Bestselling German author Katharina Hagena will read from her book ‘Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen’ today, at the Max Mueller Bhavan.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in
For German author Katharina Hagena (in pic on left), her memories have a taste, a sapidity, an aftertaste, an aroma. Packed with gorgeous imagery and undertones of buried secrets, her book The Taste of Apple Seeds (Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen) is an international bestseller.
This evening, Katharina will read from this and some of her other books at the Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai. She will also have a conversation with Ranjit Hoskote and will interact with the audience.
In Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen, when Bertha dies, her granddaughter Iris inherits her house and finds herself back in the home where she and her cousin used to play dress-up in the summer holidays. She wanders through the rooms and garden, a timeless world where red currants turn white overnight, where a tree blossoms twice, villages vanish and women shake sparks out of their fingers. But the garden is now wild and overgrown. After she fell out of the apple tree, Bertha became absent-minded, then forgetful. Eventually, she didn’t even recognise her own three daughters. Iris stays in the house on her own for a week. She cannot decide whether she wants to keep it. She swims in a black lake, receives a visitor, kisses an old friend’s brother and paints a wall.
While she wanders from room to room, she gropes her way through memories and things she had forgotten: What did her grandfather really do before he went to war? Which men were Bertha’s daughters in love with? Who ate his apple with the seeds? Finally, Iris recalls the night her cousin Rosmarie had the terrible accident: What was Rosmarie doing on the conservatory roof? What did she want to tell Iris? Iris senses there are several ways to forget. And remembering is only one of them.
Katharina Hagena will read German and English excerpts from her books. Head to the Library, Max Mueller Bhavan, Kala Ghoda, at 6 pm.
(Pictures courtesy ebookee.org, www.zimbio.com)