Child of All Nations by Irmgard Keun
I first stumbled across the writing of Irmgard Keun in 2013, when I picked up her book “After Midnight” in (old) Foyles as it sounded excellent. It was, and I reviewed it here, and was keen to read more of her work. “Child of All Nations” came my way via ReadItSwapIt shortly after, but it’s taken the impetus of WIT month to get me to pick it up…
The book is translated by Michael Hofmann, who’s also responsible for many translations of Joseph Roth and he provides a useful afterword too. The story is told from the point of view of Kully, a nine-year old girl who’s leading anything but a conventional life. Her father is a writer, and he and her mother and Kully herself are on the move in 1930s Europe (the book was published in 1938). They cannot return to Germany because Kully’s father is obviously persona non grata because of his writing and his views.
When I was in Germany, before, I did go to school, and that’s where I learned to read and write. Then my father didn’t want to be in Germany any more, because the government had locked up friends of his, and because he couldn’t write or say the things he wanted to write and say. I wonder what the point is of children in Germany still having to read and write?
However, the family is a very dysfunctional one: Kully’s father is permanently penniless, and he drags the girl and her mother from place to place trying to borrow from friends and acquaintances, get advances on books or payments for articles. Often the two females are left behind in a hotel as a kind of surety while he goes off to get cash – how he ever manages to write is a mystery! And sometimes the absences are longer ones, and you find yourself reading between the lines and suspecting there are other women involved.
The family is constantly shifting location, taking in Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Marseilles and Italy amongst other places, and all the time there is the threat of starvation and their political enemies. Finally, Kully’s father decides to try his hand across the Atlantic and here things take a stomach-churning turn. The end is suitably ambiguous and it is unclear whether this fractured family will ever be whole.
In the morning when we woke up, the whole world was different. The sky was three times as big and three times as high as anywhere else, and it was such a brilliant blue that it hurt your eyes. We passed bare-looking mountains with strange black and silver trees growing on them.
Using a child as a narrator is always going to carry risks, but I felt that Keun got the tone just right. Kully is an engaging companion in this story, innocent and yet knowing, and Keun cleverly has her reveal more than she knows without realising it. As adult readers we recognise the meanings of events that Kully does not, and Keun handles this element brilliantly. The girl is remarkably self-reliant, yet vulnerable at the same time, over-reaching herself and getting into scrapes. And because she’s a child, people talk freely in front of her thinking that she doesn’t understand or isn’t listening, when of course she’s a remarkably sharp observer.
“Child of All Nations” was an excellent portrait of the dispossessed of Europe during the 1930s. All through the book the shadow of what was to come is lurking in the background and of course we know what Keun could not, i.e. what would hit Europe in 1939. If I had a criticism to make it would be that the American section somehow seems a little unnecessary and doesn’t quite gel with the rest of the book. Despite this, however, I got very attached to Kully and her story and I definitely want to read more of Keun’s work.
Aug 22, 2015 @ 07:31:38
I have had this book for years and I did pull it as a potential read for the month. Not sure if I will have time at this point but your review has made me keen to read it soon.
Aug 22, 2015 @ 08:30:20
It’s a lovely and thought-provoking read – I hope you get to it sometime soon.
Aug 22, 2015 @ 09:05:20
I’ve heard of this author (possibly in connection with Joseph Roth) but have yet to read any of her work. It can be tricky to strike the right note with child narrators, but it sounds as though Kuen handled this very effectively.
Aug 22, 2015 @ 10:22:09
She did – the voice is authentic, a mixture of naive and knowing, and very cleverly reveals more than it says.
Aug 22, 2015 @ 09:25:13
Never heard of this author, but the story sounds fascinating, I often love books with a child narrator.
Aug 22, 2015 @ 10:21:23
I think you’d like it Ali – and the child narrator is brilliantly done.
Aug 22, 2015 @ 12:35:40
Thanks for reminding me how much I liked this book. Liked — and it has great humor — but also made sad. My post: https://silverseason.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/child-of-all-nations/
Aug 22, 2015 @ 15:42:53
Yes, I remember reading your review and you’re right – it is very poignant and the thought of what might happen to the family is very sad.
Aug 24, 2015 @ 09:18:30
Sounds very interesting and you did so well in WIT month, I’m impressed!
Aug 24, 2015 @ 13:58:52
Thank you – and it’s a good read!
Aug 25, 2015 @ 20:38:15
This is the only one of Keun’s novels I have read (I reviewed it a few years ago). I also found the American section unsatisfactory, but felt the child narrator provided an interesting insight into the parents characters. I should really have tried After Midnight by now!
Aug 25, 2015 @ 21:15:36
I agree – the book’s so cleverly written, so that Kully reveals much more than she appears to know. Do try After Midnight – I thought it was excellent.
Aug 30, 2015 @ 19:29:51
Sounds fascinating! I’m not familiar with this writer, but German literature in translation seems not to be scarce in the U.S. right now. It’s too bad: they’re even cutting German departments out of the universities. I’m always glad to hear of a writer I don’t know. One more for the list!
Aug 30, 2015 @ 20:47:52
She’s not an author I’d heard of till I stumbled on her book in Foyles (good old Foyles!), and I’m glad I did because she’s very good. I like a lot of German authors!
Sep 01, 2015 @ 07:16:04
Apr 16, 2016 @ 06:05:03
The 1938 Club: welcome! – Stuck in a Book
Apr 16, 2016 @ 20:14:07