The Passport, By Herta Müller
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Herta Müller provides a masterclass here in sparse, clear prose, and conveys the bleakness of humanity, with the occasional touch of dark, bitter magic – fully earning her Nobel Prize for literature this year.
Windisch is a miller living in a German-speaking village in Ceausescu's Romania. It is his dream to get a passport and escape to West Germany: the Romanians don't like the Germans and are happy for them to go, but still, acquiring the passport is not easy. In this world, relationships between spouses are devoid of warmth or tenderness; parents are suspicious of their children and women are regarded as little better than whores.
Windisch's hope of a passport away is a poisoned chalice, however: it lies almost exclusively with his attractive daughter, Amelie, a nursery-school teacher, who is literally screwed by the Church and the State, those anonymous institutions that were meant to protect her.
Often harrowing, startling, as devoid of decoration as the world she is describing, Müller's work demands to be read.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments