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Birgit Vanderbeke
Geld oder Leben
(Your Money or Your Life)
S. Fischer Verlag, August 2003. 140 pp. As a child she believes in chocolate, while her grandmother believes in mushrooms and hats. Her mother believes in the family, and her father believes in the West. Everybody believes in something, but sooner or later it comes down to one choice: money or life? In her latest novel, Birgit Vanderbeke takes on the big issues - capitalism, politics and value-systems. Her protagonist is a middle-aged woman, who reflects on how she became the person she is, rejecting belief in the great intangibles - Love, World Peace, the Family - along the way. She remembers her decisive experiences, tying them in with the political and economic developments of the period. Her life is typical of many of her generation, reflecting the move from East to West Germany, the 'economic miracle', the break-up of the family, and the disillusionment with capitalism. This is the fictional biography of a German anti-consumer; a poetic account of a woman with 'no logo'.
The themes are serious, but Vanderbeke presents them in her customary light and playful style. The apparent naivety of tone and the easy sophistication for which her previous works were praised are once again apparent here. In Vanderbeke's elegant prose, complex issues appear deceptively simple. In telling the story of one woman's search for something to believe in, she paints a portrait of an era, and presents the reader with a challenge: what do you believe in?
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