Read more with Elke Heidenreich: Patti Smith »Book of Days« and »Conversations about the Face«

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Elke Heidenreich, author and book critic

Do you remember what we used to draw as children?

Dot, dot, comma, dash - the moon face is done.

It's that simple. We are eight billion people in the world and eight billion have their own, different faces.

Let's disregard identical twins for a moment, but they aren't always exactly the same either.

How can it be that the eyes, mouth and nose, this area of ​​the face with which we first meet other people, is different for everyone?

Two authors asked themselves that: Ursula March and Luzia Braun.

You probably know them both as readers.

Luzia Braun was an editor for the Literary Quartet and moderated Aspects on ZDF for 13 years.

And Ursula March still delights us with book reviews in Kulturzeit on 3sat.

And she was a long-time employee, literary critic of Die Zeit.

So two smart women from the media asked themselves: What's the deal with the face?

And have made a really exciting book about it.

It's a bit dazzling now.

I try to keep it easy for them to read.

The book is called »Seeing Oneself« and it has silver paper on the front

so that they can already see themselves on the book.

And this book has 19 interviews with people about their faces.

The face is the stage of the soul.

And on this stage we reveal our feelings.

Anger, sadness, love, pain, rage, sorrow can all be seen in the face.

And the question also arises, as is often said, that from the age of 50 or 60 you are responsible for your face.

Are we responsible for ourselves?

By what is the face made?

And you asked 19 different people that and held up a mirror to everyone and everyone had something to complain about.

Peter Sloterdijk, the philosopher, immediately pushed the mirror aside and said, "I don't want to see it, one of them had to look like me." The others said, well, if I can see myself, my nose is too big.

Or I have too many wrinkles or my thin hair.

Only one said, "Well, that's me, I look good!

I've also invested a lot in my teeth!« and that was the boxer Axel Schulz.

Ironically, a boxer is the only one who is satisfied with his face.

They interview an old woman, a young woman, a black woman, a man who lost his face in an accident.

It was burned and had to be transplanted with a new face.

You are talking to Wolfgang Joop, who has had a few things done.

And anyway, the question is always today: Did you have anything done?

And Joop says, why shouldn't you help nature?

But he also criticizes the plump plumped up lips, calling them pornographic lips.

I think that's a wonderful expression.

And so these conversations about the face become conversations about life, about dissatisfaction with oneself, what you can do and what you can't do.

« and that was the boxer Axel Schulz.

Ironically, a boxer is the only one who is satisfied with his face.

They interview an old woman, a young woman, a black woman, a man who lost his face in an accident.

It was burned and had to be transplanted with a new face.

You are talking to Wolfgang Joop, who has had a few things done.

And anyway, the question is always today: Did you have anything done?

And Joop says, why shouldn't you help nature?

But he also criticizes the plump plumped up lips, calling them pornographic lips.

I think that's a wonderful expression.

And so these conversations about the face become conversations about life, about dissatisfaction with oneself, what you can do and what you can't do.

« and that was the boxer Axel Schulz.

Ironically, a boxer is the only one who is satisfied with his face.

They interview an old woman, a young woman, a black woman, a man who lost his face in an accident.

It was burned and had to be transplanted with a new face.

You are talking to Wolfgang Joop, who has had a few things done.

And anyway, the question is always today: Did you have anything done?

And Joop says, why shouldn't you help nature?

But he also criticizes the plump plumped up lips, calling them pornographic lips.

I think that's a wonderful expression.

And so these conversations about the face become conversations about life, about dissatisfaction with oneself, what you can do and what you can't do.

Ironically, a boxer is the only one who is satisfied with his face.

They interview an old woman, a young woman, a black woman, a man who lost his face in an accident.

It was burned and had to be transplanted with a new face.

You are talking to Wolfgang Joop, who has had a few things done.

And anyway, the question is always today: Did you have anything done?

And Joop says, why shouldn't you help nature?

But he also criticizes the plump plumped up lips, calling them pornographic lips.

