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From the bestselling author of The Monk of Mokha and The Circle comes a taut, suspenseful story of two foreigners' role in a nation's fragile peace.
An unnamed country is leaving the darkness of a decade at war, and to commemorate the armistice the government commissions a new road connecting two halves of the state. Two men, foreign contractors from the same company, are sent to finish the highway. While one is flighty and adventurous, wanting to experience the nightlife and people, the other wants only to do the work and go home. But both men must eventually face the absurdities of their positions, and the dire consequences of their presence. With echoes of J. M. Coetzee and Graham Greene, this timeless novel questions whether we can ever understand another nation's war, and what role we have in forging anyone's peace.
Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.
An unnamed country is leaving the darkness of a decade at war, and to commemorate the armistice the government commissions a new road connecting two halves of the state. Two men, foreign contractors from the same company, are sent to finish the highway. While one is flighty and adventurous, wanting to experience the nightlife and people, the other wants only to do the work and go home. But both men must eventually face the absurdities of their positions, and the dire consequences of their presence. With echoes of J. M. Coetzee and Graham Greene, this timeless novel questions whether we can ever understand another nation's war, and what role we have in forging anyone's peace.
Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.
Dave Eggers
© Michelle Quint
Verschwörungstheorie aus dem Luftschacht: Dave Eggers, vielbeschäftigter Autor auf der Seite der Guten, liefert eine süße Globalisierungs-Parabel und legt noch eine Trump-Satire obendrauf.
Zwei Männer machen das, was man einmal Entwicklungshilfe nannte: mit einer hypermodernen Asphaltiermaschine eine Straße rechtzeitig zur Siegesparade eines - mutmaßlich korrupten - Regimes fertigstellen. Die Straße soll dem vom Bürgerkrieg zerrütteten Land Fortschritt, Frieden und Freiheit bringen, und die RS-80 ist die perfekte Maschine. Angetrieben von Thermopods, wartungsarm, smart, effizient, nimmt sie selbsttätig auf, was sie von der Welt braucht, macht ihre Arbeit und verlangt nichts dafür. Aber ganz so reibungslos, wie die Gutmenschen glauben, funktioniert der globale Straßen- und Brückenbau dann doch nicht.
Dave Eggers gibt in seinem schmalen Roman "Die Parade" keinerlei Hinweise auf Ort, Auftraggeber und Nutznießer des Projekts; aber man darf ruhig an Länder wie Sudan, Bosnien oder Afghanistan denken. Die beiden Männer tragen keine Namen, nur Nummern, und sie könnten unterschiedlicher nicht sein. Vier, der Teamleiter und Maschinenführer, ist ein roboterhafter Pedant und Kontrollfreak, der keinen Millimeter von Auftrag und Zeitplan abweicht und keinen Blick für die Umgebung hat. Neun soll im Vorfeld "Anomalien" minimieren und "Hindernisse beseitigen" (Minen, Ochsenkarren, Schlaglöcher, Bettler, Kinder) und macht das Gegenteil: Als romantischer Abenteurer macht er seinem korrekten Partner ständig Schwierigkeiten, hält sich nicht an Absprachen, glotzt den Sternenhimmel über der Wüste an, fraternisiert allen Verboten zum Trotz mit den Einheimischen am Straßenrand. Vereinfacht gesagt (und Eggers' Figuren wirken mangels Vorgeschichte und konkreter Attribute ziemlich einfach gestrickt): Vier steht für freudlose Pflichterfüllung, protestantisches Arbeitsethos, kapitalistische Rationalität, Neun für das Leben mit all seinen Risiken, Gefahren und Schönheiten.
