Daniel Kehlmann masterfully weaves the fates of many historical figures into this enchanting and picturesque book of magical realism and adventure. It is the story of the 17th century vagabond performer and trickster Tyll Ulenspiegel that begins before he is enshrined in rumors and myths. We meet him as a scrawny boy growing up in a quiet village. When his father, a miller with an interest in alchemy and magic, is found out by the church, Tyll is forced to flee with the baker's daughter, Nele. They find safety and companionship with a traveling performer who teaches Tyll his trade. This begins a journey of discovery and performance for Tyll as he travels through a world devastated by the Thirty Year's War, and encountering along the way a young scholar, a hangman, the German poet Paul Fleming, a fraudulent Jesuit scholar, and the exiled royal couple Elizabeth and Frederick of Bohemia among many others--building his sardonic reputation all the while.
Patron comment on 12/31/2020
Daniel Kehlmann, a prize-winning and leading German author, sets this tale in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) and inhabits the story with a well-known character from folklore who has reappeared in German literature throughout the centuries, Tyll Ulenspiegel. Regarding Tyll, a sharp-tongued, recalcitrant and itinerant acrobatic jester, the first half of the book is a bit of bildungsroman. Later as Tyll roams the country through the years of the Thirty-Years War he is witness to some of the key events, persons and battles, not unlike the story of Forest Gump and 1960’s America. A good representation of the brutal period of the Thirty Years War with many intriguing passages show off Kehlmann’s literary prowess; however, not to dissuade anyone from reading this fine book, I found the story did not really find its center, lacking balance between events of the war and Tyll’s character and connection to them. I think Kehlmann missed an opportunity to use the character of a jester for philosophical enquiry and reflection as Shakespeare did so well with Fool in ‘King Lear’. Note that German readers would probably be more familiar with events and persons of the Thirty Years War than others – a war by many measures the most destructive war in Western history.