I think that's a wonderful expression.

And so these conversations about the face become conversations about life, about dissatisfaction with oneself, what you can do and what you can't do.

Ironically, a boxer is the only one who is satisfied with his face.

They interview an old woman, a young woman, a black woman, a man who lost his face in an accident.

It was burned and had to be transplanted with a new face.

You are talking to Wolfgang Joop, who has had a few things done.

And anyway, the question is always today: Did you have anything done?

And Joop says, why shouldn't you help nature?

But he also criticizes the plump plumped up lips, calling them pornographic lips.

I think that's a wonderful expression.

And so these conversations about the face become conversations about life, about dissatisfaction with oneself, what you can do and what you can't do.

a young woman, a black woman, a man who lost his face in an accident.

It was burned and had to be transplanted with a new face.

You are talking to Wolfgang Joop, who has had a few things done.

And anyway, the question is always today: Did you have anything done?

And Joop says, why shouldn't you help nature?

But he also criticizes the plump plumped up lips, calling them pornographic lips.

I think that's a wonderful expression.

And so these conversations about the face become conversations about life, about dissatisfaction with oneself, what you can do and what you can't do.

a young woman, a black woman, a man who lost his face in an accident.

It was burned and had to be transplanted with a new face.

You are talking to Wolfgang Joop, who has had a few things done.

And anyway, the question is always today: Did you have anything done?

And Joop says, why shouldn't you help nature?

But he also criticizes the plump plumped up lips, calling them pornographic lips.

I think that's a wonderful expression.

And so these conversations about the face become conversations about life, about dissatisfaction with oneself, what you can do and what you can't do.

who had a lot done.

And anyway, the question is always today: Did you have anything done?

And Joop says, why shouldn't you help nature?

But he also criticizes the plump plumped up lips, calling them pornographic lips.

I think that's a wonderful expression.

And so these conversations about the face become conversations about life, about dissatisfaction with oneself, what you can do and what you can't do.

who had a lot done.

And anyway, the question is always today: Did you have anything done?

And Joop says, why shouldn't you help nature?

But he also criticizes the plump plumped up lips, calling them pornographic lips.

I think that's a wonderful expression.

And so these conversations about the face become conversations about life, about dissatisfaction with oneself, what you can do and what you can't do.

Peter Handke once said the sentence, very briefly and concisely: »In the mirror, the enemy«.

Is in the mirror the enemy.

Can we make peace with our face?

A really exciting book with 19 interviews on the subject »Seeing one another«.

What is face doing to us in times when we are seeing our face more than ever before?

In photos, in selfies, on social media channels.

We are constantly confronted with our face and the public also watches us public women age.

What does that do to us?

A very exciting, clever book by two exciting, clever women.

I can only recommend that to you.

And the second is incredibly beautiful.

It came onto the market a week ago, our Patti Smith.

The book is called: "One year..." and now I have to look up the name of it directly because I've only ever looked at Patti.

It means »Book of Days«, »Book of Days«.

Here's what she does: 2018, Patti Smith is, I think, about ten years younger than me, about 70 or so, I never really know.

I don't know exactly how old I am myself.

So, and she found out, Patti Smith is all over the internet.

Incidentally, there are also a lot of Elke Heidenreichs on the net who recommend books to you. It's not the right ones.

Then they will recognize the right one.

And Patti said, now she's tired, now she's showing

This is Patti Smith and, with the help of her daughter, opened her first Instagram account in 2018 and put her first photo with a picture in it.

I'll pop up somewhere.

That's what it looks like.

A photo every day, a little text every day.

And it has to be said that Patti's walks through culture, she photographs graves of friends, flowers, animals.

Things that she experiences and that are important to her.

And with the poet and singer and performer Patti, these are things that we love and that touch us.

And it's a wonderful walk through her life at a time when we're all struggling a bit with this life.

And I would like to read you a little bit from the foreword: “This book, A Year and a Day, for all those born on a leap day, is a grateful offer of courage even in the darkest of times.

