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After Midnight
English, German (translation)
152 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1937
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About the author
Irmgard Keun
33books129followersIrmgard Keun (1905 � 1982) was a German novelist. She is noted for her portrayals of the life of women in the Weimar Republic as well as the early years of the Nazi Germany era. She was born into an affluent family and was given the autonomy to explore her passions. After her attempts at acting ended at the age of 16, Keun began working as a writer after years of working in Hamburg and Greifswald. Her books were eventually banned by Nazi authorities but gained recognition during the final years of her life.
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January 6, 2020
Painfully glorious read!
This is my second book by Irmgard Keun, and I have to say I am shocked it took me so long to discover her incredible power to tell the story of the midnight that fell over Germany in the 1930s - which eventually forced her first into exile and then into hiding, only to be forgotten as a relic of a time gone by after 1945, when the former Nazis established themselves as guardians of morality and dutiful propriety and the emancipated women's tales of the early 30s were not considered interesting or uplifting lecture.
The story, written in 1937, told from the perspective of a young girl trying to navigate the totalitarian system that her home has turned into, is naively showing the choices that were left, once the Nazis had established their reign of terror.
You could live in the hell of your solitary self, locked into an insane world of denunciation and profit-driven deceit, always aware that the world is too dangerous to frequent openly. There is a short anecdote, told in the singing, joyous dialect of Köln locals, of a woman who decides to protect her husband from his own happy-go-lucky approach to life by getting his beer into their home rather than letting him go to the pub and say something silly by mistake that will lead an envious person to call the Gestapo. When the man complains about being grounded, about feeling like he's in some kind of concentration camp, the woman replies drily: "Haven't you noticed that the whole country has turned into one big concentration camp? The only ones still running around freely are those in the government!"
You could defy the military system, like the young, reckless girl who tries to get rid of an officer who turns too aggressive in his flirting by telling him he can't have her because she is Jewish, only to see his face instantly distort in disgust rather than lust. That lie could potentially turn into a life-threatening situation, and luckily for the girl, she was accompanied by someone who could read the signs of danger and deflect from the situation accordingly.
You could embrace the system and play by its new rules, trying to emulate others in the hierarchy by getting the right accessories in the right places and making sure the Gestapo got all the information you had (or could conveniently invent for the purpose). When the main character Sanna was called to give evidence on some imprudent remarks she made, she sat in the Gestapo office for hours, watching the show of people coming and going. All of Köln seemed to have turned informers, she realised, and no wonder, as those "storytellers" were treated with uttermost respect by those typing up the dangerous tales about neighbours, parents, children, siblings, friends, business partners... Sanna also saw people whose neighbours, parents, children, siblings, friends, business partners had suddenly disappeared, and who came to the Gestapo to enquire what had happened to them. These questions were not treated with the same respect, quite the contrary!
You could kill yourself, like Heini, whose stories were all told to no effect and whose hope was lost.
Or, you could emigrate. And that is what heroine and writer did.
What a brutal, brutal world. And how soon it was clear and evident to the people who lived within it. For those who try to believe the myth "that we didn't know anything", either told by countries who refused to accept refugees, or by surviving German families not wishing to be part of Hell in retrospect, this novel should be mandatory reading. It was written before the outbreak of the war, and it is all in there.
ALL OF IT!
This is my second book by Irmgard Keun, and I have to say I am shocked it took me so long to discover her incredible power to tell the story of the midnight that fell over Germany in the 1930s - which eventually forced her first into exile and then into hiding, only to be forgotten as a relic of a time gone by after 1945, when the former Nazis established themselves as guardians of morality and dutiful propriety and the emancipated women's tales of the early 30s were not considered interesting or uplifting lecture.
The story, written in 1937, told from the perspective of a young girl trying to navigate the totalitarian system that her home has turned into, is naively showing the choices that were left, once the Nazis had established their reign of terror.
You could live in the hell of your solitary self, locked into an insane world of denunciation and profit-driven deceit, always aware that the world is too dangerous to frequent openly. There is a short anecdote, told in the singing, joyous dialect of Köln locals, of a woman who decides to protect her husband from his own happy-go-lucky approach to life by getting his beer into their home rather than letting him go to the pub and say something silly by mistake that will lead an envious person to call the Gestapo. When the man complains about being grounded, about feeling like he's in some kind of concentration camp, the woman replies drily: "Haven't you noticed that the whole country has turned into one big concentration camp? The only ones still running around freely are those in the government!"
You could defy the military system, like the young, reckless girl who tries to get rid of an officer who turns too aggressive in his flirting by telling him he can't have her because she is Jewish, only to see his face instantly distort in disgust rather than lust. That lie could potentially turn into a life-threatening situation, and luckily for the girl, she was accompanied by someone who could read the signs of danger and deflect from the situation accordingly.
You could embrace the system and play by its new rules, trying to emulate others in the hierarchy by getting the right accessories in the right places and making sure the Gestapo got all the information you had (or could conveniently invent for the purpose). When the main character Sanna was called to give evidence on some imprudent remarks she made, she sat in the Gestapo office for hours, watching the show of people coming and going. All of Köln seemed to have turned informers, she realised, and no wonder, as those "storytellers" were treated with uttermost respect by those typing up the dangerous tales about neighbours, parents, children, siblings, friends, business partners... Sanna also saw people whose neighbours, parents, children, siblings, friends, business partners had suddenly disappeared, and who came to the Gestapo to enquire what had happened to them. These questions were not treated with the same respect, quite the contrary!
You could kill yourself, like Heini, whose stories were all told to no effect and whose hope was lost.
Or, you could emigrate. And that is what heroine and writer did.
What a brutal, brutal world. And how soon it was clear and evident to the people who lived within it. For those who try to believe the myth "that we didn't know anything", either told by countries who refused to accept refugees, or by surviving German families not wishing to be part of Hell in retrospect, this novel should be mandatory reading. It was written before the outbreak of the war, and it is all in there.
ALL OF IT!
January 31, 2022
English:
One of the most important novels of German exile literature, this is a satire about the rise of Hitler. The plot takes place over two days in 1936 in Frankfurt (as the story hints to Hitler visiting the Opernplatz, it's probably the 16./17. March): 19-year-old Sanna, our narrator, illustrates the realities her friends, neighbors and she herself experiences. What's fascinating here is that this book was first published in 1937 (in Amsterdam, as it was unpublishable in Germany), but it foreshwadows everything that would happen until 1945. So much for people not knwing what the Nazis were up to.
People denouncing and informing on each other to the police for criticizing the Nazis, artists and journalists who were forbidden to express themselves, the persecution of Jewish people - Keun employs a multitude of characters to tell the world what was happening in Germany. Sanna also ponders the language and (non-existent) logic of the Nazis, not unlike . As our protagonist recalls her youth at the Moselle river and the time she stayed with her aunt in Cologne and fell in love with Franz, we get a feeling for how the situation worsened and slightly came to be the now in the book. What stands out is that those people who, on an even playing field, would never be in a position of power, upheld the system: To put it bluntly, the stupid were adamant to protect the strategic injustice, so they could remain important.
Keun's books and were forbidden in 1933/34, in 1936, she was ultimately denied a permit to further work as a writer. From 1936 to 1940, she went into exile, where she (among other books) wrote "After Midnight". Back in Germany, she lived in Cologne with forged papers until 1945.
Currently, there is a renaissance for female writers of the Weimar Republic and pre-WWII in Germany. While contemporaries like , , and have been widely read and discussed after the war, female voices were pushed to the second row. Not anymore.
One of the most important novels of German exile literature, this is a satire about the rise of Hitler. The plot takes place over two days in 1936 in Frankfurt (as the story hints to Hitler visiting the Opernplatz, it's probably the 16./17. March): 19-year-old Sanna, our narrator, illustrates the realities her friends, neighbors and she herself experiences. What's fascinating here is that this book was first published in 1937 (in Amsterdam, as it was unpublishable in Germany), but it foreshwadows everything that would happen until 1945. So much for people not knwing what the Nazis were up to.
People denouncing and informing on each other to the police for criticizing the Nazis, artists and journalists who were forbidden to express themselves, the persecution of Jewish people - Keun employs a multitude of characters to tell the world what was happening in Germany. Sanna also ponders the language and (non-existent) logic of the Nazis, not unlike . As our protagonist recalls her youth at the Moselle river and the time she stayed with her aunt in Cologne and fell in love with Franz, we get a feeling for how the situation worsened and slightly came to be the now in the book. What stands out is that those people who, on an even playing field, would never be in a position of power, upheld the system: To put it bluntly, the stupid were adamant to protect the strategic injustice, so they could remain important.
