The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, Or How Violence Develops and Where it Can Lead by Heinrich Böll


The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, Or How Violence Develops and Where it Can Lead
Title : The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, Or How Violence Develops and Where it Can Lead
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0070064296
ISBN-10 : 9780070064294
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 140
Publication : First published January 1, 1974

A bright, sensitive young woman, Katharina Blum, falls in love with a young radical lawbreaker in flight from the police. Her brief association with a hunted man brings her under police surveillance and makes her the exploited subject of cheap newspaper sensationalism. Portrayed on the front pages of a big-city daily as a whore, an atheist, a Communist sympathizer, she becomes the target of anonymous phone calls and letters, sexual advances and threats. Out of an anger so remorseless and a violation of integrity so profound that it overcomes even her will to survive, she shoots the offending journalist and then turns herself into the chief crimial investigator.

The actual story is reconstructed step by step in a narrative report which follows the drama with irony and sympathy, gradually disclosing a vast panorama of human relationships. The whole is a masterful comment on the law and the press, the labyrinth of social truth, and the inevitable collision of fact and fiction.


The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, Or How Violence Develops and Where it Can Lead Reviews


  • Ahmad Sharabiani

    (Book 338 from 1001 books) - Die Verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum oder: Wie Gewalt entsteht und Wohin sie Führen Kann = The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, Heinrich Böll

    The story deals with the sensationalism of tabloid news and the political climate of panic over Red Army Faction terrorism in the 1970's Federal Republic of Germany.

    The main character, Katharina Blum, is an innocent housekeeper whose life is ruined by an invasive tabloid reporter and a police investigation when the man with whom she has just fallen in love turns out to be wanted by the police because of a bank robbery.

    تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و دوم ماه آگوست سال1985میلادی

    عنوان: آبروی از دست رفته کاترینا بلوم؛ نویسنده: هاینریش بل، مترجم: حسن نقره چی، تهران، نشر نیلوفر، سال1383؛ در133ص؛ شابک9789644482311؛ چاپ دوم سال1388؛ چاپ سوم سال1392؛ چاپ چهارم سال1395؛ موضوع ادبیات از نویسندگان آلمان - سده 20م

    ترجمه دیگری نیز از روانشاد جناب آقای: شریف لنکرانی، چاپ اول سال1357، چاپ دوم بهمن ماه سال1363، از انتشارات خوارزمی

    شیوه ی نگارش رئالیستی «هاینریش بل»، و درونمایه ی انسانی آثارشان، ایشان را پیشگام ادبیات رئالیستی «آلمان» کرد؛ زندگی دوران جنگ، دردهای روزانه ی مردم، و تاثیر جنگ بر زندگی آنها، دستمایه ی ایشان، در بیشتر آثارشان است؛ کارهای «هاینریش بل»، جنبه های گوناگون نیز دارد؛ طنزنویس بودند، و گاه نمایشنامه نیز مینوشتند، و سفرنامه نیز نگاشته اند؛ با نوشتار و گفتار خویش، در سیاست نیز، گاه ورود کرده اند؛ رمان «آبروی از دست رفته کاترینا بلوم: خشونت چگونه بوجود میآید و به کجا میتواند منجر شود» به راستی، دنباله ای بر رمان پیشین ایشان با عنوان «سیمای زنی در میان جمع» نیز هست، که آن رمان جایزه ی «نوبل» را، نصیب «هاینریش بل»، کرد

    تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 29/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 16/08/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

  • Lisa

    Does "freedom of speech" include the right to exploit individuals and to distort evidence to serve a populist paper's financial profit as well as its wealthy, ultra-conservative, bigoted patrons' agenda?

    I first read Katharina Blum's story in school, and my memory of it was vague, concerned mostly with the question whether or not it was understandable that she fell in love with a criminal, helped him escape and then committed a murder after being the victim of atrociously untruthful and sensationalist press coverage in a news outlet quite similar to Daily Mail or Fox News.

    Rereading the short novel today, labelled a "pamphlet" by the author himself, I have a different, more nuanced impression. What I conceived as a cold, detached narrative now seems a perfectly valid method to show what an objective report of a string of incidents might look like, - avoiding expletives, sexual voyeurism, random interpretation, misquoting and speculation. It is a direct response, stylistically speaking, to the press coverage that destroyed Katharina's life, just because IT COULD.

    It contains an open political message, a warning. Without justifying violence in any way, it highlights the hatred which erupts out of frustration and despair when a person is exposed to public shaming. It shows the danger of corrupt people in powerful positions colluding with newspapers under their control to deliberately plant false information in the public consciousness.

    The most powerful scene in the story shows Katharina paralysed by the evil lies about herself in the populist paper she is reading. A kind friend collects several articles in objective, fair newspapers to show her the contrast to the big front pages and photographs that torture her. Katharina shrugs off those truthful articles.

    "Doesn't matter what the other papers write, everybody reads this one", she says, displaying the paradox of human nature, claiming to want information while actually asking for voyeuristic entertainment that endangers truth rather than uncovering it.

    Katharina Blum's story is almost more relevant today, when objective news outlets are openly threatened by extreme populists in powerful positions around the world, and when unethical, power hungry politicians shout "fake news" whenever a journalist reports evidence that goes against their personal agenda. They act like wolves dressed up as sheep, pointing at the sheepish crowds and yelling "Wolf!" at them, thus deflecting attention from the true predators.

    In the end, nobody knows whom to trust, anything is possible, and journalism is discredited and irrevocably damaged. And that in turn puts both democracy and individual human rights in danger.

    We need to learn again the difference between journalistic bullying with a biased political agenda and independent reporting of facts.

    We need to discover again that the flashiest headlines and most compromising pictures and scandalous details are not the most valid information.

    We need to respect the privacy of individuals and separate abuse from reportage.

    We need to think about the long term effects of journalism without ethical rules - for its own sake.

    When female sexuality is exploited and demonised to cover up assault and abuse of power, individual human lives are destroyed. That is the message of the story, not whether or not Katharina was justified to commit murder. She wasn't. She never thought she was. But she was driven to the point of not caring about that anymore.

    Our shared human responsibility is not to deliver a platform for vile defamation, not to encourage bullying and threatening behaviour, and to support press coverage that remains objective, fair, fact-based and truthful - and relevant.

    I hope they still read Katharina Blum in schools nowadays.

  • Orsodimondo

    DEL COME LA VIOLENZA PUÒ SVILUPPARSI E DOVE PUÒ PORTARE

    description
    Angela Winkler è Katharina Blum nel film del 1975, di Volker Schlöndorff e Margarethe von Trotta. Dietro di lei, l’immancabile Mario Adorf.

    Heinrich Böll conosceva personalmente Ulrike Meinhof e scrisse un saggio su di lei; ospitò a casa sua Solženicyn subito dopo l’espulsione dall’URSS; criticò la guerra fredda, la corsa agli armamenti, il modo come la stampa di destra affrontava il terrorismo, e la politica repressiva del governo tedesco.
    Tutto questo scatenò una campagna di stampa contro di lui, fu tacciato di comunismo (in Germania all’epoca accusa gravissima. Non solo in Germania e non solo all’epoca) e di amicizia coi terroristi.
    Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina, si potrebbe dire.

    description
    L’altro protagonista maschile del film, Jürgen Prochnow, anni prima che il film “Das Boot” lo facesse sbarcare a Hollywood specializzandosi nel ruolo del cattivo, al punto che in ogni suo film appena entrava in scena si sapeva come sarebbe andata a finire, il ruolo del bad guy era immediatamente chiaro.

