A Quiet Little MysterySchlink, B. (2007). Self’s Deception. New York: Vintage/Black Lizard. (Translated from the German by Peter Constantine).It’s been a long time since I’ve been in Heidelberg, and I enjoyed this book’s descriptions of life along the Neckar. Gerhard Self is a PI hired by phone to track down the missing daughter of a Bonn diplomat. He smells something fishy since the client won’t meet him in person, but since the client pays very generously in cash, Self takes the case. He finds out that the young woman recently died in a mental hospital. But that smells fishy too, and he can’t corroborate the story. Soon he does find the woman in hiding, and he finds murdered, the psychiatrist who told him she was dead. Then he learns the police are looking for the girl. Hmmm. Rather than report back to his client that the girl is found and the case is closed, he has an instinct to protect her because something is not right. That is Self’s deception. It leads him into situations he did not anticipate. The woman may or may not be a former terrorist, and now he is guilty of harboring her. It’s a very atmospheric story, well crafted and enjoyable to read. But as with so many mystery stories, it does not resolve well. In the last two chapters, there are pages and pages of explanation of “what really happened.” That’s how writers bail out a story that lost its way. Despite a flagging pace and the weak ending, I enjoyed the character and his scenery. Herr Self often muses on things in an interesting way:“I don’t know why Klara and I never had any children... We were not very happy together; but no clear links have ever been drawn between marital unhappiness and childlessness, or marital happiness and an abundance of children. I’d have like to have been a widower with a daughter, but that is a disrespectful wish, and I’ve only admitted it to myself in my old age, when I no longer keep any secrets from myself.”Such interesting passages are a tribute to the skill of translator Constantine.
I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by how good this book was. It started off a bit rocky and I was wondering if I had made an impulse buy that I would regret. But I persisted with it and in time, I found I was really enjoying the story and I couldn't put it down anymore![return][return]The story is set in the late 1980's / early 1990's (I found myself looking for clues as to the time period but I couldn't pin it down exactly. Bush Snr is the US president and it sounds like East Germany is still there so it must be between 1988 and 1990). Gerhard Self is a German private investigator based in Heidelberg with a Nazi past. He is hired by a father to find his missing daughter. But from the beginning, everything smells wrong. 10,000 Deutschemarks turns up in an envelope, the father refuses to meet in person and other people are looking for the daughter too - including a former terrorist and the German security services.[return][return]Self soon finds himself not only investigating the disappearance of the girl but also finding out why so many people are interested in her. Soon those same people start to come after Self himself when they realise he has stumbled upon their deception.[return][return]Quite a well-written story but it does have the tendency to drag a little which is why I only gave it four stars. I also think the last couple of chapters were unnecessary and the story could have ended sooner on a neater note. But these are minor quibbles. Good job Herr Schlink! :-)
What do You think about Self's Deception (2007)?
SCHLINK, Bernhard: „Selbs Betrug“, Zürich 1994Und wieder ein Kriminalroman. Dabei mag ich Krimis nicht. Es ist aber flüssig und angenehm zu lesen. Zerstreut. Leitet an nicht abzubrechen. So ist es ein angenehmes Lesen. Eine sehr gute Zerstreuung. Der Privatdetektiv Selb sucht diesmal ein Mädchen. Er bekommt einen Auftrag und eine hohe Anzahlung vom angeblichen Vater, der sich nach ersten Ermittlung klar als Nicht-Vater herausstellt. Letztendlich wird er vom Ermittler zum Beteiligten. Er versucht das Mädchen zu retten und wird selbst eingesperrt. Eine ungewöhnliche Geschichte. Amüsant und spannend.„Früher dachte ich, mit dem Abitur ist man aus dem Gröbsten raus, später setzte ich auf Studienabschluss, Eheschließung und Berufsaufnahme, schließlich auf den Eintritt in den Witwerstand. Aber es geht einfach immer so weiter.“ (Seite 180)„Man denkt immer, dass bei den Psycholeuten mehr dahinter steckt, aber warum eigentlich? Ich bin auch bei der Bank und habe kein Geld.“ (Seite 184)„So kamen zur Angst auch die Selbstvorwürfe. Wie ich mich im Bett auch legte, ich lag falsch. Ob ich die Augen aufhatte oder zu – die Gedanken drehten sich im selben Kreis. Sie drehten sich dumm und wund – bis der Morgen graute, die Vögel sangen, ich geduscht hatte und wieder mein waches, vernünftiges, skeptisches Selbst war.“ (Seite 206)(Khasab, 13.05.2011)
—Johann Guenther
I like Schlink's style and how he uses the device of the detective to delve into Germany's complex past (and present psyche). Here our aging detective, named Gerhard Self, stumbles upon a plot involving aging 60s radicals, a coverup of an "action" by police and the Americans who want to hide the existence of poison gas reserves on parkland, left over from two World Wars. I read this on my iPhone in bite-sized snacks, my third. It take a strong plot to withstand the constant page turning and long gaps between reading sessions.
—Nick
