We are driving through France to the Black Forest in Germany from today and, as I’m not taking any Internet-enabled devices with me, I won’t be able to respond to any comments or emails until the end of the month. However, I am pleased to report that the house is being looked after and the cat is being fed. I have also set up a couple of posts to publish automatically while I’m away, just to show casual browsers that this blog has not passed away through neglect or the demise of its author.
I have taken a couple of Germany-related books with me. Germania, by Simon Winder is top of the book pile. The description says, “Mesmerized by Germany; its cuisine, and its fairytale landscape, the author is equally passionate about the region’s history, its folk-lore, monarchs and its changing borders. In this book, he describes Germany’s past afresh, taking in the story from the shaggy world of the ancient forests right through to the Nazis’ catastrophic rise in the 1930s”.
I’ve also got Settlement by Christopher Hein, appreciatively reviewed by Kevin from Canada and Lizzy Sidal. This book is shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award alongside more well-known names as Zoe Heller, Jospeh O’Neill and Marlynne Robison (whose book Home did not impress me at all).
For lighter reading I’m taking Elizabeth George’s new crime novel, This Body of Death, which gives Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley another outing in hunt of a murderer. As usual I expect Elizabeth George to provide gripping reading along with the chance to look for clues leading to the identity of the person who committed such particularly nasty crimes.
These three books along with Alberto Manguel’s A Reader on Reading should keep me more than happy for a couple of weeks, quite apart from the beautiful landscape of the Black Forest and the fine German beer which is brewed to a far higher standard than equivalent lagers available in Britain.
I have yet to sample the legendary Currywurst, preferring to live on salad, cheese and bread while away. However, as “”no other national German dish inspires so much history and has so many well-known fans”, perhaps I will find somewhere to sample this delectable dish.
I hope you have a good trip!
hope you have a good time tom ,you got some good reads and wonderful place to tour ,all the best stu
Have a great trip, Tom!
Have a great trip, Tom – and what a great idea to schedule some posts to keep us happy while you’re away.
Have a truffle for me!
Lisa
Have a great time Tom, and make sure to try the currywurst. Who knows, it may taste better than it sounds…
Tom: In Settlement, Hein does journey off on a diversion into bee-keeping and various kinds of honey later in the book. So you might want to add that into the diet early on and you will be an expert by the time you get to it in the novel. Have a good holiday.
Gute Reise und viel Vergnuegen!
Thanks for the comment Lizzie – sorry for delay in replying due to my absence in Germany.
Kevin – Ah yes, I read the bee keeping section. Strange that he took an interest in that. Alas I can’t eat honey at the moment for medical reasons!
Max – I missed out on the currywurst unfortunately. Plenty of other Germanic foods though – a sausage platter turned out to be shredded port luncheon meat!
Thanks Lisa – yes, it was a very enjoyable holiday!