    Appare evidente che L’onore perduto di Katharina Blum (dal quale fu tratto un film non all’altezza del romanzo, con la regia firmata a quattro mani da Volker Schlöndorff e Margarethe von Trotta) è ispirato da questi fatti, è la risposta in letteratura di Böll alla stampa di destra (il quotidiano Bild Zeitung del gruppo Springer).
    Essendo un grande scrittore, ne è venuto fuori un grande libro: molto lontano dalle opere dei suoi esordi che ho letto di recente, è un racconto lungo, o romanzo breve, graffiante, caustico, divertente per l’ironia tagliente che Böll dispiega largamente.

    description
    Il titolo originale è “L’onore perduto di Katharina Blum, in Italia il film uscì come “Il caso Katharina Blum”: evidentemente l’onore perduto fu considerato un deterrente per gli spettatori.

    Un narratore fittizio confronta la versione ufficiale dei fatti, ma manipolata dalla stampa (il “Giornale”), con i retroscena del caso.
    E’ una contro cronaca retrospettiva costruita intorno all’interrogatorio di Katharina nell’ufficio di polizia.
    La responsabilità di chi si serve delle parole come strumento di oppressione, è trasfigurata nelle formule burocratiche degli inquirenti, nei luoghi comuni grossolani e mistificanti di certa stampa, a cui si contrappone l’ipersensibilità filologica di Katharina.
    La donna risponde con un atto di violenza alla violenza diffamatoria della stampa e delle istituzioni, e dopo aver riscattato il suo onore perduto, si costituisce.
    E’ un gesto clamoroso, che certo non la farà entrare nella storia, ma, ahilei, nella cronaca per pochi brutti giorni, doppiamente vittima.

    Lui voleva fare bum-bum, no?, e io ho fatto bum-bum.

    description
    Quando lo Stato fa sul serio.

  • °°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ʜᴇʟᴇɴ Ροζουλί Εωσφόρος ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° ★·.·´¯`·.·★ Ⓥⓔⓡⓝⓤⓢ Ⓟⓞⓡⓣⓘⓣⓞⓡ Ⓐⓡⓒⓐⓝⓤⓢ Ταμετούρο   Αμ

    «Η χαμένη τιμή της Κατερίνας Μπλούμ» δεν χαρακτηρίζεται ως ένα αριστουργηματικό μυθιστόρημα μεγαλειώδους πνευματικής τροφοδοσίας σκέψεων.

    Θα μπορούσε να χαρακτηριστεί ως λογοτεχνική απεικόνιση της κοινωνικής συνείδησης.
    Μια κάπως παρωχημένη για την εποχή μας απεικόνιση που υπερβαίνει με ιδιαίτερες συνθήκες τα αποτελέσματα του κίτρινου διαχρονικού τύπου, που τα προκαλεί η υποκινούμενη και εντεταλμένη ελευθεροτυπία.

    Η ηθική που λασπώνει την ιστορία μας είναι η καπιταλιστική ή και η βαθιά σοσιαλιστική ηθική.
    Η ηρωίδα μας ανήκει στην εργατική τάξη,
    παλεύει και ονειρεύετα,εργαζόμενη ως οικειακή βοηθός, να αποκτήσει μια άνετη μικροαστική ύπαρξη ανάμεσα σε ισχυρά, δυνατά,εξέχοντα και αρκούντως βαθύπλουτα σημαίνοντα πρόσωπα κάθε είδους εξουσίας.

    Μεχρι που συναντάει έναν καταλάθος τρομοκράτη και κυριεύεται απο το πάθος της τρέλας και της αναισθησίας απέναντι σε κάθε κίνδυνο, ευθύνη, λογική, ηθική και παραφορά, που μόνο η εφόρμηση του έρωτα μπορεί να δημιουργήσει και να ακυρώσει κάθε ανθρώπινη αντίσταση.

    Ο έρωτας καταδυναστεύεται απο πολιτικές, αστυνομικές, θρησκευτικές και υπονομευτικές σκοπιμότητες καταλήγοντας βορά στις αναφορές μιας εφημερίδας μεγάλης κυκλοφορίας που ασκεί πολιτικό βιασμό προσωπικών δεδομένων παραβιάζοντας τα δικαιώματα των ατόμων σε μια φιλελεύθερη δημοκρατία (λέμε τώρα..).

    Η χειραγώγηση των πληροφοριών, τα μυστικά και ψέματα, κρυμμένα καλά. πίσω απο το όνομα παροχής υπηρεσιών προς διατήρηση της άρτιας ενημέρωσης του κοινού για τα καθημερινά, τα σπάνια, τα ευπώλητα κατασκευασμένα γεγονότα μιας περιοχής ή όλου του πλανήτη.
    Αυτό ακριβώς είναι το σκηνικό που αποτελεί έναυσμα παραφροσύνης ή απλή ειδησεογραφική πληροφόρηση αθώων ανθρώπων, ανυποψίαστων θυτών και απαθέστατα βασανισμένων λαών.

    Εδώ, η δημοκρατία της ελευθεροτυπίας και η αναζήτηση της πιο ακριβοπληρωμένης αλήθειας απο την τρομοκρατική οργάνωση των έντυπων εξουσιών οδηγεί στην δολοφονία ενός αναζητητή ευθυνών με υπεύθυνο πόστο. Ο αναζητητής εργάζεται σε μια άριστα καταρτισμένη και εξεχόντως δικτυωμένη ειδησεογραφία κανιβαλισμού ψυχών.

    Η δυαδικότητα της αλήθειας και του ψέματος μοιράζει τις ζωοτροφές σε ένα παιχνίδι αγώνων νοητικής και συνειδιασιακής πείνας. Στην περίπτωση αυτή η αλήθεια σηκώνεται τελευταία απο το τραπέζι...!
    😈
    Καλή ανάγνωση.
    Πολλούς ασπασμούς.

  • Luís

    Katharina Blum is a genuinely sublime character.
    Little pampered by fate, she maintains morally irreproachable behavior by always remaining faithful to her character, regardless of the circumstances.
    She had suddenly subjected following the meeting of a man wanted by the police to the dubious precedents of a sensational journalist who translates all the exemplary elements of his life into means of provoking a public's attention and interest, always blasé and insatiable. As a result, she loses all interest in the life she led until then and comes, in just a few days, to murder without remorse or conscience.
    It has exposed the events in an exact, practical way. However, the tiny points of humor make it possible not to grant too much importance to the despicable methods employed by the unworthy penpusher.
    It was striking to find that the despicable processes shown in the novel are very close to what one can observe in reality. Anyone who has dealt with the news in person knows how the media often presents the truth in its most sensational, far too frequently leaving the essentials entirely in the dark.
    When the rules of the perverse game are known, it is up to those who want to get their messages across to be very careful to avoid the slightest false step. On the other hand, when it is a question of a person who asks only to continue his real modest life in anonymity, the dishonor of the phenomenon becomes genuinely striking. We are touching on an essential aspect of any democratic system. It currently functions extremely poorly since it sells itself to sensation, which can overflow nightmarishly, as presented by Böll.
    The novel was written in the 1970s and had, unfortunately, steadily gained traction. But unfortunately, the advent of the internet and social media is worse than ever.
    May vigilance, critical spirit, and irony always accompany us in these valleys of shadows and cheap deaths!