Keun's books and were forbidden in 1933/34, in 1936, she was ultimately denied a permit to further work as a writer. From 1936 to 1940, she went into exile, where she (among other books) wrote "After Midnight". Back in Germany, she lived in Cologne with forged papers until 1945.
Currently, there is a renaissance for female writers of the Weimar Republic and pre-WWII in Germany. While contemporaries like , , and have been widely read and discussed after the war, female voices were pushed to the second row. Not anymore.
June 10, 2011
Sometimes we happen to come across a little gem of a book that had disappeared, literally, for decades. After Midnight, written by Irmgard Keun in 1937 during her exile in Holland, is just one such book. Now translated into English by the admirable Anthea Bell, the first since the original translation in 1938, it belongs into a select treasure collection of recently re-discovered notable German fiction, written either just before or right after World War II. Each novel depicts, in its own way, aspects of ordinary people's daily life during the early years of the Nazi regime. Among these authors we find books by Hans Fallada (eg. Every Man Dies Alone), Hans Keilson (eg. The Death of the Adversary) and Irmgard Keun (eg. The Artificial Silk Girl). To this distinct collection of novels by 'contemporary witnesses' we can now add AFTER MIDNIGHT. In some way it can be regarded as a 'prequel' to Child of All Nations: A Novel, written in 1938, that tells the story of one family's life in exile, seen from the perspective of a ten-year old girl.
Keun's three novels mentioned above open a window into a time and place that is difficult for us to imagine in detail. Her style is conversational and easy-going, with localisms and vivid images sprinkled in. In this novel, 19-year old Susanne, with an independent voice and a mind, roams with great ease between recounting what she hears and observes around her and pondering her own inner thoughts that either add humorous commentary on the people she meets, ask questions, or take her mind to past problems in her young life. Some readers might find Keun's writing a bit too casual and seemingly lightweight for the realities she deals with. However, there is much irony and depth in Susanne's comments and for us readers with hindsight, a wealth of astute observations.
Susanne, 'Sanna', has recently arrived in the big city (Frankfurt) to escape the clutches of the Gestapo and to leave her mean-spirited aunt who had denounced her to the authorities together with her first love and now fiancé, the quiet, diffident Frank. With regret she had to leave him behind... but, as the novel opens, she has finally received a letter announcing that he is on his way to meet her "one more time"... Sanna's new life in the animated society circle of her step-brother Alvin, a popular and affluent writer, and his beautiful, luxurious wife, Liska, is exciting. Sanna, a pretty young woman, is enthusiastic, naïve and trusting. She is not interested in politics and can just as easily flirt with a man from the SS, the SA or the Jewish doctor, who is one of her brother's friends. Sanna and her close friend Gertie, are often also joined by the funny, sarcastic journalist Heini who is highly entertaining despite, or because of, his falling out of favour with the authorities. He is the first to feel the wind of change and his ironic and witty commentary alone would make the book worth reading. "I used to be a quick-witted and humorous journalist", he laments. "What I believed I had to say, I have said, in my own way and language. Now, in this time of widespread 'word inflation', is it not a pity when a thinking person moves on to total silence?"*) Alvin, in the meantime, has also been included in the Nazi blacklist and can no longer find a publisher; his existence is quickly reduced to nothing and his mind to despair. As the story moves to its dramatic climax - "after midnight" - the pace in the narration speeds up, the different strands of the story come together, overlap and ...
Keun's novel is first of all a fascinating document for its time. Yet, it is more also. It is an entertaining story to read that, with her typical light and ironic touch, provides us with a highly perceptive portrayal of a society on the cusp of disaster. Keun has filled her story with some memorable characters and their discussions on where the country is headed brings out different points of view, not all presented with the same level of seriousness as the Jewish doctor's consideration of possible exile, a move that does not appeal to Heini:"... poor émigré. [...] You will become a torment to yourself and a burden to others. The roofs that you see have not been built for you. The bread that you smell, is not being baked for you. And the language that you hear will not be spoken for you."
*) all translations are mine.
Keun's three novels mentioned above open a window into a time and place that is difficult for us to imagine in detail. Her style is conversational and easy-going, with localisms and vivid images sprinkled in. In this novel, 19-year old Susanne, with an independent voice and a mind, roams with great ease between recounting what she hears and observes around her and pondering her own inner thoughts that either add humorous commentary on the people she meets, ask questions, or take her mind to past problems in her young life. Some readers might find Keun's writing a bit too casual and seemingly lightweight for the realities she deals with. However, there is much irony and depth in Susanne's comments and for us readers with hindsight, a wealth of astute observations.
Susanne, 'Sanna', has recently arrived in the big city (Frankfurt) to escape the clutches of the Gestapo and to leave her mean-spirited aunt who had denounced her to the authorities together with her first love and now fiancé, the quiet, diffident Frank. With regret she had to leave him behind... but, as the novel opens, she has finally received a letter announcing that he is on his way to meet her "one more time"... Sanna's new life in the animated society circle of her step-brother Alvin, a popular and affluent writer, and his beautiful, luxurious wife, Liska, is exciting. Sanna, a pretty young woman, is enthusiastic, naïve and trusting. She is not interested in politics and can just as easily flirt with a man from the SS, the SA or the Jewish doctor, who is one of her brother's friends. Sanna and her close friend Gertie, are often also joined by the funny, sarcastic journalist Heini who is highly entertaining despite, or because of, his falling out of favour with the authorities. He is the first to feel the wind of change and his ironic and witty commentary alone would make the book worth reading. "I used to be a quick-witted and humorous journalist", he laments. "What I believed I had to say, I have said, in my own way and language. Now, in this time of widespread 'word inflation', is it not a pity when a thinking person moves on to total silence?"*) Alvin, in the meantime, has also been included in the Nazi blacklist and can no longer find a publisher; his existence is quickly reduced to nothing and his mind to despair. As the story moves to its dramatic climax - "after midnight" - the pace in the narration speeds up, the different strands of the story come together, overlap and ...
Keun's novel is first of all a fascinating document for its time. Yet, it is more also. It is an entertaining story to read that, with her typical light and ironic touch, provides us with a highly perceptive portrayal of a society on the cusp of disaster. Keun has filled her story with some memorable characters and their discussions on where the country is headed brings out different points of view, not all presented with the same level of seriousness as the Jewish doctor's consideration of possible exile, a move that does not appeal to Heini:"... poor émigré. [...] You will become a torment to yourself and a burden to others. The roofs that you see have not been built for you. The bread that you smell, is not being baked for you. And the language that you hear will not be spoken for you."
*) all translations are mine.
December 30, 2011
I first heard of this book and its author only a few weeks ago, when I read an article in the local newspaper in which a number of Australian writers were asked to nominate their favourite books of 2011. I don’t know why this particular work drew my attention, but I’m very glad that it did.
When the book was published in 1937, Irmgard Keun was living in exile in the Netherlands, her previous novels having been banned by the Nazi regime. As the editorial note at the end of the Kindle edition explains, Keun returned to Germany when the Netherlands fell to Germany in 1940. She travelled on a passport in an assumed name, after the publication of reports that she had committed suicide. She then lived with her parents in Germany for the duration of the war.
This is a short work and easy to read. However, its simplicity is deceptive and the final effect of the work is devastating. The novel is in the form of a first-person narrative and the story is slight. The narrator is Sanna, an unsophisticated and naïve 19 year old in Frankfurt, who is not interested in politics and has the same concerns as other girls of the same age. Sanna is in love with the unprepossessing Franz and she wants to have fun. Her friend Gerti is in love with a Jewish boy (or rather, with the son of a Jewish man). Her sister-in-law fancies herself to be in love with anti-Nazi writer Heini. Her brother Algin, a novelist, contemplates whether he can conform and write in a manner which will not cause him political problems.
Sanna’s observations about life for ordinary Germans under the Nazi regime are a large part of what makes this work a treasure. Her observations are ironic and often laugh-out-loud funny, all the more so because Sanna is not consciously criticizing Nazism : rather, she relates its contradictions and perversity in a matter-of-fact manner which leaves the reader in no doubt as to Keun’s views. As the novel progresses, the mood becomes darker and more desperate. Events start to spiral out of Sanna’s control and her state of mind is reflected in the narrative. Juxtaposed to Sanna’s first person narrative is her reporting of the comments of other characters, in particular those of Heini, who provides a much more direct criticism of Nazism than that of Sanna.
