Summer Reading 2023

Summer is here, and our recommendations of new German literature in translation present a diverse collection of voices to accompany you. From GDR stories of love, loss, and community told by Jenny Erpenbeck and Thomas Brussig, to the elegiac voices of survivors conjured by Esther Kinsky, our selection offers something for everyone, including previously untranslated diary entries by Franz Kafka and a debut novel by filmmaker Werner Herzog. Please stop by and get your summer fill of German literature in translation.

Recent Translation Recommendations

Translated by Jonathan Franzen & Jenny Watson
Thomas Brussig: The short end of the Sonnenallee

Thomas Brussig’s iconic GDR novel appears for the first time in English with Jonathan Franzen’s translation and introduction. This iconic story of adolescents in East Germany is a humorous and affirming testament to the power of humanity under conditions of adversity. (Picador, 2023)
Translated by Michael Hofmann
Jenny Erpenbeck: Kairos

Acclaimed author Jenny Erpenbeck’s latest novel Kairos, translated by Michael Hofmann, has been widely hailed as the great post-Unification novel. Charting a tumultuous decades-long romance which began in the 1980s, Erpenbeck explores the depths of an ambivalent relationship against the backdrop of the upheaval wrought by the dissolution of the GDR. (New Directions, 2023)
Translated by Michael Hofmann
Werner Herzog: The Twilight World

Werner Herzog’s long-awaited first novel The Twilight World, translated by Michael Hofmann, tells the remarkable and quixotic story of a Japanese soldier stationed in the Philippines for decades after World War II, unaware that the war had ended. Herzog’s inimitable, oneiric style will appeal to lovers of the eccentric German filmmaker. (Penguin Press, 2022)
Translated by Ross Benjamin
Franz Kafka: The Diaries

Ross Benjamin’s new translation makes available for the first time a wealth of Kafka’s diary entries, including material omitted from previous publications. This sheds new light on his inner life and is a must-read for lovers of Kafka and modern literature. (Schocken, 2023)
Translated by Caroline Schmidt
Esther Kinsky: Rombo

Esther Kinsky’s eloquent novel, translated by Caroline Schmidt, records the aftermath of the 1976 Friuli earthquake, which killed hundreds. Seven survivors tell their stories in a densely woven collage which speaks to the fragility of memory and the loss of everything familiar. (NYRB, 2023)