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    German books - what and where to buy?

    Topic

    German books - what and where to buy?

    Comment
    I tried looking in the archive, but couldn't really find anything to help me out here. And the only threads I can remember deal with English language books.

    I'm a translator, so I read German all day long - but I everything I deal with is from the automotive field. I feel I need to expose myself to a wider variety of subjects so my "normal" German doesn't get out of practice. I'd like to start reading some books in German. When I was in college a couple years ago, German literature was part of my major so I read a lot of the classics, from medieval literature up through the 19th century, but never any modern literature.

    I'm looking for some suggestions of good contemporary books I could try. I read a lot of fiction and I like historical fiction. I also enjoy history and biographies. But I'm not really into political history or war history - I like to learn about how people lived. I guess you could say I'm more interested in the cultural or sociological aspects of history. I like comedy. I don't like romance novels, science fiction or fantasy. Also, at this point I don't want something that is extremely long (unless it's really interesting!) or that is too "deep". Just some light reading for entertainment.
    I'd also be interested in suggestions for magazines. A couple of the local bookstores offer Stern, der Spiegel, and things like Mein Schöner Garten. I don't really care for those and I don't want to buy a magazine where I'll only read an article or two.

    The second part of my question deals with where I can buy these things. I know I can order from Amazon.de and some other companies in Germany, but the shipping costs so much. It's frustrating to pay as much or more than the actual book cost to have it sent here. And some of the websites I looked at for companies in the US had low shipping costs but the books themselves were incredibly expensive because of what it cost them to import them. I understand I'll be paying more than I would for the books on the sale rack at my local bookstore, but I'd still like to get as good of a deal as possible!
    And in case anyone here happens to be from my area and knows any bookstores I can go to, I'd like to hear about those too. I'm in Michigan, about 35 miles northwest of Detroit.

    So does anyone have any suggestions for what I could read and where I could get it?

    Thanks in advance, everyone!
    AuthorNicole <AE>17 May 06, 18:21
    Comment
    Ich kann sehr "Herr Lehmann" von Sven Regener empfehlen. Das ist auch verfilmt worden und hat sehr gute Empfehlungen in einer bekannten Literatursendung (Literarisches Quartett) bekommen. Das Buch thematisiert die Deutsche Wiedervereinigung und das alte Berlin im Wandel.
    #1AuthorJan17 May 06, 18:31
    Comment
    Hast du schon einmal daran gedacht Bücher im Antiquariat zu kaufen? Da gibt es auch reichlich mehr oder weniger aktuelle Bücher.
    Bei

    http://www.abebooks.de/

    gibt es auch sehr viele amerikanische Anbieter, so daß die Versandkosten kein Problem sein sollten. Die bieten natürlich ganz überwiegend englischsprachige Ttel an, aber vielleicht findest du ja gelegentlich auch mal was passendes Deutsches.

    #2AuthorRe17 May 06, 18:45
    Comment
    Ich weiß nicht, ob Stefan Zweig modern genug ist, aber ich kann dir "Die Welt von Gestern" empfehlen. Es geht darin, ganz wie es dich interessiert, um erlebte Geschichte, also Weltpolitik aus persönlicher Sicht. Schau mal bei amazon.de ob dir das gefällt:

    http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/3596211...
    #3AuthorRievilo17 May 06, 19:00
    Comment
    Wenn Du brilliant geschriebenes Alltagsdeutsch lesen willst, das mit Ironie und Wortwitz gepfeffert ist, kann ich Dir

    Jan Weiler: "Maria, ihm schmeckt's nicht" und "Antonio im Wunderland"