This novel provides an amazing insight into life in 1930s Germany and in particular into the choices which had to be made by writers. It has left me wanting to read more of Keun’s work. It has also left me wishing that I had not allowed five years of high school German language study go to waste. I have read that the most recent translation is very good, but of course I am in no position to know this from personal experience. I only wish I had not had to read the work in translation.
November 23, 2024
After Midnight shows Irmgard Keun had a wonderful ability to write fiction based on observation and events she saw in Nazi Germany. Simply, she is able to use her main character, nineteen years-old Sanna, and others, to show how difficult it was to know what to say, what to do, how to act, and even how to think, in Hitler's Germany.
There are some very fine descriptions of how people react to Hitler and his World Outlook, including hanging photos of the Fuhrer in their homes and informing on neighbours, work colleagues and even "friends". Sanna is a superb guide as she wonders about love and life, whilst seeing politics and antisemitism creep into every facet of her and Germany's life.
Readers who enjoy observational fiction, and/or period writing for early Third Reich Germany/20th century Europe will find much to enjoy here.
My copy was a Penguin Modern Classics published in 2020, and translated by Anthea Bell (died 2018). Ms Bell was during her life, the translator for Goscinny and Uderzo's Asterix and much more:
There are some very fine descriptions of how people react to Hitler and his World Outlook, including hanging photos of the Fuhrer in their homes and informing on neighbours, work colleagues and even "friends". Sanna is a superb guide as she wonders about love and life, whilst seeing politics and antisemitism creep into every facet of her and Germany's life.
Readers who enjoy observational fiction, and/or period writing for early Third Reich Germany/20th century Europe will find much to enjoy here.
My copy was a Penguin Modern Classics published in 2020, and translated by Anthea Bell (died 2018). Ms Bell was during her life, the translator for Goscinny and Uderzo's Asterix and much more:
March 19, 2025
“Hace más de cien años, suspiraba Platen: ¡Qué harto estoy de mi patria! En aquel entonces, sin embargo, se podía vivir en el destierro. Pero ¿hoy? ¡Pobre emigrante! Acabarás siendo una fuente de sufrimientos para tí mismo y una carga para los demás. Los tejados que ves no han sido construidos para ti. El pan que hueles no ha sido cocido para ti. Y la lengua que oyes no se habla para ti.�
Irmgard Keun escribió esta novela desde el exilio en Holanda un año después de haberse visto obligada a salir de su país, Alemania, en 1936. Así que se puede decir que ella salió tarde de su país si la comparamos a otros escritores que huyeron de Alemania en cuanto asomó el hitlerismo y este hecho la hizo vivir día a día con el nacionalsocialmo alemán, detalle que queda perfectamente reflejado en esta novela. Llegué a ella porque su nombre sale a relucir en la Correspondencia entre Joseph Roth y Stefan Zweig, perteneció al mismo circulo de exiliados. Irmgard Keun, sin embargo, volvió a Alemania en 1940 y se mantuvo escondida en Colonia en casa de sus padres. Anteriormente se había hecho correr la noticia de que Irmgard Keun se había suicidado en el exilio, no sabemos si fue un rumor planeado por ella, pero el hecho es que la autora volvió a su país cuando era una olla hirviendo manteniéndose escondida hasta el fin del nazismo.
"Vivimos, en efecto, en la época del gran Movimiento Delator Alemán. Todos tienen que vigilarlos a todos, todos tienen poder sobre todos. Todos pueden mandarlos a prisión a todos. Pocos pueden resistir la tentación de ejercer ese poder.�
Después de medianoche cuenta la historia de Susanne, a la que llaman Sanna, que con diecinueve años es una joven aparentemente sin preocupaciones y llena de vida que abandona su pueblo para vivir en Colonia junto a una tía. Poco después de llegar es interrogada por la Gestapo, una decisión motivada por ese ambiente delator y de denuncia que se respiraba en el día a día para congraciarse con las autoridades. Sanna aprende pronto que en este ambiente de la Alemania nazi no todo es lo que parece porque cualquier opinión expresada o cualquier acción aparentemente irrelevante puede ser utilizada contra alguien, dependiendo de cómo sea interpretado por los demás. A partir de aquí Sanna huye a Frankfurt donde vive su hermanastro Algin, un escritor de bastante prestigio. Aquí se codeará con un ambiente más bohemio relacionado con su hermano y su esposa y lo interesante es como muestra Irmgard Keun esta sociedad que poco a poco se va degradando. Quizás lo más revelador sea esa mirada en primera persona de una muchacha joven que solo quiere divertirse y que sin embargo, poco a poco es capaz de ver más allá de la apariencia “Para mí es terrible, profundamente inquietante, oír eso, porque hasta el día de hoy no se de qué va, qué quieren, Me parece demasiado peligroso preguntar a nadie�. Esa narración en primera persona y en presente es casi una mirada documental sobre un país en pleno proceso de autodestrucción. Lo que parecía imposible se va convirtiendo en realidad, en una realidad atroz.
"Ha llegado Algin. Está pálido y sombrío, sus ojos son lóbregas cavernas. Ha vuelto a recibir una carta de la Cámara de Literatura del Reich. Va a haber una nueva depuración de los escritores y en ella seguramente pasarán a Algin por la criba. Tal vez pudiera salvarse si hiciese enseguida un largo poema al Führer, al que hasta ahora se resiste. Pero eso también puede resultar peligroso. Porque los escritores nacionalsocialistas quizá tomen a mal que él, sin ser de la vieja guardia, se atreva a dedicar versos al Führer. Tampoco debe arriesgarse a escribir una novela nacionalsocialista, porque eso no le incumbe a él. Pero si no escribe novelas nacionalsocialistas es un indeseable. Todavía se imprimen sus obras y es un autor bastante leído, eso debe terminar."
En la novela se mezclan momentos históricos reales como por ejemplo la visita que hizo Hitler a Frankfurt en 1935 con el ambiente que se respiraba en las calles y es este ambiente el que capta tan bien la autora. Alemania estaba cambiando, y pronto seremos conscientes de que la mirada aparentemente ingenua de Sanna, no lo es tanto sino que le sirve como sistema de defensa ante unos comportamientos cada vez más cuestionables que ve en su entorno. Sanna comienza a cuestionarse sucesos de los que va siendo testigo: el hecho de que por ejemplo su hermano no pueda seguir escribiendo los libros que escribía y que esté haciendo concesiones para mantener un estatus, o el hecho de que haya que elegir los amigos en proporción a su no mestizaje . “Usted no ha comprendido a la nueva Alemania, usted no ha comprendido la voluntad del resurgimiento del Führer. A la gente vieja como usted hay que obligarla a ser feliz o se prescinde de ella�. Cualquiera era sospechoso de cualquier cosa y para mí es lo más interesante de esta novela, como se consigue capturar la atmósfera de paranoia y de locura de un país que estaba descendiendo a los infiernos, tanto, que algunos incluso vieron la única salida en el suicidio. La voz narrativa de Sanna es especialmente iluminadora porque es muy convincente en el sentido de que aunque en un principio parece una ingenua preocupada solo por divertirse, será pura apariencia porque ella misma aprende a esconder sus perspicaces observaciones de cara al público y solo las expone en su flujo de conciencia: su irónico sarcasmo es raras veces captado por su entorno y porque la misma Sanna pronto nota que el peligro no solo viene de la autoridad o de la Gestapo, sino del vecino más cercano. Cualquier signo de disidencia será denunciado por el que hasta ahora podría haber sido el vecino más amable.
