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"I can only wish that the young women who think Wetlands sounds intriguing will head to the erotica section of the nearest women's bookstore first." — Sallie Tisdale, in the Times on Sunday. [NYT] More »
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Wetlands, Charlotte Roche's tale of anal trauma, will finally be available in the US this week. Follow the jump for one editor's take (spoilers — of both the plot and your appetite — included). More »
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There has been a lot of talk about Charlotte Roche's Wetlands and whether it is, as the author says, "not feminist in a political sense, but instead feminism of the body, that has to do with anxiety and repression and the fear that you stink," or whether it's just the literary equivalent of a Sarah Silverman act, all fart jokes and cringe-inducing explorations of the depths of female potty humor with no political content. Not that I'm by any means all the way through the book (reading in another language you haven't read consistently in almost ten years is hard!), but I have to say that I'm kind of coming down on Ms. Roche's side in this debate. Yeah, it's kind of icky, but that's sort of the point. Another excerpt, and a case in point, is after the jump. More »
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This morning, Jessica wrote about the New York Times coverage of the German novel Feuchtgebiete (known in English as Wetlands), though it won't be available in translation until next year. I'll bet you thought you'd have to wait until then to read some German smut! Well, luckily for you, I majored in German lit and Moe's brother had a copy of the book about which the Times said "It is difficult to overstate the raunchiness of the novel, and hard to describe in a family newspaper." Hooray! Check my semi-literary translation after the jump, as I get you through the first few paragraphs. More »
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Meet Charlotte Roche, Germany's Erica Jong for the aughts. The former TV presenter's new novel, Wetlands, is causing causing quite the hubbub in Germany for its frank discussion of scatology and anatomy from the mouth of its 18-year-old narrator, Helen Memel. Roche, a self-proclaimed feminist, was inspired to write Wetlands when perusing the douche aisle of her local store, according to the New York Times. She was struck by the number of products telling women that their natural odors and growths were enemies, meant to be eliminated and perfumed. “[Wetlands] is not feminist in a political sense, but instead feminism of the body, that has to do with anxiety and repression and the fear that you stink, and this for me is clearly feminist, that one builds confidence with your own body," Roche told the Times. "Ever since I could think, I've had hemorrhoids," Wetlands begins with an, erm, blast. More »
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