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the Complete Review
the complete review - poem



Vom Schnee

by
Durs Grünbein


general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

To purchase Vom Schnee


Title: Vom Schnee
Author: Durs Grünbein
Genre: Poem
Written: 2003
Length: 142 pages
Original in: German
Availability: Vom Schnee - Deutschland
  • oder Descartes in Deutschland
  • Vom Schnee has not yet been translated into English

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Our Assessment:

B+ : impressive, accessible novel in verse

See our review for fuller assessment.



Review Summaries
Source Rating Date Reviewer
Frankfurter Rundschau A 26/11/2003 Jürgen Verdofsky
Neue Zürcher Zeitung . 6/10/2003 Angelika Overath
Die Welt . 27/12/2003 Alexander von Bormann
Die Zeit . 9/10/2003 Andreas Nentwich


  From the Reviews:
  • "Als sei das Versepos zurückgekehrt: Eine Gelehrtengeschichte in ihren Auf- und Abschwüngen, ohne dass etwas stockt. Mit Grünbeins klarschöner, auch sinnlichen Sprache kann man nicht lassen von einem genialen Denker. Es ist, als könne man Descartes neu entdecken, ja, sogar verstehen. Und das bleibt das Besondere an dieser Verserzählung des Dichters Durs Grünbein." - Jürgen Verdofsky, Frankfurter Rundschau

  • "Die Szenerien sind melancholisch-heiter wie eine holländische Winterlandschaft, grundsätzlich wie ein flämisches Stillleben, irritierend wie ein Trompe l'oeil. (...) Grünbeins Gesänge haben ganz fraglos traumhafte Zeilen, wunderbar intelligente, frische Dialogsequenzen, kostbare Bilder und Reflexe, auf die Länge aber erhalten sie etwas von einer üppig dahinrollenden Beliebigkeit." - Angelika Overath, Neue Zürcher Zeitung

  • "Grünbein hält sich weitgehend an den barocken Alexandriner, sechs Jamben mit einer Zäsur, immer wieder auch (frei) gereimt. Das Maß leistet, was Grünbein dem Schnee zuschreibt: Es modelliert die Wirklichkeit und übersetzt sie in schöne Kurven. Wenn das Metrum immer wieder stolpert, können wir das vielleicht als Widerstand des Materials auffassen. Etwas schade gleichwohl, wenn man an die hochelegante Geschmeidigkeit denkt, die etwa ein Wieland diesem Vers abzugewinnen vermocht hat. Das Hauptmanko: Grünbein hat keine Theorie und Praxis der Zäsur." - Alexander von Bormann, Die Welt

  • "So enervierend es sein mag, wenn Grünbein als der ewige Klassenprimus des erkenntnistheoretischen Zweifels mit seinem entschiedenen Jein zur Zeit die offenen Türen der Feuilletons einrennt oder jede Sorgenfalte seines "babylonischen Hirns" für die Nachwelt wortreich präpariert und einlegt: Die "eidetische Sprungbereitschaft und Assoziationskraft" dieses Hirns ist immer wieder atemberaubend. Mit ihr ist Grünbein seiner eigenen neurophysiologischen Begrifflichkeit voraus und generell den Aporien jenes Rationalismus, für den der Name Descartes steht wie kein anderer." - Andreas Nentwich, Die Zeit

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       Vom Schnee is essentially a novel in verse. It consists of forty-two cantos, each consisting of seven ten-line verses. There are two parts to the book: the first covers cantos 1 to 31, and is devoted to the events of the winter of 1619-20, which philosopher René Descartes spent in Germany. The second part moves ahead in time -- ultimately to Descartes' death.
       Grünbein's focus on the winter of 1619-20 is a reasonable choice, and poetically and dramatically effectively rendered. Grünbein sees this as pivotal station in Descartes' life. Here we have the famous dreams and Descartes' embrace of method; here we have the man becoming the philosopher, forced by his situation (and permitted by circumstances) to literally see the world in a whole new way.
       Grünbein deftly allows philosophy to spring forth from the everyday. He patiently allows his story to unfold. The bitterly cold German winter of that year, Descartes' isolation in a small German town, and the unrest throughout Europe (and especially in central Europe, where the Thirty Years War had just begun) make for the prevalent atmosphere. Descartes is almost alone with his thoughts -- allowing them time to gestate and take on form, as he spins out the ideas and dares consider the consequences. Practically his only conversation partner is his servant, Gillot, -- a useful device for forcing straightforward expression, as Descartes tries to explain his thoughts to this simpler man.
       Descartes' thoughts are philosophical: questions of sense, experience, being. The heavy snows have blanketed everything in white, a cover hiding the world and giving Descartes the added push to turn inwards: "Was soll mir Außenwelt ? Hier gehts um Innenschau." ("What is the outside world to me ? This is about intro-spection.") Even his servant recognises that this -- the snow-covered ground like a truly blank slate -- is:

        -- ein idealer Boden
Für den Discours, Monsieur. Allez ! Für die Methode.

       (-- an ideal ground
For the Discours, Monsieur. Allez ! For the method.)
       It's in his dreams that Descartes travels into a deeper void, pushing him to the greater intellectual leap. At first he can't figure out how to consider it:
       Von Logik blieb -- nur Langeweile.
Nutzlos die Sinne dort, vertauscht war Raum und Zeit.
Allein, ich kam nicht weit.

       (Of logic remained -- only boredom.
Useless, senses there, time and space were switched.
Alone, I didn't get far.)
       Understanding (and explanation) comes as he proceeds -- but the world won't be held at bay entirely either: reality also intrudes. Grünbein admirably conveys both the intellectual thrill in which Descartes can lose himself, as well as the everyday frustrations and the boredom and the cold. The servant is a useful counterpart, and not too simply used -- he's no mere fool, there solely to make Descartes look better.
       With the descriptions of Descartes and his actions, and with his conversations (there is a great deal of dialogue throughout the book) Grünbein creates a lifelike fiction. This Descartes isn't simply a man of mind, nor is he, conversely, simply all flesh and blood with a few insights that separate him from the average man. Grünbein uses Descartes' philosophy and thoughts to build up the fictional character, and he does so very well over the fairly limited space of the book.
       The second part advances more quickly, practically a retrospective of Descartes' life after that fateful winter -- though there are again periods of monotony and suffering, inescapable even in Descartes' later life. Here familiarity with Descartes' life, and a general impression of his philosophy is used as Grünbein brings him to his end (in contrast to the first part, where Grünbein himself reworks the philosophy for the reader in moulding his character).
       The book reads differently from much of Grünbein's poetry, as he allows himself to take up all this space and go along with actual narrative (and conversation) at a comfortable pace. The rhymes can be a bit forced, but for the most part Vom Schnee reads easily, and from considerations of absolute nothingness to moments of lightning-strike drama Grünbein tells a good story along the way.
       An unusual achievement, but certainly worthwhile.

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Links:

Vom Schnee: Reviews: Descartes: Durs Grünbein: Other books by Durs Grünbein under review: Other books of interest under review:

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About the Author:

       Durs Grünbein was born in Dresden in 1962. He has won many literary prizes, including the 1995 Georg Büchner Prize.

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© 2003-2008 the complete review

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