    empfehlen (zwei dünne Bücher über die Erlebnisse eines Deutschen mit seiner angeheirateten italienischen Verwandtschaft)
    #4AuthorBettina17 May 06, 19:39
    Comment
    Also wo und wie man in USA an günstige deutsche Bücher kommt weiß ich leider auch nicht... ebay? Der Klassiker!
    Ich hätte als Vorschlag ein sehr lustiges Buch, nicht lang, aber auch in seiner biographisch angehauchten Art NICHT ernstzunehmen: "Horst der Held" von Matthias Praxenthaler! Ein Brüller! Ehrlich! Die ersten 2 Sätze sagen denk ich schon ziemlich viel: "Eltern haben viele Möglichkeiten, ihre Söhne zu quälen. Besonders gemein ist es allerdings, ihnen den Namen Horst zu geben. ..." Es geht um Horst Gurk [sic!], und wie er sein Leben "meistert".
    Ansonsten mach ich es eher andersrum und lese fast nur englische Bücher, so dass ich sonst wenig vorschlagen kann...
    Vorschläge findest du aber vielleicht auch hier: http://www.litrix.de/
    #5AuthorCVB17 May 06, 20:19
    Comment
    Thank you all for the suggestions so far! All of the books sound interesting. In fact Bettina, "Maria, ihm schmeckt's nicht" was one of the books I was looking at on Amazon. It's hard to tell if something is good or not based on the summaries they offer though, so it's nice to have an opinion from someone who has read it. And Re, thank you for giving me another source to find books.

    I really appreciate the help, I know I can always count on the Leonites! :-D
    #6AuthorNicole <AE>17 May 06, 20:36
    Comment
    A good place for finding German books is: http://www.addall.com/
    It is a book search and price comparison website for new and used books that has helped me locate resonably priced German books in the US.
    #7AuthorCM-B17 May 06, 20:36
    Comment
    There are also online versions of Spiegel, the major German newspapers, and all kinds of other publications. Access is free.
    #8Authorjet17 May 06, 20:39
    Comment
    There's a good foreign language bookstore in Cambridge (MA) called Schoenhof's that has an excellent selection of foreign language books that can be bought via their website as well. Standard postage for orders to Michigan are $7.75 (a little more for orders of more than 100 pounds), which might be a little cheaper than Amazon, plus it's a local bookstore (they've been around since 1856). I highly recommend a visit to anyone visiting the Cambridge/Boston area.
    #9AuthorJess Sayin17 May 06, 20:44
    Comment
    In my experience you can vastly improve your general vocabulary from news magazines like Spiegel, or the Austrian "profil". They use serious writing styles about a variety of subjects. I used to read nearly every edition of profil in the 90s, and it has often occurred to me when people have said "wow, how did you know that expression?" or ""Du drückst dich sehr gewählt aus" that I learnt these expressions or the style from these magazines (although I must say, there is also a noticeable vocabulary and style difference between Spiegel and profil, probably a Germany vs. Austria thing.)
    But even the ordinary women's magazines are useful for basic vocabulary practice. The language is simply more modern and less stilted than in classical literature.
    #10AuthorMary (nz/A)17 May 06, 21:17
    Comment
    @Nicole:

    If you order from amazon.de, they knock off the value-added tax (16%?), and if you order six or eight books at a time, they wind up costing about the same as if you bought them in Germany.

    I order from them roughly every month. In about one in five cases, the package either disappears, or shows up completely mangled. When a package gets lost, amazon sends a replacement for free; if it's mangled, they ask me to send the bad items back. (Amazon.de stupidly uses some umweltfreundlich, flimsy cardboard to send their packages overseas, even though the packages usually arrive with 30-40 meters of environmentally unfriendly plastic tape applied during their journey.) They reimburse me for the return postage, and if I spend $8 to return something terribly damaged, they credit me 8, EUR, which is a deal!

    Hint: if you want to read a trilogy, order it as one item (if available). Then you pay only the shipping for a single item. Be careful about being greedy: if you try to order 25 books to lower the per-item shipping cost, you may go over the $200/day allowed by US customs, and wind up paying more (10% duty applied to the *entire* amount). The limit applies to the cost of the merchandise only, not the shipping.

    I've been enjoying novels by Andreas Franz and Charlotte Link lately. Even though I read less than half as fast in German as I do in English, it's improving my German greatly. (Mal sehen -- ich fahre am 24.5. fuer drei Wochen nach Deutschland.)

    Happy reading.
    #11AuthorTom18 May 06, 01:36
    Comment
    http://www.paperview.com/store/index.php?main...

    New Mastodon is a source for German publications in Los Angeles presenting
    a selection of titles ranging from current bestsellers and classic literature to philosophy, cultural studies, reference, art, children's, health and cookbooks, games and calendars, DVDs, and CDs.