Every day is precious because we still breathe and let ourselves be touched by how the light falls on a high branch, on a morning worktable or on the tombstone of a revered poet.

Through the perversions of democracy, social media sometimes fosters cruelty, reactionary commentary, misinformation, and nationalism.

But they can also serve us.

It's in our hands.

the hand

writing a message.

Straighten a child's hair, bend the bow and let the arrow fly.

Here are my arrows aimed at the heart of ordinary things.

Each provided with a few words of fragmentary oracles.

366 ways to say hello.

Hello Patti.

Arrived.

How nice.

And now we look at the SPIEGEL bestseller list.

Supposedly the best gift against everyday stress.

The Christmas sale begins in tenth place with "Nothing comes, nothing done and still done." Satirist and comedy author Tommy Jaud has packed his daily failures in book form.

Anyone who, like the author, is their own biggest obstacle can console themselves with these feel-good stories.

The successful Swedish author Jonas Jonasson climbs four places up to nine.

He is known for novels with long titles such as The Centenarian Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.

The new novel summarizes the story in the title as follows »Three almost brilliant friends on their way to the end of the world.« As always, we are dealing with charming outsiders.

This time, they turn an RV into a gourmet restaurant.

Their mission: to make the world a little fairer.

Speaking of Christmas presents: At the end of November, the author duo Klüpfel and Kober should obviously not be missing from the bestseller list.

With "The Incorrigibles - The Big Coup of Monsieur Lipaire" you leave your Allgäu inspector Kluftinger and go to the Cote d'Azur with an amateurish gang of crooks.

That should all be very picturesque and entertaining and enough for entry in eighth place.

And if you want more, here's a hint: The second part of the series has already been announced.

Available next May.

Babylon Berlin fans can breathe a sigh of relief.

It continues with the series of novels about Commissioner Gereon Rath.

The ninth part takes place in 1937. The council, believed dead by the authorities, survived the crash of the Hindenburg zeppelin in New York, which his wife Charlie in Berlin does not know, however.

Author Volker Kutscher serves up a lot of new and old protagonists and it remains exciting.

Whole 592 pages long.

»Transatlantic« in seventh place.

The sketches and notes by the master of the small form, Ferdinand von Schirach, are consistently in the top ten.

»Afternoon« is about nothing less than love, life and death.

The volume of stories is as narrow as the content is so important, the previous week's seven, now in sixth place.

A love story told from three perspectives is what the series is all about, featuring Lily, Ryle and Atlas.

With "It starts with us - just once more and forever", the American bestselling author Colleen Hoover is now presenting the second part of the relationship drama this week on the five.

And don't worry, part three is sure to follow.

Two places up, bestseller grande dame Charlotte Link climbs to four.

In the Frankfurt resident's latest crime thriller, investigator Kate Linville wants to solve the murder of a young woman who is found dead in her snow-covered car in the middle of nowhere in north-east England.

The publisher promises a so-called "page turner" and what is probably the most productive German author delivers with "Einsame Nacht".

The first novel by the American Bonnie Garmus has been on this list for a full 34 weeks.

Her recipe for success: A clever story about an equally clever woman.

The means by which the chemist Elizabeth Zott fought against patriarchy in America in the 1960s can be read in a »question in chemistry«.

Third place this week.

And it goes "to the sea" on the two.

Dörte Hansen from Husum writes the story of the Sander family, who have lived on a small North Sea island for almost 300 years.

But in the course of a year, the life of the family changes from the ground up.

The bestselling author tells how the community of island people and seafarers is increasingly falling apart and at the same time describes why the island is still a place of longing for us.

What it's like when you can't trust yourself anymore.

That's what the new psychological thriller by bestselling author Sebastian Fitzek is all about.

And as always, this crime story is dark and tricky.

The facial expression resonance expert Hanna Herbst suffers from memory loss after an operation when she is confronted with a brutal case.

You should use a confession video to convict a murderer.

The problem: The woman in the video is Hanna herself. "Mimic" continues to be number one, as it was last week.