Go, Went, Gone

By: Jenny Erpenbeck

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

New York Times Notable Book2018; Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2018; Lois Roth Award Winner

An unforgettable German bestseller about the European refugee crisis: “Erpenbeck will get under your skin” (Washington Post Book World)

Go, Went, Gone is the masterful new novel by the acclaimed German writer Jenny Erpenbeck, “one of the most significant German-language novelists of her generation” (The Millions). The novel tells the tale of Richard, a retired classics professor who lives in Berlin. His wife has died, and he lives a routine existence until one day he spies some African refugees staging a hunger strike in Alexanderplatz. Curiosity turns to compassion and an inner transformation, as he visits their shelter, interviews them, and becomes embroiled in their harrowing fates. Go, Went, Gone is a scathing indictment of Western policy toward the European refugee crisis, but also a touching portrait of a man who finds he has more in common with the Africans than he realizes. Exquisitely translated by Susan Bernofsky, Go, Went, Gone addresses one of the most pivotal issues of our time, facing it head-on in a voice that is both nostalgic and frightening.

©2017 Albrecht Knaus Verlag, A Division of Verlagsgruppe Random House Gmb H; Translation Copyright by Susan Bernofsky (P)2019 New Directions Publishing Corporation

The programmed lives we tread

Amazing perspective and story of a man that wakes up one day from the established daily customs and repetition to discover raw, painful experiences of African boat people. Very moving book.

Making the invisible visible

The story of an academic at the end of his career and alone finding purpose and meaning in his encounter with and support of a group of refugees who also find themselves alone and abandoned by a world without an interest in seeing them. The novel doesn’t just contrast the teacher’s privilege with the refugees’ desperation, it also juxtaposes the prosaic everydayness of his life with the profound histories of theirs.

A quietly beautiful and important novel.

I loved everything about this book

I think this book is masterfully constructed and narrated. It breaks your heart and makes its statement by creating characters so relatable and juxtaposing the mundane of life with huge themes.

Excellent

I like the parallels drawn of German food, customs, cultural stories with the African ones. Also the specifics of Niger and the Tuareg culture.

Performance

This book was horribly miscast. It is unimaginable how this casting could've been decided upon. Tragic really.