Go, Went, Gone
Jenny Erpenbeck · b. 1967 · Germany
Originally Gehen, ging, gegangen (German) · translated by Susan Bernofsky
Why it matters
A retired East Berlin classics professor grows entangled in the lives of African refugees camped in his newly reunified city. Erpenbeck turns bureaucratic indifference into the novel's real antagonist.
At a glance
political novelpsychological novel
Difficulty 5/10medium pace320 pagesClear prose, but bureaucratic documentation is woven throughout deliberately.
Deep dive
A retired East Berlin classics professor, once a citizen of a country that dissolved overnight, starts interviewing African refugees camped in his newly reunified city — and finds his professional distance from their bureaucratic limbo harder to keep than he expected.
Where to go next
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