    Located in the heart of Museum Row on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile District of Los Angeles, New Mastodon carries mostly German and English titles, offers an excellent Special Order Service for imports from Germany and, to a limited extent, other European countries. Expect two to four weeks delivery for titles not found here if carried by our German distributor.



    @ Tom..Charlotte Link: Die Insel $8.45

    http://www.paperview.com/store/index.php?main...

    Good luck.
    HTH
    #12Authorme1 18 May 06, 03:22
    Comment
    @me1: Charlotte Link: Die Insel $8.45

    Ist zuffaellig heute angekommen von amazon.de. Hat 8,00 EUR gekostet, *inklusive* Versandkosten.
    #13AuthorTom18 May 06, 03:53
    Comment
    Nicole, if you can do Austrian at all, I strongly recommend the books by Wolf Haas - they're Krimis, but that is quite incidental, since it is the incredible Wortwitz that makes them so wonderful to read. For a starter, I would recommend "Wie die Tiere" - if you don't like that, you won't like the others.
    Absolutely lovely and moderately easy to read is "Fabian" by Erich Kästner, early 20th century, so not that modern, but very German and funny at the same time (no mean feat!). In the same vein "Schloß Gripsholm" by Kurt Tucholsky, one of the best love stories I have ever read. Don't be afraid of the "classics"!
    PS: what was that dog called in the end?
    #14Authortanja118 May 06, 06:59
    Comment
    @tanja1 - How "Austrian" are the Wolf Haas books? Is the entire text written in dialect (can I refer to the language that way? I don't want to offend anyone), or just the dialog? I saw the movie Silentium and really liked it, but I had trouble understanding the ex-cop/private detective. I have been hoping to read the book and fill in the holes, but even though my library insists it is checked in, it isn't on the shelf.

    If I spot Wie die Tiere, I will pick it up instead.
    #15Authorgirly-girl18 May 06, 07:46
    Comment
    girly-girl, as far as I remember, the book isn't THAT Austrian, but it does have things like "sammer" instead of "sind wir", for example. I don't think it's done all the time, not even for the dialoge, but every now and then it's thrown in. There isn't that much dialogue in the books anyway, they are narrated my an, er, omniscient(? is that the terminus technicus?) narrator who doesn't speak/write dialect. To me as a northern German they just seemed very Austrian all round, certain words that aren't the same here, the roundabout way of getting to a point (or not), etc.
    #16Authortanja118 May 06, 07:51
    Comment
    #17AuthorK.18 May 06, 07:56
    Comment
    Thanks, tanja1! I actually learned German in southern Germany, and love reading the local editorials written in Badisch, so I think I will be able to give this a try. (Although I would've expected "sammer" to mean "sagen wir", so maybe I will get a whole different story out of it then intended!)
    #18Authorgirly-girl18 May 06, 08:00
    Comment
    To add to the books already mentioned (I loved "Maria, ihm schmeckt's nicht, and Kästner and Tucholsky are always worth reading), try Tanja Kinkel for historical novels (my favourite was "Die Puppenspieler"), or maybe "Tod und Teufel" by Frank Schätzing. Also, have you read anything by Hermann Hesse yet? Wolfram Fleischhauer (I hope I got the name right, but in case I didn't, one of his books is called "Die Purpurlinie") is another author whose books I enjoyed. If you also like crime novels, try Petra Oelker or possibly Petra Hammesfahr. And why not try a children's book such as "Tintenblut" by Cornelia Funke, although if you dislike fantasy I'm not sure about that one.

