The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Austria is the Austrian sense of humour; my immense enjoyment every time I encounter it: the play with the German language and its various registers; the absurdity; the sense of the macabre.
It’s no wonder then that when I first read Das große Brenner-Buch containing the first five Simon Brenner novels by Wolf Haas that I read all five novels one after the other, not believing my luck that I had discovered this writer.
Wolf Haas is one of German-speaking Europe’s most successful and well-known contemporary writers who found fame with his Simon Brenner novels. These novels are well-plotted, funny, often macabre detective novels featuring the hapless hero, Simon Brenner, who during the course of the novels goes from policeman to working at a waste disposal site while still investigating various crimes on the side.
To date there are 9 Brenner novels: Resurrection (Auferstehung der Toten) Brenner’s investigative skills are in demand when two Americans are found frozen to death on a ski lift; The Bone Man (Der Knochenmann) – Brenner investigates why human bones turn up in the most unexpected of places. (Don’t ask!); Come, Sweet Death! (Komm, süßer Tod) This time Brenner has to deal with warring paramedics. Silentium! – Brenner is back investigating when a choir boy disappears in Salzburg. Like Animals (Wie die Tiere) – Back in Vienna, Brenner has to investigate a murder linked to the Viennese underworld. Eternal Life (Das ewige Leben) – Back home in Styria, Brenner’s past resurfaces and almost proves fata. Brenner and God (Der Brenner und der liebe Gott) – Working now as a child chauffeur, Brenner is needed once more when the child gets kidnapped. Brennerova – This time a marriage of convenience leads Brenner into trouble. Garbage (Müll) – Human remains turn up at a waste disposal site and guess who happens to be working there?
The novels are written in a conversational style, and are a great introduction to Austrian phrases suitable for non-German natives. Haas also has an incredibly unique writing style. As such, no two readers of Haas’s works can meet without exchanging the obligatory phrases, „Jetzt ist schon wieder was passiert“, or „Ob du es glaubst oder nicht“, phrases which appear throughout the novels. It is clever devices such as these by which Haas hooks the reader in and makes them feel as if they are in on the joke and thus invested more in the story.
But what really makes the novels such a stand out is the clever use of the narrator. The narrator is as much a major character as Brenner himself. For me, it’s what makes the Brenner novels so Austrian. It’s as if the narrator is standing in for an Austrian mate of mine who is telling me an often macabre and absurd story in a highly amusing and very Austrian way. And the novels are funny. Whenever I’m feeling down, I reread one of them as I invariably do so with a smile etched on my face, interspersed with a few guffaws out loud.
The novels also provide an opportunity to expand your Austrian German vocabulary, 'Schneebrunzer' (a nobody, lit.: someone who urinates into the snow), being one word that particularly stood out for me, due to its wonderful use of imagery.
So, if you are looking for a fun read, you are not too distraught at the lack of convoluted sentence structure à la Robert Musil, then I heartily recommend a Brenner novel or 9.
By Maureen Younger
This review was written for the ACF London's EXPLORE OUR LIBRARY initiative.