“Hablan del maravilloso pueblo alemán, que puede con todo, una se siente alabada, adulada, por pertenecer a ese pueblo. Y luego, de pronto, sale de la radio una furiosa rociada. Que serán aplastados todos los que opongan resistencia a la voluntad del resurgimiento, que será liquidada esa gente que perjudica al país protestando por todo.�
“Tiene familia. Un hombre con familia se vuelve cobarde y, hoy en día, no puede permitirse tener carácter. Para muchos, por otra parte, la familia constituye solo el pretexto moral que justifica su falta de energía y servilismo". Lo que mejor hace Irmgard Keun es mostrar la sutilidad con que Sanna envuelve lo que va percibiendo en su día a día de la vida en Frankfurt con multitud de personajes secundarios, cada uno de ellos aporta una prueba del signo de los tiempos. Su estilo es muy coloquial, sencillo, un estilo que contradice de alguna manera el mensaje subterráneo de toda la novela. El mundo en el que vive Sanna se va encogiendo a pasos agigantados y hacia el final de la novela la pregunta que se hace es ¿cuál es la salida? Porque la maquinaria se ha puesto en marcha y es prácticamente imposible luchar contra ella: “Tenemos que someternos porque queremos vivir. Son más fuertes que nosotros, el individuo no puede hacer nada contra ellos". Cuando Sanna es consciente de hasta qué punto su país está cambiando y que ya el individuo no puede mostrarse tal como es, el camino a seguir será, o aceptar lo que hay y guardar silencio, o huir. Es además un tema que pocas veces he visto expuesto en una novela sobre el totalitarismo, el hecho de que para el ciudadano de a pie lo más fácil es dejarse llevar, adherirse a la maquinaria. El flujo de conciencia de la narradora es fascinante por cómo se nos muestra Sanna siendo capaz de ver más allá del espectáculo vacío de la nueva Alemania, y tiene todavía más mérito porque empezó siendo la novela de una joven despreocupada y llena de vida que se va metamorfoseando en una mujer adulta. Aunque es una novela que transcure apenas en 24 horas en medio de la preparación de una fiesta, la metamorfosis que sufre Sanna ya venía produciéndose: ha sido una evolución gradual la de esta mujer que usa su falsa ingenuidad para camuflarse y convertirse (sin planearlo) en una observadora y testigo de un país que iba estrechando el cerco sobre sus victimas. Una novela engañosa además, porque empieza pareciendo una novela despreocupada sobre las aventuras de una jovencita en la Alemania de los años 30, y poco a poco va evolucionando en otra cosa: una mujer que en su monólogo interior, destapa y analiza por sí misma el clima de terror que la circunda. Hay una cita de Hannah Arendt de “Los orígenes del totalitarismo� ( "El terror, como hoy lo conocemos, ataca sin provocación previa, y sus víctimas son inocentes incluso desde el punto de vista del perseguidor") que viene a definir muy bien lo que Irmgard Keun muestra en esta novela: el ambiente en la calle, el ciudadano de a pie y los grados de supervivencia que van surgiendo a medida que este terror va encogiendo la vida diaria. Estupenda e iluminadora, Irmgard Keun.
“En estos tiempos de general inflación del lenguaje, no es malo que alguien recapacite y empiece a guardar silencio. Yo he sido un periodista ingenioso y divertido. Ni aquí ni en el extranjero se puede ser un periodista ingenioso y divertido cuando a uno le atruenan perpetuamente en los oídos los gritos que vienen de los campos de concentración alemanes. A lo que ha empezado ahora en Alemania, eso es lo desesperanzador, no se le ve el fin.�
˫♫� ˫♫�
June 9, 2023
This is a novella that details the life of a young woman and her time in Nazi Germany.
I hate that I have to give this story only a two star rating as I really do not want to downplay the story itself. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to live during this era under that regime. But I have no choice to give this a two star rating as I didn't enjoy this book on an entertainment level or on an informative level. It never captured me as I had to renew my kindle loan to complete it and I never do that with books unless the book is lengthy. I will say the author does a commendable job with the atmosphere. I immediately got a sense of the pall that hangs over the characters as they try to live their lives. This is where this book lost me also. The author was trying to convey how these people go on with the dark cloud always looming over them. I didn't think the author fleshed out the characters well enough until the finale. Honestly, I just didn't care about them or what happened to them. I found myself reading but not really taking in what I was reading. I know this is a translation from the original language so maybe something was lost in the translation.
I really wanted to like this novella. The topic is important even today though it happened many, many years ago. Maybe I am being unfair and comparing to this to other works that approached this subject. Or maybe I didn't connect with it because I cannot identify with being in that situation. Either way this never grabbed me in a way that I wished it would.
I hate that I have to give this story only a two star rating as I really do not want to downplay the story itself. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to live during this era under that regime. But I have no choice to give this a two star rating as I didn't enjoy this book on an entertainment level or on an informative level. It never captured me as I had to renew my kindle loan to complete it and I never do that with books unless the book is lengthy. I will say the author does a commendable job with the atmosphere. I immediately got a sense of the pall that hangs over the characters as they try to live their lives. This is where this book lost me also. The author was trying to convey how these people go on with the dark cloud always looming over them. I didn't think the author fleshed out the characters well enough until the finale. Honestly, I just didn't care about them or what happened to them. I found myself reading but not really taking in what I was reading. I know this is a translation from the original language so maybe something was lost in the translation.
I really wanted to like this novella. The topic is important even today though it happened many, many years ago. Maybe I am being unfair and comparing to this to other works that approached this subject. Or maybe I didn't connect with it because I cannot identify with being in that situation. Either way this never grabbed me in a way that I wished it would.
November 26, 2017
Past Midnight. Some stars still shine, behind cloudy mists. Let there be sun tomorrow, dear God. This book. Written in 1937, set around the same time � contemporary literature. And today? Is it still relevant? Unfortunately, yes. Who’s going to read it? The sane people? They already know what’s in it. The insane people? Reading is far too exhausting and boring for them. Any bet you they have not even read “Mein Kampf� from beginning to end, and neither have I. Who should read it? Keun makes Susanne look clueless and naïve. And then she tightens the screw more and more. The head threatens to burst. Too many characters. Aryans and Jews and those of “mixed-blood� are thrown together at the final party. German women should have children, but for this a process with feeling is necessary. And there must not be any mistakes that violate the law. Perhaps the safest thing is to not love at all. As long as that is allowed. Idiotic laws govern love. Laws not understood and not questioned. Questions will take you to jail. Some fantastic splinters from a keen observer. Keun knows the situation in Germany. She writes from exile. When writing a writer must not fear his own sentences, or God, or the world in general. A writer who is afraid is not a writer. But apart from that, you’re superfluous. The dictatorship has made Germany a perfect country. A perfect country does not need writers. There is no literature in paradise. A strange little great book whose purpose I didn’t totally get. I want to laugh with hatred. I’m crazy, that’s it. I will dance and laugh and sing to the madhouse. Where is the madhouse? You never know the most important things.
This work is licensed under a .
This work is licensed under a .
February 6, 2022
Ein Buch, das nicht nur ein facettenreiches Sittengemälde des Alltags in Nazi-Deutschland bietet: Irmgard Keun braucht teils nur wenige Absätze, um Charaktere lebendig und ihre Schicksale greifbar zu machen. Auch der feine Humor hat mich sehr begeistert. Der Oberclou hier ist jedoch, dass diese Gesellschaftssatire bereits 1937 erstveröffentlicht wurde � und bis heute nichts an Aktualität verloren hat.
Mehr zum Buch in @ Papierstau Podcast.
Mehr zum Buch in @ Papierstau Podcast.
July 27, 2024
Irmgard Keun hat bei mir für ein weiteres Lesehighlight in diesem Jahr gesorgt:
„Nach Mitternacht� spielt, durchzogen von einigen Rückblicken, an wenigen Tagen im Jahr 1936 und ist spannend von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite.
Der Roman wurde 1937 kurz nach der eigenen Emigration der Autorin im Exil veröffentlicht.
Wie schon in „Das kunstseidene Mädchen� besticht die Erzählstimme durch liebenswerten Charme und satirischen Witz, wodurch zunehmend Kontrast zu den bedrückenden Ereignissen in der Handlung entsteht.
Die junge Sanna hat das Haus ihrer Tante in Köln verlassen, nachdem diese sie wegen einer abfälligen Bemerkung über eine nationalsozialistische Radioansprache bei der Gestapo angeschwärzt hat, und ist zu ihrem Stiefbruder Algin nach Frankfurt gezogen. Dieser gerät als subversiver Schriftsteller immer mehr in Bedrängnis. Sanna selbst hat Liebeskummer, da sie ihren Verlobten Franz in Köln zurücklassen musste. Ihre neue Freundin Gerti wiederum ist unglücklich in Dieter verliebt, der eine jüdische Mutter hat.
Um diese Charaktere entspinnt die Autorin ein faszinierendes Beziehungsgeflecht.
Für Sanna wie auch ihre Freunde ist die Ideologie der Nationalsozialisten schlicht unbegreiflich. Ihr gerecht zu werden damit nicht möglich. So entsteht nach und nach eine Abwärtsspirale, die alle Charaktere mit sich zu reißen droht. Besonders eindrücklich schon früh im Buch fand ich etwa eine Szene, in der ein fünfjähriges Kind trotz Erkältung zum Stolz der Eltern immer wieder ein Lobgedicht auf Hitler aufsagt, bis es tot umfällt.
Insgesamt habe ich mir beim Lesen so viele Stellen markiert, wie schon lange nicht mehr in einem Buch.
„Nach Mitternacht� spielt, durchzogen von einigen Rückblicken, an wenigen Tagen im Jahr 1936 und ist spannend von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite.