    What kind of magazines were you thinking of? Women's magazines such as "Brigitte" or "freundin", or rather our equivalent of "National Geographic", which would be "GEO", political magazines, in which case Spiegel is best IMHO, or special interest stuff (what would you be most interested in?) I don't know how many magazines are available for trial subscription overseas if your local shops don't stock them, but possibly they have on-line versions.
    #19AuthorDragon18 May 06, 08:09
    Comment
    Oh, and you can always have a look in the "bookaholics" thread in the chatroom area, sometimes it goes off-topic but there are a great many book recommendations too (not all of them German, but still). And I forgot "Das Parfum" by Patrick Süskind, which I read about 20 years ago and which is now apparently being turned into a film.
    #20AuthorDragon18 May 06, 08:14
    Comment
    "Maria, ihm scheckt's nicht" habe ich im Urlaub in Italien gelesen und habe Tränen gelacht.
    Frank Schätzing ist auf jeden Fall auch ein sehr guter Tipp. Bei Tod und Teufel geht es - im weitesten Sinne - um einen Mord während des Baus des Kölner Doms. Ich fand das Buch hervorragend. Aber auch alles andere von Schaetzing kann ich empfehlen.

    Auch wenn sie nicht gerade zu meinen persönlichen Favoriten gehört, ist Cornelia Funke auch lesenswert. Drachenreiter finde ich sehr schön, während Tintenherz und Tintenblut nicht so ganz mein Ding sind.
    #21Authorklex18 May 06, 08:25
    Comment
    Die Autoren Martin Suter und Bernhard Schlink kann ich sehr empfehlen.

    Besonders gut sind:

    Martin Suter - Business Class, Die dunkle Seite des Mondes, Ein perfekter Freund
    Bernhard Schlink - Der Vorleser, Selbs Justiz

    Deutsche Zeitungen und Zeitschriften kann man in den USA über GLP in New Jersey abonnieren.
    #22AuthorNiKS18 May 06, 08:26
    Comment
    Oh yes, how could I forget Martin Suter?
    I'll have to go through my bookshelves this evening...
    #23AuthorDragon18 May 06, 08:31
    Comment
    I just remembered the GLP website: www.glpnews.com

    Barnes&Noble also sells German books (new and used) on the website: www.barnesnoble.com
    #24AuthorNiKS18 May 06, 08:39
    Comment
    Was ich an historischen Romanen gerne lese: Willi Fährmann (zu viele, um sie alle aufzuzählen - mein persönlicher Favorit ist "Zeit zu lieben, Zeit zu hassen")
    Klaus Kordon (auch hier habe ich noch kein Buch getroffen, das mir nicht gefallen hat)
    Die Bücher sind zwar als Jugendbücher markiert, aber das sollte niemanden abschrecken.

    Arnulf Zitelmann ist auch nicht schlecht (hauptsächlich Biographien historischer und/oder biblischer Personen - ebenfalls Jugendbücher), vielleicht auch Gabriele Beyerlein (historische Jugendbücher).
    Ein klassisches beinahe-historisches Jugendbuch ist "Die Höhlenkinder" von A. Th. Sonnleitner (drei Bände) - von zwei Kindern, die in einem Tal von der Außenwelt abgeschieden leben und sozusagen am eigenen Leib die Entwicklung von Steinzeit aus erleben - ums Überleben kämpfen, selber Werkzeuge nach-erfinden und so weiter.
    #25AuthorLo18 May 06, 08:42
    Comment
    Mich hat Elias Canetti fasziniert, und zwar seine 3-teilige Autobiografie. Sehr viel persönlich erlebte Geschichte.
    #26Authornja18 May 06, 09:04
    Comment
    Some of my favorites ...

    Jörg Juretzka - offbeat crime stories set in the Ruhrpott. A little bit like Carl Hiaasen's Florida crime capers, or Wolf Haas' Austrian crime capers; funny, thrilling and full of Wortwitz. Try "Prickel" to stasrt with maybe.

    Arno Schmidt - maybe somewhat stressy for the non-native speaker, this [by now largely forgotten] author experimented with language flow, and used a higly personal writing style that tries to mimic the rhythms and pauses of oral communication.
    My very favorite is his bitterly bleak post-war novellette / short story "Leviathan" -- in the last days of WWII, a ragged group of survivors (some in uniform) attempts to leave Berlin... a great portrayal of the atmosphere in Germany around the time of its liberation from dictatorship.
    The same book contains one of the most moving (and bitter)postapocalyptic scenarios "Schwarze Spiegel".
    "Das Steinerne Herz" illustrates life in post-war, pre-GDR Germany; so does . Careful, his later books are a bit more difficult to read.
    "Aus dem Leben eines Fauns" describes the life of a Beamter under the Third Reich - and his escapism.