  • Sidharth Vardhan

    "Mama I'm in Love with the criminal."
    - Britney Spear Katherina Blum


    It seems people find a certain kind of enjoyment in seeing each other's lives going to ruins. We love to get hold of dirt on whosoever, we can, maybe it serves as a kind of moral victory for our own boring selves, plus it is a good source of entertainment. And news agencies exploit this tendency by providing us scapegoats. The only time it is a problem for us is when it is our own life being reduced to pieces. Kind of like in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery.

    Katherina Blum probably didn't even enjoy this scape-goating by media. She was the most puritan, pious soul you can imagine outside a nun's dress. Until she fell in love with a criminal and go all Bella Swan for him after a single dance. And irresponsible journalism did the rest. I think the dull narrative, the narrator is actually apologetic for the mention of blood, suits the book given that Böll is writing against sensationalism.

  • Mohammad Hrabal

    کتاب خوبی بود. فیلم اقتباسی نسبتا خوبی هم آقای شلندورف و خانم مارگارته فون تروتا از آن ساخته‌اند اگر علاقه داشتید ببینید
    The lost honor of Katharina Blum (1975) 7.4

  • Mb

    شاهكار تنها كلمه ايست كه در وصف اين كتاب ميتوانم به كار ببرم.ابروي از دست رفته ي كاترينا بلوم بي نظير است چه از نظر تكنيك نوشتاري و چه از لحاظ داستان گويي..حالا ميبينم كه چه تعداد كتاب خوب وجود دارد كه مهجور مانده اند.
    بُل اين كتاب را در نقد روزنامه نگاري نا مسئولانه كه فقط به فكر تيراژ بيشتر و در خدمت ارباب قدرت هستند نوشت.روزنامه هايي كه به اسم ازادي قلم هر خزعبلي را به خورد ملت ميدهند.او حتي انتقادي هم به مردم دارد كه در بزرگ شدن چنين روزنامه هايي شريك هستند
    او در ابتداي كتاب نوشته:
    افراد و اتفاقات اين داستان همگي تخيلي هستند.اگر انچه نگاشته شده با شيوه عمل روزنامه نگاران بيلد (Bild) شباهت دارد عمدي يا اتفاقي نيست بلكه اجتناب ناپذير است.
    در همين ابتدا او يك متلك به روزنامه بيلد المان كه روزنامه اي زرد و پر حاشيه و پرفروش ترين روزنامه المان است انداخته است.روزنامه بيلد مختص عوام و بي سوادان المان است و با تيراژ چند ميليوني تاثير به سزايي بر اذهان عمومي المان دارد
    هاينريش بل در برهه اي با روزنامه بيلد بر سر دفاع از گروهي درگير ميشود تا انجا كه كار به دادگاه ميكشد.بل در ان زمان مقاله اي بر عليه بيلد در روزنامه اشپيگل-كه رسانه روشنفكران و تحصيل كرده ها بود- چاپ ميكند كه سر و صداي زيادي به پا ميكند
    همه بخوبي ميدانيم كه رسانه چه قدرت مخربي ميتواند داشته باشد و اگر دست اهلش نباشد قادر است چه فجايعي به بار بياورد.بُل به زيبايي عملكرد انها را نقد ميكند
    كاترينا بلوم زنيست ٢٧ ساله،او از طبقه فقير جامعه ست..پدرش مرده و مادرش در بستر بيماري به سر ميبرد.كاترينا ولي با برنامه ريزي دقيق و انضباط كاري به سرعت در شغلش كه خدمت كاري و ميهمانداري در مجالس است پيشرفت ميكند.او به دليل تعهد و صداقت در كارش نزد كارفرمايانش كه همگي از طبقه مرفه هستند محبوب ميشود و انها به نحوي به او در پيشبرد شرايط زندگي اش كمك ميكنند.همين باعث ميشود كه كاترينا در ٢٧ سالگي و با شغل خدمت كاري بتواند خانه اي تقريبا مدرن به صورت قسطي و اتوموبيلي شخصي بخرد
    كاترينا كه مطلقه است زني زيبا و خوش اندام است،با اينحال روابط چندان راحتي با مردان ندارد.او خجالتي ست و از ارتباط با مردان هراس دارد،زيرا او رابطه با انها را تنها زماني دوست دارد كه پاي عشقي اتشين در ميان باشد.به همين دليل دوستانش او را امل يا خواهر روحاني صدا ميكنند
    ولي زندگي براي كاترينا كه هيچوقت هم نوازشگر نبوده، ناگهان تبديل به فاجعه اي تمام عيار ميشود.او در انظار عمومي تبديل به زني هرزه،فاحشه،خرابكار،بي مبالات و..ميشود.ماجرا چيست؟
    كاترينا در بعد از ظهر ٢٠ فوريه ١٩٧٤ به قصد شركت در يك ميهماني از خانه خارج ميشود.و ٤ روز بعد خودش را به پليس معرفي و اقرار به قتل روزنامه نگاري به نام توتگس در خانه اش ميكند.در روز مهماني او با مردي غريبه به نام لودويگ گوتن اشنا ميشود و به رقص با او ميپردازد و موجبات تعجب دوستانش را فراهم ميكند.گوتن ولي ظاهرا فرديست خلافكار و تحت تعقيب پليس.انها پس از پايان ميهماني،شب را در خانه ي كاترينا ميگذرانند.پليس خانه او را تحت نظر ميگيرد ولي وقتي وارد عمل ميشود گوتن فرار كرده است.پليس كاترينا را دستگير ميكند و به جرم همكاري و فراري دادن يك جاني او را به اداره پليس ميبرند.
    روند تحقيقات و بازجويي پليس و مهم تر از ان وارد شدن روزنامه (بُل در تمام كتاب از اسم ان استفاده نميكند) به ماجرا در اين ٤ روز باعث ميشود كه موضوع كاترينا تبديل به مهمترين خبر روز المان شود و اخبار مربوط به او و خانواده اش با عكس و تيترهاي بزرگ در صفحه اول روزنامه چاپ شود.
    روزنامه با قلب واقعيت،تحريف صحبتهاي ديگران،چاپ اخباري بر پايه حدس و گمان،بر چسب زني (خطاب كردن كاترينا با اسمهايي مانند فاخشه،خائن و..)،صادر كردن حكم درباره او،به وسط كشيدن سابقه و گذشته كاترينا و خانواده اش انهم به دروغ،پر رنگ كردن نقش افرادي كه تاثيري زيادي در ماجرا ندارند ولي از حاميان كاترينا هستند (مانند صاحب كارانش،اقا و خانم بلورنا)،ناديده گرفتن يا كم رنگ كردن نقش افرادي كه تاثير زيادي در بحراني شدن شرايط كاترينا داشته اند (مانند سرمايه داري كه سعي در ايجاد ��ابطه با كاترينا داشته) و..باعث ميشود كاترينا به سمت يك فروپاشي عظيم روحي رواني پيش برود و نه تنها او بلكه زندگي نزديكانش مانند مادرش،اقا و خانم بلورنا و دوستش الزه دستخوش تغييرات اساسي شود.بُل به زيبايي سوق داده شدن يك نفر به سمت خشونت و ارتكاب انرا جلوي چشمان ما به نمايش در اورده.
    راوي داستان را بر اساس ٣ منبع براي ما گزارش ميكند.
    كتاب در ابتدا شما را به صورت جدي به چالش ميكشد..مدام مجبوريد به عقب برگرديد و تاريخها يا شخصيتهايي را چك كنيد.و مدام از روابط جديدي كه كشف ميشوند شوكه ميشويد.تعداد شخصيتها با وجود حجم كم كتاب بالاست و همين تا حدودي شما را سرگردان ميكند.شخصيتها با يكديگر روابط پيچيده و در هم تنيده اي دارند يا حداقل بهتر است بگوييم نحوه اي كه بُل داستان را روايت ميكند اينچنين پيچيده است.
    قسمتهايي از تحريف شدن صحبتهاي ديگران درباره كاترينا توسط روزنامه:
    كاترينا انساني بسيار فهميده اما سرد و نچسب است (جمله از يكي از صاحب كاران قبلي) تبديل ميشود به:كاترينا به سردي يخ و ويرانگر است
    يا
    من يك وكيل هستم و خوب ميدانم چه كسي قادر به جنايت كردن هست و چه كسي نيست(از دكتر بلورنا،وكيل و صاحب كار فعلي كاترينا) تبديل ميشود به:
    او احتمالا قادر به انجام كارهاي جنايي است
    كتاب ٢ بار توسط مرحوم شريف لنكراني (انتشارات خوارزمي) و حسن نقره چي (انتشارات نيلوفر) به چاپ رسيده است.
    ترجمه ي اقاي نقره چي پيچيدگي كتاب و لحن گزارش گونه ي بُل را بخوبي در اورده هرچند كه در بعضي جاها مشكلات ويراستاري دارد.