Der Roman wurde 1937 kurz nach der eigenen Emigration der Autorin im Exil veröffentlicht.
Wie schon in „Das kunstseidene Mädchen� besticht die Erzählstimme durch liebenswerten Charme und satirischen Witz, wodurch zunehmend Kontrast zu den bedrückenden Ereignissen in der Handlung entsteht.
Die junge Sanna hat das Haus ihrer Tante in Köln verlassen, nachdem diese sie wegen einer abfälligen Bemerkung über eine nationalsozialistische Radioansprache bei der Gestapo angeschwärzt hat, und ist zu ihrem Stiefbruder Algin nach Frankfurt gezogen. Dieser gerät als subversiver Schriftsteller immer mehr in Bedrängnis. Sanna selbst hat Liebeskummer, da sie ihren Verlobten Franz in Köln zurücklassen musste. Ihre neue Freundin Gerti wiederum ist unglücklich in Dieter verliebt, der eine jüdische Mutter hat.
Um diese Charaktere entspinnt die Autorin ein faszinierendes Beziehungsgeflecht.
Für Sanna wie auch ihre Freunde ist die Ideologie der Nationalsozialisten schlicht unbegreiflich. Ihr gerecht zu werden damit nicht möglich. So entsteht nach und nach eine Abwärtsspirale, die alle Charaktere mit sich zu reißen droht. Besonders eindrücklich schon früh im Buch fand ich etwa eine Szene, in der ein fünfjähriges Kind trotz Erkältung zum Stolz der Eltern immer wieder ein Lobgedicht auf Hitler aufsagt, bis es tot umfällt.
Insgesamt habe ich mir beim Lesen so viele Stellen markiert, wie schon lange nicht mehr in einem Buch.
November 15, 2018
4.5 Stars
After Midnight was written and published in 1937 while Keun was living in exile in Europe having left Germany the previous year. Deceptively straightforward and engaging on the surface, the novel is actually a very subtle and insightful critique of the Nazi regime, written by an author who had experienced the challenges of navigating the system first-hand. It’s an excellent book, one that draws the reader in from its striking opening line.
You can open an envelope and take out something which bites or stings, though it isn’t a living creature. (p. 3)
To read my review, please click here:
After Midnight was written and published in 1937 while Keun was living in exile in Europe having left Germany the previous year. Deceptively straightforward and engaging on the surface, the novel is actually a very subtle and insightful critique of the Nazi regime, written by an author who had experienced the challenges of navigating the system first-hand. It’s an excellent book, one that draws the reader in from its striking opening line.
You can open an envelope and take out something which bites or stings, though it isn’t a living creature. (p. 3)
To read my review, please click here:
March 3, 2022
3 bis 4 Sterne
Irmgard Keun ist in meinen Augen die wohl eleganteste deutsche Stilistin, wenn es darum geht, Charme, Witz und eine hintergründige Ironie in die Stimmen junger Frauen zu legen. Wie oft fühle ich mich beim Lesen ihrer Werke angeflirtet und werde leicht rot, weil mir das so gut gefällt! Dabei vergesse ich mitunter sogar, dass diese scheinbar so naive Unschuld der Sprache perfekt geeignet ist, um die Brüche und Widersprüche der Lebensumstände offenzulegen. Hier erweist sich Keun als Satirikerin, deren Kritik sich allerdings niemals mit kaltem Spott über die Seiten ergießt. Ganz selten schwebe ich so sanft in den Händen einer warmen und ganz eigenen Sprache - Keun ist GENIAL, so einfach sehe ich das. Das, was sie stilistisch erreicht, ist einzigartig und nachhaltend in seiner Wirkung. Auch "Nach Mitternacht" ist dabei keine Ausnahme. Ist ein Beispiel der Magie erwünscht? Gerne!
Über eine kleine Frau im steten Kampf um Eleganz heißt es:
"Daraufhin kaufte sie den Silberfuchs. Wenn sie ihn trägt, sieht es aus, als gehe ein reicher Pelz mit einer armen Frau spazieren."
Ist das nicht ein grandioses Psychogramm? Wofür andere Autoren ein Kapitel benötigen, da legt Kaun uns Lesern einen prickelnden kleinen Satz auf die Zunge.
Warum dennoch "nur" 7 Punkte?
Weil in diesem Buch zu viele Personen vorkommen, die nicht immer klar gezeichnet waren, mir persönlich wäre hier eine Reduzierung des Personals weit besser bekommen. Oft verwischten die Gesichter nach kurzer Zeit. Das kann mein Problem sein, klar.
Keun versucht (so vermute ich) mithilfe eines reichen Figurenensembles, ein Bild der Zeit um 1936 aufzuzeigen. Sie skizziert mehr als dass sie portraitiert: verschiedene Personen aus SA und SS und bürgerlicher Miefigkeit, auch die im Ekel der Zeit zynisch oder verzweifelt gewordenen Refugien eines freien Geistes. Das ist stilistisch zum Abschlabbern gut geraten, z.B. des Dichters Heinis Zynismen sind so zielsicher wie die Liebesanschmachtungen der Liska betrüblich-lustig. Jedoch als Roman war mir das zu disparat, zu kurz, zu federleicht hingeworfen. Eine Geschichte, der berühmte rote Faden fand sich beim Lesen für mich nicht. Lesenswert ist das allemal, so schreibt sonst niemand, und besser geht es kaum.
Irmgard Keun ist in meinen Augen die wohl eleganteste deutsche Stilistin, wenn es darum geht, Charme, Witz und eine hintergründige Ironie in die Stimmen junger Frauen zu legen. Wie oft fühle ich mich beim Lesen ihrer Werke angeflirtet und werde leicht rot, weil mir das so gut gefällt! Dabei vergesse ich mitunter sogar, dass diese scheinbar so naive Unschuld der Sprache perfekt geeignet ist, um die Brüche und Widersprüche der Lebensumstände offenzulegen. Hier erweist sich Keun als Satirikerin, deren Kritik sich allerdings niemals mit kaltem Spott über die Seiten ergießt. Ganz selten schwebe ich so sanft in den Händen einer warmen und ganz eigenen Sprache - Keun ist GENIAL, so einfach sehe ich das. Das, was sie stilistisch erreicht, ist einzigartig und nachhaltend in seiner Wirkung. Auch "Nach Mitternacht" ist dabei keine Ausnahme. Ist ein Beispiel der Magie erwünscht? Gerne!
Über eine kleine Frau im steten Kampf um Eleganz heißt es:
"Daraufhin kaufte sie den Silberfuchs. Wenn sie ihn trägt, sieht es aus, als gehe ein reicher Pelz mit einer armen Frau spazieren."
Ist das nicht ein grandioses Psychogramm? Wofür andere Autoren ein Kapitel benötigen, da legt Kaun uns Lesern einen prickelnden kleinen Satz auf die Zunge.
Warum dennoch "nur" 7 Punkte?
Weil in diesem Buch zu viele Personen vorkommen, die nicht immer klar gezeichnet waren, mir persönlich wäre hier eine Reduzierung des Personals weit besser bekommen. Oft verwischten die Gesichter nach kurzer Zeit. Das kann mein Problem sein, klar.
Keun versucht (so vermute ich) mithilfe eines reichen Figurenensembles, ein Bild der Zeit um 1936 aufzuzeigen. Sie skizziert mehr als dass sie portraitiert: verschiedene Personen aus SA und SS und bürgerlicher Miefigkeit, auch die im Ekel der Zeit zynisch oder verzweifelt gewordenen Refugien eines freien Geistes. Das ist stilistisch zum Abschlabbern gut geraten, z.B. des Dichters Heinis Zynismen sind so zielsicher wie die Liebesanschmachtungen der Liska betrüblich-lustig. Jedoch als Roman war mir das zu disparat, zu kurz, zu federleicht hingeworfen. Eine Geschichte, der berühmte rote Faden fand sich beim Lesen für mich nicht. Lesenswert ist das allemal, so schreibt sonst niemand, und besser geht es kaum.
November 7, 2013
This novella length book was first published in 1937 and, very much like Alone in Berlin (Penguin Modern Classics), it tells the story of living in Nazi Germany by a German who lived there. Irmgaud Keun (1905-1982) was an author born in Berlin, whose work was destroyed in the infamous book burnings which took place under Nazi rule. Arrested by the Gestapo, she was forced shortly into exile, during which time she had an affair with Jewish author Joseph Roth. Much of this novella mirrors her life and you can feel the authenticity of experience in every line.
