Library

 
News: Deutscher Buchpreis 2020 for Anne Weber

On October 12th, during the Frankfurt book convention, Anne Weber’s novel
« Anette, ein Heldinnenepos » received the Book of the Year Award.
This book is now available in our library.

“Zwischen klarer historischer Einordnung, ergreifenden Bildern und leisem Humor meißelt die Autorin ihr ein Denkmal aus Versen. […] Ein Leseglück von Anfang bis Ende.” – Die Süddeutsche

Buchpreise der vergangenen Jahre


Practical information

You can find the catalogue of Europa Nantes’ multicultural library online at this address:

http://mabib.fr/CRPE-Nantes

The CCFA-members can borrow books for free.

Somebody from the CCFA is on call every Wednesday (except during school holidays) from 14h to 16h30 to
welcome you.

Contact : martha.willmann@orange.fr


Introducing our library

Our library contains more than 2000 volumes. In the literature section, you will find classics like Goethe, Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Stefan Zweig or Gunter Grass , but a lso some famous contemporary names such as Christoph Hein, Daniel Kehlmann, Robert Menasse or Julie Zeh; and let’s not forget crime novelists like Ingrid Noll or Bernard Jaumann. Some volumes are also available in bilingual format or in the French
edition.

Some treasures are also waiting for you in the philosophy, history, politics, geography, arts and music sections!
Of course, you can also find fairytales, Räuber Hotzenplotz, Momo and many others in the children and teens’
section. Under the « J » index (for jeunesse) on their spine, you can find a rough indication of the reading age:

-> Colour code: Red: Books for small children up to 6-8 years old / Green: 8-10 years old / Yellow: 10-12
years old / No specific colour: 12 years and older, fairytales, and specialized books

The library is constantly getting renewed, we are waiting on your suggestions!

We can also provide you with Die Zeit, the OFAJ/DFJW publications, and more.

The library is open to everybody. You can read the books on-site or you can borrow them (only CCFA-members can borrow books).


Newly acquired: the six shortlisted novels of the « Deutscher Buchpreis 2020 »

  • Our favorites!
    The latest book to be awarded the prestigious Deutscher Buchpreis (awarded by German booksellers and sometimes compared to the Prix Goncourt) in October 2020, will captivate you, both in German or in French:
    Annette, ein Heldinnenepos – Anne Weber (208 pages, Matthes & Seitz, 2020)
    Annette, une épopée (232 pages, Seuil 2020)
    The epic tale of the life of a woman, today approaching her 100th birthday!
    Anne Weber follows her heroine from her native Brittany to the streets of Paris during the Resistance. She then follows her in her fight for the independence of Algeria, leading her first to prison, and then to North
    Africa. Between admiration and distance, often with humour, the author guides us through her reflexion
    on political involvement. Both the original version in German as well as its French translation
    (translated by Anne Weber herself) are available at the CCFA library, along with her previous book « Ahnen » = « Vaterland ».
  • Serpentinen – Bov Bjerg  (272 pages, Claassen 2020)
    A father travels through the landscapes of his childhood with his son. He finds the traces of his family, where all of the men have ended their lives, along with traces of past German history. A dark but funny novel, where every word tells the unspeakable.
  • Aus der Zuckerfabrik – Dorothee Elmiger (272 pages, Carl Hanser, 2020)
    Where does sugar come from? The narrator showcases her findings and her discoveries in this essay-like novel, reminiscent of a collage, where history and literature coexist. The novel tells us about sugar, money and desire, and reminds us of the close link between colonialism and European history.
  • Herzfaden – Thomas Hettche  (278 pages, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2020)
    Every German knows the « Augsburger Puppenkiste », the famous puppet theater created after the Second World War. Mixing fantasy and realism, this novel relates the life of a theater completely interwoven into German history, and into the history of the family that created it. It is a light and elegant novel on the power of imagination in dark times.
  • Streulicht – Deniz Ohde (284 pages, Suhrkamp 2020)
    The narrator goes back to the industrial town where she grew up and remembers her parents, their difficult
    lives, her own interrupted schooling, her efforts to make up for missed opportunities and her fear of not being accepted in the world she finally managed to access. This novel is a testimony, without any clichés or
    simplistic condemnation of (second generation) migrants, who are rarely given an opportunity to tell their story.
  • Die Dame mit der bemalten Hand – Christine Wunnike (165 pages, Berenberg 2020)
    In 1764, Carsten Niebuhr, the last survivor of a research expedition, finds himself on an Indian island near
    Mumbai, where he meets a stranded astrolabe maker on his way to Mecca. Before getting rescued, the two men watch the stars at length and have fantastical and goofy dialogs. A real treat for fans of fairytales and
    stories that are full of surprises.

                               Have fun reading !                                Martha Willmann and Michèle Verdier


New arrivals:

Some of the newest arrivals in the literature section:

  • Bánk, Zsuzsa, Die hellen Tage (Novel 2012, 541 pages)
  • Biller, Maxim, Sechs Koffer (Novel 2018, 198 pages)
  • Lenz, Siegfried, Deutschstunde (Novel 1968)
  • Mahlke, Inger-Maria, Archipel (Novel 2018, 432 pages), Deutscher Buchpreis 2018
  • Stanišić, Saša, Herkunft (Novel 2019)
  • Wodin, Natascha, Sie kam aus Mariupol (Family history 2017, 368 pages)
  • Wodin, Natascha, Irgendwo in diesem Dunkel (Family history 2018, 240 pages)
  • Zeh, Juli, Neujahr (Novel 2018, 190 pages)
  • Many crime novels, among which some by Ingrid NOLL…
  • A series for people learning German: classics by great authors, annotated in French or in simplified German

Among our favorites:

Neujahr de Juli ZEH, novel 2018, 190 pages (available at the CCFA)

“Ein Familienurlaub auf Lanzarote, der zum Alptraum wird”. Captivating !

Martha Willmann

 

 

 

Have fun reading!