    Wolf Haas -- great, fantastic, but I'm Austrian myself. Some north Germans seem to have trouble understanding at least some of the jokes. The movie version of "Komm süßer Tod" has German subtitles in a few scenes where the Vienna dialect is considered incomprehensible to Germans.

    #27Authoryotix18 May 06, 11:12
    Comment
    Has anyone mentioned Siegfried Lenz yet? I'd recommend not only the rightly famous novels ('Deutschstunde' and 'Heimatmuseum', but the hilarious 'So zärtlich war Suleyken' or 'Lehmanns Erzählungen' (short stories), too.

    @Lo: Mensch, daß noch jemand die 'Höhlenkinder' kennt (und schätzt)! Daß ich das noch erleben durfte!! (no kidding)
    #28AuthorPeter <de>18 May 06, 11:38
    Comment
    Hallo Nicole,

    auch amazon.com hat deutsche Bücher im Angebot. Zum Teil sogar sehr günstig, wie beispielsweise: "Die Asche Meiner Mutter (Paperback) von Frank McCourt für $0.32"
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/344272...

    Ein sehr lustiges Buch ist: "1000 neue Dinge, die man bei Schwerelosigkeit tun kann" von Jenni Zylka. Gibt es auch bei amazon.com für $8.89
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/349923405X/q...
    Das Buch gibt einen Einblick in den Alltag einer in Berlin lebenden Frau, die vor lustigen Ideen nur so sprüht.
    #29Authornick18 May 06, 11:42
    Comment
    Hallo Nicole!

    Eben ist mir noch etwas eingefallen: Im Kulturspiegel (monatliche Beilage zum Spiegel) erscheint die Kolumne "Zwiebelfisch", die auch online veröffentlicht wird: http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/0,1...

    Diese Kolumne beschäftigt sich mit Themen rund um die deutsche Sprache und ist sehr unterhaltsam! Vielleicht hast Du da ja auch Deinen Spaß dran :-)
    #30Authornick18 May 06, 11:49
    Comment
    Den Zwiebelfisch gibt es auch in Buchform und heißt "Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod" - mittlerweile sogar als Band 2. Äußerst amüsant und sehr lehrreich - finde ich jedenfalls. Es gab ja schon mindestens einen Faden hier, die Sick nicht sooo dolle fanden.
    #31AuthorPoppidirk18 May 06, 12:03
    Comment
    Hi,

    I can recommend the German Spiegel newsletters which you can get for free! One comes daily and offers a variety of articles on all kinds of topics. The other one is the Zwiebelfisch which is a wonderful resource for language questions.
    http://www.spiegel.de/dertag/

    Spiegel also sends out an English-language International newsletter which I use to practice my English ;-).

    For books, you could check out the regular Spiegel list for suggestions. I do read a lot of English books, but one German one I recently read and liked a lot was "Tintenblut" by Cornelia Funke, the successor to wonderful "Tintenherz". It's a fantasy book for older children and teenagers, but good reading for adults as well.
    #32AuthorLisa18 May 06, 12:11
    Comment
    Als sehr lesenswertes Buch würde ich "Der Schwarm" von Frank Schätzig empfehlen.
    Sind zwar 1000 Seiten, aber man kann es nicht mehr aus der Hand legen.
    Wird hoffentlich bald mal verfilmt?
    Im Gegensatz zu z.B. Iluminati (meine Meinung: Bullshit) sehr gut recherchiert.
    .. und der Spiegel ist natürlich immer lesenswert.
    #33Authorke18 May 06, 12:25
    Comment
    Sofern du es noch nicht kennst:

    Thomas Mann: „Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull“
    Sehr unterhaltsam und humorvoll (und bei weitem nicht so anstrengend wie "Der Zauberberg“ oder "Die Buddenbrooks“). Bietet einen Querschnitt über das ausgehende 19. Jahrhundert und die deutsche Mentalität, die Gesellschaft und die Kunst Leute vorzuführen. Außerdem ist Thomas Manns Deutsch mit das Beste, was du in Schriftform finden kannst.