Nach den Regeln des Buddy-Films werden aus Feinden Partner und zuletzt fast so etwas wie Freunde. Jeder muss ein wenig von seinen Prinzipien abrücken, Kompromisse schließen, soll das große gemeinsame Werk nicht scheitern. Die Logik des Fortschritts stößt an die Grenzen von Natur und Menschlichkeit. Neun, nach einer schweren Krankheit schon fast aufgegeben, lernt, dass es manchmal wichtigere Dinge als Spaß und Party gibt. Vier, vom seelenlosen Mechaniker zum unbarmherzigen Samariter gereift, bemerkt staunend, dass weiche Faktoren manchmal härter sind als Pünktlichkeit, Ordnung und Leistung, Naturmedizin und guter Wille stärker als westliche Medikamente und Waffen. Eggers ergreift nicht Partei in diesem Konflikt; insofern ist "Die Parade" deutlich mehr als nur eine platte Parabel. Hoffnung ist dennoch nicht in Sicht: Auf dem Rückflug von ihrem erfolgreichen Auslandseinsatz sehen die Aufbauhelfer, wie die große Parade zur Straßeneröffnung in einem blutigen Massaker endet.
Dave Eggers ist ein vielbeschäftigter Mann, immer auf der Seite des Guten: als Autor und Verleger, Mitbegründer von sozialen Projekten wie Voices of Witness und Schreibzentren für Jugendliche, Träger des Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award und eines Preises der Grass-Stiftung. In seinen Romanen setzt er sich immer wieder kritisch mit den Kehrseiten des amerikanischen Traums auseinander: In seinem Bestseller "The Circle" warnte er vor der totalen Überwachung im Silicon Valley, in "Ein Hologramm für den König" macht er sich über die Prestigeprojekte lustig, die amerikanische Spezialisten in den Sand begüterter Wüstenkönigreiche setzen. Zuletzt führte Eggers eine alleinerziehende Mutter in Alaska "Bis an die Grenze" ihrer Kräfte und porträtierte den "Mönch von Mokka" als umtriebigen jemenitischen Kaffee-Emir. "Die Parade" lässt sich als Aufruf lesen, Nord und Süd, Arm und Reich durch gemeinsame Projekte und geteilte Erfahrungen zusammenzuführen, aber Präsident Trump zeigt gerade wenig Lust auf Brückenbau und Friedensmissionen in "Shithole-Staaten".
Leben, schrieb Eggers einmal, sei auch "unsere kollektive Fähigkeit, in einem Theater zu sitzen und Irren dabei zuzusehen, wie sie Schwachsinn singen, während draußen die Welt brennt". "Die Parade" ist, auch wenn die Figuren flach und die Gegensätze formelhaft sind, immerhin ein Roman mit fast kafkaesken Geheimnissen und dem lakonischen Humor von Becketts Existential-Clowns. Bei der zeitgleich erscheinenden Satire "Der größte Kapitän aller Zeiten" (im Original "The Captain and the Glory") sind solche Missverständnisse ausgeschlossen: Die Geschichte von dem neuen Kapitän, der das mächtige Dickschiff "Glory" durch Inkompetenz, eitlen Wahn und brutale Gewalt herunterwirtschaftet, ist natürlich eine Abrechnung mit Donald Trump.
Nachdem sein Vorgänger, ein hochrespektierter Admiral, von Bord ging, übernahm ein ungehobelter "irrer Soziopath" das Ruder. Der neue Kapitän hat keine besonderen Fähigkeiten, keine Kenntnisse in Navigation, Seerecht oder Menschenführung, aber sein Selbstbewusstsein ist grenzenlos. Sein Versprechen, alles anders als der gütige Admiral machen zu wollen, gefällt dem Pöbel: Wer so dreist lügt und so peinliche Sätze über seinen Penis auf seine Wegwischtafel schreibt, wer von Cheeseburgern und bizarren Verschwörungstheorien aus dem Lüftungsschacht lebt, ist, wenn nicht ehrlich, so doch erfrischend und unterhaltsam: ein "Riesenspaß". Mit Hilfe von Spießgesellen und Schlägern wie Patsy dem Mörder und Paul dem Manafort errichtet der Kapitän eine wüste Schreckensherrschaft: Backbord ist von nun an Steuerbord, Gut Böse, und wer widerspricht, wird über Bord geworfen. Respekt, ja regelrecht Angst hat der Grökaz nur vor noch skrupelloseren Kollegen wie dem Piraten Blutbart, dem "Hellen" aus Russland und dem "Sehr Weichen Mann": Die asiatischen Barbaren lachen den Dilettanten aus.
