Reading series «Das andere Buch an der Uni»
- Peter Weber reads from «Die melodielosen Jahre»
- Library of the University of St. Gallen, under the cupola
- Thursday, 29 November 2007, 7.30 pm
- Free entry. Reading in German
- Chair: Professor Andreas Härter, Titular Professor for German Language and Literature, University of St.Gallen (HSG)
About the book
A period of stagnation, a time to pause. In the years following reunification and at the same time as society was rediscovering itself in music, Oliver notices that tunes are disappearing and repetition is soon the order of the day. The electronic era begins. The Säntis is emitting cacophony and decibel squalls, three-winged, white windmills, rotating backwards and forwards, creating winds that whirl Oliver through time. His travels take him to riverbanks, to forbidden tracks, through the sky. He visits cities by freshwater and saltwater lakes in different types of vehicles. And time and again he lands in the noisy present, in Zurich, Istanbul and in the large, semantic orchestra of Frankfurt.
Twentieth century creatures wander with Oliver throughout the book. Talking horses advise him in London to “Follow the drums and bass!” And indeed, the music takes the lead. Oliver observes tone and rhythm changes and their effect on body and language, follows the disappearance and reappearance of the tunes and sound sequences of love. Peter Weber has created a polyrhythmic miracle and shows that it is the music that plays in the novel.
About the author
Peter Weber was born in 1968 in Wattwil/Toggenburg. Since his school days, he has lived for many years in Zurich and since 1992 has often travelled around Switzerland on a Swiss Federal Railway (SBB) season ticket.
His first novel “Der Wettermacher” came out in 1993 (published by Suhrkamp), followed by “Silber und Salbader” and “Bahnhofsprosa”. He won the 2004/2005 literary prize awarded by the town of Bergen-Enkheim near Frankfurt. As well as numerous prizes both in Switzerland and abroad, he also won this year’s Solothurn Literary Award.