LiteraturSchweiz

Reading tip

Carmen Stephan, It's all true: Guided by stars, four men set sail from north-east Brazil to see their president. Sixty-one days later they arrive as heroes. Orson Welles plans a film about their journey, but one of the four is swept overboard during filming and disappears. «It’s All True» is an understated but complex novella based on real-life events, taking its title from Orson Welles’ unfinished film. Carmen Stephan’s novella is a beautiful, pensive book with shades of the Old Man and the Sea. The precise yet dream-like writing explores familiar ideas about truth and fiction in a striking and memorable way. Clearly influenced by magic realism and with a pleasing sense of mystery, the novella is full of vivid turns of phrase and striking similes. It’s All True is a philosophical, reflective book, which delights in small descriptive details. The tone is calm, wistful and uncynical – reminiscent of Peter Stamm’s writing – and the narrative’s open, ingenuous style makes for a delightfully heady reading experience. (Recommended by New Books in German, 43/2018)