‘Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts’ (‘Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing’) by Joseph von Eichendorff (Review)

While our first German Literature Month travels had their grim moments, today’s choice looks to be a far more enjoyable affair.  We’re off to Austria, where we’ll be spending a spring and summer in the company of a pleasant young man who’s out to enjoy his first taste of the big wide world.  We’ll be travelling light and sleeping rough at times, though, so don’t say I haven’t warned you – this is very much a journey for the young of heart and body.

*****
Joseph von Eichendorff’s 1826 novella Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts (Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing) begins with its narrator enjoying himself idling on a beautiful spring day, only to have this moment of peace shattered:

Da trat der Vater aus dem Hause; er hatte schon seit Tagesanbruch in der Mühle rumort und die Schlafmütze schief auf dem Kopfe, der sagte zu mir: „Du Taugenichts!  da sonnst du dich schon wieder und dehnst und reckst dir die Knochen müde und lässt mich alle Arbeit allein tun.  Ich kann dich hier nicht länger füttern.  Der Frühling ist vor der Tür, geh auch einmal hinaus in die Welt und erwirb dir selber dein Brot.”
p.5 (Hamburger Lesehefte, 2010)

At that moment, my father strode out of the house; he had been banging about in the mill since daybreak, and his nightcap askew on his head, he said to me: “You good-for-nothing!  There you are again sunning yourself, flexing and stretching your bones till you’re tired, leaving me to do all the work by myself.  I can’t baby you here anymore.  Spring is just around the corner, get out into the world and earn your own crust.”
*** (my translation)

No sooner is that said than the young layabout decides it’s a splendid idea, and having collected his violin, and a few groschen for initial expenses from his grumpy dad, he bids the family home farewell and sets off for pastures unknown.

It isn’t long before he attracts the attention of two attractive women in a carriage that overtakes him on the road and is taken along to a large castle, where he’s given the role of gardener, and then later a kind of toll collector.  However, after a while he decides that this isn’t the life for him, especially when the beautiful woman he has his eye on appears on a balcony in the company of a handsome man.  It’s time to hit the road again and see what he can make of his life – and that’s when things get *really* interesting…

Anyone who thinks classic literature is dull, dense and off-putting should definitely give Eichendorff’s story a try.  Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts is a fun romp of a novella, an entertaining coming-of-age story and an ode to the joys of youth.  It’s a book full of adventures as our light-hearted protagonist tumbles from one situation to another, in search of love, excitement and a shady place for an afternoon snooze.

Eichendorff’s work is also a story as grand tour.  Having been thrust out into the wide world, the young man has no intention of wasting his opportunity, and from the Austrian sticks, via the impressive castle, he then sets off through the woods and eventually makes his way to Italy.  The story is told as a sort of circular journey, with Rome, the eternal city, as its centre point – at which point the traveller decides there’s no place like home .

The success of the story lies in the little anecdotes and the young man’s encounters with the people he meets along the way.  There’s the irascible farmer who berates him for sleeping under his fruit trees, and the village where our friend wanders in, starts playing his fiddle and steals more than a few hearts.  Even his lack of language skills is more a note of interest than a real impediment to the fun:

Er setzte sich zu mir und frug bald das, bald jenes, während er immerfort Tabak schupfte: Ob ich der Servitore sei?  Wenn wir arriware?  Ob wir nach Roma kehn?  Aber das wusste ich alles selber nicht und konnte auch sein Kauderwelsch gar nicht verstehen.  „Parlez-vous français?”, sagte ich endlich in meiner Angst zu ihm.  Er schüttelte mit dem großen Kopfe, und das war mir sehr lieb, denn ich konnte ja auch nicht Französisch. (p.34)

He joined me at my table and soon started to ask this and that, all the time sniffing his tobacco: Was I the servitore?  When we would arrivare?  If we were koing to Roma?  But I didn’t know any of that myself and couldn’t really  understand all his gobbledygook.  “Parlez-vous français?” I finally said, driven by my fear of him.  He shook his large head, and I was rather relieved, for I didn’t know any French either. ***

Whether he speaks the language or not, he’s always able to get by, with someone always around to lend a helping hand.

The guiding thread of the story is a possible romance between the narrator and one of the young women he meets on the road soon after leaving the mill.  However, cleverly enough, everyone, including our happy-go-lucky friend, is left in the dark as to whether his love is reciprocated – and by whom.  Throughout the tale, we only get one side of the story, his, and that leaves us wondering what the truth of the matter is.

You see, Eichendorff allows the fortunes of love to ebb and flow, leaving the reader to suspect that the young man might be fooling himself.  After all, he has nothing to recommend himself but a pleasant demeanour and his ability on the violin, characteristics that are unlikely to get him very far with any potential father-in-law.  But if that’s the case, then why is everyone helping him – and how on earth does he end up as a guest of honour at a second enormous castle?

As much as Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts is a story of love, though, it’s even more of a book extolling the joys of youth.  Speaking as someone who struggles to get out of bed most mornings even after a night of deep sleep, I can’t help but admire the narrator, who thinks nothing of sleeping out in the open (on one occasion, falling asleep up a tree!), with nothing more to show for it than a few minutes of stiffness the next morning.  Here, Eichendorff is reminding us of the indestructible nature of youth, the ability to shake misfortune off quickly and stride off down the road again, smile on face and violin in knapsack.

It all makes for great fun, and I highly recommend it (the story, not the journey – not at my age, anyway), a fast-paced Bildungsroman with a likable protagonist and a story that speeds by to its culmination.  And just how does it end?  Well, that would be telling, but it does all work out nicely, and perhaps realistically, too.  Luckily, it also appears that even if your German’s not up to the task, you can try still give it a go yourself, as I found a translation online by Ronald Taylor entitled Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing, available from Alma Classics.  With the festive season coming up, this is one G-Lit fans might want to add to their Christmas lists 😉