What works should those learning German start with – short stories or immediately tackle thick novels by Günter Grass and Thomas Mann? Translators and German language teachers shared their advice with Deutsche Welle.
According to Darya Bobyleva, a graduate of the Gorky Literary Institute and a translator, "Die Ilse ist weg" by Christine Nöstlinger is a fairly bold young adult novel, during the reading of which you want to follow the plot, and unfamiliar words dissolve in the text.
"When I was studying, we read a traditional set – 'Christa' by Jurij Brezan, 'Das doppelte Lottchen' by Erich Kästner. Later I enjoyed reading Remarque – I loved him even in translation, and after reading the original 'Im Westen nichts Neues' by Erich Maria Remarque, I discovered that the book is actually much harsher and more masculine than what was offered to the Russian-speaking reader. Films and online resources help me maintain my knowledge of German," Darya said.
Translator and literary agent Svyatoslav Gorodetsky began learning German with short stories. He especially remembered "Der Mann mit dem Gedächtnis" by Peter Bichsel. "In my second year, I enjoyed reading plays to develop conversational language, and at that time I also translated 'Sterne' by Anja Hilling for the collection 'SHAG-2'. Among the first novels I read, I can highlight 'Mein Studium ferner Welten' by Alex Capus. A little later, I got acquainted with books by Peter Stamm – they are easy to read but difficult to translate. Of course, I also tackled the classics – 'Der Zauberberg' by Thomas Mann was surprisingly reminiscent of Dostoevsky, and Kafka lured and deceived with apparent simplicity," the translator recalls.
German language teachers advise choosing a book based on interests. "In my experience, this is the main criterion, even when it comes to a foreign language. It doesn't matter whether it's high literature, detective stories, or comics – it all depends on taste. It's even better to pick up football magazines than to read nothing at all," Andrea Witt, head of the Romance languages department at the Bonn Volkshochschule, said in an interview. For beginners, she recommends paying attention to books from the Easy Readers series – that is, with simplified texts. Works by many German classics are available in this version.
At the Goethe-Institut, before taking the highest level language exam C2 (Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom), they recommend reading several books by German authors. The 2017 reading list includes two works: "Im Krebsgang" by Günter Grass and "Klausen" by Andreas Maier.
And for those planning to take the exam in 2018, mandatory reading includes "Der Fälscher, die Spionin und der Bombenbauer" by Alex Capus and "Der stille Ozean" by Gerhard Roth.