  • Matt

    The day I write this review, coincides with two events: Five years ago, on 3/3/2009 the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne collapsed, two people died and many historical treasures kept in the building are believed to be destroyed forever:




    Today is also Rosenmontag, the highlight of the German carnival season and Cologne being one of the carnival hot spots in Germany:



    So, why am I telling you this?

    First of all, Heinrich Böll was born in Cologne and lived there or nearby his whole life. After his death the descendants decided to transfer almost his entire literary remains to the Historical Archive in Cologne, the manuscripts, letters, sources, etc. Most likely all of these are now lost. Whether or not the manuscript of this novel has been destroyed I cannot say. It has been a great loss in any case. Secondly, I don't think Mr. Böll cared for the carnival business at all. But the story of the book takes place in a few days just before Rosenmontag. So you could say I read the book at the time the story unfolds, only 40 years later.

    The blurb of this book is very accurate and aptly put, so I don't want to add anything here. The prose is detached and there's no real narrator. It reads more like a journal of some kind. It's strange, but interesting strange. Part of it contains some more or less hidden black humor while other parts seem like they have been written in great anger, with a fist in his pocket, so to speak. The relationship between the tabloid press (especially the newspaper called BILD and the Springer publishing firm to which this paper belongs) and the author wasn't a very good one, to put it mildly. After the usual disclaimer about fictitious events and characters we find the following revealing statement:

    Should in the description of certain journalistic practices similarities with the practices of the BILD-Zeitung be revealed, these similarities are not intended or accidental, but inevitable.

    I don't want to go into more detail here. Suffice to say that Springer refused to publish bestseller lists in his magazines for as long as KATARINA BLUM was on them. Childish behavior? You bet, but in the years that started in 1968 with the APO (extra-parliamentary opposition) and culminated in the so called German Autumn in 1977, the nerves (on both sides) were pretty raw.

    So, I guess, this is a rather political book. And it is (or better was back then) largely misunderstood. People actually believed it contains calls for violence. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the subtitle to this book "How violence develops and where can it lead" may give a small hint to this.


    Creative Commons License
    This work is licensed under a
    Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

  • Steven Godin

    Insightful and believable if somewhat confusing look at the media frenzy surrounding a criminal on the run and a young woman who becomes involved with him. It's 1974 and pretty hardworking German Katharina Blum is caught like a rabbit in the headlights when accused of helping wanted criminal Ludwig Gotten evade police capture from a building already under surveillance by law enforcement. Once the tabloids get their dirty little operations going they start an intrusive and nasty smear campaign of hate where she is portrayed by a leading newspaper as a whore, communist and atheist, while a reporter may or may not have been partly responsible for the death of Katherina's mother after trying to get an interview from the hospital she was staying, Katharina though would go on to have the last laugh with chilling results. Heinrich Böll writes with icy and unemotional conviction that not wholly makes you feel any sympathy as fact and fiction blur, and the twisting of events can seem deceitful. Using a step by step police interrogation style that both works but also creates a problem as it's not always easy to follow the timelines presented to the reader. Winner of the Nobel Prize in 1972, what Böll has done well here also is creating a paranoid and edgy Germany at a time of political unrest and terrorism that takes any investigation as a wider spectrum of trouble.

  • Jan-Maat

    If I said magnificent, or fantastic, that might be a bit much, if I described it as just about right, that could sound too grudging and mean spirited.

    Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum ider: Wie Gewalt entstehen und wohin sie fuehren kann is a very short book dating back to 1976 when I was far too young to have read I for myself. Despite its age and particular historical (and cultural) setting, it is a contemporary story, Andy Warhol said In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes, a little bit before Böll wrote this story, which deals with the nature of that fame and its consequences, in that sense it is rather like
    The Bonfire of the Vanities, except not half a million pages long and an epic journey through 1980s New York. Instead this book is funny, well not exactly funny, I laughed while reading some that was not at all funny.

    This little book tells the story of why Katharina Blum, a young woman, working as a cleaning lady and occasional bar maid, came to murder a journalist and turn herself into the police .

    It reminded me of a story - I think about Benjamin Franklin, who although himself as a printer was a big fan of the freedom to print what ever you like, advised in the case of other people freely publishing lies, slander or rubbish about you, to have a big stick handy to beat said purveyors of such untruths. There's a pessimism in that, an acknowledgement that in Blum's terms once your honour is lost, it is not going to be regained, not even in the event of a very small apology printed at the bottom of page 33 of the same newspaper scrutinised by a team of lawyers with far more care than the original dishonouring article(s) was (were) written. But revenge in the form of physical violence might offer some relief.

    One can see the attraction of this, in the story there are a couple of examples of statements or quotations, judiciously edited by journalists to say the exact opposite of what the speaker intended, all the better einfachen Menschen Artikulationshilfe zu geben (p.92). The freedom of the press then denies freedom of expression and opinion of everyone who is not the press. Here demonstrated by the creation of waves of rage and hostility towards Blum and her employers.

    Obviously this is a fictional story, but now and again one can come across similar non-fiction stories of people who get their 15 minutes of fame, and whose lives get chewed over and spat out as a result.

  • Evi

    Η χαμένη τιμή της Καταρίνα Μπλουμ είναι ένα βιβλίο που γράφτηκε το 1974 από τον Heinrich Böll. Η πλοκή του εξελίσσεται σε τέσσερις μόλις μέρες και διαδραματίζεται στην Κολωνία.

