‘Am Südhang’ (‘On Southern Slopes’) by Eduard Graf von Keyserling (Review)

Well, it’s been a fun month of German-language reading, but like all good things, German Literature Month has to come to an end, and we’ll soon need to bid a fond auf Wiedersehen to the event for another year.  Before we do, though, there’s just enough time to slip in one last visit, and it’s to a region of the German-speaking world my regular readers may well remember.  Yes, we’re off for a summer holiday with a writer who enjoys watching the upper classes during their idle hours, and today’s choice is another example of how a trip to a big house in the country never quite pans out as expected…

*****
Eduard Graf von Keyserling’s 1911 novella Am Südhang (On Southern Slopes) introduces us to the magnificently named Karl Erdmann von West-Wallbaum, a young soldier on his way back to the family home for a well-earned summer break.  Having just been promoted to lieutenant, he’s feeling very happy with himself, and with the world in general, and looking forward to two months of being pampered by his mother and sisters.  There’s also, of course, the prospect of some summer loving, with his eye firmly on Daniela von Bardow, an older divorcée who is a family friend (and a woman who bewitches all the men around her).

The scene is set, then, for an idyllic summer, but there are a few dark clouds on the horizon.  The presence of the family tutor, Aristides Dorn, is one, a young man who also has his sights set on the beautiful Daniela.  However, the main dampener, loath as Karl Erdmann is to admit it, is an affair the freshly baked lieutenant has to settle before he can truly begin to enjoy his holiday.  You see, there’s the small matter of a duel to carry out, and the more it approaches, the more our young friend begins to appreciate the comfortable life he lives – one that might be over rather sooner than he’d realised…

Anyone who has enjoyed Kerserling’s work will recognise (and look forward to) the basic elements of Am Südhang.  The story has a very similar setting to Schwüle Tage (Sultry Days), with a trip to the country and a pre-conceived plan to make it a romantic stay.  Karl Erdmann (yes, both names are necessary…) is another of Keyserling’s stock heroes, a pleasant fellow who thinks the world revolves him, and who will get quite a shock when he discovers that’s not actually the case.

To be fair, though, it’d be hard not to become slightly egotistical when all and sundry are making you the centre of attention.  The arrival of the newly promoted prodigal son (with all debts duly confessed) seems to make the summer complete, and with an adoring mother and a newfound respect from his father and elder brother, he certainly seems like a success story.  Of course, he still has much to learn, and one function of the story is as a Bildungsroman, in which Karl Erdmann will discover a rather different side to life.

The rather claustrophobic setting is part of the genius of the work.  Karl Erdmann initially has to relearn how to live life out in the country, but he gradually slips back into the routine of walking around the estate and living from one meal to the next.  Not everyone is quite as sanguine about this kind of life, though, especially those who will one day have to leave it.  Keyserling portrays a soft, comforting bubble in which all is enjoyable and easy, but it’s just a bubble – the difficulties of life are still there, outside, biding their time.

The story also contains the usual Keyserling features of family gatherings, dinner parties, gentle humour, pompous men and the women who put up with them.  There’s also, of course, a lot of time spent outdoors, with the characters stopping to admire far too many different flowers for the liking of potential translators…  To all of that, you can add a highly symbolic storm and nocturnal walks around the extensive gardens, with Karl Erdmann not the only one with a liking for strolling around sighing to himself.

Keyserling ratchets up the tension deliberately at times, and isn’t above letting the reader know about it:

»Aber wenn der Tod sich hereinmischt, da wird die Sache feierlich.  Immer wenn wir eine Sache erhaben und feierlich machen wollen, muß immer irgendwie der Tod dabei sein.  Haben Sie das nicht bemerkt, meine Herren?«
»Nun, das ist richtig«, meinte Botho, »so in Theatern und in Büchern und auch sonst wird ein Bißchen Tod gern als Gewürz benutzt.«

“But when death is involved, then everything becomes rather solemn.  Whenever an event needs to be noble and solemn, then death must always be a part of it somehow.  Haven’t you noticed that, gentlemen?”
     “Well, yes, that’s right,” said Botho, “in theatres and books and elsewhere too, a little death is often used to spice things up.”
*** (my translation)

And what’s going on while the gentlemen are having this cheery conversation?  They’re drinking the hours away on the eve of Karl Erdmann’s duel, of course…

The title is mentioned only once, early on, as Karl Erdmann uses an unusual simile to describe the effect his home environment has on his feelings:

Draußen konnte Karl Erdmann zynisch und schneidig sein, hier wurde er empfindlich und feinschalig wie eine Frucht, die auf dem Südhange gereift ist.

Out in the world, Karl Erdmann could be cynical and cutting, here he became as sensitive and thin-skinned as a fruit ripened on southern slopes. ***

While that’s all well and good, it actually reminded me of a similar, if slightly different, quotation in Anthony Trollope’s novel The Small House at Allington.  There it’s used in a negative way, with those people who, like the fruit, grow up with the benefit of early sun seeming more impressive, while those who must wait a little longer for their fair share of the sun actually grow up better (or tastier, if you’re a tomato).  In any case, that analogy fits rather well here.  Karl Erdmann has certainly grown up with more than his share of summer sun, and he’s to discover that perhaps he’s had it all a little too easy so far in life.

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that Am Südhang moves towards a climax with the fateful duel beginning to take up more of our hero’s attention.  It will come as even less of a surprise that there’s a twist in the tale, one that’ll provide a fitting finale to a rather educational summer for Karl Erdmann.  If we’re being critical, some readers might find the story slightly derivative and predictable in places, but it’s still immensely enjoyable, and well worth a try…

*****
…well, it would be if there were a translation into English, of course (those of you able to read the German might want to take a look here).  I had planned to have my own version ready by the end of November, but I was sadly interrupted by work and other such disturbances, so I’m only about a quarter of the way through it.  Still, I thought it would be nice to give you all at least a taste of the story, so look out tomorrow for an exclusive extract, showing you the first pages of the book, as Karl Erdmann makes his way home for the start of an eventful summer.  Who knows, if you like it, I might even get moving on the rest of the story – be sure to tell me your thoughts 😉