    Oder
    Heinrich Mann (sein Bruder): „Der Untertan“. Gleiche Zeit. Etwas anstrengender aber nirgendwo wirst du so sarkastisch vorgeführt bekommen, was es mit dem Begriff „Deutschtümelei“ auf sich hat.

    Gut sein soll
    „Die Vermessung der Welt“ von (hab ich vergessen und noch nicht selbst gelesen).

    Hmmm..…mir fehlt die Zeit noch länger nachzudenken…
    #34AuthorDH18 May 06, 12:31
    Comment
    Kordon hat Lo ja schon erwähnt... - meine "favourites" von ihm sind "1848 - die Geschichte von Jette und Frieder" sowie die Trilogie "Die roten Matrosen" + "Mit dem Rücken zu Wand" + "Der erste Frühling".

    Gut finde ich auch von Hermann Kant "Die Aula"
    #35AuthorChaja18 May 06, 13:00
    Comment
    Mir fallen hauptsächlich Klassiker ein:

    "Das siebte Kreuz" von Anna Seghers

    "Effie Briest" von Theodor Fontane

    "Deutschstunde" von Siegfried Lenz (eigentlich alle Bücher von S. Lenz)

    Ist es wirklich so teuer bei Amazon, ich habe mal ein amerikanisches Kinderbuch bestellt, es war genauso teuer wie ein deutsches Kinderbuch ähnlicher Art.
    #36AuthorEffie-Fan18 May 06, 13:13
    Comment
    I was surprised that I did not see www.germansense.com in any of the responses thus far. I started receiving their catalog after we subscribed to German Life magazine. As you mentioned, it's good to read something to keep your German skills fresh. I worked there for three years and have been back for two. I never tried buying from amazon.de because I figured that the shipping would be too much. German Sense's prices seem reasonable and they have more than just books. The earlier tip about spielgel and other web sites is dead on. I usually look to these web pages for a different perspective on international stories, or when I hear just a snippet of a story about something that's happening in Germany. e.g. the recent flooding of the Elbe or the roof collapse at the ice skating rink
    #37AuthorMike B. (U.S.)18 May 06, 13:41
    Comment
    Für Kurzgeschichten empfehle ich Frank O'Connor, z.B. 'Und Freitags Fisch'. Leider Vergriffen, aber im Antiquariat bestimmt zu bekommen.

    Wer avantgardistische Texte mag, für den könnte Flann O'Briens 'Auf schwimmen zwei Vögel' ein Tipp sein. Wurde von Harry Rowohlt hervorragend übersetzt.
    #38Authortürmchen18 May 06, 15:39
    Comment
    ...wobei ich den Eindruck hatte, dass Nicole mehr an im Original deutschsprachiger Literatur interessiert ist als an hervorragenden Übersetzungen.

    should that not be the case, Nicole, you can of course always try reading something by your favourite English author that has been translated into German, or translations of other-language books into German (Russian novels, Scandinavian crime fiction, Umberto Eco, Isabel Allende...)
    #39AuthorDragon18 May 06, 15:47
    Comment
    Schon mehrfach genannt, trotzdem empfehle ich es nochmal:

    "Maria, ihm schmeckt's nicht" und die Fortsetzung "Antonio im Wunderland" von Jan Weiler

    Das sind die beiden lustigsten Bücher, die ich je gelesen habe. Habe sie mittlerweilen schon an einige Bekannte verschenkt, und die waren auch alle begeistert.

    "Der Schwarm" vom Frank Schätzing (weiter oben ja auch schon genannt), war dagegen überhaupt nicht mein Fall. Das war mir viel zu langatmig. Ich habe das Buch nach 500 Seiten weggelegt, obwohl ich wirklich ein begeisterter Leser bin.

    Wunderschön ist auch Siegfried Lenz' Deutschstunde, obwohl dieses Buch vielleicht wegen der hohen Sprachebene für einen Nichtmuttersprachler etwas schwer zu lesen ist.
    #40Authorstefanie18 May 06, 15:52
    Comment
    Uwe Timm - Johannesnacht and Die Entdeckung der Currywurst
    #41AuthorDeutscher18 May 06, 23:35
     
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