    Πρωταγωνίστρια είναι η Καταρίνα Μπλουμ, μια φιλήσυχη γυναίκα που εργάζεται ως οικιακή βοηθός στο σπίτι ενός δικηγόρου. Η Καταρίνα γνωρίζεται σε ένα αποκριάτικο πάρτι με τον Λούντβιχ. Χωρίς να το συνηθίζει, περνάει τη νύχτα μαζί του. Την επόμενη μέρα ωστόσο η αστυνομία εισέρχεται στο σπίτι της με σκοπό να συλλάβει τον Λούντβιχ, ο οποίος καταζητείται. Η Καταρίνα βοηθά τον Λούντβιχ να διαφύγει και από τότε ξεκινά το μαρτύριο της. Φυσικά συλλαμβάνεται και ανακρίνεται και η ίδια. Οι σκανδαλοθηρικές εφημερίδες εισβάλλουν στο σπίτι και τη ζωή της.

    Το όνομα της διασύρεται στη λάσπη και η ζωή της διαλύεται έτσι απλά και ανώδυνα. Λοιδορίες, ψευτιές και διαστρεβλώσεις προκαλούν τέτοια σύγχυση στην καθημερινότητα της, που η ίδια αδυνατεί πλέον να αντιμετωπίσει.

    Ένα βιβλίο με λόγο συμπυκνωμένο, διεκπεραιωτικό, σχεδόν τηλεγραφικό και χωρίς ανακρίβειες. Τα μικρά κεφάλαια κάνουν το βιβλίο ιδιαίτερα ευκολοδιάβαστο. Σε λίγες μόνο σελίδες οδηγεί τον αναγνώστη σε συναισθηματική παραζάλη. Σε συνδυασμό με την αθωότητα της πρωταγωνίστριας η απανθρωπιά της κοινωνίας αποδεικνύεται ακόμη πιο σκληρή και βάναυση.

    Τι κάνει άραγε ένας άνθρωπος που του καταστρέφουν τη ζωή ;
    Πώς αντιδρά η Καταρίνα ;
    Διάβασε το και συ για να μάθεις!

  • Haniye

    جذابیت کتاب اونجایی بود که پایان داستان مشخص بود و منِ مخاطب کتابو نمیخوندم که ببینم پایانش چی شد. میخوندم که ببینم چی شد که به این پایان رسید. یعنی مخاطب جذب طول داستان میشد نه انتهای اون.
    تاثیر گذار و جذاب بود ولی عالی و خفن نه.

  • Meike

    Nobel Prize for Literature 1972
    English:
    The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum

    Böll wrote this in 1974 because he was furious at the infamous German yellow press paper "Bild"; in 2021, the editor-in-chief of said publication is under fire because of a scandalous compliance investigation against him, feat., you know, sexual misconduct, abuse of power etc. pp. *sigh* *facepalm* Well, back in 1974 when "Katharina Blum" was published, Böll was upset because parts of the yellow press, namely "Bild", (wrongfully!) suggested that he was a sympathizer of the Red Army Fraction, a domestic terror organization - so this slim volume is his pamphlet against the role of the yellow press in sensationalizing terror and ruining people's lives in order to push papers.

    The book tells the story of the title-giving Katharina, a 27-year-old woman who meets a man named Ludwig at a carnival and spends the night with him - as it turns out, Ludwig is suspected to be a terrorist who has robbed a bank and committed a murder. Katharina is deemed to have helped him flee during that faithful night, she is arrested and becomes the center of a vicious media campaign perpetrated by the "Zeitung" (a.k.a. "Bild") that depicts her as a criminal slut.

    A hit song by "Die Ärzte" states that "Bild" consists of "fear, hate, tits and the weather forecast", and yes, this is played on the radio in Germany, even on public radio, so we can assume that the way "Bild" works is by now common knowledge. Also, I think that nowadays, people are more aware of the strategies depicted by Böll, especially people under 40 who are more media savvy. The didactical impetus of the author does not help the text either, it's a little Brecht-like in its annoyingness. But still, it's a fact that "Bild" sells like sliced bread and harms people - not too long ago, the ex-girlfriend of famous soccer player Jérôme Boateng killed herself after a vicious campaign led by "Bild" (it's still unclear in how far the paper was responsible for that suicide).

    So relevant topic, certainly even more so in the 70's, but is that great literature? Meeehhh.

  • Konstantina August

    3.5/5

    Δεν θα χαρακτήριζα τον Χάινριχ Μπελ ακριβώς φεμινιστή, δεν μου αρέσει να βάζω ταμπέλες, πόσο μάλλον σε ανθρώπους σαν εκείνον, που δεν ανήκουν πουθενά, σε κανενός είδους κόμμα, θρησκεία, κίνημα ή ιδεολογία, πάρα μονάχα στον εαυτό τους. (δεν δύναμαι να χρησιμοποιώ παρελθοντικό χρόνο για τις αιωνιότητες)

    Ωστόσο, κάθε φορά που τον διαβάζω, με συγκινεί το ίδιο έντονα ο ξεχωριστός τρόπος που αγαπά και συνθέτει όλους τους χαρακτήρες του, μα κυρίως τις γυναίκες ηρωίδες του, που δεν θα μπορούσα ποτέ και σε καμία περίπτωση να τον περιγράψω ικανοποιητικά. Πρέπει να τον διαβάσει κάποιος για να καταλάβει τι εννοώ, ώστε να αποφύγει να κάνει την εσφαλμένη υπόθεση ότι αυτός του ο σεβασμός προς τη γυναίκα δεν είναι κάτι πηγαίο και αυθεντικό, αλλά κάτι προσποιητό για εμπορικούς σκοπούς.

    Αυτή του η φεμινιστική διάσταση, που δεν είναι τόσο γνωστή και κραυγαλέα όσο η αντιπολεμική και αντιναζιστική του συγγραφική υπόσταση, αποτυπώνεται πολύ εντονότερα στη Χαμένη τιμή της Καταρίνας Μπλουμ. Εδώ, πέρα από το κεντρικό θέμα της ανθρωποφαγίας του Τύπου, θίγεται ακόμα πιο ξεκάθαρα - σε σχέση με άλλα του έργα - το ζήτημα των σεξιστικών στερεοτύπων. Τόσο σύντομη η ιστορία της Καταρίνας - που μέσα σε απόσταση τεσσάρων ημερών από την ημέρα που θέλησε να πάει χαρούμενη και ανέμελη σε έναν αθώο χορό, κατέληξε να γίνει δολοφόνος εξαιτίας των εφημερίδων - και παράλληλα τόσο σημαντική η διάσταση αυτής της ιστορίας, σε όλες της τις εκφάνσεις.

    Σίγουρα, το βιβλίο δεν ήταν τόσο κορυφαίο όσο οι Απόψεις ενός Κλόουν ή το ανεπανάληπτο Ομαδικό Πορτρέτο με μια Κυρία, κυρίως καθώς δεν είναι χαρακτηριστικό θεματολογικά για τον συγγραφέα, ούτε αρκετό σε έκταση για να αντιληφθεί κάνεις επακριβώς το μεγαλείο του (και για να τον χορτάσω κι εγώ που τον λατρεύω). Παρόλα αυτά, δεν παύει να αποτελεί ένα δημιούργημα αντάξιο του δημιουργού του, ένα πολύτιμο ξεχωριστό κομμάτι της συγγραφικής του προίκας, ένα λογοτεχνικά γοητευτικότατο κείμενο 156 σελίδων με ολοκληρωμένους χαρακτήρες, εξαιρετική πλοκή, χαρακτηριστική αφήγηση και αναμφισβήτητα, σπουδαία κοινωνική διάσταση.

