Der Weg nach Altenburg
60.00 kr
JMB Verlag, 2013
Illustrationen von Peter Kirchhof
“Ein schauerlicher Bericht aus dem Niemandsland des Lebens”.
Bestellung für Der Weg nach Altenburg an Jens Bolm .
http://www.nwzonline.de/person/thormählen,axel
Dass sein Freund Hannes sich das Leben genommen hat, kann der Erzähler nicht glauben und reist daher an den Ort seiner Kindheit, um Hannes zu suchen. Statt des gebuchten Express-Zuges steigt er allerdings in den Regional-Schnellzug mit gleichem Fahrziel ein. Die eigenartige Stimmung der Passagiere, ihr entweder manisches oder geradezu phlegmatisches Verhalten und der düstere, unwirkliche Ausblick aus dem Fenster während dieser langen Bahnfahrt hätten als Warnung gesehen werden können, denn als der Protagonist in Rade am Fluss ankommt, ist nichts mehr so, wie es war.
Die Stadt, die ihm schon seit seiner Kindheit vertraut ist, erkennt er kaum wieder. Sie ist wie ausgestorben, die meisten Lichter sind aus, die Stadt liegt in fast vollkommener Dunkelheit und die wenigen Menschen, denen er begegnet, scheinen ihrer Identität beraubt zu sein. Seine Suche nach Ansprache, nach einem Telefon, einem Taxi oder nach Hannes wird immer beängstigender, bis er in einer Bar findet, was er gesucht hat. Oder doch nicht? Die menschenleeren Straßen, die skurrilen Bars und die einst vertraute Stadt, die nurmehr von Namenlosen bevölkert scheint, werden immer mehr zu einem Alptraum. Gelingt es dem Erzähler nach Altenburg zurückzukehren oder sitzt er bis in alle Ewigkeit in dieser düsteren Stadt fest?
Mich hat die poetische Sprache des Erzählers und die mystische Stimmung der Geschichte sofort in den Bann gezogen. Ich fühlte mich an Kafka oder E.T.A. Hoffmann erinnert und nahm wie selbstverständlich neben den Reisenden im Zug Platz. Fast schien die nicht nur äußerliche Heimatlosigkeit der anderen auch von mir Besitz zu ergreifen, so dass ich die wenigen Seiten wie im Fieber umblätterte und doch am Ende froh war, noch einmal den Absprung vom Zug geschafft zu haben.
Fazit: Es handelt sich um ein kleines Büchlein, aber um eine feine Geschichte. Auch die vier Illustrationen von Peter K. Kirchhof sind sehr passend und stimmungsvoll. Die Handlung von “Der Weg nach Altenburg” ist in der Gegenwart angesiedelt, doch die Form folgt der Tradition des fantastischen Erzählens. Eine mitreißende Geschichte, die ins Innere und dann wieder an den Ausgangspunkt zurückführt. Besonders für eine kurze Bahnfahrt geeignet, die noch Zeit zum Nachdenken lässt, die dieser Lektüre unbedingt folgen sollte.
Laila Mahfouz, 7. Januar 2014
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„Schlachtfeld Menschheit“: Unter diesem Thema wird in der kleinen südschwedischen Universitätsstadt Lund eine zehntägige Konferenz abgehalten, an der führende Geisteswissenschaftler aus aller Welt teilnehmen. Parallel dazu tagen im medizinischen Bereich Experten der Kardiologie. Bei einem Ausflug am ersten Tag vermischen sich einige der Teilnehmer in einem kleinen Wald außerhalb von Lund. Dieser Wald ist danach der wirkliche Mittelpunkt der Handlung. Jeden Tag treffen sich dort verschiedene Personen und machen Spaziergänge, wobei zuweilen merkwürdige Dinge passieren.
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Der letzte Wikinger
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Illustrationen von Peter Kirchhof
Endlich gibt es eine Auswahl der besten Erzählungen von Axel Thormählen auf Deutsch:
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http://www.lesfigues.com
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https://www.spdbooks.org/Products/9781934254042/a-happy-man-and-other-stories.aspx
Book Reviews Blog
http://www.dalkeyarchive.com/catalog/show_comment/1594
http://skylightbooks.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-encounter-with-happy-man.html
http://www.bookslut.com/fiction/2008_11_013686.php
http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/AxelThormahlenAHappyMan.htm
Interview with Axel Thormählen
http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/AxelThormahlen.htm
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'Compelling and unique ... This thoroughly researched volume looks at ... contemporaneous education controversies. Summing up: highly recommended.' Choice
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Read the whole review at http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/bronts-and-education-review.html
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''Thormählen's prose is lucid yet sophisticated, each paragraph redolent with pithy thoughts and new twists on familiar truths ... Thormählen guides us sure-footedly ... [the notes constitute] a veritable textbook on early nineteenth-century education ... [The Brontës and Education is] a deeply satisfying work that enriches our appreciation of the Brontës and their world." Modern Philology
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