Herbert Rosendorfer ist der Liebligsautor meines Mannes, und da dachte ich, ich lese auch mal eines seiner Bücher - und griff zu den Briefen in die chinesische Vergangenheit, da ich hier zumindes den Titel schon kannte. Um es kurz zu sagen - nach diesem Buch wird Rosendorfer nicht auch noch mein Lieblingsautor.

Die Idee hinter diesem Briefroman ist ja durchaus ansprechend: Kao-Tai, Mandarin aus dem China vor gut 1000 Jahren, versetzt sich mit einer Zeitmaschine in unsere Zeit, landet aber nicht in China, sondern in München (Min-chen in Ba-Yan). Was er (Anfang der 1980er Jahre) dort erlebt, schreibt er in mal längeren, mal kürzeren Briefen nach Hause - immer wieder durchsetzt von Anmerkungen, die sich auf das alte China beziehen. Da man aber nur indirekt (wenn überhaupt) erfährt, was in den Antwortbriefen aus dem alten China steht, bleibt die Berichterstattung einseitig.

Einer der "Gags" des Buches ist auf jeden Fall die Umwandlung deutscher Begriffe in chinesische Silben - der Leser darf dann raten, was gemeint ist. Häufig gelingt das auch heute noch gut, bei manchen Begriffen fehlte mir aber wohl etwas Hintergrundwissen zum Lokalkolorit. Hier hätte ich mir dann eine Übersetzung der Begriffe in einem Anhang gewünscht.

Insgesamt fand ich den Roman durchaus etwas langatmig und eher wie ein "Reiseführer in die 80er" zu lesen, da die auftretenden Personen dann doch eher nicht entwickelt wurden. Ich würde jetzt nicht ausschließen, Rosendorfer nochmal eine zweite Chance zu geben, aber erstmal steht einiges anderes auf meiner Leseliste. ( )

(Note: this review is for the original German edition, not the English translation)

A light, quick read, which I found a pleasant change of pace from the other German books I've been reading lately. Using the perspective of an outsider to criticize society is a well-established literary tradition, but the story manages to remain fresh. Part of the charm is the particular perspective of the narrator, a time-traveler from ancient China who mistakenly ends up in modern-day Munich, to his utter bewilderment. His experiences in the strange culture are told with a mixture of naivete and humor mixed with light irony.

By the end of the book, however, his attitude begins to get slightly tedious. He dislikes practically everything about this modern, Western world, finds the people barbarous and lacking any sense of morals or respect for custom and tradition. He finds precisely two things he likes: classical music and champagne, which he indulges in while enjoying the luxuries of the culture he despises. His close-mindedness and arrogance ultimately prevent him, the reader is inclined to suspect, from learning from the experience. And this is what keeps the book from being 'great' instead of merely good. At the end, asked by one of his friends to write about his experiences for the enlightenment of the local people, he declines, concluding that people would read his book and agree that he's absolutely correct, and then forget about it and go on with their lives. That reaction describes this book as well. It doesn't go beyond criticism to offer a glimpse of a meaningful alternative.

In short, worth reading, but I was hoping for something more, considering the following the book has gotten in Germany.

Kao-Tai's letters of his time travelling from 10th century China to his stay in Munich of 1986 is vastly amusing, but requires a bit of knowledge of the basic pronunciations and syllable build-up of the Chinese language in order to figure out all of the names. I get better with every reading (at least 4 times so far). ( )

Interesting story of a man from 10th Century China stranded in 1980's Munich. Interesting and well written, it would be better if there was a glossary of the names he uses for different personal names. Some I guessed but others were impossible, and would probably require knowledge of German. Interesting look at the mores and social problems in the 1980's which have continued to today. Written in letter form (I know there's a word for that but my brain isn't helping with the spelling) to a friend back in China, of his own time it is well worth a read even if you do spend several hours trying to work out what the names are. ( )

Match found in the German National Library.