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neo_ultraAn anthology by apparently some of the best known crime authors in Germany, not that I had heard of any of them before.
The interesting part about this anthology, the part that drew me to it, was that the setting of the stories is in the North of Germany. That's where I live, so I figured it would be fun to read about familiar places. It kind of was, but actually only one or two stories were set in places I knew, the rest might as well have been Rotterdam or anywhere.
A thing that had not occurred to me before reading, but has become very apparent now, is that crime authors are not necessary detective authors. Because most of the stories did not contain any detecting whatsoever, they were usually just accounts of some crime happening and no resolution to the situation. The criminals were not found or punished, and the general state of people's lives was not improved, so basically the whole book read like some kind of sick kaleidoscope of more or less horrible crimes. As if an invisible narrator was saying 'here, let me show you some fucked up stuff!', and then did show you, and then what?
That is not to say the stories were bad, it's just I don't feel like it is my kind of thing to read about the misery of the human condition again and again, husbands killing wives, girlfriends killing boyfriends, sons killing mothers, violence in families, violence against homeless people and so on, and so forth. It really feels like being detached from any type of relationship is best, because any friends or family can turn on you or make you an accomplice to a crime. Why can't people just talk to each other or distance from each other or leave a relationship instead of waiting until it is all just too much and you have to kill somebody. It's just all sad and disgusting how people can be like that to other people.
So I really preferred the stories that were a little bit more humorous. Sure, they were still about crime, but at least they didn't leave me depressed. My favourites were:
'Dick als Doof' by Jürgen Ehlers about a couple of hapless criminals who chose such ridiculous masks for their heist that the people at the bank just laughed and the crime didn't work.
'Der Grabredner' by Kai Engelke about a young guy who decided to work in funerary business and his first job was to make preliminary arrangements for a horrible old man who wanted a speech about how much he hated all his relatives and colleagues.
'Wofür halten Sie mich?' by H.P.Karr about a phone sex worker who is actually trans, only her stalker didn't know about that and didn't know about her experience in metalworking, that became very relevant later in the story.
'Die Sekretärin' by Ingrid Noll where an ex-secretary of a statesman is invited to a TV show to tell about his misdeeds, but instead comes up with a better plan that destroyed the man's entire reputation.
Some other stories also left an impact, like the one about the old man with memory loss who constantly forgot that he killed his wife. Or the one set in 16th century about a boy taking revenge on a rich man for his sister's death. But it was not a positive impact, more like, once again, it was depressing how families and relationships are horrible.
I feel like I need to read something nice and positive after this book. Otherwise it is just sad to think about all the trivial cruelty constantly happening in other people's lives.
The interesting part about this anthology, the part that drew me to it, was that the setting of the stories is in the North of Germany. That's where I live, so I figured it would be fun to read about familiar places. It kind of was, but actually only one or two stories were set in places I knew, the rest might as well have been Rotterdam or anywhere.
A thing that had not occurred to me before reading, but has become very apparent now, is that crime authors are not necessary detective authors. Because most of the stories did not contain any detecting whatsoever, they were usually just accounts of some crime happening and no resolution to the situation. The criminals were not found or punished, and the general state of people's lives was not improved, so basically the whole book read like some kind of sick kaleidoscope of more or less horrible crimes. As if an invisible narrator was saying 'here, let me show you some fucked up stuff!', and then did show you, and then what?
That is not to say the stories were bad, it's just I don't feel like it is my kind of thing to read about the misery of the human condition again and again, husbands killing wives, girlfriends killing boyfriends, sons killing mothers, violence in families, violence against homeless people and so on, and so forth. It really feels like being detached from any type of relationship is best, because any friends or family can turn on you or make you an accomplice to a crime. Why can't people just talk to each other or distance from each other or leave a relationship instead of waiting until it is all just too much and you have to kill somebody. It's just all sad and disgusting how people can be like that to other people.
So I really preferred the stories that were a little bit more humorous. Sure, they were still about crime, but at least they didn't leave me depressed. My favourites were:
'Dick als Doof' by Jürgen Ehlers about a couple of hapless criminals who chose such ridiculous masks for their heist that the people at the bank just laughed and the crime didn't work.
'Der Grabredner' by Kai Engelke about a young guy who decided to work in funerary business and his first job was to make preliminary arrangements for a horrible old man who wanted a speech about how much he hated all his relatives and colleagues.
'Wofür halten Sie mich?' by H.P.Karr about a phone sex worker who is actually trans, only her stalker didn't know about that and didn't know about her experience in metalworking, that became very relevant later in the story.
'Die Sekretärin' by Ingrid Noll where an ex-secretary of a statesman is invited to a TV show to tell about his misdeeds, but instead comes up with a better plan that destroyed the man's entire reputation.
Some other stories also left an impact, like the one about the old man with memory loss who constantly forgot that he killed his wife. Or the one set in 16th century about a boy taking revenge on a rich man for his sister's death. But it was not a positive impact, more like, once again, it was depressing how families and relationships are horrible.
I feel like I need to read something nice and positive after this book. Otherwise it is just sad to think about all the trivial cruelty constantly happening in other people's lives.