Man könnte darüber lachen, wenn es Eggers nicht so ernst wäre. Das Schlimme an Kapitän Trump, so insinuiert das Pamphlet, sind ja nicht seine persönlichen Defizite, sondern dass er mit seinem schändlichen Treiben und chaotischen Führen das stolze Schiff Amerika beschädigt und blamiert. Am Ende sind es die Immigranten in den Dingis und Dschunken, die boat people um das Waisenmädchen Ava, welche die "Glory" wieder flott und groß machen: Als der irre Kapitän alle Handbücher ins Wasser warf, retteten sie die Überlieferungen und Ideale eines "noblen Volkes".
Man weiß inzwischen freilich alles über Trump, durch Leaks, Insider-Enthüllungen, Impeachment-Schriftsätze, Leitartikel und Comedy-Parodien. Den Käpt'n mit der gelben Feder im Haar jetzt noch einmal beim liberalen Publikum auf dem Oberdeck als Putins Depp und Kims Kumpel anzuschwärzen, ist nicht nur politisch kontraproduktiv und literarisch einfallslos: Es kommt, wie "Die Parade", auch zu spät.
MARTIN HALTER
Dave Eggers: "Die Parade". Roman.
Aus dem Englischen von
Ulrike Wasel und Klaus
Timmermann. Verlag
Kiepenheuer & Witsch,
Köln 2020. 186 S., geb., 20,- [Euro].
Dave Eggers: "Der größte Kapitän aller Zeiten".
Aus dem Englischen von
Ulrike Wasel und Klaus
Timmermann. Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2020. 128 S., geb., 14,- [Euro].
Alle Rechte vorbehalten. © F.A.Z. GmbH, Frankfurt am Main
"The Parade is a heartbreaker and a mindbender. It is a novel of ideas that packs an emotional punch that left me reeling. With clear, unadorned prose, Eggers lays bare the costs of war, and of peace." Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage
"This is a tale for our time, an allegory about intervening in foreign lands without knowledge, and so a nightmare vision of our endless wars." Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco and Churchill and Orwell
"A parable of progress, as told by J.M. Coetzee to Philip K. Dick." Richard Flanagan, author of Gould s Book of Fish and The Narrow Road to the Deep North
"In The Parade, the anxiety grows with every page and every mile to reach an ending that turns everything upside down and sends us into the heart of darkness. A minimalistic, merciless novel. A powerful allegory and a painfully concrete contemporary story Eggers is a true virtuoso of that synthesis." Georgi Gospodinov, author of The Physics of Sorrow
"In an unnamed country, two unnamed employees of a foreign road-building corporation arrive for a 12-day assignment Readers, too, are shut out of any background information on either man, an authorial choice that generates a subtle tension throughout the novel Eggers differentiates between Four and Nine solely through their reactions to the post-civil-war devastation around them. How this setup reduces the two men to their willingness or refusal to see others is striking Parable-like The final scene of the novel contains such ferocity." Idra Novey, The New York Times Book Review
"In Dave Eggers s new novel, The Parade, two men go on a journey: flat, direct and more dangerous than either will admit The narrative is deliberately unbranded, unspecific. The enthusiastic, inexperienced partner goes by Nine. This pushes the narrative into an allegorical space, even as we are up close and personal with the two on their trip from south to north Eggers has been writing fiction that tells a story of America in our present moment, and often that moment is characterized by decline To environmental devastation, violence, the power of social media, the loss of the middle class, we can now add American abroad, over their heads Darkly funny." Carolyn Kellogg, The Los Angeles Times
"The ever-incisive, worldly-wise, compassionate, and imaginative Eggers maintains the tension of a cocked crossbow in this magnetizing, stealthily wry, and increasingly chilling tale." Booklist
"Eggers may be the only living American writer for whom the term Hemingway-esque meaningfully applies . Eggers ably weaves in a host of ethical questions over one man's responsibility to the other, what makes help transactional versus simply kind . An unassuming but deceptively complex morality play, as Eggers distills his ongoing concerns into ever tighter prose." Kirkus
"A testament to Eggers expert skill at point of view... The Parade is a deeply felt book that defies easy labels. This is a book you can finish in a single sitting. And you will." Tony Romano, The New York Journal of Books
"An eye-opening political fiction Eggers tense and intricate storytelling reveals complex moral and ethical issues." The Christian Science Monitor
"Dave Eggers is able to see the world as it is, while also holding on to his vision of how the world should be." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"This is a tale for our time, an allegory about intervening in foreign lands without knowledge, and so a nightmare vision of our endless wars." Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco and Churchill and Orwell
