A review by tonythep
Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann

5.0

Daniel Kehlmann is possibly the most original and masterful storyteller I've ever encountered. In Tyll, he places us in Seventeenth century Europe during the Thirty Years War. Against this backdrop of immense human suffering, Kehlmann gives us a clown to weave together the stories of kings, queens, scholars, and peasants. He makes us care for even the smallest characters and wrenches human insight out of the most unlikely situations. Tyll is filled with darkness, and death, but also tenderness, hope, and humor. Magic abounds but is never fully explained or explained away. Kehlmann continues to add objects spinning above his head, much to the delight of this rabble.