Group Read, January 2022: Tyll

A slightly early start to the thread as I’m on the road for the next week. Our first group read of 2022 is Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, a recent addition to the Boxall list. Probably not one that many of us are aware of so please join in the group read and post your comments here.

I am planning to read this! I hadn’t heard of it and the description I read sounds intriguing.

I am most aware of the legend of Til Eulenspiegel through Richard Strauss’s orchestral tone poem about the character. I assume this is based on the same story and I’m interested to see where it goes.

I have had this since spring, when it was my book subscription book. I didn't get into it then, hoping this will push me to continue.

I will be joining in later this month. I got the book when it came out in Danish well over a year ago. It was quite hyped, and I have enjoyed what I have read from Kehlman's hand before, so my hopes are high.

I'll be joining in.

I'm about 50-60 pages in. This book is very, very dark. I'd expected something with quite a bit more humor to it, but nothing is even remotely funny. I get that life for the 17th-century German peasantry was brutish and short, but somehow this seems overdone.

I also find some of the historical bits annoying. I like the miller who asks big, heretical questions about the natural world (based, I'm thinking, on Carlo Ginzburg's The Cheese and the Worms) but surely millers were a status occupation in this period? Rembrandt's father was a miller and people always emphasize that this was an important and pretty lucrative position in the community. There are other things that I also find, I don't know, more brutal than they ought to be.

The last Kehlmann book I read from this list was an OK historical novel telling a fabulous true story. This one doesn't have the backbone of a true story, and I'm not sure he's sustaining it himself.

Interesting comments. I'm not planning to start this til mid-month, but I will say that my appetite for finishing books that I don't enjoy is very light these days. I will probably read 20-30 pages and see if I want to continue.

I finished this book yesterday. Liked it better at the end than I had at the beginning. I learned a lot about the 30-years' war. It's interesting to get the German perspective on things that I only know from a Dutch or British angle.

At the same time, I had to keep in mind that Kehlmann is not Hilary Mantel. He's writing a novel with various historical characters in it; he isn't trying to exactly recreate history. His interest is atmosphere (which he's great at), feeling, characters. In Measuring the World, where I knew nothing about the history, I just enjoyed atmosphere and story. Here, there were things that kind of bothered me. I refuse to believe that James I called his daughter "Liz!" On the other hand, Athanasius Kircher made a great villain.

I finished yesterday as well. To be honest, I found a lot of it to be a slog. He definitely has the atmosphere down pat and I liked the characters, but the jumping around made things confusing (at least for my tired brain). This reminded me of Gormenghast by Peake.

I'm a good 100 pages into it and really enjoying it. I think Kehlman captures the atmosphere and mood really well, and so far I don't think it is too dark, partly because the 17th century was a pretty sinister period in European history, and the epicenter of the religious wars was in Germany.

>6 annamorphic: I had the exact same thought about Ginzburg as a source of inspiration for the miller, and like you I found it odd that he didn't have a more prominent place in society. That bit seemed off.

It was mentioned somewhere that the weather remembered to be much better in the old days and that winters were growing harder. I thought that was a nice touch in a story placed at the time of the Litlle Ice-Age.

I'm about half way through, "reading" it via an audiobook, and enjoying it so far. Yes, there are dark passages (the ending of the "Shoes" episode I found quite bleak and unexpected), but the story is written/narrated in a way that makes the horrors of the 30 Years War and the religious witch-hunts more grotesque than depressing. I agree that Kehlman's able to create an absorbing atmosphere of a time when superstition was rife and life was cheap and short.

I finished the book this afternoon. The introduction of Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia in the second half added another interesting character to the plot. I liked this book. 4/5

I finished the book last night and overall I really enjoyed it. I think Kehlmann writes his chapters / scenes very atmospheric and skilfull, and there are parts of this book that will stick with me for a long time, like the ending to the first chapter, the stumbling upon the battle of Zusmarshausen or the trip through the nine circles of filth to meet the Swedish king.

Like >8 annamorphic: I found it a bit off that Elizabeth Stuart is called Liz, especially since she is trying to keep up appearances, and I thought the overall story was a bit weaker than the chapters / episodes.