Sanna flees from Cologne after being investigated by the Gestapo for making unguarded comments, and ends up living with her half-brother Algin and his wife. Once well-regarded and successful, Algin has found his work banned and is unsure about what he can write under the new political regime. For politics are everywhere and can no longer be ignored, even by those who previously had no interest in such things. Every word uttered, every opinion expressed, can be used against you. We learn of Algin's wife, Leski, who has fallen desperately in love with a journalist no longer able to work. Of Sanna's friend, Gerti, having a dangerous relationship with a man of mixed race. Of the charming and previously highly respected Jewish doctor, Dr Breslauer, shortly to be forced into exile. Events are centred around a much anticipated visit by Hitler to a local Opera House and a party that Leski is throwing, but an air of desperation and fear underpins the entire work. Much will change for Senna during this book, but the author cleverly mixes the absurd with the shocking, to show how the unbelievable can become mundane and the ridiculous accepted, as the world the characters once knew and lived in changes around them. This is a wonderful read and I am glad I discovered it. There is also an insightful introduction to the work, as well as an interesting essay on the author at the end of the book, which gives the reader a greater understanding of the novella.
Sanna flees from Cologne after being investigated by the Gestapo for making unguarded comments, and ends up living with her half-brother Algin and his wife. Once well-regarded and successful, Algin has found his work banned and is unsure about what he can write under the new political regime. For politics are everywhere and can no longer be ignored, even by those who previously had no interest in such things. Every word uttered, every opinion expressed, can be used against you. We learn of Algin's wife, Leski, who has fallen desperately in love with a journalist no longer able to work. Of Sanna's friend, Gerti, having a dangerous relationship with a man of mixed race. Of the charming and previously highly respected Jewish doctor, Dr Breslauer, shortly to be forced into exile. Events are centred around a much anticipated visit by Hitler to a local Opera House and a party that Leski is throwing, but an air of desperation and fear underpins the entire work. Much will change for Senna during this book, but the author cleverly mixes the absurd with the shocking, to show how the unbelievable can become mundane and the ridiculous accepted, as the world the characters once knew and lived in changes around them. This is a wonderful read and I am glad I discovered it. There is also an insightful introduction to the work, as well as an interesting essay on the author at the end of the book, which gives the reader a greater understanding of the novella.
November 12, 2011
I was expecting After Midnight to be one of those novels that's not that interesting by itself but sticks in your mind later as a reflection of its times. I'm looking at Mephisto (Klaus Mann) and A Tomb for Boris Davidovich (Danilo Kis) here. Not so for Keun's novel of Nazi Germany, however. I enjoyed the novel while I was reading and still had that feeling of this-is-great-because-it-expresses-pivotal-history. Keun's narrator, Sanna, is deceptively naïve. She's young and all absorbed with romance and social relationships and then, boom, she mentions some aspect of Nazi control that's recently come to dominate Keun's characters' lives. The growing effects of Nazism on everyday German society accelerate quickly throughout the novel, with Sanna's life being turned upside down within the course of the two days covered by the story. Like the aforementioned novels concerning authoritarian governments, After Midnight very clearly expresses the life-changing (and life-annihilating) properties of said governments. Unlike the other novels, the central character of After Midnight is one with whom readers can better identify because, at least on the surface, she's just like any other young adult. After Midnight also covers a fairly full spectrum of German lives, from intellectuals to children to Nazi sympathizers to the average people just caught up in it all. The novel even has a satirical character who, like Shakespeare's jesters and other jokesters, is there to provide some comedic relief along with a clear view of what, exactly, is going on. Only this is a book about Nazi Germany, so there's very little relief to be found in these scathing, depressed denouements that will only end in tragedy.
April 7, 2025
Wirklich ein ganz fantastisches Buch, welches, als Vertreter der Exilliteratur, mich noch mehr abgeholt hat, als Klaus Manns Mephisto, der dieses Buch selbst hoch gelobt hat.
Wahnsinnig gut werden Themen verarbeitet wie die Frage nach innerer Emigration oder Exil und, ob man sich dies finanziell überhaupt leisten kann.
Viele Charaktere repräsentieren Typen, ein Charakter wirkt regelrecht wie ein Abbild Kurt Tucholskys, und anhand dieser werden bestimmte Themen bearbeitet oder die NS-Ideologie entlarvt und so auch die Esoterik und der damit verbundene Irr- und Unsinn aufgezeigt.
Die Frage des Frauenbilds und der Möglichkeiten der individuellen Entfaltung der Zeit werden wunderbar thematisiert.
Und zu guter Letzt spielt Keun wunderbar mit der Einführung von Charakteren, Ort, Zeit und Situationen, die später aufgeklärt und beleuchtet werden, welche einem als Lesenden im Nachhinein an manchen Punkten die Augen öffnen, wie diese zusammenhängen. Vor allem das Finale ist wunderbar, wie alle zuvor gesponnenen Fäden zusammenführen und in einer psychischen Extremsituation für die Protagonistin kulminieren, die bis dahin die Sicht einer jungen und eher naiven Frau einnimmt, und sie zu einer alles verändernden Entscheidung führt.
Wahnsinnig gut werden Themen verarbeitet wie die Frage nach innerer Emigration oder Exil und, ob man sich dies finanziell überhaupt leisten kann.
Viele Charaktere repräsentieren Typen, ein Charakter wirkt regelrecht wie ein Abbild Kurt Tucholskys, und anhand dieser werden bestimmte Themen bearbeitet oder die NS-Ideologie entlarvt und so auch die Esoterik und der damit verbundene Irr- und Unsinn aufgezeigt.
Die Frage des Frauenbilds und der Möglichkeiten der individuellen Entfaltung der Zeit werden wunderbar thematisiert.
Und zu guter Letzt spielt Keun wunderbar mit der Einführung von Charakteren, Ort, Zeit und Situationen, die später aufgeklärt und beleuchtet werden, welche einem als Lesenden im Nachhinein an manchen Punkten die Augen öffnen, wie diese zusammenhängen. Vor allem das Finale ist wunderbar, wie alle zuvor gesponnenen Fäden zusammenführen und in einer psychischen Extremsituation für die Protagonistin kulminieren, die bis dahin die Sicht einer jungen und eher naiven Frau einnimmt, und sie zu einer alles verändernden Entscheidung führt.
December 20, 2023
I'm stunned and upset that Irmgard Keun's stories aren't more widely read. This is an extremely impressive piece particularly valuable to read nowadays where it gets increasingly more difficult to find out what it was really like to live during Hitler's regime in Germany.
After Midnight is set in Frankfurt, Germany in 1936. Over the course of two days we follow the 19-year-old Susanne as she waits for a sign from her fiancé Franz. They had plans to open a cigarette shop and truly start a life together, but when he makes a sudden appearance with bad news, telling her that they'll have to flee, she is confronted with having to make the decision of whether to leave everything behind or stay in this growingly uncomfortable, but familiar environment.
This is a crazy brave novel to write. I was genuinely stunned by the fact that this has been written in the mid-30s. Irmgard Keun seemed to have had the ability to already reflect upon a society that was only just beginning to change, with the national socialists still growing their power and influence. Most people were smitten and inspired, so to go into exile so early and have her openly critique the regime is truly astonishing.
There's a lot of humour in her prose. I adored the style of narration - I read this in German, so its original language and can say that it feels surprisingly contemporary and funny in its tone. Susanne is a wonderfully charming protagonist: she's got the mindless and easy-going inner voice of a young woman her age, while also full of opinions and observations. For the two days that we follow her, we get a poignant look into the societal circles she moves around in. There are authors, once admired, who fell from grace, woman longing for the love of their husbands and old ladies desperately trying to practice authority.
We're left with a feeling more than with a story. You can argue that not a crazy lot happens. Similarly to the author's debut Gilgi, we zoom in on little interactions and events that form one big picture of a society in disarray. The slice of life we're served though had so many brilliant lines and truly glorious conclusions that I ended up rather charmed. Anyone who cares about this particular time in Germany's history needs to read Irmgard Keun's work.
After Midnight is set in Frankfurt, Germany in 1936. Over the course of two days we follow the 19-year-old Susanne as she waits for a sign from her fiancé Franz. They had plans to open a cigarette shop and truly start a life together, but when he makes a sudden appearance with bad news, telling her that they'll have to flee, she is confronted with having to make the decision of whether to leave everything behind or stay in this growingly uncomfortable, but familiar environment.
This is a crazy brave novel to write. I was genuinely stunned by the fact that this has been written in the mid-30s. Irmgard Keun seemed to have had the ability to already reflect upon a society that was only just beginning to change, with the national socialists still growing their power and influence. Most people were smitten and inspired, so to go into exile so early and have her openly critique the regime is truly astonishing.