  • Navid Taghavi


    "افراد و اتفاقات این داستان همگی تخیلی هستند. اگر آنچه نگاشته شده با شیوه ی عمل روزنامه نگاران بیلد شباهت دارد، عمدی و یا اتفاقی نیست، بلکه اجتناب ناپذیر است"
    رمان "آبروی از دست رفته کاترینا بلوم" (با نام فرعی "خشونت چگونه شکل می گیرد و به کجا می انجامد") با جمله ی بالا شروع می شود. هاینریش بل با جمله کوبنده و حساب شده اش از همان ابتدا تکلیفش را با مخاطب مشخص می کند. نفرت عمیق از روزنامه نگاران. اگر تاکنون عموما عادت کرده بودیم روزنامه نگاران را در قالب افراد متعهد به جامعه ببینیم، بل در رمان معروفش ما را به نظاره ی نیمه ی تاریک روزنامه نگاری دعوت می کند. رمان در سال 1974 (2 سال پس از جایزه نوبل ادبیات برای بل) نوشته شد و در عرض چند ماه ولکر شولندورف از رمان اقتباس وفادارانه ای به عمل آورد.
    همچنان که از نام رمان پیداست، کاترینا شخصیت اصلی رمان است. کاترینا در خانه دیگران کار می کند و با وجود مشقت فراوان در زندگی اش، دست از زندگی شرافتمندانه نکشیده است. کاترینای مطلقه در برقراری رابطه با مردان خجالتی است، تا حدی که از طرف دوستانش "خواهر روحانی" نایده می شود. زندگی کاترینا پس از آشنایی اش با پسری (لودویگ) در یک مهمانی وارد مسیر تازه و ناهمواری می شود. لودویگ که تحت تعقیب پلیس است، شب را در خانه کاترینا می گذراند. صبح که ماموران پلیس وارد خانه ای می شوند، اثری از لودویگ نمی بینند و کاترینا را به جرم همدستی برای بازجویی با خود می برند. کاترینا پس از بازجوئی های آزار دهنده به خانه می رود، اما فردا در عین ناباوری می بیند روزنامه پر فروش خبر دستگیری و بازجویی او را کار کرده است، اما بحران به همین جا ختم نمی شود و خبرنگار با رجوع به گدشته زندگی شخصی کاترینا و مصاحبه با نزدیکان او و با ترفند غیر اخلاقی بازی با کلمات، سوژه جنجالی و داغی را برای خوانندگان روزنامه فراهم می کند. سوژه ای که به قیمت بی آبرویی یک شهروند شریف تمام می شود.
    بل در رمانش (و به طبع آن شولندورف در فیلمش) نشان می دهند چگونه پلیس و مطبوعات با همدستی یکدیگر برخلاف وظایف تعریف شده شان عمل می کنند و پلیسی که باید مظهر امنیت باشد، چگونه ناامنی را برای یک شهروند معمولی به همراه می آورد و روزنامه نگاری که باید مدافع حقوق شهروندان در مقابل کانون های قدرت باشد، به بهای کسب شهرت و نفوذ در ادارات رسمی، چوب حراج بر ارزشمند ترین ترین دارایی او (آبرویش) می زند و او را بدنام می کند.
    بخشی از رمان : (اظهارنظر همسر سابق کاترینا پس از شنیدن خبر دستگیری کاترینا)
    حالا میفهمم چرا به من نارو زد و مرا ترک کرد. پس جریان از این قرار بود. خوشبختی مختصر ما برای او کم بود. او میخواست قاطی طبقات بالا باشد. یک کارگر ساده چطور میتواند پورشه بخرد. این عاقبت افکار غلط سوسیالیستی است. حالا میفهمم چرا همیشه از رادیکال و ضد مذهب بودن او میترسیدم.احساس عاشقانه یک دزد برایش بیشتر ارزش داشت تا علاقه بی غل و غش من. با این وجود هنوز میخواهم به او پیغام بدهم که کاترینای کوچولوی من اگر پیشم میماندی با هم در طول چند سال صاحب ماشین و خانه میشدیم، البته پورشه که نمیتوانم برایت بخرم اما خوشبختی درویشانه یک کارگر ساده را میتوانم برایت فراهم کنم. کارگری که به سندیکای کارگری اصلا اعتمادی نداره. اوه کاترینا!

  • E. G.

    Introduction, by Kurt Andersen
    Translator's Acknowledgment


    --The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum

  • ·Karen·

    This is an astonishing little novella. The most striking contrast to the Flanagan
    The Unknown Terrorist which treats the same subject of a woman exposed to the savagery of the media after it turns out that the man she spent the night with is a wanted criminal, is the tone. Flanagan wrote a competent thriller, but Böll uses the reports of the state prosecution, the police and Katharina's defence lawyers to create a dry, meticulous, straight narrative of the events of four days. But despite this sober intent, there are many ironic little asides, comments both on this undertaking of transcribing events into printed words, which is what is actually being exposed as fraudulant and highly questionable when undertaken by the print media, and on the events and people involved themselves. Katharina herself is also a remarkable creation: she is loyal and truthful and virtuous, and the act of murder seems to liberate her. She looks forward to living a life much closer in essence to that of her lover, now that both are in prison. She looks forward to their coming out of prison, also roughly at the same time, when they will both still be young enough to start over. The person who seems to be destroyed by events is the lawyer who was Katharina's employer and who also undertook her defence. The newspaper that is pilloried here still distorts and misconstrues and misrepresents. I wonder if the readership is a little less guileless now?

  • Parastoo Ashtian

    باید خودشان را جای ما بگذارند تا مجسم کنند که چه حالی به ما دست می‌دهد، هنگامی که توی دهان پرشان و یا بهتر بگویم پوزه ی پرشان باز هم غذا می‌چپانند، همه هم بدون استثنا ابتدا به ظرف خاویار یورش می‌برند. مردان و زنان میلیونری هم هستند که سیگار و کبریت و بیسکویت توی کیفشان پنهان می‌کنند. اگر امکانش بود پاکت پلاستیکی با خودشان می‌آوردند و باقیمانده‌ی غذاها و قهوه و شیرینی را با خوشان می‌بردند. پول همه‌ی این‌ها را باید زحمتکشان که مالیات از حقوقشان کم می‌شود بپردازند.

    از متن کتاب

  • Paul Bryant

    Time: A couple of weeks in February in 1974

    Place: Cologne, West Germany

    Characters: for a tiny book I counted 24 characters with names – that’s like a lot, don’t you think? Probably about 15 have speaking roles so it’s probably a good idea to keep a handy list so you can immediately check who Moeding or Schonner or Brettloh or Straubleder is. Of course if you have a great memory for German names you’ll be fine.

    Subject: the deliberate destruction of ordinary people’s lives by the rancid loathsome shameless degenerate tabloid press, which is still with us to this day.

    Method : an official report into the murder of Werner Totges, reporter, by Katherina Blum, 27 year old caterer, housekeeper and occasional waitress.

