With "The Long Journey" the author Marta Lindner presents her third novel – and her most ambitious so far. Over almost 600 pages she tells the story of a family that has to leave its home three times in the course of the 20th century: first a village in Silesia, then East Berlin, finally a small town in the Ruhr where the colliery is closed. At the centre is the grandmother Hedwig, whose memories link the book's three parts.
Linguistically the book is impressive. Lindner writes clearly and without pathos, even where she tells of loss and violence. The calmly narrated chapters slowly draw the reader in, and it is precisely the small scenes – a farewell at the station, a quarrel over an heirloom – that stay in the memory for a long time.
The beginning is slow, admittedly, but the second half makes up for it. Anyone who gets through the first hundred pages is rewarded with a story that grows ever denser and more gripping. Some critics find fault with the many characters: over forty people do indeed appear, and without the family tree at the end of the book it is easy to lose track. I, on the other hand, found them enriching, because each character shows a different way of dealing with the loss of home.
Some also criticise the length; to me, by contrast, the book never seemed too long. Weaker, if anything, is the ending, which seems a little too conciliatory after the novel has worked with open questions for so long.
All in all, "The Long Journey" is a clever, moving and linguistically convincing novel that is highly recommended – above all for readers who want to take their time.