"A parable of progress, as told by J.M. Coetzee to Philip K. Dick." Richard Flanagan, author of Gould s Book of Fish and The Narrow Road to the Deep North
"In The Parade, the anxiety grows with every page and every mile to reach an ending that turns everything upside down and sends us into the heart of darkness. A minimalistic, merciless novel. A powerful allegory and a painfully concrete contemporary story Eggers is a true virtuoso of that synthesis." Georgi Gospodinov, author of The Physics of Sorrow
"In an unnamed country, two unnamed employees of a foreign road-building corporation arrive for a 12-day assignment Readers, too, are shut out of any background information on either man, an authorial choice that generates a subtle tension throughout the novel Eggers differentiates between Four and Nine solely through their reactions to the post-civil-war devastation around them. How this setup reduces the two men to their willingness or refusal to see others is striking Parable-like The final scene of the novel contains such ferocity." Idra Novey, The New York Times Book Review
"In Dave Eggers s new novel, The Parade, two men go on a journey: flat, direct and more dangerous than either will admit The narrative is deliberately unbranded, unspecific. The enthusiastic, inexperienced partner goes by Nine. This pushes the narrative into an allegorical space, even as we are up close and personal with the two on their trip from south to north Eggers has been writing fiction that tells a story of America in our present moment, and often that moment is characterized by decline To environmental devastation, violence, the power of social media, the loss of the middle class, we can now add American abroad, over their heads Darkly funny." Carolyn Kellogg, The Los Angeles Times
"The ever-incisive, worldly-wise, compassionate, and imaginative Eggers maintains the tension of a cocked crossbow in this magnetizing, stealthily wry, and increasingly chilling tale." Booklist
"Eggers may be the only living American writer for whom the term Hemingway-esque meaningfully applies . Eggers ably weaves in a host of ethical questions over one man's responsibility to the other, what makes help transactional versus simply kind . An unassuming but deceptively complex morality play, as Eggers distills his ongoing concerns into ever tighter prose." Kirkus
"A testament to Eggers expert skill at point of view... The Parade is a deeply felt book that defies easy labels. This is a book you can finish in a single sitting. And you will." Tony Romano, The New York Journal of Books
"An eye-opening political fiction Eggers tense and intricate storytelling reveals complex moral and ethical issues." The Christian Science Monitor
"Dave Eggers is able to see the world as it is, while also holding on to his vision of how the world should be." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"The Parade is a heartbreaker and a mindbender. It is a novel of ideas that packs an emotional punch that left me reeling. With clear, unadorned prose, Eggers lays bare the costs of war, and of peace." Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage
"This is a tale for our time, an allegory about intervening in foreign lands without knowledge, and so a nightmare vision of our endless wars." Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco and Churchill and Orwell
"A parable of progress, as told by J.M. Coetzee to Philip K. Dick." Richard Flanagan, author of Gould s Book of Fish and The Narrow Road to the Deep North
"In The Parade, the anxiety grows with every page and every mile to reach an ending that turns everything upside down and sends us into the heart of darkness. A minimalistic, merciless novel. A powerful allegory and a painfully concrete contemporary story Eggers is a true virtuoso of that synthesis." Georgi Gospodinov, author of The Physics of Sorrow
"In an unnamed country, two unnamed employees of a foreign road-building corporation arrive for a 12-day assignment Readers, too, are shut out of any background information on either man, an authorial choice that generates a subtle tension throughout the novel Eggers differentiates between Four and Nine solely through their reactions to the post-civil-war devastation around them. How this setup reduces the two men to their willingness or refusal to see others is striking Parable-like The final scene of the novel contains such ferocity." Idra Novey, The New York Times Book Review
