“New sufferings of a young B.” Plenzdorf in brief


The story begins with a few obituary notices about the death of a seventeen-year-old Edgar Vibo. Then follows the dialogue of the mother and father of the deceased youth. These two broke up when their son was only five years old. Since then, my father has never seen him, except for one instance when the son came in incognito. From the dialogue it turns out that for the time being Edgar was very good at the vocational school, and then suddenly, without getting along with the master teacher, he threw everything and ran away from home. He left the small provincial town of Mittenberg in Berlin and there, after chatting for a while without any work, he finally settled down in the repair and construction brigade as a painter. He settled in a dilapidated house intended for demolition. He did not give news to his mother,

Father Edgar, who wants to learn more about him, because his mother’s explanations do not satisfy him, asks those who have ever been friends with his son, or worked

together, or just by chance met sometime. So he finds a tape. And he learns about the life and problems of his son after his death. For example, that Edgar is proud, and more than once emphasizes this, that he is descended from the French Huguenots, that he is left-handed, whom he tried long and hard to make a right-handed man, that he loves modern music, especially jazz, which prefers all pants jeans, and in the field of literature, above all puts novels “Robinson Crusoe”, “The Suffering of a Young Werther” and “The Catcher in the Rye.”

Edgar Vibo, as well as Holden Caulfield from Salinger’s novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” is very vulnerable, it’s difficult to find a common language with the people around him, he hates falsity. The case brings him closer to the children from the kindergarten, which is located near his collapsing house. Having become friends with these children, Edgar finds in himself the abilities of a teacher. Handing each child on the brush, he teaches their paintings, and all together they create on the walls of the kindergarten

a unique art canvas. Edgar considers himself an artist, but, unfortunately, no one understands this, people all of his paintings seem to be smearing. Well, as for the “suffering” of the young Edgar Vibo, they begin when he gets acquainted with the teacher of these children. No matter what her name really is, he dubbed her Charlotte, after the heroine of Goethe’s novel, which is dear to him to such an extent that he literally does not part with him for a minute. And on the tape that he sends to Friend Willie, Edgar often quotes Goethe, describing his feelings for Shirley, without naming the source, and mentally imagines how his friend gets such a high-spirited syllable and looks at his forehead with surprise. He quotes lines from the novel and in a conversation with Shirley.

The story repeats the situation described in Goethe’s novel. Shirley, who is four years older than Edgar, is waiting for the bridegroom returning from the army, whose name is Dieter. Finally, he is demobilized, goes to university, in order to study there the German studies, and marries Shirley. However, judging by some brief remarks that Edgar wrote, he is interested not so much in philology as in the opportunity to make a career through public work. He’s bored, he’s already too grown up, and it looks like Shirley’s love for him begins to wane. Edgar twice visited them on a visit. Once he pulled a young married couple into nature to shoot with a wind gun. Dieter, however, this walk did not bring much pleasure. Apparently, he began to be jealous of Shirley to Edgar. However, in obedience to a fit of anger, the next time he let them go alone on a motor boat. The weather was overcast, then it poured rain, Shirley and Edgar got wet, froze, and at one point, huddled together to warm themselves, could not resist the temptation. This was their last meeting.

It is to this period in the life of the main character that the beginning of his work in the repair and construction brigade is related. As a young man, he is not ordinary and sometimes prickly, lapping to the workforce at him goes with a creak. It is especially difficult for him to get along with a harsh brigadier. There is a conflict. The position is saved by the elderly master Zaremba, more sensitive, wiser than the impetuous brigadier. Zaremba understands that Edgard is not some kind of a helper who wants to get money without doing anything, but a serious young man with a character. And an elderly worker convinces his colleagues about this. However, just at this time Edgar had another problem. The abandoned house in which he lived, finally decided to demolish. So, it was necessary to go somewhere. But where? Not in Mittenberg, though. He was afraid of this most of all. Provincial towns especially hard on the psyche of young men like Edgar. But time was tightening up. A friend of Willie gave out his mother’s address to Edgar, and she was about to come to see him. The resolution of the problem occurred unexpectedly. Working in the team, Edgar drew attention to the imperfection of the existing spray guns and wanted to make his colleagues happy with the invention of a more perfect apparatus. But only the apparatus connected something wrong. Testing the device, he closed the current on himself… Edgar drew attention to the imperfection of the existing spray guns and wanted to make his colleagues happy with the invention of a more perfect apparatus. But only the apparatus connected something wrong. Testing the device, he closed the current on himself… Edgar drew attention to the imperfection of the existing spray guns and wanted to make his colleagues happy with the invention of a more perfect apparatus. But only the apparatus connected something wrong. Testing the device, he closed the current on himself…


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“New sufferings of a young B.” Plenzdorf in brief