Birgit Vanderbeke (1956–2021)

We are in (West) Germany, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The father of the family is expected home from a business trip, with news of a long-awaited promotion. His dutiful wife has prepared a celebratory dinner - the mussel feast of the title. It is his favourite dish, but one that his wife, grown-up daughter and teenage son do not particularly like. The father, a slave to his idea of perfection, is uncharacteristically late. As they wait around the table, and the wine flows, the family members finally start to admit to each other that their "perfect household" is not so perfect after all. Narrated by the daughter in a conversational stream-of-consciousness style, this is an increasingly bleak and emotionally painful read, its mood slightly lightened by its irony and wry humour. A brilliant novella which is also a not-so-veiled allegory of the political situation at the time of its writing (1989).… (meer)

Resumen resumido: Familia clase media en el marco de la RFA. La madre y los dos hijos esperan con cierta tensión la llegada del padre para sentarse a cenar. Es un día especial porque probablemente le hayan concedido el ascenso por el que tanto ha luchado y por ese motivo han preparado mejillones, su plato favorito. Pero el atraso del padre actúa como revulsivo en cada uno de los miembros de la familia; que a ninguno de ellos les gusten los mejillones solo es la punta del iceberg.
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We are in (West) Germany, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The father of the family is expected home from a business trip, with news of a long-awaited promotion. His dutiful wife has prepared a celebratory dinner - the mussel feast of the title. It is his favourite dish, but one that his wife, grown-up daughter and teenage son do not particularly like. The father, a slave to his idea of perfection, is uncharacteristically late. As they wait around the table, and the wine flows, the family members finally start to admit to each other that their "perfect household" is not so perfect after all. Narrated by the daughter in a conversational stream-of-consciousness style, this is an increasingly bleak and emotionally painful read, its mood slightly lightened by its irony and wry humour. A brilliant novella which is also a not-so-veiled allegory of the political situation at the time of its writing (1989).… (meer)