Ferien für immer. Die angenehmsten Orte der Welt (lit. 'Vacation forever. The most pleasant populated places in the world') is a 1998 book of travel writing by Christian Kracht and Eckhart Nickel.
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Author | |
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Language | German |
Genre | Travel literature |
Publisher | Kiepenheuer & Witsch |
Publication date | 1998 |
Publication place | Germany |
Pages | 195 |
ISBN | 9783462027082 |
Summary
editThe book consists of 66 travel reports, one to three pages long, from different locations around the world. It is presented as a guide to the authors' favourite places to visit and mostly covers hotels, bars and cafés. The texts occasionally include short musings on literature, art, history, music or fashion. Some anecdotes are fictional and intentionally written as obvious lies.[1]
Reception
editBernhard Lill of Der Spiegel wrote he did not understand the purpose of the book, which he called a "pseudo-tour guide" that is "filled, but not with content". He wrote that some of the anectdotes are funny, such as an obviously untrue story from a bar in Jerusalem where the authors witnessed Benjamin Netanyahu celebrating his election victory drunk and naked except for a Palestinian scarf. Lill criticised Kracht's writing style, which he said is influenced by Thomas Mann's long sentences but lack their content. He wrote that both authors fail to live up to their role models such as Peter Fleming and Evelyn Waugh.[1] Ulla Biernat of Literaturkritik.de wrote that the book, with its ironic subtitle, is made for "bored postmodern tourists". She summarised it as a book where places are "judged by the presence of other tourists and by the bizarreness of the hotels, restaurants and discos: tourist means a big minus, 'alcoholic's paradise' a fine plus".[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Lill, Bernhard (10 March 1998). "Christian Kracht und Eckhart Nickel: "Ferien für immer. Die angenehmsten Orte der Welt"". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ Biernat, Ulla (1 December 2001). "Obacht - zwei Dandys unterwegs!". Literaturkritik.de (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2024.