The long-awaited novel by Stuckrad-Barre tells of incidents in a German media company and a friendship.
It could hardly be more up-to-date.
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Stuckrad-Barre's new novel was long and eagerly awaited.
The book is intended to shed light on the details of what happened at the Springer group.
Whether it's a me-too debate, compliance procedures or other scandals, with "Still awake?" Stuckrad-Barre ignites a firework of topics that many have been waiting for for a long time.
Almost 400 pages offer an insight into the power structures of a media group.
Current and to the point.
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The new novel "Still awake?" by Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre was long awaited.
He offers an insight into a media group.
© Hannes P. Albert/picture alliance/dpa/KiWi (montage)
His first novel, “Soloalbum” (promotional link) was published 25 years ago.
Since then, the incredibly fluent and well-written Stuckrad-Barre has published a variety of novels.
In the last few weeks leading up to the release of his new book, it was heavily promoted on social media.
According to
Die Zeit,
the moral has now been added to "Still awake?" that has not previously been found in his books.
Less a super-me, more a turn towards feelings.
The reader can be curious.
Berlin: A young woman talks about her new job at a major television station, her new boss, her new life.
She seems happy, inspired, hopeful, it sounds good.
Too good?
blurb / KiWi
What is Still Awake about? It's the story of three men.
The first-person narrator, the owner of a tabloid TV station and its editor-in-chief.
The gentle reader may recognize Stuckrad-Barre's longtime friend and Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner, as well as the former "Bild" editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt and also the author as a first-person narrator.
In the course of the novel, the narrator gains insight into the messages that the editor-in-chief sends to his young employees.
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"Still awake?" kept many media professionals awake the night before it was published.
So the title didn't anticipate too much.
How much fiction is in the novel is difficult to gauge.
The parallels are obvious and numerous in the book.
The literary packaging gives the author a free hand with the story and the characters.
The first-person narrator, like Stuckrad-Barre himself, used to be a gag writer for the "Harald Schmidt Show".
In the book, the character remembers the time and the different kind of humor.
The novels of Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre
solo album
live album
remix
Black box: unexpected system errors
transcript
German theatre
Read-only memory of the control society.
remix 2
What.We.Know.
Also Germans among the victims
panic heart
Sober on World No Tobacco Day
Udo Happy!
The Lindenberg lexicon from alcohol to cigars
I think I'm not doing so well, I have to lie down somewhere: Remix 3
Everyone got so serious
Still awake?
Since the novel was announced in February, the media had speculated whether Springer Verlag co-owner Mathias Döpfner played a role in the book.
He was friends with the author for many years.
The New York Times has received a text message from Döpfner to Stuckrad-Barre, which, together with references to the abuse of power by the editor-in-chief at the time, was intended to shake the world of the Springer house.
Shortly thereafter, according to
Die Zeit
, rumors arose about a possible tell-all book.
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Stuckrad-Barre manages to write an entertaining book about the power mechanisms of abuse of power in the media landscape.
As the story progresses, more and more women turn to the first-person narrator, who takes up the fight against the editor-in-chief.
This also happened in Stuckrad-Barre's real world, he tells Der
Spiegel
.
The entire power structure should fall.
Literally it works.
So much fiction is allowed after all.
It's not a WhatsApp novel like "Between Worlds" by Juli Zeh and Simon Urban, but a current insight into the capital's media power structure.
For fans of independent literature, "The Shards" by Bret Easton Ellis is recommended.
Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre "Still awake?": Conclusion
Stuckrad-Barre presents a partly funny, but above all very topical novel.
He skilfully gets to the heart of many of the topics that are happening in the media landscape.
Each reader can draw the parallels to reality themselves.
Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre "Are you awake?"
2023 KiWi, ISBN-13 978-3-462-00467-0
Price: hardcover €25, e-book €19.99, 384 pages (varies in format)
Order here!
Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre
Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre is a German writer, journallist and presenter.
In 2013 he was awarded the "German Reporter Prize 2013" by the journalists' association Reporter-Forum for the best interview.
He works and lives in Berlin.
List of rubrics: © Hannes P. Albert/picture alliance/dpa/KiWi (montage)