Customer Reviews

Floating in My Mother's Palm

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4 star:		(8)
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2 star:		(1)
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The question here is which book to you read first the prequel - "Stones from the River" or "Floating in My Mother's Palm"? I read SFTR first and found this a little less in depth, while at the same time continuing on the lives of the characters introduced one generation earlier as viewed from the post WWII generation. This book answers several questions I had regarding the seemingly meandering ending for SFTR, and now helps it all make sense. I suppose if I had read this, I would have given "Stones" 5 stars instead of 4 stars. Some of the stories are ordinary while others are extremely touching. All loosely connect to each other.

Any way you do it, don't read one of these two books without reading the other.

If Ursula Hegi's "Floating In My Mother's Palm" doesn't read like a novel, it's because it is a collection of loosely but seamlessly connected short stories which offer the reader a delectable taste of provincial life in post-war Germany. The unifying factor is Hanna Malter, a young girl growing up in the small town of Burgdorf amidst a seemingly large and disparate cast of characters who in one way or another shape her childhood experiences. These stories tell of idiosyncracies, deformities, illegimacy, masochism, incest, dark premonitions, murder, suicide, madness, magic and healing, but in the most gentle, lyrical and dream like way possible, ie a million miles away from the cheap sensationalism common to purveyors of pulp fiction. Each story is complete in itself and without exception, beautifully told. Readers of this wonderful collection of vignettes is going to have his own personal favourites. Therein lies the fun - it's like choosing from a box of chocolates. There is a pervading sense of sadness in these tales which spring from the religious limitations and provincial-mindedness of a society on the fringe, but you're never conscious of it until it's over and you get the chance to reflect on it. Hegi's talent and integrity as a writer is self evident in the way she has achieved the near impossible, that of transforming characters with the makings of a grotesque into believable human beings. The result is a poetic and strangely uplifting novel that is a joy to read. Highly recommended.

I loved this book of small town characters described by a young girl growing up in Germany in the 50-ies. Hegi writes here the way Fellini made movies, her choice of words is stunning. I read this book before reading "Stones from the River". "Stones" gave me explanations for the mysteries in "Floating". These mysteries make "Floating" the book it is, this is how young Hanna sees the people around her. "Stones" describes the previous 40 or so years, and if you read it first, "Floating" won't be mysterious, it will be just short evolution of characters from before, and you won't be able to identify with Hanna, because you'll know too much. So if you have a choice, read "Floating" first.

Ursula Hegi uses her usual hypnotic prose in this book, which flows like the water in the rivers that she loves, even as fast as 8 kilometers per hour like the Rhein. The stories continue to flow seamlessly, through her whole book. Yes, "stories," as even though the book is a novel, it is composed of chapters, which are in fact free standing stories in and of themselves. All the stories are narrated by her protagonist, but each story could be lifted out of the book, and be self-contained.

Her subject of each story is unique, and yet it is all mixed with her wondrous elucidation of the struggles, feelings and progression of the German people in `reconstruction' after the World War II. The people left, in so many country towns of Germany, in the aftermath of the war. These people were only trying to live; before, during and after the war. They were not part of the political maelstrom we call National Socialism. Their lives were very much more simple than that, and they did suffer quite terribly, yet they stoically went on, as people have proved in every corner of the globe, that this is what human beings do. They pick up what is left and go on.

Hegi does not concentrate on the effects of the war, they are coincident with the life that is found in post-World War II Germany. Hegi concentrates upon the life of her protagonist, a very smart and very sensitive young lady, from age 7 through about 14, as she grows up in this environment. The problems that she encounters though are the normal problems that all people encounter in every environment. Only the backdrop has to do with where they are and what the landscape is like. Hegi pays attention to that, but not overly, it is the people that are her subject: from Love to Death, from teenage pregnancy to sexual child abuse, from amputation to neural disease, these are the things that Hegi speaks about, and how they affect her narrator as she grows up in the midst of it. As she grows up in life, perhaps wherever she might be.

Hegi writes modern day literature. It is worthy of the classification, and will endure the test of time. All readers who enjoy wonderfully written contemporary literature should not miss the opportunity to indulge themselves in Hegi's book.

I have read her novel, Stones from the River, and because of that novel, I didn't hesitate to buy this one. I still don't regret buying this novel. It's beautifully written, lyrically so and haunting.

