Documentation Swiss literatures

In Cooperation with the platform swissliterature.ch.

[ book tip by Literatur Schweiz ] Preising is a Swiss factory owner, in his mid-50s and somewhat lazy. He’s on a business trip, staying in a luxurious oasis hotel in Tunisia, the ‘Thousand and One Nights Resort’, where he watches the lavish preparations for a wedding. Rich young Englishmen from London’s financial sector have invited friends and family to a huge, riotous celebration. «Young people in their late 20s and early 30s…noisy and self-confident…slim and in the peak of condition.»
But even as this extravaganza is taking place, there are signs of a growing economic crisis, which will end in catastrophe. Sterling collapses, shortly afterwards the UK goes bankrupt, with unforeseeable consequences, which also affect Tunisia. The morning after the luxury wedding, all their credit cards are cancelled and the horde of pampered hotel guests suddenly becomes a leper colony. They can’t have breakfast, they can’t even take a shower. The elegant resort turns into a battlefield.
Even Preising isn’t spared. As a Swiss citizen, he escapes the worst effects of the developing financial crisis; but he has to witness just how thin is the veneer of civilisation. He learns his own personal lesson in globalisation, because his company has a project running in Tunisia. Preising ends up in a clinic; «People» he declares, «People turn into animals when comes to losing their life-savings.»
(Martin Zingg, translated by Max Easterman, Rosie Goldsmith)
 
Recommended for translation by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia: www.12swissbooks.ch

[ Favourite quote ] «Aus wissenschaftlicher Perspektive sei ihm jegliche Form des Vorurteils suspekt, doch hier sei es absolut beeindruckend, welche Energie diese Leute darauf verwendeten, jedes Klischee zu erfüllen.»

[ book info ] Lüscher, Jonas: Frühling der Barbaren. (original language: Tedesco) The Barbarian’s Spring. Verlag C.H. Beck, München, 2013 . ISBN: 978-3-406-64694-2.
Translated from Lüscher