Book Club
Jenny Erpenbeck’s The End of Days (Aller Tage Abend)

Mon, 10/17/2016
6:30 PM Goethe-Institut Washington

Read and discuss works by contemporary German authors in this new series hosted by the Goethe-Institut. All books can be read in recent English translation or in the German original; discussion will be in English. Led by local German professor Amanda Sheffer (The Catholic University of America), this book club focuses on contemporary fiction and will explore experiences and thoughts about the text.

The second book in our series is Jenny Erpenbeck’s The End of Days (Aller Tage Abend). The novel interweaves five multiple narratives of a Jewish family through major European conflicts of the last century. Beginning with a family tragedy during the time of the Hapsburg Empire, one story’s ending suggests the beginning of another through magically challenging events of the previous story. A fascinating project in narration, Erpenbeck’s book focuses on how family understands each other and coming to terms with relationships. Come and join us for a discussion of the book the Guardian calls her “most philosophically and technically ambitious work yet.”

Jenny Erpenbeck (b. 1967, East Berlin) is a German author of books such as The Book of Words and Things That Disappear. Erpenbeck learned the trade of bookbinding before working in the theater on both wardrobe and props. She went on to study theater at Humboldt University in Berlin and changed her area to music theater directing. She works both as a freelance writer and as an opera director in both Germany and Austria. Noted by the New York Times as an important author in contemporary German literature, Erpenbeck currently resides in Berlin.

In cooperation with the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at The Catholic University of America.