Hanna loses her mother at a young age but this book is not only a reflection of her mother, but of the people and their stories in her town. Told from Hanna's point of view and at different ages, the people in that town becomes alive through her eyes. She makes them real. She makes their stories real and valid.

It is an emotional book ~~ where her housekeeper's son finds out he's illegimate; where she watches her childhood friend raped by her grandfather give up the baby she had come to love; watches her neighbor in the apartment above them give himself to man after man who degrades him. And other stories as well.

This is a book perfect for reading groups to read and to discuss ~~ there are lots of different stories in here and it's not written poorly like too many other books out there today.

12-18-03

RECOLLECTION OF A YOUNG LIFE BEFORE THE DEATH OF HER MOTHER. The book is aptly named. Floating in my Mother's palm is a girl's (Hanna) recollection of different bits and pieces of her life before her other-than-conventional mother (Jutta) died in a small town (Burgdorf) in post WWII Germany. Through out the stories, Hanna recollects, you can see the guiding post of her mother at each important point.

FLOATING.. IS THE FIRST OF TWO BOOKS, BUT IS SET LATER IN TIME. The second book is Stones from the River, which chronicles the life of Trudi Montag; a young dwarf woman that is one of the key characters in young Hanna's life. I would recommend reading "Stones from the River" prior to this book as it sets the stage for many of the characters in this book. However, these are differently constructed books. I found myself trying to link the facts (they were consistent) and found, I might be missing the point of the story. It's not the details but the interweaving of events that fashion a life. Stones from the River uses the details of a very different life to weave the story of Trudi Montag. Floating uses broader strokes to paint Hanna's tale.

HANNA LIKE TRUDI, LEARNS FROM THE OUTSIDERS VIEWPOINT Hanna's unconventional mother Jutta is a painter and is close to her daughter in an different sense. She passes on to her daughter her "unclouded" view of people and society and with this Hanna experiences many different sides of the small town she grows up in. Trudi Montag, the town grape vine, also adds to this unique view as she is only too happy to provide Hanna with the knowledge of the town's darker side.

A short book in comparison with Stones from the River, but one very complete in its own sense.

This book, written before "Stones from the River" is almost a collection of stories that, taken together, form a novel about a townspeople's postwar lives in Nazi Germany. The glue that binds the pieces is their presentation from one girl's point of view. And it works--this thin book is rich in understanding of what emotions, fears, and desires drive actions in individual lives. Each chapter ends with vivid imagery, poetic, is metaphoric; each is a story in itself. It's different than Stones from the River, but there is no need to make comparisions--each is wonderful in its own right.

These stories were really wonderful vignettes of characters developed in "Stones From the River" (though the latter book was published later, I believe). I selected this book after reading "Stones" and "Salt Dancers", and liked this one the best of all. Hegi's writing is tight, sparse, and clean in this "novel" and Hanna, the teller of the tales, (and the baby to whom Trudi from "Stones" was so attached), is a fine observer of the both the strengths and weaknesses of her fellow townspeople - yet she is sympathetic in her recounting of some personal and pivotal time in each person's life. I've wondered whether my enjoyment of this book stems from having met some of these characters from "Stones" - but I actually enjoyed this book more. "Stones" provided the broad narrative for several decades of history in their little German town while "Floating in my Mother's Palm" sheds light on the more personal stories of these characters. Strongly recommend this book

There are two things that must come together to form an excellent novel - a good story and the ability to find the words to tell it. Hegi is a master storyteller and gifted in her use of language to convey strong characters in memorable settings. Floating in My Mother's Palm is a first person account of the childhood of its main character, Hanna. As Hanna recounts aspects of her life that shaped her character and perspective, she introduces you to other characters in the town of Burgdorf and provides a view into their lives that make the town and its people real in every aspect. Each character is reminiscent of someone I've known from my own life. Its remarkable how the lives of characters from a small town in Germany can be so similar to those in Anytown, USA. The situations may be different but the issues are the same. Many of the characters in the novel appear in other work by Hegi, making the body of her work an intimate experience, leaving the reader feeling like they are getting closer and closer to each character with each novel read. Hegi's writing has never disappointed me.

There are few better artists than Hegi when it comes to evoking a sense of longing and hope as she delves deeply into the created characters. I was transported into the lives of these memorable individuals and will forever have a difficult time in leaving them behind. Bravo! I will read any Hegi material I can get my hands on!