There's a lot of humour in her prose. I adored the style of narration - I read this in German, so its original language and can say that it feels surprisingly contemporary and funny in its tone. Susanne is a wonderfully charming protagonist: she's got the mindless and easy-going inner voice of a young woman her age, while also full of opinions and observations. For the two days that we follow her, we get a poignant look into the societal circles she moves around in. There are authors, once admired, who fell from grace, woman longing for the love of their husbands and old ladies desperately trying to practice authority.
We're left with a feeling more than with a story. You can argue that not a crazy lot happens. Similarly to the author's debut Gilgi, we zoom in on little interactions and events that form one big picture of a society in disarray. The slice of life we're served though had so many brilliant lines and truly glorious conclusions that I ended up rather charmed. Anyone who cares about this particular time in Germany's history needs to read Irmgard Keun's work.
January 21, 2025
Straf boek, geschreven nadat Hitler aan de macht kwam in Duitsland. Het vertelt het verhaal van een negentienjarige die aan de hand van haar indrukken op twee dagen tijd haarfijn de waanzin van het toenmalige Duitsland weergeeft.
September 23, 2011
One of the few instances when I just want to quote the book blurbs/review snippets, because all of them are spot-on. Keun wrote this slim novel, set in mid-1930s Germany, with a tone that is somehow light and devastating. Through protagonist Sanna's naive eyes and artless comments, the reader sees everyday Germany where Hitler's fascism has become normal. No one is safe; neighbors and relatives inform on each other and even a visit to the Ladies Room is fraught with tension about what someone might overhear.
Sanna is an excellent observer and, although she is no Nazi-sympathizer, is also far from political and does not stick her neck out. Her naivete is not always believable and Keun does pack in the melodrama. But that is a small matter in such a strong showing of the horror of what is to come and what already is.
Keun wrote After Midnight in 1937, shortly after fleeing Germany.
Very glad I took a chance on this at the Brooklyn Book Festival and plan to explore more of The Neversink Library collection from Melville House Publishing.
"There was turmoil around the Opera House. People, and swastika flags, and garlands of fir, and SS men. The place was in confusion, all excited preparations, much like preparations for the handing out of Christmas presents in a prosperous family with quantities of children. You get used to feverish celebrations of something or other going on all the time in Germany, so that you often don't stop to ask what it is this time, why all the fuss and the garlands and the flags?" [page 20]
Sanna is an excellent observer and, although she is no Nazi-sympathizer, is also far from political and does not stick her neck out. Her naivete is not always believable and Keun does pack in the melodrama. But that is a small matter in such a strong showing of the horror of what is to come and what already is.
Keun wrote After Midnight in 1937, shortly after fleeing Germany.
Very glad I took a chance on this at the Brooklyn Book Festival and plan to explore more of The Neversink Library collection from Melville House Publishing.
"There was turmoil around the Opera House. People, and swastika flags, and garlands of fir, and SS men. The place was in confusion, all excited preparations, much like preparations for the handing out of Christmas presents in a prosperous family with quantities of children. You get used to feverish celebrations of something or other going on all the time in Germany, so that you often don't stop to ask what it is this time, why all the fuss and the garlands and the flags?" [page 20]
May 29, 2024
Ein unglaublich eindringliches kleines Büchlein. Der Schreibstil ist locker-flockig, fast schon flappsig, was aber gut zu der neunzehnjährigen Susanne, genannte Sanne, passt. Es ist als ob man ihr beim Plaudern zuhört, fast schon ein Stream of Consciousness. Aber zwischen den ganzen lockeren Sätzen verbirgt sich das absolute Grauen, das zunehmend mehr und mehr in jedes Kapitel kriecht.
Eine dunkle, graue Welt offenbart sich dort, in der jeder verwundbar ist und Angst hat, in der Nachbarn ihre Nachbarn anzeigen, Ehemänner ihre Ehefrauen, Schwestern ihre Brüder, Eltern ihre Kinder und so weiter. Es ist ein Leben in einem riesigen Gefängnis, wo man auf Schritt und Tritt bewacht und bespitzelt wird und wo jeder noch so kleine Fehltritt drastische Konsequenzen haben kann. Hitlergruß vergessen? Ab in die Schutzhaft. Ansprache nicht gehört? Die Gestapo steht schon vor der Tür. Der Nachbar beschuldigt einen ein Kommunist zu sein? Und schon ist man weg und keiner weiß, in welchem dunklen Loch man verschwunden ist.
Dass es zeitgenössisches Buch ist (1937 veröffentlicht) macht das ganze nur noch schlimmer.
Spannend, intensiv und beklemmend. Was für ein Alptraum dieses Leben gewesen sein muss.
Eine dunkle, graue Welt offenbart sich dort, in der jeder verwundbar ist und Angst hat, in der Nachbarn ihre Nachbarn anzeigen, Ehemänner ihre Ehefrauen, Schwestern ihre Brüder, Eltern ihre Kinder und so weiter. Es ist ein Leben in einem riesigen Gefängnis, wo man auf Schritt und Tritt bewacht und bespitzelt wird und wo jeder noch so kleine Fehltritt drastische Konsequenzen haben kann. Hitlergruß vergessen? Ab in die Schutzhaft. Ansprache nicht gehört? Die Gestapo steht schon vor der Tür. Der Nachbar beschuldigt einen ein Kommunist zu sein? Und schon ist man weg und keiner weiß, in welchem dunklen Loch man verschwunden ist.
Dass es zeitgenössisches Buch ist (1937 veröffentlicht) macht das ganze nur noch schlimmer.
Spannend, intensiv und beklemmend. Was für ein Alptraum dieses Leben gewesen sein muss.
January 23, 2023
A satirical book that captures the vibe of what it must have been living in Germany during the rise of Hitler. Adds perspective and a touch of humanity to a nation, providing nuance and understanding to what may seemingly be a black and white subject from outside.
A light read, almost banal in parts, yet devastating in others. The last twenty pages or so are captivating. Surprised myself how much I enjoyed it in the end.
A light read, almost banal in parts, yet devastating in others. The last twenty pages or so are captivating. Surprised myself how much I enjoyed it in the end.
September 12, 2021
I’m so glad I stumbled across a mention of this author by The London Review of Books. This novel provides a unique perspective of Germany during the rise of the Nazi party. Living as a banned writer in Germany must have been a nerve wracking existence if you chose to continue criticism of the regime. This novel is written in a style that captures both the frenetic and increasingly absurd behaviour of those who try to elevate their political position and those who try to hide information that will cause them difficulties. The writing is darkly humorous but also conveys a serious dose of fear.
Reading about the author’s life (an interesting epilogue at the end of this version of the text) also gave valuable context for this story.
Reading about the author’s life (an interesting epilogue at the end of this version of the text) also gave valuable context for this story.
September 25, 2011
I really, really love when publishers bring old treasures (also known as a book in this particular case) to new light and new audiences. After Midnight is one of those books. This is a short book about a vivacious girl named Sanna who is living in a quickly changing world. In this sort of novella, Keun gives us a look at not only the world events changing the the course of history at the time but also how regular life still seems to creep in.
I really enjoyed this short story. I had never heard of it before but this is definitely a treasure from the past.
I really enjoyed this short story. I had never heard of it before but this is definitely a treasure from the past.
Want to read
April 5, 2018
April 25, 2016
Talk about bravery. Irmgard Keun sued the Gestapo when they banned and burned her books in the thirties. She wrote this book after becoming a literary exile, but she was in the Netherlands when the war broke out and found herself once again under the thumb of the Nazis. Somehow she gained a passport using her middle name and the surname of her ex-husband, then the Telegraph and a German exile printed her obituary, claiming she'd taken her own life when the Nazis invaded. It's not known if the suicide story was planned or if she'd just had a stroke of luck. At any rate, she spent the war in Germany living with her parents.
As for the book, if I'm being honest, it's not great. The plot isn't up to much, but then, the real joy is watching the proceedings grind to a halt so the author's stand-ins can rail against the Nazis for a bit. It's all done in a sort of faux-naïf style, with the teenaged girl narrator talking, for example, about how much Hitler sacrifices himself for the German people by spending his days being photographed.
My favourite is this bit:
Also this bit:
As for the book, if I'm being honest, it's not great. The plot isn't up to much, but then, the real joy is watching the proceedings grind to a halt so the author's stand-ins can rail against the Nazis for a bit. It's all done in a sort of faux-naïf style, with the teenaged girl narrator talking, for example, about how much Hitler sacrifices himself for the German people by spending his days being photographed.
