Juli Zeh is a popular German young writer, playing the eco game and controversially warning about a WWIII if Germany will deliver weapons to Ukraine. Born in Bonn and a legal studies graduate, she is currently living somewhere in a village in Brandenburg, close to nature and far away from city corruption. I´ve read some of her books in the German version, and they may be helfpful as intellectual introductions to a certain category of Germans born in the 1970s.
My latest encounter is Unterleuten - the name of an imaginary village in Brandenburg which is provided with its own local map -, inhabited by a with weird and sociopath group of people. Some are from the time of the Berlin Wall, some are new enthusiastic young eco families. And there is a project that may bring money to the community that does raise ecological concerns.
Far from being a thriller, or a crime novel, Unterleuten is a novel about people. They are not necessarily likeable but their interactions is when one can really figure out their duplicity. Not exactly what one may expect from anyone living in the middle of such a anti-urban paradise. From this point of view, the novel is realistic, as living in the middle of the nature does not automatically turn someone into a better human. In the case of this book, is rather the opposite and I am definitely not in awe about the predominantly black side of the story, which makes the characters relatively cartoonish.
Although the book is average and not surprising from any point of view, the audio setting of the Hörbuch kept my attention awake. Most probably, if I had the physical book, I would have stop before reaching half of it. However, the dynamic and entertaining audio version caught my attention and, at least for the sake of improving my German, convinced me to reach until the end of the 4-CD set.
Rating: 2.5 stars
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