    Mood : ironical, playful, a little smirky if we’re honest

    Religion : these people are a little too busy for God right now. This is a crisis!

    Situation: there’s no doubt she shot that disgusting reporter guy, that’s not a spoiler, but untangling the skein of events that led to the fatal discharge is the thing we are engaged upon. But what was Ludwig Gotten doing at Katherine’s flat? Didn’t she know he was on the run from the cops? That was why the press started in on her.

    Language : Because this is all straight-facedly pretend-officialese, we have sentences like There is always the possibility that certain relatively clear pointers toward a relationship between various events and actions will be misinterpreted or lost as mere hints.

    Rating : Three stars

    Cultural impact : Immediately made into a movie. In the book the outlaw Ludwig Gotten is an army deserter and thief. In the movie he becomes a terrorist on the run which makes sense as the Baader Meinhof Gang were in full flow at the time. I think Heinrich Boll should have thought of that angle himself, it makes the tabloid frenzy about his character more understandable.

    Apology to German speakers: there are an awful lot of umlauts missing from this review.

  • Paula Mota

    3,5*
    #JulhoNobel

    Não tivesse eu a coragem de uma lagartixa e creio que seria levada a fazer exactamente o mesmo que a Katharina Blum no final deste livro, depois de ver o seu nome enlameado e a sua vida exposta de forma insultuosa num pasquim, por um jornalista sem escrúpulos, tudo em nome de uma parangona chamativa.

    Confrontara Frau Blum [mãe de Katharina] com os factos, mas não tinha a certeza de que ela tivesse percebido tudo, porque, aparentemente, o nome Götten, nada lhe dizia. Frau Blum dissera: “Porque é que havia de acabar desta manheira? Porque é que isto havia de acontecer?” Destas palavras o “Zeitung” fizera as seguintes declarações: “Isto tinha de acontecer. Tinha de acabar assim”. Tötges explicara esta alteração das palavras de Frau Blum dizendo que, como repórter, estava habituado a “ajudar as pessoas simples a exprimirem-se com mais clareza.”

    O próprio estilo de Heinrich Böll nesta obra tende para o jornalístico, assemelhando-se a uma reportagem que relata o interrogatório, as manobras da Polícia, os movimentos da visada e das pessoas do seu círculo mais chegado e indaga as suas motivações. É esta estrutura invulgar o ponto forte de “A Honra Perdida de Katharina Blum”, mas por outro lado, é ela que me faz ocupar um lugar de espectadora à distância, que é acentuado pela escrita factual e desapaixonada. Sinto-me indignada por Katharina por ser denegrida como cidadã e como mulher, mas como pessoa não me tocou.
    Até se envolver com Ludwig Götten, um homem procurado pela Polícia, Katharina não passa de uma cidadã comum, respeitada por todos por ser uma trabalhadora séria, eficiente e organizada. Assim que cai nas garras do sensacionalista “Zeitung”, tudo no seu passado é desenterrado e alvo de suspeita (a mãe alcoólica, o pai com fama de comunista, o divórcio), e os seus actos no presente começam a ser deturpados para se atingir um verdadeiro assassinato de carácter e a sua dignidade como mulher ser posta em causa.

    Foi só nessa altura que Katharina tirou da bolsa os dois números do “Zeitung” e perguntou se o Estado – foi assim que ela disse – não poderia fazer alguma coisa para a proteger contra esta imundice e recuperar a sua honra perdida. Ela sabia perfeitamente que o interrogatório se justificava, embora não entendesse muito bem a necessidade de “irem até aos últimos pormenores da sua vida”, mas o que ela não podia compreender era como certos pormenores do interrogatório – como, por exemplo, a questão das visitas do cavalheiro – poderem ter chegado ao conhecimento do “Zeitung”, para além de todas aquelas afirmações falsas e fraudulentas.

  • Vasilis Manias

    Συνηθίζω όταν ξεκινάω ένα βιβλίο, να μη διαβάζω το οπισθόφυλλό του, προτιμώ να μη γνωρίζω το παραμικρό για τους ήρωες και την πλοκή του. Και αλήθεια το λέω μου είναι τρομερά δύσκολο να γράψω κριτική για τη «Χαμένη Τιμή της Κατερίνας Μπλουμ» κυρίως επειδή στο τέλος του, η ηρωίδα έγινε για μένα τόσο αληθινός χαρακτήρας της καθημερινότητάς μου που δε θα τολμούσα να μιλήσω ούτε στιγμή σε τρίτους για τα όσα πέρασε, για το γεγονός ότι πλήρωσε ακριβά το γεγ��νός πως ο κόσμος είναι ασύλληπτα κακοφτιαγμένος και δε χωνεύει όσους προοδεύουν κοιτάζοντας μονάχα τη δουλειά τους, και για το επίσης γεγονός πως «οι άνθρωποι δε συγχωρούν αυτούς που από έρωτα ��κπέσανε».
    Μακράν στα καλύτερα μυθιστορήματα που έπεσαν φέτος στα χέρια μου και σίγουρα ένα ιδιαίτερα σημαντικό βιβλίο που αξίζει να διαβαστεί από πολύ κόσμο.

  • Ian D

    Ο τίτλος δεν είναι καθόλου τυχαίος. Πώς γεννιέται η βία; Το πού μπορεί να οδηγήσει ακούγεται λίγο οξύμωρο (η βία άλλωστε προκαλεί βία) αλλά ο Böll εισχωρεί λίγο βαθύτερ�� για να καυτηριάσει την ασυδοσία του τύπου. Με μια γραφή δημοσιογραφική (του ΒΒC όχι της Bild - την οποία δεν κατονομάζει, βέβαια, αλλά περιγράφει με τέτοια ακρίβεια που είναι σαν να το κάνει), αποστειρωμένη και εντελώς απαλλαγμένη από συναισθηματισμούς, καταφέρνει να προβληματίσει όχι, όμως, και να συγκινήσει. Φαντάζομαι αυτό έγινε ηθελημένα και με μεγάλη συνέπεια ως προς το περιεχόμενο του βιβλίου που σκοπό έχει να καταγγείλει την παραπληροφόρηση.

  • Χαρά Ζ.

    _The Lost honor of Katharina Blum_

    The lost honor of Katharina Blum is a great book. Heinrich Böll did something absolutely brilliant with it. He was absolutely brilliant with his sarcasm and his bravery and he was in full control of this from beggining to end. He gave me this feeling, that he knew what he was doing, he knew what he wanted to state with his book and he executed it perfectly. I think of him as a highly intelligent human being, i loved how smartly and smoothly he interrupted the flow of the writing but it never felt doing so. The writing was amazing, truly raw and honest and ocassionally funny but still discreet and elegant. There is also a movie, i am going to watch it for sure. 5/5 <3

  • Ema

    The voice of this novel was something new to me: it is written in the form of a report, apparently reserved and unbiased, which presents the slow but effective process of Katharina Blum's public humiliation by police and press.

    It all begins with a murder (I'm not sure this may be considered a spoiler, because it comes in the first pages of the novel):

    On Sunday evening at almost the same hour (to be precise, at about 7:04 P.M.) she rings the front door bell at the home of Walter Moeding, Crime Commissioner, who is at that moment engaged, for professional rather than private reasons, in disguising himself as a sheikh, and she declares to the startled Moeding that at about 12:15 noon that day she shot and killed Werner Tötges, reporter, in her apartment, and would the Commissioner kindly give instructions for her front door to be broken down and the reporter to be "removed"; for her part, she has spent the hours between 12:15 noon and 7:00 P.M. roaming around town in search of a remorse that she has failed to find.