My favourite is this bit:
Also this bit:
April 5, 2024
Ein von mir seit langem herbeigesehnter typisch Keunscher Bewusstseinsstrom, der im Verlauf der Handlung dennoch eine klare Entwicklung der Hauptfigur von der naiven Beobachterin hin zur reflektierten, handelnden Akteurin im Deutschland des NS-Terrors erkennen lässt und so auch zu einer Erzählung von Flucht und Asyl wird.
Negativ fiel hier lediglich ins Gewicht, wie eine einzelne Figur sich unablässig ins Zentrum jeglicher Dialoge und Erzählpassagen drängt und diese mit Hass und Desinformation bestimmt. Doch damit genug der Gegenwartsbezüge.
Negativ fiel hier lediglich ins Gewicht, wie eine einzelne Figur sich unablässig ins Zentrum jeglicher Dialoge und Erzählpassagen drängt und diese mit Hass und Desinformation bestimmt. Doch damit genug der Gegenwartsbezüge.
June 21, 2023
Sometimes I found the writing style a little stilted - in the middle when Heini relates everything - but most of this book stuns (in a good way). A real insight to the horrific machinations of Hitler's Germany (his motorcade has come to town - Frankfurt) in 1936 when neighbours are denouncing neighbours and Jews are carted away. Giving the perspective to a 19 year old girl/woman who just wants to have fun is an excellent idea in that she can expose the horror and hypocrisy with (black) humour. But even her inbuilt optimism is worn away by the relentless nature of Nazism. Fantastic stuff with many saddening episodes. For example there's a lot of fun to be had at the expense of three visiting Englishmen, but chillingly they love the new, happy, united Germany and wish England was the same.
February 24, 2017
This is such an important book that I wonder how come I had never heard of it before. But then again, as Michael Hofman writes in his excellent and informative afterword to Keun's "Child of All Nations": "I've no doubt that, had she been a man, her work would have been made available in valorous box sets and collected editions." First published in 1937, this is one of the strongest and cleverest indictments of Hitler and Nazism to see the light of print during that decade. The story is told from the point of view of Sanna, a publican's daughter, who has moved from the countryside to the city, and is currently living with her half-brother Algin, a promising writer, now blacklisted by the regime, and his wife Liska, a vapid beauty. In the first paragraph of the novel, Sanna receives a short letter from Franz announcing his imminent arrival in Frankfurt. Gradually, we learn that Franz, who is Sanna's cousin, is also her fiancé. Sanna is fully aware of Franz's goodness, but is vaguely ashamed of him because he cuts a poor figure in society. Sanna once lived in Cologne with Franz and his mother, Aunt Adelheid, but had to flee because her aunt tried to have her arrested by the police. Like many around her, Aunt Adelheid has joined the Party, in part because seeing the Führer gesticulating and covered in sweat at rallies arouses her, and partly because only party members have the power to denounce friends, relatives or neighbors whom they wish to get rid of. Keun does a brilliant job of showing how many people have been quick to seize advantage of a system where in exchange for your allegiance, you can dispatch pretty much anyone you owe money to, or happen to envy or resent. Sanna feels increasingly like a fly caught in a cobweb, trying to help friends who are even less well-equipped than she is to survive in such dangerous times. The book is perfectly paced and its climax is a long party scene at Algin's apartment, at the end of which a once combative journalist commits suicide, in despair at the hypocrisy and cowardice he sees all around him. Simultaneously, Franz finally arrives in Frankfurt, and explains to Sanna why he has to either hide or flee. At this crossroads, Sanna realizes just how much Franz means to her, and decides to leave the country with him. But she is no heroine, and is terrified of what she is taking on. While trying to make a checklist of all they need to stand a chance of surviving, Sanna is constantly distracted by people pouring into Liska's party, which has turned into a crime scene since Heini shot himself. At some point, Sanna thinks: "Perhaps they've already come to arrest Franz. Then I can stay here, it's not my fault, I did all I could, all I could." I just love this passage where Keun brilliantly shows how contradictory emotions always coexist in the human heart. Sanna is barely strong enough to do what extraordinary historical circumstances demand of her, and she'd be only too glad to be let off the hook, even if it meant losing the man she loves. This book is full of such marvelous psychological insights, and it deserves to be much more widely known than it is at present.
February 5, 2020
4.5 empowered female anti-Nazis authors out of 5
It’s isn’t often I can categorize a book as being both gorgeously and grotesquely written. Only in Nazi Germany, am I right?
I thoroughly enjoyed the display of moral ambiguity among the characters who, mostly privileged, have up until now had very little to worry about other than themselves. The political grey zone they struggle to stay afloat in, as to appease the government and also their peers, is at times atrocious. Though they spout hateful rhetoric, their internal suffering is evident. The overall sentiment is best described in this passage:
The author’s commentary is powerful, and you can picture Irmgard Keun in her Frankfurt apartment, a sly smile on her face as she inserts her—at the time, unpopular—opinions among some of her gloriously cryptic sentences.
Not only is this a work of stunning metaphorical prose, it is oh, so incredibly witty!
I can’t believe it took me this long to find out who Keun is. I’m going to be reading another one of her novellas, Gilgi, in the upcoming weeks. Pick up After Midnight, folks. You can’t get closer to day-to-day early WWII Germany than this stuff.
”The Führer doesn’t mind taking risks. He can say the word and declare war tomorrow, and kill the lot of us. We’re all in his hands.�
It’s isn’t often I can categorize a book as being both gorgeously and grotesquely written. Only in Nazi Germany, am I right?
I thoroughly enjoyed the display of moral ambiguity among the characters who, mostly privileged, have up until now had very little to worry about other than themselves. The political grey zone they struggle to stay afloat in, as to appease the government and also their peers, is at times atrocious. Though they spout hateful rhetoric, their internal suffering is evident. The overall sentiment is best described in this passage:
“It was fear made me want to be one of them; they were always ganging up on someone, one person at a time, and I didn’t want them ganging up on me. So I went along with them [...]. I felt proud when they laughed at my jokes, but I was ashamed of myself too.�
The author’s commentary is powerful, and you can picture Irmgard Keun in her Frankfurt apartment, a sly smile on her face as she inserts her—at the time, unpopular—opinions among some of her gloriously cryptic sentences.
Not only is this a work of stunning metaphorical prose, it is oh, so incredibly witty!
“But Godenheimer’s had the best and cheapest silver foxes, and buttered Frau Breutwehr up, and called her “Madam� every other sentence. So she bought the silver fox fur. When she wears it, they look like a rich fur taking a poor woman out for a walk.�
I can’t believe it took me this long to find out who Keun is. I’m going to be reading another one of her novellas, Gilgi, in the upcoming weeks. Pick up After Midnight, folks. You can’t get closer to day-to-day early WWII Germany than this stuff.
February 15, 2013
Keun’s life, who was opposed to the Nazi regime, could be the subject of a novel: at some point, she faked her own suicide to be able to live in Germany unbeknownst to the Nazis, who had put her on their black list (her books were burned). This short novel is, in a very quiet way, absolutely terrifying: by describing the daily life of a bunch of ordinary people in Frankfurt under the Nazis, she shows with an amazing eye for the details that matter how unbearable, debilitating, difficult, and suffocating, living under a dictatorship can be. Fear reigns, whatever you do, whomever you talk to, even when, like the heroine, you’re a young woman who’s not very political, a bit naive, and trying to find your place in society. What’s even more chilling is how such a regime perversely destroy all that can be positive about a community � jealousies, betrayals, denunciations, hatred, become the rule, and a whole society slowly unravel. Nothing much happens in this book, which is also one of its strength: it’s not a melodrama, nor a thriller. But the banality of evil creeps, finds its way, and permeates the lives of all the characters, turning After Midnight into one of the most effective, and devastating, account of the insanity that ruled over Nazi Germany. Bell’s translation is remarkable.
August 9, 2011
A tiny gem of a book, this is one of those books you just happen to stumble upon by chance and then it won’t let go of you. Recently re-released here in the US, it has a small but loyal following who do their best to get it more wide acclaim and for good reason. Part of the Neversink Library (which I’ve mentioned in prior reviews) this is one of those books that you hold onto and keep for future generations to enjoy even though it may not be a best seller. With a simple storyline and even thinner plot, it is an easy read that somehow manages to invoke the spirit and essence of the time period with few extraneous details. While that may sound like a bad thing, it’s not. Instead, it’s the simplistic nature of this book that gives its beauty and timeless appeal. Recommended to all lover’s of literary fiction and short story aficionados.
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