef needlessly kills another corpse of crouching boys.
Towards the end of the story, the mental confusion of Katharina is explained. The "visitors" that she believes to be in her apartment, are in fact the family members of the dead. They appear again in the book on a fictional level as a quasi-ghost figure, while at the same time the heroes appear to be real. The reader learns this as the real family members begin to die. Finally, the first-person narrator finally turns out to be the spirits of the murdered boys.
Harald Martenstein
Harald Martenstein is a German journalist and author.- Biography :Martenstein studied History and Romance Studies in Freiburg. From 1981 to 1988, he was a journalist at the Stuttgarter Zeitung and from 1988 to 1997 he was a journalist at Tagesspiegel in Berlin...
. It was released in February 2007. In Germany, it is currently the most popular representation of post-war fiction.
Plot
The focus of the story is on the first-personFirst-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
narrator, a grandfather named Josef. He returns home from Russian captivity after the war to find his wife Katharina in an adulterous
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
relationship. Over the course of the story, he tries to get her back. In this respect, he is successful, seeing that she is becoming insane and in this connection only turns to him. The family history continues over several generations, revealing several torn characters and many murders, including his son's murder and suicide. In a key scene, it is revealed that Josef ordered the execution of a Russian commissar during World War II. This is executed helplessly and without judgment by the Commissar Order
Commissar Order
The Commissar Order was a written order given by Adolf Hitler on 6 June 1941, prior to Operation Barbarossa. Its official name was Guidelines for the Treatment of Political Commissars...
. After that, Josef needlessly kills another corpse of crouching boys.
Towards the end of the story, the mental confusion of Katharina is explained. The "visitors" that she believes to be in her apartment, are in fact the family members of the dead. They appear again in the book on a fictional level as a quasi-ghost figure, while at the same time the heroes appear to be real. The reader learns this as the real family members begin to die. Finally, the first-person narrator finally turns out to be the spirits of the murdered boys.