Kruso

An outstanding debut novel Beautifully phrased and paced, Tess Lewiss translation delights on every page as she conveys the contagious sense of liberation that blows through Mr Seilers mesmeric novel. * The Economist * An important work in its chronicling of the final days of communism in East Germany Excellent translation. -- Adrian Tahourdin * Times Literary Supplement * The German poet Lutz Seiler has brought all his art, linguistic ease, flair for dazzling images and mastery of what he describes as the nervous systems of memory to this extraordinary debut novel Kruso is an exciting, expansive work of German literature; it may well prove one of the major novels of the 21st century. -- Eileen Battersby * The Irish Times * A seamless English translation by Tess Lewis Readers might doubt whether Robinson Crusoe can work in a German setting they might even feel affronted that its been attempted but Seilers novel springs from his own experience in a way that underlines the universality of the tale. -- Maggie Fergusson * Newsweek * This novel set in the historic summer of 1989 is a lighthouse, not an ivory tower. * Sddeutsche Zeitung * Kruso [is] the first worthy successor to Thomas Manns Magic Mountain to appear in contemporary German literature. * Der Spiegel * Seiler delivers a debut novel with which he manages to catapult himself into the front rank of this countrys authors. * Die Zeit * Seilers novel Kruso shows what German literature can accomplish when its fully worked. * Welt am Sonntag * A special book that will endure. * Frankfurter Rundschau * A sublime book that is far more than just the novel of the year. * Deutschlandradio Kultur * That rare treasure a great novel. * Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten * This novel has historical-philosophical dimensions: it is a significant contemplation on different forms of freedom as well as a wonderfully poetic exaltation of a concrete historical event a truly great book. * 3sat Kulturzeit * Seilers novel is lyrical and powerful in its eloquence. Already he is to be counted among the great contemporary German literary figures. * WDR 5 * A multi-layered philosophical novel that poses a major question to us and to our time: How is freedom possible? * Die Zeit * Lutz Seilers writings trace their roots to Uwe Johnsons poetry and reflect the German past, present and future beyond the surface of simple truths [...] In Kruso, Lutz Seiler visualises the hopes and constraints of a whole country by means of one singular place, Hiddensee, during one short period of time, June to November 1989. * from the statement of the Uwe-Johnson-Prize 2014 jury * If communisms final moments are an island of time, Kruso is a bottled message washed up from those distant shores. A strange journey, Seilers novel subscribes to island rules, with historicity suspended above and between fevered dreams of perfect community and beguiling freedom. -- Letitia Montgomery-Rodgers * Foreword Reviews * The poetic language and careful expression to the prose in Kruso make for an arresting read too, slightly odd and off-beat, but quite compelling. It's also a novel of big themes freedom (personal and political), longing (in all its gradations), and mourning, in particular and the narrative's general sense of drift, with these bobbling up constantly but never overwhelming the story, is particularly well done. A fine, big novel. -- M.A. Orthofer * The Complete Review * Lutz Seiler employs lyrical, sensual language with a hint of magic to describe the summer of 1989 on the island of Hiddensee a gateway to evanescence One can read this compelling Robinsonade involving the eponymous Kruso and the young dishwasher Edgar as an eloquent tale of both a personal and historic shipwreck and as a poet

Lutz Seiler was born in 1963 in Gera, Thuringia, and today lives in Wilhelmshorst near Berlin and Stockholm. Since 1997, he has been the literary director and custodian of the Peter Huchel Museum. His many prizes include the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, the Bremen Prize for Literature, the Fontane Prize, the Uwe Johnson Literary Prize 2014, and the German Book Prize 2014. Tess Lewis is a writer and translator from French and German. Her translations include works by Peter Handke, Anselm Kiefer, and Philippe Jaccottet. She has won a number of awards including the 2015 ACFNY Translation Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She is an Advisory Editor for The Hudson Review. www.tesslewis.org