    It is an excerpt that speaks for the whole narration: its writer sticks to the facts, using a detached, informative tone, but underneath the dry language there is a lot of humor, the opinions are stated between the lines and the reader is left to his/her own devices to issue a conclusion.

    Katharina, an intelligent and hard-working girl who comes from a disjointed family, is brought in the spotlight after her brief association with a man considered a bank robber. In the course of four days, her meticulously rebuilt life is shattered to pieces by police interrogations and defamatory articles in The News. With police, every detail of her life must be accounted for, petty secrets are brought up to light, her intimacy and honor are trampled.

    The press makes everything appear in a different light, distorts the statements and facts, issues far-fetched suppositions, with no concern for the individual whose life they are destroying. Not only Katharina, but also those who stand by her are subjected to vilification in the newspaper. The reporters are not the solely responsible for this - there are also the influential people who stand in the shadow, deciding who must be protected and who must be thrown to the wolves.

    There is no end to this kind of story, though. One isolated act of justice, condemned by law as is it, won't change a thing - press resembles the mythological Hydra: for each head cut off it grows two more, just as poisonous and deadly. The freedom of the press is a two sided blade.

  • SCARABOOKS

    Un pamphlet (così lo ha definito il suo autore), scritto da uno dei fuoriclasse della parola. Basterebbe, per testimoniarlo, il ritratto di quel personaggio, splendido nella sua ambigua, complessa, respingente e indifendibile innocenza, di Katharina Blum.
    I difetti di questo romanzo (lo stile secco/freddo ed un certo tono a metà strada tra il verbale redatto da un burocrate e lo sfogo controllato di un osservatore indignato e coinvolto) sono, insieme con una sofisticata freschezza espressiva, anche i suoi pregi maggiori.
    Perché non c’era forse modo più efficace per portare piano, piano e con il giusto attrito il lettore dentro l’emozione con cui lo si voleva far reagire davanti alla macchina mediatica del fango. E davanti agli effetti, che come una inarrestabile reazione a catena, produce in chi ne è vittima, direttamente o indirettamente. Soprattutto, voleva far reagire il lettore davanti ad un modo di fare informazione e di fare il mestiere del giornalista.
    Ed è particolarmente interessante ri/leggerlo nell’epoca del giornalismo diffuso e dei social.
    Chi vuol sapere di più sul libro e sul tema qui trova qualcosa


    https://scarabooks.blogspot.com/2020/...

  • . . . _ _ _ . . .

    Πώς κάποια τρολς στο τουιτερ που στην καλύτερη περίπτωση αποφοίτησαν από τα ΤΕΙ Κοζάνης "αποδομουν" τον Τσιοδρα; Έτσι και εγώ θα αποδομησω τον συγγραφέα του βιβλίου, κατοχο Νόμπελ λογοτεχνίας.
    Στην αρχή ένιωθα πως ναι, συγκλονιστικό θέμα, αλλά όπως επεσήμαναν κάποιες κριτικές η γραφη του βιβλίου με πετούσε έξω από την ιστορία. Τελικά όμως δυνατή ιστορία, η γραφή του βιβλίου δεν με πείραζε (και τόσο) αλλά ο μανιχαϊσμος του κωλου σε ολο το βιβλιο με έκανε να αγανακτησω. Από τη μια η αθώα κορασιδα με το διαμερισματακι της και το αυτοκινητάκι της (σαν τον Λουκά στο Ντολτσε Βιτα) μεγαλωμένη με χίλια βάσανα με προίκα την τιμή της σαν την κόρη της Λαυρεντιας Μπισμπικη ("γιατί εμείς στο Μπισμπικεικο έχουμε το κούτελο καθαρό") και από την άλλοι κακοί μπατσοι που βάζουν κοριους, ανίκανοι εισαγγελείς (χμμμμ) και κυρίως διεφθαρμένοι κιτρινιστες δημοσιογράφοι. Ακομη και οι γλυκουληδες εργοδοτες της,ενας μεγαλοδικηγορος και μια αρχιτεκτονισσα που την υπεραγαπανε, μετα τα τραγικά γεγονοτα καταστρέφεται η καριέρα τους , να φανταστείς ο δικηγόρος οχι μονο δεν σταυρωνει δίκη αλλα δεν φοράει καν αποσμητικό. Seriously dude
    ;Το μανιπουλαρισμα εχει και τα όρια του.

  • Petra time heals but a week isnt quite long enough

    Irresponsible journalism turns a maid into a murderer. Shock! Horror! It would have been much better written by a 'source' from the National Enquirer. As it is Heinrich Boll is too dry and literary and all the shock and horror is sucked out of it leaving just a competently-written, slightly disturbing story.

  • JJ Khodadadi

    قضاوت های زودهنگام و غلط
    تاثیر رسانه ها بر افکار مردم مخصوصا رسانه های زرد
    و آبروی از دست رفته خانم بلوم

    داستان جالب و مفهوم والایی داشت اما انتظار خیلی بیشتر از هاینریش بل داشتم

  • K.D. Absolutely

    My first book by the 1972 Nobel Prize for Literature, Heinrich Boll (1917-1985). I am extremely impressed.

    This tells the story of a 22-y/o household help and a divorcee, Katharina Blum who at the start of the 4-day Carnival asks her employer for a leave. On the first day, she goes to her friend's party and there meets a mysterious man Ludwig Gotten and falls in love with him. They spend a night in Katharina's apartment and early in the morning Ludwig leaves. Later in the morning, police authorities arrest Katharina allegedly for conniving with a bank robber. The leading newspaper picks up the story and what follows is a media circus. Then towards the end are the two twists: the real identity of Ludwig and what Katharina does to the invasive reporter, Warner Totges who has caused the death of her mother.

    This strongly illustrates the negative effects of sensationalizing news especially when it is bordering to being untrue. The book's fictional paper, The News or Die Zeitung does it so badly. For example, when Katharina's mother, Mrs. Blum was interviewed by Totges regarding her daughter Katharina, full of sadness, Mrs. Blum lamented" "Why did it have to end like this, why did it have to come to this?" Totges translated this in the paper: It was bound to come to this, it was bound to come to end like this." Totges accounted for the slight change in Mrs. Blum's statement by saying that as a reporter he was used to "helping simple people to express themselves more clearly."

    My goodness. We know what happened to Sgt. Rolando Mendoza during the hijacking that happened last year in Luneta. The media played a big role in the outcome of that sad event.

    The book is thin. The writing is plain but Boll knows how to make the story suspenseful thereby making his readers continuously leafing through the pages. He is not too much on describing his settings (something that I enjoy) and tends to concentrate on the events and the people whose lives are interwoven by a particular event. He does not propose a solution to issues. Rather, he presents the facts and let his readers seek for the solution.

    The narration is also first person plural (similar to Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides making the readers fell the sad situation that Katharina Blum is experiencing. Making the readers feel like reading just newspaper events that happen on our daily lives. Making us the readers like participants in the novel. Very clever. I thought that Eugenides originated this idea. Now I know better.

    I have to read more Boll books.