The Interim

This engrossing work from the late Hilbig (The Females), who died in 2007, continues the author’s dedication to narratives of life in a divided Germany during the Cold War. C., an alcoholic East German writer in his mid-40s who has lost his joie de vivre, shuttles between East and West Germany in the late 1980s after he is invited to the West for a yearlong fellowship. He leaves his partner behind and, once settled, sparks a relationship with Hedda. Their love is stormy at best, and C. spends his year traveling for reading events, questioning consumerism, flailing at writing, and drinking himself into depressions. He escapes back to the East frequently, though once he lets his visa lapse, he remains in the West during the years leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, nostalgic for the land he can no longer visit and pondering where he truly belongs. Darkly funny, Hilbig’s novel eddies around C.’s indecision as his thoughts fold in on themselves and he spins his wheels as life passes by. Though certain jags work better than others, the novel succeeds in replicating the uncertainty of a life in late Cold War Germany. C., as avatar of East and West, struggles to find purchase amid the chaos. It’s a wily tale, smartly told. (Nov.)