A review by badoit90
Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann
4.0
4 Stars // A novel that had the potential to become a masterpiece, but goes off course way too often.
Tyll is a story inspired by the protagonist of a German folklore of the same name: Till Eulenspiegel. A traveling artist, a juggler, a jester and trickster by trade, he was said to roam the lands during the Middle Ages and play jokes on his contemporaries. Daniel Kehlmann takes the chapbook that this tale originates from and weaves a whole story of friendship and betrayal, of politics, religion and war around it.
The author tells his tale in a non-linear fashion: Split up into different episodes, we jump around the timeline a lot, thereby seeing Tyll from his childhood years up to the height of his 'career', from being born as a poor Millers boy up to being involved in the Thirty Years War. Despite Tyll being the books clear main protagonist, the author introduces a myriad of other characters along the way in this style of storytelling. Unfortunately, ‘Tyll’ is at its strongest, when we follow the eponymous main character - more often than not though it steers off the main path, introducing side-stories and themes that I didn’t really sign up for, like the intricate politics of the Thirty Years War of the time. Having forgotten most of the conflicts outlines, these side-stories felt weirdly tacked on and by far not as entertaining as Tylls tumultuous life itself.
Having read the book in German (and can therefor only speak for this version), it is really, really well written though - and it’s Kehlmanns strong writing that carries the novel through the side-stories it so desperately wants to give the spotlight. Would it have stayed in course and just focused on Tyll himself, maybe expanding even a bit more on his day-to-day, this could have stood on the same high pedestal as Patrick Süskinds Perfume, which it very much reminded me of during its strongest moments.
Tyll is a story inspired by the protagonist of a German folklore of the same name: Till Eulenspiegel. A traveling artist, a juggler, a jester and trickster by trade, he was said to roam the lands during the Middle Ages and play jokes on his contemporaries. Daniel Kehlmann takes the chapbook that this tale originates from and weaves a whole story of friendship and betrayal, of politics, religion and war around it.
The author tells his tale in a non-linear fashion: Split up into different episodes, we jump around the timeline a lot, thereby seeing Tyll from his childhood years up to the height of his 'career', from being born as a poor Millers boy up to being involved in the Thirty Years War. Despite Tyll being the books clear main protagonist, the author introduces a myriad of other characters along the way in this style of storytelling. Unfortunately, ‘Tyll’ is at its strongest, when we follow the eponymous main character - more often than not though it steers off the main path, introducing side-stories and themes that I didn’t really sign up for, like the intricate politics of the Thirty Years War of the time. Having forgotten most of the conflicts outlines, these side-stories felt weirdly tacked on and by far not as entertaining as Tylls tumultuous life itself.
Having read the book in German (and can therefor only speak for this version), it is really, really well written though - and it’s Kehlmanns strong writing that carries the novel through the side-stories it so desperately wants to give the spotlight. Would it have stayed in course and just focused on Tyll himself, maybe expanding even a bit more on his day-to-day, this could have stood on the same high pedestal as Patrick Süskinds Perfume, which it very much reminded me of during its strongest moments.