Fame: A Novel in Nine Episodes by Daniel Kehlmann is a switch from the types of books I have been reading lately (mostly YA fantasy fiction and mystery). As the title indicates, it is a novel weaved together through a collection of nine stories. It is also translated from German.
I don’t like to be pigeonholed in my reading and I find it enjoyable to occasionally read something very different from your normal routine. Fame fit the bill. Plus, it is a quick read – which is a bonus – and it grabbed my attention at the book store.
Here is the book flap blurb that intrigued me:
Imagine being famous. Being recognized on the street, adored by people who have never even met you, known the world over. Wouldn’t that be great?
But what if, one day, you got stuck in a country where celebrity means nothing, where no one spoke your language and you didn’t speak theirs, where no one knew your face (no book jackets, no TV) and you had no way of calling home? How would your fame help you then?
What if someone got hold of your cell phone? What if they spoke to your girlfriends, your agent, your director, and started making decisions for you? And worse, what if no one believed you were you anymore? When you saw a look-alike acting your roles for you, what would you do?
And what if one day you realized your magnum opus, like everything else you’d ever written, was a total waste of time, empty nonsense? What would you do next? Would your audience of seven million people keep you going? Or would you lose the capacity to keep on doing it?
It turned out to be an enjoyable and interesting experiment. You can argue whether the collection of stories really adds up to a novel or whether some of the stories are perhaps a bit too clever but I found them entertaining and even thought provoking. read more »