"In Dave Eggers s new novel, The Parade, two men go on a journey: flat, direct and more dangerous than either will admit The narrative is deliberately unbranded, unspecific. The enthusiastic, inexperienced partner goes by Nine. This pushes the narrative into an allegorical space, even as we are up close and personal with the two on their trip from south to north Eggers has been writing fiction that tells a story of America in our present moment, and often that moment is characterized by decline To environmental devastation, violence, the power of social media, the loss of the middle class, we can now add American abroad, over their heads Darkly funny." Carolyn Kellogg, The Los Angeles Times
"The ever-incisive, worldly-wise, compassionate, and imaginative Eggers maintains the tension of a cocked crossbow in this magnetizing, stealthily wry, and increasingly chilling tale." Booklist
"Eggers may be the only living American writer for whom the term Hemingway-esque meaningfully applies . Eggers ably weaves in a host of ethical questions over one man's responsibility to the other, what makes help transactional versus simply kind . An unassuming but deceptively complex morality play, as Eggers distills his ongoing concerns into ever tighter prose." Kirkus
"A testament to Eggers expert skill at point of view... The Parade is a deeply felt book that defies easy labels. This is a book you can finish in a single sitting. And you will." Tony Romano, The New York Journal of Books
"An eye-opening political fiction Eggers tense and intricate storytelling reveals complex moral and ethical issues." The Christian Science Monitor
"Dave Eggers is able to see the world as it is, while also holding on to his vision of how the world should be." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"This is a tale for our time, an allegory about intervening in foreign lands without knowledge, and so a nightmare vision of our endless wars." Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco and Churchill and Orwell
"A parable of progress, as told by J.M. Coetzee to Philip K. Dick." Richard Flanagan, author of Gould s Book of Fish and The Narrow Road to the Deep North
"In The Parade, the anxiety grows with every page and every mile to reach an ending that turns everything upside down and sends us into the heart of darkness. A minimalistic, merciless novel. A powerful allegory and a painfully concrete contemporary story Eggers is a true virtuoso of that synthesis." Georgi Gospodinov, author of The Physics of Sorrow
"In an unnamed country, two unnamed employees of a foreign road-building corporation arrive for a 12-day assignment Readers, too, are shut out of any background information on either man, an authorial choice that generates a subtle tension throughout the novel Eggers differentiates between Four and Nine solely through their reactions to the post-civil-war devastation around them. How this setup reduces the two men to their willingness or refusal to see others is striking Parable-like The final scene of the novel contains such ferocity." Idra Novey, The New York Times Book Review
"In Dave Eggers s new novel, The Parade, two men go on a journey: flat, direct and more dangerous than either will admit The narrative is deliberately unbranded, unspecific. The enthusiastic, inexperienced partner goes by Nine. This pushes the narrative into an allegorical space, even as we are up close and personal with the two on their trip from south to north Eggers has been writing fiction that tells a story of America in our present moment, and often that moment is characterized by decline To environmental devastation, violence, the power of social media, the loss of the middle class, we can now add American abroad, over their heads Darkly funny." Carolyn Kellogg, The Los Angeles Times
"The ever-incisive, worldly-wise, compassionate, and imaginative Eggers maintains the tension of a cocked crossbow in this magnetizing, stealthily wry, and increasingly chilling tale." Booklist
"Eggers may be the only living American writer for whom the term Hemingway-esque meaningfully applies . Eggers ably weaves in a host of ethical questions over one man's responsibility to the other, what makes help transactional versus simply kind . An unassuming but deceptively complex morality play, as Eggers distills his ongoing concerns into ever tighter prose." Kirkus
"A testament to Eggers expert skill at point of view... The Parade is a deeply felt book that defies easy labels. This is a book you can finish in a single sitting. And you will." Tony Romano, The New York Journal of Books
"An eye-opening political fiction Eggers tense and intricate storytelling reveals complex moral and ethical issues." The Christian Science Monitor
"Dave Eggers is able to see the world as it is, while also holding on to his vision of how the world should be." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie